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Yearly #1 Hit Songs in the U.S.

These songs were Billboard's top-charting songs for an entire year. Name the musical acts who recorded them.
Quiz idea: Evan Slack
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 6, 2022
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First submittedJanuary 2, 2013
Times taken72,437
Average score43.3%
Rating4.09
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Year
Song
Musical Act
2022
Heat Waves
Glass Animals
2021
Levitating
Dua Lipa
2020
Blinding Lights
The Weeknd
2019
Old Town Road
Lil Nas X
2018
God's Plan
Drake
2017
Shape of You
Ed Sheeran
2016
Love Yourself
Justin Bieber
2015
Uptown Funk
Mark Ronson
2014
Happy
Pharrell Williams
2013
Thrift Shop
Macklemore and
Ryan Lewis
2012
Somebody That I Used
to Know
Gotye
2011
Rolling in the Deep
Adele
2010
Tik Tok
Ke$ha
2009
Boom Boom Pow
Black Eyed Peas
2008
Low
Flo Rida
2007
Irreplaceable
Beyoncé
2006
Bad Day
Daniel Powter
2005
We Belong Together
Mariah Carey
2004
Yeah!
Usher
2003
In da Club
50 Cent
2002
How You Remind Me
Nickelback
2001
Hanging by a Moment
Lifehouse
2000
Breathe
Faith Hill
1999
Believe
Cher
1998
Too Close
Next
1997
Candle in the Wind
Elton John
1996
Macarena
Los del Rio
1995
Gangsta's Paradise
Coolio
1994
The Sign
Ace of Base
1993
I Will Always Love You
Whitney Houston
Year
Song
Musical Act
1992
End of the Road
Boyz II Men
1991
(Everything I Do)
I Do It for You
Bryan Adams
1990
Hold On
Wilson Phillips
1989
Look Away
Chicago
1988
Faith
George Michael
1987
Walk Like an Egyptian
The Bangles
1986
That's What Friends Are For
Dionne Warwick
1985
Careless Whisper
George Michael
1984
When Doves Cry
Prince
1983
Every Breath You Take
The Police
1982
Physical
Olivia Newton-John
1981
Bette Davis Eyes
Kim Carnes
1980
Call Me
Blondie
1979
My Sharona
The Knack
1978
Shadow Dancing
Andy Gibb
1977
Tonight's the Night
(Gonna Be Alright)
Rod Stewart
1976
Silly Love Songs
Wings
1975
Love Will Keep Us Together
Captain & Tennille
1974
The Way We Were
Barbra Streisand
1973
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round
the Ole Oak Tree
Tony Orlando and
Dawn
1972
The First Time Ever I
Saw Your Face
Roberta Flack
1971
Joy to the World
Three Dog Night
1970
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel
1969
Sugar, Sugar
The Archies
1968
Hey Jude
The Beatles
1967
To Sir With Love
Lulu
1966
California Dreamin'
The Mamas &
the Papas
1965
Wooly Bully
Sam the Sham and
the Pharaoh
1964
I Want To Hold Your Hand
The Beatles
1963
Surfin' U.S.A.
Beach Boys
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86 Comments
Marshmallow
+4
Level 19
Jan 7, 2013
surely 2012 should be psy?!?!
MavsFanForLife25
+4
Level 74
Dec 22, 2020
Popular for a few months but then died out on Spotify and sales. Youtube views don't count.
Atzuul
+5
Level 39
Aug 19, 2022
DID NOT DIE OUT WHERE WERE U BACK IN TEN YEARS AGO
hjwaller
+4
Level 17
Feb 27, 2023
YouTube views do count, but only after 2012 and because Gangnam Style was so popular.
Dimby
+6
Level 78
Dec 25, 2020
The Billboard chart is totally arbitrary. For awhile artists in the 90s manipulated the chart by holding off on an official release of a single so it could debut at #1. They didn't count YouTube hits for awhile, and when they finally did, a random French song had a video with girls kissing that went top 10 even though no one ever listened to it. Now Spotify plays give the chart a little more legitimacy, but the whole system is totally arbitrary. Rival chart Cashbox had different songs as the biggest hit of the year throughout the 60s and 70s because they measured different things (and were considerably more corrupt, selling chart positions for cash until that went public in the 90s and they collapsed as a result). Long story short, Billboard is not the greatest measure of popularity. More evidence... BTS's chart success in 2020 is very suspect to me.
Atzuul
+1
Level 39
Aug 5, 2022
GANGNAM STYLE
Coyuznik
+2
Level 84
Apr 10, 2014
More people got Adele than the Beatles? That's heavy... I mean... I feel like I'm drowning over here... ~\o/~
CardinalV
+22
Level 62
May 16, 2019
because the beatles are old and adele is now
ShievaAndGolly
+1
Level 56
Jan 24, 2024
But everyone knows who the Beatles are... right?
barmanitan
+2
Level 79
Feb 3, 2024
Also the Beatles songs are much further in the quiz, which probably contributes
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Feb 18, 2015
Please also accept Kimbra for the Gotye song.
buck1017
+5
Level 78
Apr 6, 2015
You don't include featured artists. You wouldn't include Little John with Yeah!
Jerry928
+2
Level 76
Feb 15, 2017
Ha! Here in New Zealand, Kimbra (from Hamilton, just down the road) got equal billing with Gotye from Belgium.
bebn123
+5
Level 60
Dec 22, 2020
Of course you wouldn't. He was too busy hanging out with Robin Hood.
JWC1202
+4
Level 74
Dec 10, 2018
