R&B/Hip-Hop

Hot 100 peak date: Jan. 30, 1965

On the first Hot 100 of 2025, dated Jan. 4, the late legend ranks in the top 10 with “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” Martin appeared on the first Hot 100, dated Aug. 4, 1958, and boasts a 66-year and five-month span of gracing the chart. He shares the record span with, also via resurgent holiday hits, the late Chuck Berry, Nat King Cole, Perry Como and Frank Sinatra.

Hot 100 peak date: Oct. 1, 1966

Joining Martin in the latest Hot 100’s top 20, Sinatra ranks at No. 18 with his jolly version of “Jingle Bells.”

Hot 100 peak date: Jan. 28, 1967

The song dates to 1932, and was recorded on 1946’s The Voice of Frank Sinatra, his debut LP. It was also central to the 1991 film The Commitments, with the movie’s namesake group taking its version to No. 67 on the Hot 100. In 2015, the song gained entrance to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Hot 100 peak date:  Jan. 27, 1968

The colorful track has since scored numerous commercial and TV syncs.

Hot 100 peak date: April 20, 1974

“I always think of myself as being in a band,” Joel mused to Billboard in 2014. “I know it’s called ‘Billy Joel,’ I’m the guy out front singing, I do the writing. But I always feel like when we’re on stage, it’s a band effort, and I was always in bands all through my teenage years. People always think I was just playing in a piano bar, [but] I only did that for about six months. The rest of the time I was playing in bands. One of my fantasies was always: Wouldn’t it be cool if I was just in a blues band playing Hammond B3, with the shades, sitting in the back, and let somebody else be out front making a fool out of themselves?”

Hot 100 peak date: April 3, 1976

The song became the first of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson’s four No. 1 collaborations on the Hot Country Songs chart. Their last, 1985’s “Highwayman,” also includes Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson.

Hot 100 peak date: Feb. 18, 1978

The single followed Meco’s 1977 two-week disco Hot 100 No. 1 “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band.” In 1980, he again mined the franchise with “Empire Strikes Back (Medley),” which blasted to No. 18.

Hot 100 peak date: April 15, 1978

Less than a decade later, one of Gold’s two signature songs segued from radio and turntables to TV, as Cynthia Fee famously covered it as the theme to NBC’s beloved sitcom The Golden Girls.

Hot 100 peak date: Sept. 2, 1978

Following “Macho Man,” the Village People charted fellow dance floor staples “Y.M.C.A.” (No. 2 peak on the Hot 100), “In the Navy” (No. 3) and “Go West” (No. 45), all in 1979. In 2024, “Y.M.C.A.” tallied five weeks at No. 1 on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales.

Hot 100 peak date: Nov. 24, 1979

Muppet master Jim Henson notched two top 40 Hot 100 hits: “Rubber Duckie” via Ernie (No. 16, 1970), and Kermit the Frog’s sing-along favorite from The Muppet Movie. Paul Williams, who wrote the latter with Kenneth Ascher, told Billboard in 2019 that the song was inspired by Jiminy Cricket’s Pinocchio classic “When You Wish Upon a Star.”

“‘How do we do that for Kermit, you know?’” Williams recalled. “This is Kermit’s ‘I am’ song. He’s responsible and easygoing. He’s remarkable. The writing of the song – ‘What’s on the other side?’ – got us into a place where Kermit could be somebody that was amazed … the questions are even holier than the answers.”

Hot 100 peak date: May 8, 1982

Post previously hit No. 10 with fellow TV instrumentals “The Rockford Files” in 1975 and “The Theme From Hill Street Blues” in 1981.

Hot 100 peak date: Aug. 14, 1982

Following her debut pop-punk classic, Wilde hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1987 with her cover of The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”

Hot 100 peak date: Oct. 1, 1983

The song hit the Hot 100’s top 10 at last … as part of John and Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)” mashup, which rose to No. 7 in 2022.

Hot 100 peak date: May 26, 1984

The single is the hard rock band’s second-highest-charting Hot 100 hit. Ballad “Wind of Change” reached No. 3 in 1991.

Hot 100 peak date: March 23, 1985

The track became the fifth Hot 100 hit from Prince’s seminal Purple Rain soundtrack, following four top 10s: “When Doves Cry” (No. 1 for five weeks), “Let’s Go Crazy” (No. 1, two weeks), the title cut (No. 2) and “I Would Die 4 U” (No. 8).

Hot 100 peak date: Dec. 3, 1988

The ballad between Streisand and her then-boyfriend became her 20th top 40 Hot 100 hit and his second. “This guy was lean and tan, with an easy grin (and good teeth),” Streisand wrote in her 2023 memoir My Name Is Barbra. “His name was Don Johnson, and he was the heartthrob of the moment on the TV series Miami Vice. I have to admit, I’m very attracted to attractive men. (OK, so I’m superficial!) It’s almost like an aesthetic thing … like a piece of art. I collect!”

Hot 100 peak date: Oct. 16, 1993

The Arizona jangly alt-rockers also hit No. 25 with their second Hot 100 hit, “Found Out About You.” In 1996, they reached the top 10 with the double-sided “Til I Hear It From You”/“Follow You Down.”

“That’s all you could really hope for – like, a legacy,” lead singer Robin Wilson in 2022 told Billboard of the band, which has tour dates lined up this year. “To retain your credibility, and your ability to sell tickets. And it’s just cool to be a part of the big rock story. And that’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do: be in a band. So, it still just amazes me that I’m still doing it.”

Hot 100 peak date: Aug. 13, 1994

The single became Etheridge’s first of five consecutive top 40 Hot 100 hits through 1996, a run including the top 10 “I’m the Only One.” She added one more in 2005, the No. 32-peaking Janis Joplin tribute “Cry Baby”/“Piece of My Heart” with Joss Stone.

Hot 100 peak date: Sept. 16, 1995

The joyous single became the third of McGraw’s 26 No. 1s on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Hot 100 peak date: Nov. 13, 1999

The song is one of the group’s nine top 10s on the Pop Airplay chart. It followed their first No. 1, the classic (and no longer quite so mysterious lyrically) “I Want It That Way.”

Hot 100 peak date: March 25, 2000

The track became the first of the hip-hop superstars’ six Hot 100 team-ups. Dr. Dre’s sixth top 40 entry, it marked Eminem’s second, after “My Name Is” reached No. 36 in 1999.

Hot 100 peak date: Sept. 15, 2021

The band updated The Monkees’ Neil Diamond-written classic, which dominated the Hot 100 for seven weeks in 1966-67, for the Shrek soundtrack. Monkee Micky Dolenz sings the song solo as the closing cut on his newly released album recorded at The Troubadour in Los Angeles.

Hot 100 peak date: Aug. 3, 2002

The patriotic single stands as one of the late Keith’s 20 No. 1s on Hot Country Songs.

Hot 100 peak date: Feb. 23, 2013

Among its many syncs, the empowerment anthem has been heard at NFL Hall of Fame Games.

Hot 100 peak date: Oct. 14, 2023

Following a dozen Hot 100 hits in 1998-2002, the band returned with the single from the Trolls Band Together soundtrack. The quintet’s Justin Timberlake called the song “a love letter to our fans.”

As Trolls Band Together chronicles a boy band reunion, the franchise’s producer/music supervisor Gina Shay told Billboard that the movie’s plot had been set long before any plans of an *NSYNC comeback. “The movie’s story [had] been solid for about four years,” she said, “so it was just that perfect confluence of a song to reunite *NSYNC.”