The longest No. 1 song by length (runtime) on the Billboard Hot 100 is Taylor Swift's "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version)" at 10:13. For weeks at No. 1, Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" held the record for 16 weeks, later tied by Luis Fonsi/Daddy Yankee's "Despacito (Remix)", and then surpassed by Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" for the absolute longest, while Mariah's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" holds the seasonal record.
Longest climb to No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart
1 on the Billboard 200, more than any artist in history. Taylor Swift holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1 for a solo artist and is also the top American on the list.
Alone in Her Tower: 'Ophelia' Now Swift's Longest-Leading Hit. “The Fate of Ophelia” contributes to Swift's eight Hot 100 No. 1s totaling 27 weeks on top in the 2020s — both the most among all artists this decade.
A well-known 23-minute song is Pink Floyd's "Echoes," from their 1971 album Meddle, taking up an entire side of the original LP; other long tracks include Genesis' "Supper's Ready" (22:54) and Rush's "2112" (20:34), while modern artists also have long pieces like Black Emperor's "Mladic" or Sufjan Stevens' "Impossible Soul".
There's no single "number 1 saddest song" as it's subjective, but R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" often tops polls due to its universal message of despair and solidarity, while other contenders include Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U", Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven", Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah," and Nirvana's "Something in the Way," often cited for their deep emotional impact and poignant lyrics.
The song that takes over 600 years to play is John Cage's composition "Organ²/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible)," currently being performed on a specially built organ in Halberstadt, Germany, from 2001 to 2640, making it the longest musical piece in history. It features extremely long note durations, with chord changes happening over years or even decades, designed to stretch the piece out for 639 years.
The number one streamed song of all time, primarily on Spotify, is "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd, having surpassed 5 billion streams and holding the top spot over other massive hits like Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" and The Weeknd's "Starboy".
Brenda Lee Is The Oldest Artist To Hit No. 1 On The Hot 100.
1. The Winstons – Amen, Brother – (sampled 6,873 times) The undisputed king of samples, this track could easily have been forgotten to history.
It's a question that has rung out across dancefloors for more than 20 years. The answer, for The Killers' Mr Brightside, lies in breaking chart records... if not actually topping the charts.
The Guinness World Records named the holiday single "White Christmas" (1942) by Bing Crosby as the best-selling single worldwide. According to Guinness, "White Christmas" sold over 50 million copies. The single is known as the "best-selling single of all time".
On Feb. , 1981, Pink Floyd's legendary album, "Dark Side of The Moon" became the the longest running rock LP on the charts at 402 weeks. It would stay on the charts a total of 741 weeks, making it the longest running album (of any style of music) ever.
Kylie Minogue is the highest-selling Australian singer, with over 80 million records sold worldwide, making her one of the most successful artists from Australia.
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.
The number one selling album worldwide is Michael Jackson's Thriller, released in 1982, with estimated sales exceeding 70 million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time globally, featuring hits like "Billie Jean" and "Beat It". In the United States, the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) holds the top spot for RIAA certifications, surpassing Thriller in U.S. album-equivalent units, though Thriller remains the overall worldwide leader.
At 13 years old, Stevie Wonder set the record for being the youngest artist in history to have a #1 hit on the Billboard charts with the song “Fingertips “.
The most played song on YouTube, by a significant margin, is "Baby Shark Dance" by Pinkfong Baby Shark, holding the top spot as the most-viewed YouTube video ever with over 16 billion views, followed by children's songs like Cocomelon's "Wheels on the Bus" and music videos such as "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi. While "Despacito" was previously the most-watched music video for a long time, "Baby Shark" surpassed it and remains the overall most-viewed video, reflecting the immense popularity of kids' content on the platform.
As of early January 2026, The Weeknd is generally considered #1 on Spotify for monthly listeners, but Taylor Swift is the most-streamed artist in Spotify's history and often leads overall popularity, with Bruno Mars recently hitting a historic 150 million monthly listeners. The #1 spot can change daily, but The Weeknd currently leads in recent monthly listeners, while Bad Bunny remains a top contender, and Taylor Swift dominates overall historical streams.
Kumar Sanu holds an unbeaten 1993 record for recording 28 songs in a single day, recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records. Having sung in over 30 Indian languages, his global appeal even led the mayor of Dayton, Ohio to declare March 31 as Kumar Sanu Day.
The great French organist and composer Louis Vierne (1870-1937) died while performing an organ recital at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris - right in front of the console.