You have a similar problem with Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. I typed Mars immediately, then pulled a D'oh! Strictly speaking Ronson and Gotye should be the correct answers.
barmanitan
+1
Level 79
Feb 3, 2024
I can never remember his name, very much a Mars song from my perspective (and I suspect many more's)
luxint
+4
Level 66
Feb 18, 2015
careless whisper was not wham, it was michael solo....in the uk anyway , see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Michael_discography
Jonathan
+1
Level 28
Feb 18, 2015
thought the same thing... always known it as a Georgey solo track. it should probably be accepted at least.
buck1017
+2
Level 78
Apr 6, 2015
although Wham is still accepted. Probably should take that off.
kapulani3
+1
Level 74
May 17, 2018
I own the song on iTunes and it says that it was done by Wham! on their Make It Big album.
luxint
+2
Level 66
Dec 22, 2020
Say what you like, doesn't make it right!
Dimby
+2
Level 78
Dec 25, 2020
It was released in at least a few countries as Wham! featuring George Michael. Wham! should be an acceptable answer.
Chazcov
+2
Level 48
Jan 2, 2022
100%. It was on my vinyl copy of Make It Big I got in 1984. It was Wham, NOT George Michael solo.
jmellor13
+8
Level 67
Feb 18, 2015
Man. A lot of these songs really do not hold up. A few classics, but most of these are real clunkers.
tom88
+5
Level 74
Jun 9, 2016
just goes to show, the best sellers are not the best songs.
IsleAuHaulte
+11
Level 89
Dec 8, 2018
The Grammy's will never, never learn that.
sumokitty
+1
Level 83
Jan 8, 2021
Amazing how many of the artists are one-hit wonders (and the absence of many huge artists with long careers, like Michael Jackson, Madonna, U2, Rolling Stones, etc.).
Kalamazoo
+2
Level 47
Feb 19, 2015
kept trying 'julio' for coolio - I think it was because it was opposite Simon and Garfunkel and my subconscious was thinking 'me and Julio down by the school yard'
ander217
+1
Level 74
Feb 21, 2015
Now I'll have that song in my head all day.
CorkSpork
+1
Level 71
Feb 24, 2015
On behalf of Kalamazoo, you're welcome
buck1017
+7
Level 78
Feb 9, 2016
So Michael Jackson never had a top charting hit? Wow
Quizmaster
+6
Level ∞
Jan 2, 2017
That is surprising. Especially considering that Thriller was the top album of the year for 1982 and 1983.
bburroughs
+11
Level 61
Dec 15, 2020
The thing is, Thriller had so many hits on the albums with 8, that they kept knocking each other out during the reign of Thriller. That album had 8 top 10 hits, most by any album in history, which made it hard for each song to stay on the charts for a whole year.
Jacktheguy
+3
Level 90
Feb 15, 2017
Michael Jackson doesn't get one, but Justin Bieber does. Go figure.
Jacktheguy
+2
Level 90
Feb 15, 2017
Actually, even worse, the top two-charting singles of 2016 were both by Bieber.
Roxy7699
+1
Level 28
Feb 17, 2017
Michael Jackson had a lot of chart topping hits. They just didn't turn out to be song of the year, for some reason.
sumguy
+1
Level 85
Jan 3, 2017
Shouldn't it be "Chart-topping Songs by Year"?
interopia
+1
Level 85
Jan 29, 2017
If you liked this quiz, check out my similar one: http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/154362/most-popular-song-by-year-1940-2016 It has slightly different answers though.
jajaco2017
+1
Level 57
Feb 15, 2017
got 28. easier to remember the old ones
Moosefight
+3
Level 60
Feb 15, 2017
2002 was a dark year.
irish41
+3
Level 59
Feb 15, 2017
I got the entire left-hand column easy peasy, then I hit the 80s and it was like **record scratch**
PrinceEric
+1
Level 56
Feb 16, 2017
Every time someone mentions Ace of Base, I think back to my child, back when I was still pretending I wasn't gay.
idontkn1
+2
Level 91
Feb 16, 2017
Crazy that Michael Jackson nor the Bee Gees never had one and even crazier that only one artist did it twice. All hail Paul who is three times greater than any not named John, George or Ringo. He's just 50% better than them :)
bebn123
+1
Level 60
Dec 22, 2020
But George Michael did have two songs here.
idontkn1
+1
Level 91
Dec 22, 2020
I did have George on my list, although I was only thinking about Harrison when I posted it initially.
GeoNat
+1
Level 52
Oct 7, 2023
Which is even more impressive, considering those are credited to solo acts (Debatably on one, however) while all 3 of Paul's are band acts
catlover2496
+1
Level 44
Mar 28, 2017
No Taylor Swift or Katy Perry? Also, I love Tik Tok.
sloopjohnbee
+8
Level 48
May 2, 2017
i see the music snobs are in full force today
brandybuck96
+1
Level 83
Jan 1, 2018
Huh, I tried "Isaac Watts" and "Handel" for Joy to the World.
jmellor13
+2
Level 67
Dec 24, 2020
Handel's version only went to Number Two.
Wardo
+1
Level 86
Jan 6, 2018
please correct the 1965 entry to Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs as the #1 song of 1965. first time a number 2 song was song of the year. check this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_1965

