Many famous singers have multiple No. 1 hits, with The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (19), Elvis Presley (18), and Michael Jackson (13) leading the all-time Billboard Hot 100 charts, while artists like Rihanna (14), Taylor Swift (13), and Drake (13) dominate more recently, showing that No. 1 hits are a common measure of success for major stars, rather than a rarity for most famous singers.
American singer-actor Elvis Presley has most number one singles with twenty-one. English band The Beatles have the most number one singles for a band, with eighteen. American singer Madonna has the most number ones for a female solo artist with thirteen.
As today is 11/11, let's take a look back at Whitney Houston's ELEVEN #1 singles and what they achieved! 🗓️1️⃣
1. Madonna. The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops re-inventing herself, Madonna has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide. Her film career, however, is another story.
The Beatles have the most number-one hits on the chart, with 20 songs having reached the top position.
There's no single "number 1 artist of all time" as it's subjective, but Leonardo da Vinci often tops lists for visual art due to masterpieces like the Mona Lisa, while The Beatles are frequently cited as the best-selling music group ever, and Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley are often named as top solo music artists by sales and influence. Modern metrics like Spotify streams point to artists like Bad Bunny or Taylor Swift for recent dominance.
On the Billboard Hot 100, as of October 2025, she has garnered 13 number-one songs and is the female musician with the most charted songs (276), most top-40 songs (177), most top-20 songs (112), most top-10 songs (69), most top-10 debuts (58), most top-five songs (41), and most number-one debuts (8).
Tim Storms (born August 28, 1972) is an American singer and composer. He holds the Guinness World Record for both the "lowest note produced by a human" and the "widest vocal range".
They explain, "Taylor isn't just popular — she's engineered an entirely new era of fan-driven music culture," adding, "More people may know who she is now, but Michael Jackson is still bigger in cultural footprint."
The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits among all acts in the chart's history, with 20.
1 song in 2025, tying Michael Jackson and Drake for fifth place. The Beatles have the most No. 1 songs ever (20), followed closely by Mariah Carey (19).
"Blinding Lights" is the best performing song of all time according to the chart. Martin has written the second-most number-one singles on the chart, behind only Paul McCartney (32), having surpassed John Lennon (26) with his 27th number one in March 2024.
Taylor Swift Beats The Beatles' Record
The Beatles held the previous record with six songs in the Top 10 in 1964. Swift's dominance is further highlighted by the success of her single "The Fate of Ophelia," which debuted at No. 1 with nearly 700,000 points—mostly from streams—but also bolstered by sales and airplay.
Rating of the best musicians of all time: 1. Michael Jackson 2. Elvis Presley 3. The Beatles 4.
The "most played song of all time" depends on the metric, but currently, The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" is the most-streamed song ever on Spotify (over 5.2 billion streams). For recorded sales before streaming, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling single, while older, widely covered songs like George Gershwin's "Summertime" might be the most recorded,"Roadie Music" says Roadie Music.
Taylor Swift (13.7 million) has surpassed Drake (13.6 million) as the 7th BIGGEST artist of all time on the Billboard Hot 100, based on the sum of points accumulated in the ranking.
2021 list. The most represented musical act is once again the Beatles (12), followed by Bob Dylan, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones (7), Prince, Beyoncé (6) and Bruce Springsteen (5).
Taylor Swift's vocal range: roughly 3 octaves and 5 half steps. Archived post. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast.
- *Other songs*: She has been known to sing notes as low as F2 and as high as C6, which would support a range of around 4 octaves.