Domenico Modugno, “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)”
Peak date: Aug. 18, 1958
Peak position: No. 1 (five weeks)
Language: Italian
Listen here.
Every Non-English-Language Song to Reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100
Written by djfrosty on February 27, 2023
Bizarrap and Shakira’s collaboration “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated Jan. 28.
The track, recorded almost entirely in Spanish, earns Bizarrap his first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 and Shakira her fifth, and first since her Beyoncé team-up “Beautiful Liar” in 2007. It also earns the distinction as just the 30th non-English-language song to reach the Hot 100’s top 10 – out of over 5,000 top 10s in the chart’s 64-year history.
Shakira also makes history as the first solo woman to score a Hot 100 top 10 recorded in Spanish. (The group Mocedades’ “Eres Tu [Touch the Wind]” became the first such top 10 with lead female vocals in 1974; see below.)
“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” drew 20.2 million U.S. streams, 7.9 million radio airplay audience impressions and 9,000 downloads sold its first full tracking week (Jan. 13-19), according to Luminate. Shakira’s previous four top 10s are sung primarily in English: “Whenever, Wherever” (No. 6 peak in 2001), “Underneath Your Clothes” (No. 9, 2002), “Hips Don’t Lie,” featuring Wyclef Jean (No. 1 for two weeks, 2006), and “Beautiful Liar,” with Beyoncé (No. 3, 2007).
Looking at the other 29 non-English-language top 10s, Bad Bunny tallies the most, with seven (four of which are from his 2022 smash album Un Verano Sin Ti), followed by BTS (five) and PSY (two).
Nine of the 30 songs have reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, including Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” (featuring Justin Bieber), which spent a then-record-tying 16 weeks at No. 1 in 2017, and Los Del Rio’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” which ruled for 14 weeks in 1996. The most recent No. 1 is Coldplay and BTS’ “My Universe,” which contains both Korean and English lyrics, from 2021.
Spanish is the most common non-English language listed below (15 of 30 top 10s), followed by Korean (seven), German (three), French and Italian (two each) and Japanese (one).
Meanwhile, 18 of the 30 top 10s have reached the tier since 2012, following a 16-year break between “Macarena” and PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” The influx coincides with music’s increased globalization, as highlighted by hits from Bad Bunny and BTS, among others.
In chronological order of their peak dates, here are all 30 primarily or all non-English-language songs to reach the Hot 100’s top 10 (with thanks to Paul Haney at Joel Whitburn’s Record Research for research assistance). (The list does not include songs with relatively minimal portions in other languages, such as Enrique Iglesias’ “Bailamos” or Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin’s “I Like It.”)
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Lolita, “Sailor (Your Home Is the Sea)”
Peak date: Dec. 19, 1960
Peak position: No. 5
Language: GermanListen here.
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Emilio Pericoli, “Al Di La'”
Peak date: July 7, 1962
Peak position: No. 6
Language: ItalianListen here.
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Kyu Sakamoto, “Sukiyaki”
Peak date: June 15, 1963
Peak position: No. 1 (three weeks)
Language: JapaneseListen here.
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The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire), “Dominique”
Peak date: Dec. 7, 1963
Peak position: No. 1 (four weeks)
Language: FrenchListen here.
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The Sandpipers, “Guantanamera”
Peak date: Sept. 17, 1966
Peak position: No. 9
Language: SpanishListen here.
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Mocedades, “Eres Tu (Touch the Wind)”
Peak date: March 23, 1974
Peak position: No. 9
Language: SpanishListen here.
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Nena, “99 Luftballons”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: March 3, 1984
Peak position: No. 2
Language: German -
Falco, “Rock Me Amadeus”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: March 29, 1986
Peak position: No. 1 (three weeks)
Language: German -
Los Lobos, “La Bamba”
Peak date: Aug. 29, 1987
Peak position: No. 1 (three weeks)
Language: SpanishListen here.
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Enigma, “Sadeness (Part 1)”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: April 6, 1991
Peak position: No. 5
Language: Latin/French -
Los Del Rio, “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: Aug. 3, 1996
Peak position: No. 1 (14 weeks)
Language: Spanish -
PSY, “Gangnam Style”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: Oct. 6, 2012
Peak position: No. 2
Language: Korean -
PSY, “Gentleman”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: May 4, 2013
Peak position: No. 5
Language: KoreanListen here.
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Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber, “Despacito”
Peak date: May 27, 2017
Peak position: No. 1 (16 weeks)
Language: SpanishListen here.
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J Balvin & Willy William feat. Beyoncé, “Mi Gente”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: Oct. 21, 2017
Peak position: No. 3
Language: Spanish -
BTS, “Fake Love”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: June 2, 2018
Peak position: No. 10
Language: Korean -
Bad Bunny feat. Drake, “MIA”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: Oct. 27, 2018
Peak position: No. 5
Language: Spanish -
BTS feat. Halsey, “Boy With Luv”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: April 27, 2019
Peak position: No. 8
Language: Korean -
BTS, “On”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: March 7, 2020
Peak position: No. 4
Language: Korean -
BTS, “Life Goes On”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: Dec. 5, 2020
Peak position: No. 1 (one week)
Language: Korean -
Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez, “Dakiti”
Peak date: Dec. 12, 2020
Peak position: No. 5
Language: Spanish -
Jose Feliciano, “Feliz Navidad”
Peak date: Jan. 2, 2021
Peak position: No. 6
Language: SpanishListen here.
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Bad Bunny, “Yonaguni”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: June 19, 2021
Peak position: No. 10
Language: Spanish -
Coldplay x BTS, “My Universe”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: Oct. 9, 2021
Peak position: No. 1 (one week)
Language: Korean -
Bad Bunny, “Moscow Mule”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: May 21, 2022
Peak position: No. 4
Language: Spanish -
Bad Bunny, “Tití Me Preguntó”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: May 21, 2022
Peak position: No. 5
Language: Spanish -
Bad Bunny, “Despues de La Playa”
Peak date: May 21, 2022
Peak position: No. 6
Language: SpanishListen here.
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Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone, “Me Porto Bonito”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: July 23, 2022
Peak position: No. 6
Language: Spanish -
Bizarrap & Shakira, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Peak date: Jan. 28, 2023
Peak position: No. 9
Language: Spanish