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Discover the biggest stars in the history of the Billboard music chart

WHO ARE THE BIGGEST STARS OF ALL TIME?

For the last 60 years Billboard Magazine has released a Year-End Chart featuring the most popular songs of that year. The chart is published in the final print issue of the year in the last week of December.

To determine the most successful music artists of all time I downloaded all the charts since 1955 from Wikipedia and crunched the numbers. The results are mostly obvious to music fans, though the ordering may surprise some.

Enjoy!
Stephen Phillips @huntedguy

#1 Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley is the most successful artist in the history of the Billboard charts. Elvis has the most appearances on the Billboard charts with 36 from 1954 to 1962. Elvis was the most popular artist of the 1950's and second most popular in the 1960's with The Beatles. His biggest hits were Heartbreak Hotel (1956) and All Shook Up (1957) which both ended the year at number one.

Top Tens

1956 #1 - Heartbreak Hotel
1956 #2 - Don't Be Cruel
1956 #8 - Hound Dog
1957 #1 - All Shook Up
1957 #9 - Too Much
1958 #3 - Don't
1960 #7 - It's Now or Never
1960 #9 - Stuck on You
1965 #9 - Crying in the Chapel

#2 MARIAH CAREY

Mariah Carey's songs have featured on the Year End Billboard chart 26 times from 1990 to 2009. With six massive top 10 hits Mariah Carey dominated the 1990's. We Belong Together (2005) and Hero (1995) were her most popular songs.

Top Tens

1990 #6 - Vision of Love
1993 #8 - Dreamlover
1994 #5 - Hero
1995 #7 - Fantasy
1996 #5 - Always Be My Baby
2005 #1 - We Belong Together

#3 MADONNA

Madonna had an amazing 35 chart appearances from 1984 to 2006. She dominated the charts in the 1980's. Madonna never reached number one at year end. Her most popular songs where Like a Virgin (1982) which ended the year at #2 and Vogue (1990) at #5.

Top Tens

1985 #2 - Like a Virgin
1985 #9 - Crazy for You
1990 #5 - Vogue
1995 #8 - Take a Bow

#4 THE BEATLES

The Beatles dominated the 1960s with 26 appearances on the Billboard chart. In 1964 they debuted at #1 with I Want to Hold Your Hand and had another #1 in 1968 with Hey Jude (1968). Their biggest hits included She Loves You (1964), Help (1965) and Let it Be (197) which all made the top 10 in their year. Their last song to crack the top 50 was The Long and Winding Road (1970).

Top Tens

1964 #1 - I Want to Hold Your Hand
1964 #2 - She Loves You
1965 #7 - Help!
1968 #1 - Hey Jude
1970 #9 - Let It Be

#5 ELTON JOHN

Elton John's chart topping career spanned the 1970s and 1980s with 26 songs on the Billboard charts. Elton debuted on the chart with Rocket Man (1972) at #7 but it wasn't until 1997 he had his first #1 with Candle in the Wind (1997).

Top Tens

1973 #7 - Crocodile Rock
1974 #9 - Bennie and the Jets
1975 #3 - Philadelphia Freedom
1997 #1 - Candle in the Wind

Top 100 Artists

Artists were ranked by their success on the Year End Billboard Charts from 1954 to 2014. Each song is given a score of 100 minus it's chart position (e.g. a #1 chart position gives the song a score of 99). The overall score for each artist is the sum of all the song scores by the artist appearing on the chart.

You can download the source data here.

1. Elvis Presley - 36 songs
2. Mariah Carey - 25 songs
3. Madonna - 35 songs
4. The Beatles - 26 songs
5. Elton John - 26 songs
6. Janet Jackson - 22 songs
7. Whitney Houston - 19 songs
8. Michael Jackson - 22 songs
9. Stevie Wonder - 22 songs
10. Rihanna - 18 songs
11. Usher - 14 songs
12. Katy Perry - 14 songs
13. Pink - 17 songs
14. The Black Eyed Peas - 16 songs
15. Bee Gees - 12 songs
16. Boyz 2 Men - 13 songs
17. Pat Boone - 16 songs
18. Kelly Clarkson - 16 songs
19. Ricky Nelson - 16 songs
20. Rod Stewart - 14 songs
21. The Supremes - 12 songs
22. Taylor Swift - 15 songs
23. The Everly Brothers - 12 songs
24. Phil Collins - 13 songs
25. Chicago - 15 songs
26. TLC - 10 songs
27. Olivia Newton-John - 12 songs
28. Maroon 5 - 11 songs
29. The Rolling Stones - 13 songs
30. Destiny's Child - 11 songs
31. The Temptations - 13 songs
32. Bruno Mars - 8 songs
33. Britney Spears - 16 songs
34. Lady Gaga - 10 songs
35. Duran Duran - 11 songs
36. Billy Joel - 12 songs
37. Perry Como - 11 songs
38. Connie Francis - 11 songs
39. The Beach Boys - 13 songs
40. Lionel Richie - 12 songs
41. Donna Summer - 10 songs
42. Daryl Hall & John Oates - 11 songs
43. Alicia Keys - 11 songs
44. Kool & The Gang - 13 songs
45. Paul Anka - 12 songs
46. Nickelback - 11 songs
47. Celine Dion - 9 songs
48. Diana Ross - 11 songs
49. The Carpenters - 11 songs
50. The Platters - 8 songs
51. Toni Braxton - 9 songs
52. Bon Jovi - 11 songs
53. Three Dog Night - 9 songs
54. Monica - 8 songs
55. Beyoncé - 11 songs
56. Marvin Gaye - 11 songs
57. R. Kelly - 13 songs
58. George Michael - 11 songs
59. Bryan Adams - 11 songs
60. Cher - 11 songs
61. Richard Marx - 10 songs
62. Roy Orbison - 8 songs
63. Aretha Franklin - 14 songs
64. Huey Lewis And The News - 10 songs
65. The Jackson 5 - 7 songs
66. Bobby Darin - 9 songs
67. Eagles - 8 songs
68. Miley Cyrus - 9 songs
69. Barbra Streisand - 7 songs
70. Prince - 9 songs
71. 3 Doors Down - 8 songs
72. Backstreet Boys - 7 songs
73. Brenda Lee - 11 songs
74. Justin Timberlake - 9 songs
75. Christina Aguilera - 7 songs
76. Eminem - 12 songs
77. Air Supply - 8 songs
78. Commodores - 8 songs
79. Ray Charles - 10 songs
80. Neil Diamond - 12 songs
81. Foreigner - 9 songs
82. Roxette - 6 songs
83. Styx - 9 songs
84. Paula Abdul - 7 songs
85. The Four Seasons - 8 songs
86. Nat King Cole - 9 songs
87. Ne-Yo - 10 songs
88. Tommy James And The Shondells - 6 songs
89. Barry Manilow - 11 songs
90. John Denver - 6 songs
91. Aerosmith - 12 songs
92. Andy Gibb - 7 songs
93. Sly & The Family Stone - 6 songs
94. Andy Williams - 10 songs
95. Kenny Rogers - 9 songs
96. Aaliyah - 11 songs
97. Heart - 8 songs
98. Sheryl Crow - 8 songs
99. Billy Ocean - 6 songs
100. Ke$ha - 7 songs

References