Most number one singles by a songwriter (US/UK)
The most successful songwriters in terms of number one singles are John Lennon (1940-80) and Paul McCartney (b. 18 Jun 1942).
As of June 2023, "Blinding Lights" (2019) by Canadian singer the Weeknd is the most-streamed song of all time on Spotify, while "Dance Monkey" (2019) by Australian singer-songwriter Tones and I is the most-streamed song by a female artist.
The richest songwriter of all time is Andrew Lloyd Webber. Webber is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. He's composed songs for the most loved musicals, such as Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
1 singles by a female artist. Mariah Carey (USA) has topped the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on 19 different occasions.
Madonna is recognized by Guinness World Records as the "Best-selling female recording artist of all time".
A unique hybrid of singer and songwriter, top-line songwriters work in popular music genres, where they create the vocal melodies, harmonies, and lyrics to accompany producers' "beats"—digitally constructed instrumental tracks.
The Guinness World Records lists Barry Gibb as the second most successful songwriter in history behind Paul McCartney, over a career spanning more than fifty years.
Garth Brooks is the artist with the most diamond albums.
It broke three UK chart records in the process. With 44 years since her last number one, "Wuthering Heights" in 1978, Bush surpassed Tom Jones's 42-year gap between number ones and replaced Cher as the oldest female solo chart-topping artist at 63 years and 11 months.
The Bodyguard soundtrack by Whitney Houston (with various artists) is the best-selling album credited to a woman; its sales are over 50 million copies since its release in November 1992.
Michael Jackson's Thriller, estimated to have sold 70 million copies worldwide, is the best-selling album ever. Jackson also currently has the highest number of albums on the list with five, Celine Dion has four, while the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Madonna and Whitney Houston each have three.
Song achievements
"I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas holds the record for the biggest-selling digital download in the U.S, with sales of over 8 million copies by 2012. The song was the first to surpass 6–8 million downloads.
The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits of all time: 20.
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)
The first number-one song of the Billboard Hot 100 was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson, on August 4, 1958. As of the issue for the week ending on June 17, 2023, the Billboard Hot 100 has had 1,149 different number-one entries.