Ask Billboard: As Drake & SZA Debut, Which Hot 100 No. 1s Have Had the Most Star Power?

Gary Trust
·6 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Submit questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the United States.

Or, tweet @gthot20.

More from Billboard

Let’s open the latest mailbag.

That’s What Friends Are For

Hi Gary,

“He slimed me” is what Bill Murray’s character concedes in the original Ghostbusters. Ray Parker, Jr.’s classic title theme song from the 1984 movie hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that August, and while it doesn’t mention slime, it’s an honorary predecessor to “Slime You Out,” Drake’s new No. 1, featuring SZA.

Speaking of stars, like Murray, now with 14 Hot 100 No. 1s between Drake, up to 12, and SZA, at two, “Slime You Out” has notable star power, with the two acts having made so many visits to No. 1 combined. (Or, put another way, they’re rarely ghosting the chart.)

Thanks,

Pablo Nelson
Oakland, Calif.

Hi Pablo,

Regarding Drake and SZA, you and Billboard deputy editor Andrew Unterberger are on the same page (great minds think alike). Andrew Slacked on Tuesday: “new Stones + Gaga + Stevie collab = 23 combined Hot 100 No. 1s.”

The new Rolling Stones album, Hackney Diamonds, due Oct. 20, includes the collaboration “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” with Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder. Wonder boasts 10 career Hot 100 No. 1s, the Stones, eight, and Gaga, five.

If the song, released today (Sept. 28), were to top the Hot 100, it would up the legends’ totals to 26 combined No. 1s – which would mark the most for any No. 1 team-up over the chart’s history.

What songs would it overtake?

Here’s a look at the Hot 100 No. 1 collaborations by acts with the most combined leaders at the time of their coronations. Essentially, they’re the Hot 100 No. 1s with the most star power, as measured by the billed artists’ career No. 1 counts to that point.

As noted, for example, “Slime You Out” represents 14 total Hot 100 No. 1s per the list below, as it’s Drake’s 12th and SZA’s second. (A potential leading duet between Taylor Swift and, say … Travis Kelce would equal 11 No. 1s, given 10 for Swift and one for Kelce, should they together become chart chiefs.)

Artists’ Combined No. 1s Upon Each Song Hitting No. 1, Title, Artists (Individual No. 1s), Date Reached No. 1:

  • 21, “That’s What Friends Are For,” Dionne (Warwick) & Friends, Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder (2, 7, 2, 10), Jan. 18, 1986

  • 18, “The Monster,” Eminem feat. Rihanna (5, 13), Dec. 21, 2013

  • 18, “Get Back,” The Beatles with Billy Preston (17, 1), May 24, 1969

  • 17, “Thank God I Found You,” Mariah Carey feat. Joe & 98 Degrees (15, 1, 1), Feb. 19, 2000

  • 16, “Work,” Rihanna feat. Drake (14, 2), March 5, 2016

  • 16, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” George Michael/Elton John (8, 8), Feb. 1, 1992

  • 15, “Heartbreaker,” Mariah Carey feat. Jay-Z (14, 1), Oct. 9, 1999

  • 15, “Say Say Say,” Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson (9, 6), Dec. 10, 1983

  • 15, “Ebony and Ivory,” Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (8, 7), May 15, 1982

  • 14, “Slime You Out,” Drake feat. SZA (12, 2), Sept. 30, 2023

  • 14, “S&M,” Rihanna feat. Britney Spears (10, 4), April 30, 2011

  • 14, “One Sweet Day,” Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men (10, 4), Dec. 2, 1995

  • 13, “Die for You,” The Weeknd & Ariana Grande (7, 6), March 11, 2023

  • 13, “Jimmy Cooks,” Drake feat. 21 Savage (11, 2), July 2, 2022

  • 13, “Wait for U,” Future feat. Drake & Tems (2, 10, 1), May 14, 2022

  • 13, “Way 2 Sexy,” Drake feat. Future & Young Thug (9, 1, 3), Sept. 18, 2021

  • 12, “We Found Love,” Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris (11, 1), Nov. 12, 2011

By the metrics above, “Slime You Out” shines with the 10th-brightest star power for a collaborative Hot 100 No. 1, tied with Rihanna’s “S&M,” featuring Britney Spears, and Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day.” “S&M” is the only song above solely by women, while “One Sweet Day” reigned for a then-record 16 weeks.

The aptly titled “That’s What Friends Are For” leads the list above, marking the only Hot 100 No. 1 whose credited artists total over 20 leaders at the point of its ascent to the summit. Meanwhile, if Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga’s collaboration with the Rolling Stones hits No. 1, he would be a winner either way, as their combined leaders would surpass his, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight and Elton John’s sum of No. 1s when their ballad ruled.

(Further reflecting the everlasting reach of iconic artists, Warwick is heard on the Hot 100’s current runner-up song, and former No. 1, thanks to Doja Cat’s sample of Warwick’s 1964 classic “Walk on By” on “Paint the Town Red.”)

Other takeaways from scanning the stars above:

Among these elite Hot 100 No. 1s, Drake shows with five collaborations; Rihanna, with four; Mariah Carey, with three; and Future, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder with two each.

George Michael and John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” is the only Hot 100 No. 1 above between two artists each with at least eight leaders when it reigned.

On only three Hot 100 No. 1s above, featured acts have more No. 1s than lead acts: “That’s What Friends Are For” (John and Wonder); “The Monster” (Rihanna); and “Wait for U” (Drake).

“Get Back” reflects the greatest disparity between acts’ No. 1 totals on the Hot 100 among the songs above, given The Beatles’ 17 and Billy Preston’s one when it led. Still, Preston went on to earn two more leaders on his own: “Will It Go Round in Circles” in 1973 and “Nothing From Nothing” in 1974. (The Beatles added three more No. 1s, lifting them to a record 20 total.)

Meanwhile, if we included groups’ totals of Hot 100 No. 1s with solo leaders, McCartney and Michael Jackson’s “Say Say Say” would take the top spot above. Along with their respective nine and six leaders to that point, McCartney would add another 20 No. 1s via The Beatles, and Jackson, another four from the Jackson 5, making for an overall total of 39 visits to No. 1 by the pair at the time.

As for a song not on the list above, “We Are the World,” a four-week Hot 100 No. 1 in 1985 that dominated pop culture, and has since sparked donations of over $100 million to help alleviate poverty, was billed as by the collective USA for Africa. If the individual acts’ No. 1 totals, including the song, were counted, adding in solo and group sums, the ballad would amount to 90 career Hot 100 No. 1s among them as recording artists at the time. Eighteen acts with No. 1s contributed to the song, led by Diana Ross with six solo leaders and 12 as part of The Supremes. The other singers on the anthem that had led to that point: Lindsey Buckingham (who hit No. 1 in Fleetwood Mac), Kim Carnes, Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, James Ingram, Jackson, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Warwick and Wonder.

Best of Billboard

Click here to read the full article.