Most number one singles by a songwriter (US/UK) The most successful songwriters in terms of number one singles are John Lennon (1940-80) and Paul McCartney (b. 18 Jun 1942).
Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26), of The Beatles, rank first and second, respectively, for having written the most Hot 100 No. 1s, thanks to their respective group and solo outputs.
The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits of all time: 20. Though unclear for how long, the Beatles still reign supreme as the artist with the most No. 1 songs of all time.
The Beatles, unsurprisingly, lead the way with a record 20 No. 1s, all earned between 1964 and 1970. The Fab Four also scored 34 top 10s (second only to Madonna's 38), hitting No.
As to be expected, due to his far greater number of total chart entries, Elvis has the advantage over The Beatles in most performance categories. Presley placed 102 titles in Billboard's top 40, while The Beatles had 50 entries that made it that far up the chart.
Taylor Swift has once again made music history by claiming every single top 10 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart at once. No other artist has ever held all 10 spots at the same time, according to Billboard.
Top-selling artists worldwide as of 2022. Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 183 million units certified sales. Second is Garth Brooks with over 157 million units sales, followed by Elvis Presley with 139 million units.
1 singles by a solo artist. Mariah Carey (USA) has topped the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on 19 different occasions. Her first No.
Cher's career as a recording artist spans seven decades and she is the only artist to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades.
According to Guinness World Records, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies.
Trivia: Madonna is the highest-grossing solo artist of all time, the most-touring female musician ever, and the bestselling female recording artist of all time, globally.
1. Thriller by Michael Jackson. The album called Thriller is the first album on the list. It has sold around 70 million copies throughout the world.
The Weeknd Named the World's 'Most Popular Artist' by Guinness World Records. The singer's record-breaking streaming statistics helped him land the title.
Nielsen Music started tracking point-of-sales data for US music releases in 1991. In the 30+ years since, only 22 albums have sold at least 1 million copies in one week. Taylor Swift's "Midnights" is the first album to achieve the rare feat since her own "Reputation" in 2017.
Michael Jackson's Thriller, estimated to have sold 70 million copies worldwide, is the best-selling album ever. Jackson also currently has the highest number of albums on the list with five, Celine Dion has four, while the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Madonna and Whitney Houston each have three.
Lata Mangeshkar started her career in the year 1942 and over the years, she recorded as many as 50,000 songs in 14 languages. During the 1960s, she recorded 30,000 songs and won the Guinness World Record. Following the same, she became the most recorded voice in history.
Only 66 songs have debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 (out of more than 1,100 No. 1 hits).
In a decade that produced countless hits for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Cliff Richard and many more, Ken Dodd's track outsold them all – except for two songs by The Beatles: She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand, both released in 1963.
In terms of numbers, The Beatles have sold 36.5 million more albums in the U.S. than Elvis, yet Elvis sold 25.5 million more singles than The Beatles. Since albums usually contain 10-12 more songs than singles, The Beatles would clearly be the winner in terms of U.S. record sales.
Most number one singles by a songwriter (US/UK)
McCartney is credited as the writer on 32 number one hits in the US to Lennons 26 (with 23 co-written), whereas Lennon authored 29 UK number ones to McCartney's 28 (25 co-written).