The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ Is the New No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 Song of All Time.
The Weeknd‘s “Blinding Lights” shines brightest among the nearly 30,000 titles ever to hit the Billboard Hot 100 over the chart’s 63-year history, as the single, released in November 2019, is the newly crowned No. 1 on Billboard‘s Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs recap.
Meanwhile, The Beatles remain the leading act in the Hot 100’s archives, topping Billboard‘s Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists retrospective.
Both 100-position charts, based on historical performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100, are updated as of today (Nov. 23) in the Greatest of All Time section of the charts menu on Billboard.com. (See both all-time surveys’ methodologies below; the all-time chart was first revealed in 2008, for the Hot 100’s 50th anniversary, and refreshed in both 2013 and 2018.)
Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs, Top 10:
1, “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd
2, “The Twist,” Chubby Checker
3, “Smooth,” Santana feat. Rob Thomas
4, “Mack the Knife,” Bobby Darin
5, “Uptown Funk!,” Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
6, “How Do I Live,” LeAnn Rimes
7, “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock
8, “I Gotta Feeling,” The Black Eyed Peas
9, “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio
10, “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran
“Blinding Lights” rules Billboard‘s Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs chart after it logged a record-shattering run on the weekly Hot 100. After topping the chart for four weeks in April and May 2020, it went on to rewrite the marks for the most weeks spent in the top five (43), top 10 (57) and top 40 (86) and on the chart overall (90).
“I don’t think [it] has hit me yet,” The Weeknd told Billboard upon learning of the song’s reigning all-time Hot 100 status. “I try not to dwell on it too much. I just count my blessings, and I’m just grateful.”
“Blinding Lights” succeeds Chubby Checker‘s classic “The Twist” as the Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs’ No. 1 hit, with the latter having led the Hot 100 for a week in September 1960 and again for two frames in January 1962. The transformative hit, now at No. 2, ruled the first recap in 2008 and retained the title through updates five and 10 years later.
Rounding out the top five of the new Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs chart, Santana‘s 12-week No. 1 in 1999-2000, “Smooth,” featuring Rob Thomas, ranks at No. 3, followed by Bobby Darin‘s “Mack the Knife” (nine weeks, 1959) at No. 3 and Mark Ronson‘s “Uptown Funk!,” featuring Bruno Mars, at No. 5 (14 weeks, 2015).
“Blinding Lights” is one of three songs to peak in the 2020s on the Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs survey, with Dua Lipa‘s “Levitating” at No. 32 and 24kGoldn‘s “Mood,” featuring iann dior, at No. 49.
Plus, the longest-leading No. 1 on the Hot 100’s history ranks at No. 41 on Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs: Lil Nas X‘s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, which dominated for 19 weeks in 2019.
Four other songs are new to the all-time chart since the 2018 edition: Post Malone‘s “Circles” (No. 19, from 2019); Maroon 5‘s “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B (No. 30, 2018); Post Malone and Swae Lee‘s “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” (No. 75, 2019); and Drake‘s “God’s Plan” (No. 83, 2018).
Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists, Top 10:
1, The Beatles
2, Madonna
3, Elton John
4, Elvis Presley
5, Mariah Carey
6, Stevie Wonder
7, Janet Jackson
8, Michael Jackson
9, Whitney Houston
10, Rihanna
Meanwhile, The Beatles defend their No. 1 ranking on Billboard‘s Greatest of All-Time Hot 100 Artists chart (among close to 8,000 acts ever to appear on the weekly Hot 100). The icons, who also led the 2008, 2013 and 2018 all-time iterations, boast a record 20 No. 1s on the weekly Hot 100, among 34 top 10s, the most among groups.
Madonna, with 38 Hot 100 top 10s, the most among women, ranks second on Greatest of All-Time Hot 100 Artists, followed in the top five by, at No. 3, Elton John, currently at his highest rank on the weekly Hot 100 since 1998 with “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” with Dua Lipa; at No. 4, Elvis Presley, even with his career having predated the Hot 100’s inception by two years; and, at No. 5, Mariah Carey, who leads all soloists with 19 Hot 100 No. 1s, through her latest, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” her 1994 carol that jingled to the apex at last in 2019, and leads Billboard‘s new Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.
While the Greatest of All-Time Hot 100 Artists recap’s top 10 mirrors that of the 2018 tabulation, Drake jumps to within the edge of the tier, bounding from No. 22 to No. 11. His top 10 count on the weekly Hot 100 stands at a record 54, while he also holds the marks for the most top 40 hits (144) and entries on the chart overall (259). He has notched nine No. 1s, through “Way 2 Sexy,” featuring Future and Young Thug, this September.
Among other acts who made their Hot 100 debuts since 2000 and rank higher on the latest Greatest of All-Time Hot 100 Artists chart than on the 2018 tally: Taylor Swift (No. 21, up from No. 24); Maroon 5 (No. 24, up from No. 37); Bruno Mars (No. 29, up from No. 34); and Justin Bieber (No. 38, soaring from No. 93, driven by 12 more top 10s, including three No. 1s, since the 2018 ranking).
The Weeknd is additionally the top artist on the Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs recap that did not place on the 2018 list, at No. 43. He’s one of four acts who first appeared on the weekly Hot 100 in the 2010s making the historical chart for the first time, alongside Post Malone (No. 77), Ariana Grande (No. 78) and Ed Sheeran (No. 87).
Methodology: Billboard‘s Greatest of All-Time Hot 100 Songs and Artists rankings are based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 (from its inception on Aug. 4, 1958, through Nov. 6, 2021). Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods. Artists are ranked based on a formula blending performance, as outlined above, of all their Hot 100 chart entries.
