Every Non-English Song to Reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100
Written by djfrosty on January 24, 2023
Bizarrap and Shakira’s new collaboration “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” debuts at No. 9 on the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Jan. 28).
The track, recorded entirely in Spanish, earns Bizarrap his first career top 10 hit on the chart, and Shakira her fifth, and first since her Beyonce team-up “Beautiful Liar” in 2007. It also earns the distinction as the 30th non-English-language song to reach the top 10 of the chart in history. That total is out of over 5,000 top 10s to date in the chart’s 65-year history.
“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” debuts with 20.2 million U.S. streams, 7.9 million radio airplay audience impressions, and 9,000 downloads sold in the latest Jan. 13-19 tracking week, according to Luminate. Shakira’s previous four top 10s were sung in primarily 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 Beyonce (No. 3, 2007).
Looking at the other 29 non-English-language top 10s, Bad Bunny boasts the most, with seven (four of which appeared on his 2022 smash album Un Verano Sin Ti), followed by BTS (five) and PSY (two).
Nine of the 30 songs have reached No. 1, 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 such hit was Coldplay and BTS’ “My Universe, which contains both Korean and English, in 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).
Notably, the 30 top 10s below are sung entirely or mainly in a language other than English. The list does not include songs with portions in other languages, such as “Enrique Iglesias’ “Bailamos” or Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin’s “I Like It.”
In chronological order of their peak dates, here are all 30 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).
Artist, Title, Peak Date, Peak Position (weeks at No. 1), Language
Domenico Modugno, “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare),” Aug. 18, 1958, No. 1 (five weeks), Italian
Lolita, “Sailor (Your Home Is the Sea),” Dec. 19, 1960, No. 5, German
Emilio Pericoli, “Al Di La’,” July 7, 1962, No. 6, Italian
Kyu Sakamoto, “Sukiyaki,” June 15, 1963, No. 1 (three weeks), Japanese
The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire), “Dominique,” Dec. 7, 1963, No. 1 (four weeks), French
The Sandpipers, “Guantanamera,” Sept. 17, 1966, No. 9, Spanish
Mocedades, “Eres Tu (Touch the Wind),” March 23, 1974, No. 9, Spanish
Nena, “99 Luftballons,” March 3, 1984, No. 2, German
Falco, “Rock Me Amadeus,” March 29, 1986, No. 1 (three weeks), German
Los Lobos, “La Bamba,” Aug. 29, 1987, No. 1 (three weeks), Spanish
Enigma, “Sadeness (Part 1),” April 6, 1991, No. 5, Latin/French
Los Del Rio, “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” Aug. 3, 1996, No. 1 (14 weeks), Spanish
PSY, “Gangnam Style,” Oct. 6, 2012, No. 2, Korean
PSY, “Gentleman,” May 4, 2013, No. 5, Korean
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber, “Despacito,” May 27, 2017, No. 1 (16 weeks), Spanish
J Balvin & Willy William feat. Beyoncé, “Mi Gente,” Oct. 21, 2017, No. 3, Spanish
BTS, “Fake Love,” June 2, 2018, No. 10, Korean
Bad Bunny feat. Drake, “MIA,” Oct. 27, 2018, No. 5, Spanish
BTS feat. Halsey, “Boy With Luv,” April 27, 2019, No. 8, Korean
BTS, “On,” March 7, 2020, No. 4, Korean
BTS, “Life Goes On,” Dec. 5, 2020, No. 1 (one week), Korean
Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez, “Dakiti,” Dec. 12, 2020, No. 5, Spanish
Jose Feliciano, “Feliz Navidad,” Jan. 2, 2021, No. 6, Spanish
Bad Bunny, “Yonaguni,” June 19, 2021, No. 10, Spanish
Coldplay x BTS, “My Universe,” Oct. 9, 2021, No. 1 (one week), Korean
Bad Bunny, “Moscow Mule,” May 21, 2022, No. 4, Spanish
Bad Bunny, “Tití Me Preguntó,” May 21, 2022, No. 5, Spanish
Bad Bunny, “Despues de La Playa,” May 21, 2022, No. 6, Spanish
Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone, “Me Porto Bonito,” July 23, 2022, No. 6, Spanish
Bizarrap & Shakira, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” Jan. 28, 2023, No. 9, Spanish