The Top 50 Adult Top 40 Acts

Adult Top 40: Top 50 Acts

Wikipedia says the Adult Pop, or Adult Top 40, format is “a format in which the genre is geared more towards an adult audience who are not into hard rock, hip hop, or soft adult contemporary fare” the latter of which is typically more ballad-driven). “The main genres within this format are a mix of soft and energetic adult contemporary music alongside adult alternative rock and adult-oriented pop music.” These all-time rankings are based on actual performance on the weekly Adult Pop Songs chart (also known as Adult Top 40), from its launch in Billboard magazine dated March 16, 1996, through March 12, 2016. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre. Maroon 5 1. Maroon 5 2. Matchbox 20 3. Train 4. Nickelback 5. Pink 6. Kelly Clarkson 7. Katy Perry 8. Goo Goo Dolls 9. Daughtry 10. Taylor Swift 11. Lifehouse 12. John Mayer 13. Rob Thomas 14. One Republic 15. The Fray 16. 3 Doors Down 17. Bruno Mars 18. Colbie Caillat 19. Sheryl Crow 20. Adele 21. Coldplay 22. Avril Lavigne 23. Jewel 24. Ed Sheeran 25. Alanis Morissette 26. Santana 27. Sarah McLachlan 28. Smash Mouth 29. Sugar Ray 30. Jason Mraz 31. The Script 32. Sara Bareilles 33. Gavin DeGraw 34. No Doubt 35. Creed 36. Imagine Dragons 37. Third Eye Blind 38. Lady Gaga 39. Dave Matthews Band 40. Green Day 41. Fun. 42. Phillip Phillips 43. Celine Dion 44. Five for Fighting 45. Uncle Kracker 46. Vertical Horizon 47. Neon Trees 48. Lenny Kravitz 49. Justin Timberlake 50. Rihanna Resources/Related Links: Billboard: Greatest of All Time Adult Pop Songs Artists Wikipedia: Adult Pop Airplay Top 100 Adult Top 40 Songs Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre First posted 6/29/2026.

Max Martin: Top 40 Songs

image from tv.aftonbladet.se

More than any other individual, Max Martin may be responsible for the sound of pop music in the 21st century. As a producer and songwriter, he made a name for himself in the late ‘90s as the man behind hits by Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and N Sync. He went on to helm songs by Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Pink, and Taylor Swift. He has co-written 21 #1 songs (noted below) on the Billboard Hot 100, putting him third behind Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26). He’s been behind 54 top-ten hits, putting him ahead of Madonna, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. He has produced 19 #1 hits, putting him second only to George Martin (23).

So, in celebration of Martin’s accomplisments, here are his top songs of all time according to Dave’s Music Database:

1. Britney Spears…Baby One More Time (1998) #1
2. Katy Perry…Roar (2013) #1
3. Katy Perry with Juicy J…Dark Horse (2013) #1
4. Taylor Swift…Shake It Off (2014) #1
5. Katy Perry…I Kissed a Girl (2008) #1
6. Taylor Swift…Blank Space (2014) #1
7. Katy Perry with Snoop Dogg…California Gurls (2010) #1
8. Taylor Swift…We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (2012) #1
9. Kelly Clarkson…Since U Been Gone (2004)
10. Katy Perry…Hot N Cold (2008)

11. Maroon 5…One More Night (2012) #1
12. Backstreet Boys…I Want It That Way (1999)
13. Taio Cruz…Dymamite (2010)
14. Katy Perry with Kanye West…E.T. (2011) #1
15. Pink…So What (2008) #1
16. Taylor Swift…I Knew You Were Trouble (2012)
17. Katy Perry….Teenage Dream (2010) #1
18. Ariana Grande with Izzy Azalea…Problem (2014)
19. Britney Spears…Oops! I Did It Again (2000)
20. Ellie Goulding…Love Me Like You Do (2015)

