Madonna Joins Elite Company With Hot 100 Hits in Five Distinct Decades, Thanks to ‘Popular’ Debut

Madonna joins exclusive company in having hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart in five distinct decades, as “Popular,” with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, debuts on the June 17-dated list.

With the entrance, Madonna has debuted songs on the Hot 100 in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ’10s and now ‘20s.

Among women, Madonna joins Cher as the only women to have debuted titles on the Hot 100 in five separate decades, with Cher’s history on the chart spanning the ‘60s through the ‘00s.

(Brenda Lee is the only other woman to have appeared on the Hot 100 in five distinct decades; she debuted songs in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, while her chestnut “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” has re-entered annually in the ‘10s and ‘20s.)

“Popular” debuts on the Hot 100 at No. 43 with 10.1 million official streams, 2 million airplay audience impressions and 4,000 sold in the United States in its first week (June 2-8), according to Luminate.

The song, released June 2 on HBO/XO/Republic Records, is from the new HBO drama The Idol, which premiered June 4 and stars The Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp and Dan Levy, among others.

“Madonna … Madge. She’s the ultimate co-sign for this song, for this album and for this TV show,” The Weeknd beamed to Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe on June 2.

Here’s a look at the elite artists that have appeared on the Hot 100 in five or more decades. Three stars have done so in six decades: Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and Elvis Presley, with all three having extended their runs to a sixth decade each in the ‘20s thanks to seasonal re-entries. (Acts below designated with an asterisk likewise expanded their chart histories to a fifth decade each also via seasonal songs’ or other revived titles’ re-entries).

Acts With Hot 100 Hits in Six Decades:

Acts With Hot 100 Hits in Five Decades:

Thus, the only acts each to debut titles on the Hot 100 in five separate decades are Ray Charles, Cher, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Elvis Presley, Smokey Robinson, the Rolling Stones, Santana and Stevie Wonder.

Notably, Jackson and McCartney have been visitors to the Hot 100 in seven distinct decades each, additionally considering their runs in groups in the ‘60s: Jackson, thanks to the Jackson 5, and McCartney, via the Beatles.

The Queen of Pop adds her 58th Hot 100 hit, the seventh-most among women since the chart began with the survey dated Aug. 4, 1958. (It was a historic month for music; along with the Hot 100’s bow, Madonna was born Aug. 16, 1958, and Jackson, Aug. 29.) Taylor Swift leads all women with 190 Hot 100 entries, followed by Nicki Minaj (129), Beyoncé (81), Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande (73 each) and Rihanna (63). (Madonna breaks out of a tie with Miley Cyrus, who has logged 57 appearances.)

Madonna boasts her highest Hot 100 rank since 2012, when “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” featuring Minaj and M.I.A., hit No. 10, becoming her then-record 38th top 10. (Drake and Swift now have the only higher top 10 totals: 68 and 40, respectively.)

Concurrently, “Popular” debuts at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart, marking Madonna’s first appearance since the survey originated in 2012. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, it opens at No. 16, becoming her first entry since 1995. She claims her second-highest-charting Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs hit, after only “Like a Virgin” (No. 9, 1985). She has also reached the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs top 20 with “Vogue” (No. 16, 1990) and “Like a Prayer” (No. 20, 1989).

Meanwhile, Madonna has released new songs in consecutive weeks. Following the June 2 arrival of “Popular,” her team-up with Sam Smith, “Vulgar,” was released June 9. The tracks follow Madonna’s March 20 tease that she was working on new music with fellow pop titan Max Martin.

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