An elite 12 artists have achieved top 10 placements on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in four or more decades, led by Andy Williams and Michael Jackson, with top 10 ranks in five decades each.
The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits of all time: 20. Though unclear for how long, the Beatles still reign supreme as the artist with the most No. 1 songs of all time.
The Beatles dropped to second behind Drake with 29 top five hits and were followed by Madonna with 28, Mariah Carey with 27, Janet Jackson with 26, Rihanna with 23 and Elvis Presley with 21.
With 40 top 10 hits in the Hot 100 over her career, Swift surpassed Madonna as the woman with the most top 10s in the chart's history. (Madonna has 38 top 10 singles.) Swift is only surpassed by Drake, who counts 59 top 10 hits.
Madonna is recognized by Guinness World Records as the "Best-selling female recording artist of all time".
According to Guinness World Records, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies.
Cher's career as a recording artist spans seven decades and she is the only artist to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades.
Frankie Laine – I Believe (18 weeks)
Famous composer Mantovani then claimed the Number 1 spot, before Frankie gave him a nudge and racked up an additional three weeks. Only five songs in history have scored three separate stints at the top!
Top-selling artists worldwide as of 2022
Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 183 million units certified sales. Second is Garth Brooks with over 157 million units sales, followed by Elvis Presley with 139 million units.
Mariah Carey (USA) has topped the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on 19 different occasions.
The Beatles
Comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, The Beatles are globally recognized and are credited with inspiring many famous musicians to pursue music. The most influential band of all time, The Beatles are creative and innovative, and a deserving band at the top of this list.
1, Stevie became the youngest solo artist to have topped the Billboard Hot 100 – though another future Motown superstar, Michael Jackson, was aged just 11 years 155 days when The Jackson Five's “I Want You Back” topped the Billboard charts in January 1970.
Elvis Presley was the first artist to log 60 weeks at No. 1. He reached that milestone in the Billboard issue dated April 14, 1962, when his Blue Hawaii soundtrack was in its 18th of 20 weeks on top.
Only 66 songs have debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 (out of more than 1,100 No. 1 hits).
Abel Tesfaye, more commonly known as The Weeknd, is statistically the most popular musician on the planet, and no one else even comes close. The 33-year-old Canadian singer's success has seen him set two new Guinness World Records titles: Most monthly listeners on Spotify – 111.4 million (as of 20 March 2023)
Michael Jackson
As the King of Pop, it makes sense to begin the list with Michael Jackson. The legendary singer achieved fame at a young age through his musical family and their group the Jackson 5.
Garth Brooks is the artist with the most diamond albums.
Come On Over by Shania Twain is recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest-selling studio album by a solo female artist with over 40 million copies.
Most recorded artist in music history - Asha Bhosle
In 1974, the Guinness Book of Records had older sister Mangeshkar (now 87) down as recording the most songs in history - a staggering 25,000.
Selena Gomez is the most-followed woman, actor, musician and North American on Instagram, with over 420 million followers. Virat Kohli is the most-followed Asian on Instagram, with over 250 million followers. Khaby Lame is the most-followed African on Instagram, with over 79 million followers.
Madonna currently holds the record for the most number-one songs in the 43-year history of the chart, with 50. The only other artists to have achieved more than 20 chart toppers are Rihanna (33) and Beyonce (22).