21. Usher with Pitbull…DJ Got Us Falling in Love (2010)
22. Katy Perry…Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) (2010) #1
23. Katy Perry…Wide Awake (2012)
24. Pink…Raise Your Glass (2010) #1
25. Taylor Swift…Bad Blood (2015) #1
26. Kelly Clarkson…My Life Would Suck Without You (2009) #1
27. Katy Perry…The One That Got Away (2011)
28. Jessie J with Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj…Bang Bang (2014)
29. Jessie J…Domino (2011)
30. Pink…Fuckin’ Perfect (2010)

31. Taylor Swift…22 (2013)
32. Katy Perry…Part of Me (2012) #1
33. Pink…Who Knew (2006)
34. Kelly Clarkson…Behind These Hazel Eyes (2005)
35. Britney Spears with Nicki Minaj & Ke$ha…Till the World Ends (2011)
36. Taylor Swift…Style (2015)
37. The Weeknd…Can’t Feel My Face (2015) #1
38. Avril Lavigne…What the Hell (2011)
39. Pink…U + Ur Hand (2006)
40. Backstreet Boys…Quit Playing Games with My Heart (1996)

Grammy Nominations 2013

image from grammy.com

The nominations for the 2013 Grammy Awards were announced in conjunction with a live CBS broadcast in Nashville, Tennessee, which featured performances from Maroon 5, The Who, Fun., Hunter Hayes, The Band Perry, Dierks Bentley, and Luke Bryan. Taylor Swift and LL Cool J hosted. The Grammys will be awarded February 10, 2013. Here were the nominations for the biggest categories:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

• The Black Keys El Camino
• Fun. Some Nights
• Mumford & Sons Babel
• Frank Ocean Channel Orange
• Jack White Blunderbuss

RECORD OF THE YEAR: (goes to the performers)

• The Black Keys “Lonely Boy”
• Kelly Clarkson “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
• Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe “We Are Young”
• Gotye featuring Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know”
• Frank Ocean “Thinkin’ ‘Bout You”
• Taylor Swift “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

Somebody That I Used to Know

SONG OF THE YEAR: (goes to the songwriters)

• Kelly Clarkson “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
• Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe “We Are Young”
• Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”
• Miguel “Adorn”
• Ed Sheeran “The A Team”

We Are Young

BEST NEW ARTIST:

• Alabama Shakes
• Fun.
• Hunter Hayes
• The Lumineers
• Frank Ocean

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Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, fun., Jay-Z, and Kanye West each scored six nominations. The Black Keys landed five and member Dan Auerbach also got one as producer. Miguel and Chick Corea each nabbed five noms. Among other artists scoring more than one nomination are Kelly Clarkson (4), Taylor Swift (3), Gotye (3), Jack White (3), Bruce Springsteen (3), Hunter Hayes (3), Alabama Shakes (3), Carly Rae Jepsen (2), Maroon 5 (2), Coldplay (2), Muse (2), and the Lumineers (2).

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Resources and Related Links:

• Grammy.com (full list of nominations)
• Wikipedia.org 2013 Grammy Awards

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Leona Lewis debuted at #1 in the UK with “Bleeding Love”

Bleeding Love Leona Lewis

Writer(s): - Jesse McCartney, Ryan Tedder (see lyrics here) Released: October 19, 2007 First Charted: November 3, 2007 Peak: 14 US, 110 RR, 14 AC, 110 A40, 74 RB, 17 UK, 11 CN, 15 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.7 US, 1.2 UK, 7.7 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.7 radio, 192.77 video, 587.12 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Leona Lewis rose to fame in the UK as the winner of the third TV season of The X Factor in 2006. She was awarded a recording contract with Sony BMG and released “A Moment Like This” as her debut single. The song also served as the first single for Kelly Clarkson in 2002 after she won the first TV season of American Idol. In February 2007, One Republic’s Ryan Tedder teamed with singer/songwriter Jesse McCartney to write “Bleeding Love” for McCartney’s third album, Departure. He said he was “thinking about being in love so much that it hurts. I was away from my girlfriend for four months at the time and I really wanted to [quit] and fly home.” WK One account suggested that McCartney’s record company rejected the song, but another story says record executive Clive Davis specifically wanted the song for Lewis. SF In any event, when Tedder heard Lewis, he said hers was “one of the best voices I’ve ever heard.” WK In her hands, the song transformed to a tale of a woman who is emotionally hurt by her lover, but accepts the pain and continues to love him. WK She recorded the song and released it in October 2007 as the first single from her debut album, Spirit. It debuted at #1 in the UK WK selling 218,000 copies – more than any debut week since “A Moment Like This.” SF It went on to be the UK’s best-selling single of 2007 WK and iTunes’ most downloaded single of 2008. SF It also hit #1 in 35 countries, WK including the United States in April 2008. The song was nominated for Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. BBC America thought it sounded like dated filler from a long-lost, late ‘90s Mariah Carey album, WK but About.com praised Lewis for “her stunning voice that is equal parts Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and her own restrained gracefulness.” AB’00 Digital Spy called it a “brilliantly smart pop record.” WK Billboard’s Chuck Taylor called it “a colossal and timeless debut” WK and Metromix Atlanta called it “the most seductive diva anthem of the decade.” MX Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Leona Lewis AB’00 About.com (2009). “Top 100 Pop Songs of the 2000s” MX Atlanta Metromix (11/24/09). Best songs of the decade SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 11/12/2022.

Kelly Clarkson “Since U Been Gone” charted

Since U Been Gone Kelly Clarkson

Writer(s): Max Martin, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald (see lyrics here) Released: November 16, 2004 First Charted: November 26, 2004 Peak: 2 US, 17 RR, 22 AC, 2 A40, 5 UK, 4 CN, 3 AU, 21 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.74 US, 1.2 UK, 4.23 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.7 radio, 120.96 video, 585.45 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Kelly Clarkson was born in 1982 in Forth Worth, Texas. She shot to fame as the winner of the first season of television’s American Idol talent contest in 2002. Her debut single, “A Moment Like This,” topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became the biggest selling song of the year. The song was featured on her debut album, 2003’s Thankful, which topped the album chart and sold over two million copies. She went with a more pop-rock sound for her second studio album, 2004’s Breakaway. It sold six million copies in the U.S. on the strength of four top-ten singles. The most successful of these was “Since U Been Gone,” “an uptempo pop rock and power pop ballad that infuses electronic sounds with a mixture of a soft and loud pop rock sound.” WK It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The songwriters/producers Max Martin and Dr. Luke were both involved in the song. Max Martin previously worked on Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” and Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” and later on #1 hits for Taylor Swift (“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space”) and Pink (“So What,” “Raise Your Glass”). This was Dr. Luke’s first hit although he and Martin later collaborated on #1 hits by Katy Perry (“I Kissed a Girl,” “California Gurls,” “Roar,” “Dark Horse”). Dr. Luke would go on to work on #1 hits by Flo Rida (“Right Round”), Ke$ha (“Tik Tok”), Pitbull (“Timber”), and Miley Cyrus (“Wrecking Ball”). The song is written “from a woman’s point of view where she expresses her sense of relief with the end of her troubled relationship.” WK It was inspired by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ 2003 song “Maps.” Dr. Luke explained that he and Martin were listening to more alternative and indie music and loved this song, but thought it lacked a pop chorus so they essentially wrote their own version WK with a “big, juicy chorus.” SF Martin had Pink in mind for the song, but she turned it down. Then Hilary Duff rejected it because she couldn’t reach the higher notes. WK Clive Davis, the chief creative artist at Sony (Clarkson’s label) convinced the writers to give the song to Clarkson. SF They were reluctant because they were wanting to move in a more rock direction, but after hearing the stronger rock influence of her nearly finished album, they agreed. WK Even then, Clarkson added heavier guitar and drums to the song. WK Rohin of Blogcritics called the song “almost one of the best pieces of throwaway pop in recent history.” WK NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson said it was “one of the decade’s finest pop anthems.” WK Billboard’s Gary Trust said it was a defining song of the 2000s and a blueprint for female pop songs. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Kelly Clarkson SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/6/2023.