I actually own all of these songs since I love to collect music by lists.

Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Jan 7, 2018
Weird. Wikipedia must have changed. The quiz has been fixed.
Paulk70
+8
Level 67
Aug 18, 2018
Can't take Bruno Mars for Uptown Funk?
slyhuff77
+1
Level 51
Dec 8, 2018
i got 23, nearly 24 i put sam sham and the pharaohs, so i got that one nearly right
stayc0tt
+1
Level 45
Feb 2, 2019
Even though I got 3 more than the average, after 1985 I know very little. That is when I stopped listening to current music. If you went back further than 1963, into the 50's, I would have had even a higher score. More questions concerning music should include the 50's. Our generation is still very much alive.
idontkn1
+1
Level 91
Feb 8, 2019
Wham should be the answer. It is a quiz based off an American list so it should be the way it appeared on the American Label, "Wham! featuring George Michael". If you want George Micheal to be an acceptable answer so be it. Go search for Careless Whisper record photos. The ones with Columbia on the label (North America was the only place that Columbia released it) it is Wham.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71eTw9bGA5L._SX522_.jpg

Margles1
+3
Level 41
Mar 2, 2019
I kept putting “Paul McCartney. “Wings” never occurred to me until the very end.
ksockwell
+2
Level 56
Dec 22, 2020
Couldn't Careless Whisper also be credited to Wham?
idontkn1
+3
Level 91
Dec 22, 2020
Actually it should only be credited to Wham! according to the guidelines that the rest of the quiz uses.
idontkn1
+3
Level 91
Dec 22, 2020
I guess I am going to have to do this once a year until it finally gets updated...

"Careless Whisper" was the number one song in the US for 1985 not the UK where is was the number five song. In the US it was Wham! featuring Gorge Michael. From the Wikipedia article...

The song also topped the charts in 25 other countries, including the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in February 1985 under the credit "Wham! featuring George Michael". Spending three weeks at the top in America, the song was later named Billboard's number-one song of 1985.

Every other song on the quiz that has a featured artist only the credited artist is acceptable much less listed. Please correct.

parkave
+1
Level 57
Dec 22, 2020
Surprised Michael Jackson didn't get any. Accidentally got George Michaels and 50 cent by typing his name in though.
smartysweats
+2
Level 71
Dec 22, 2020
wow people have a bad taste in music. 80% crap. fun quiz
jmellor13
+4
Level 67
Dec 24, 2020
Most of these songs are pretty lame, but to get the kind of mass appeal that gets you to Song of the Year, you either need to be really, uncommonly great (see "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or "I Will Always Love You"), or shallow and catchy in a way that hits everyone. I was a teenager in 2001. I don't know anyone who was a devoted Lifehouse fan, or anyone who called Hanging By a Moment their favorite song, but everyone *liked* it. That chorus is impossibly catchy. And that's what does it. It's the kind of song you always hear in bars and restaurants and stores because they know it won't offend anyone and it's a toe-tapper. So this is less about what people love and more about the nature of mass appeal. (I know that distinction sounds minor, but I don't think it is.)
idontkn1
+1
Level 91
Dec 29, 2020
Also remember that from sometime in the mid 60s until the mid 2000s, the single was not how most people purchased music especially by better bands. Lots of good songs were never purchased as singles. The album was how the song was purchased. I think that is a major reason that there are a lot of one hit wonders types from the 70s 80s and 90s.Album sales are somewhat accounted for in the Billboard numbers but not enough to make up for the lost single purchase.
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 69
Aug 17, 2021
28. Blondie was an easy one I should've gotten
Chazcov
+1
Level 48
Jan 2, 2022
It's 2022 now, and I'm still amazed that WHAM! isn't accepted for Careless Whisper. It was on the WHAM! Make It Big album I got back in 1985. What the hell?
interopia
+1
Level 85
Jan 10, 2022
Should be Sam the Sham and the PharaohS plural.
GlassMonkeyCode
+1
Level 68
Dec 23, 2022
no
Murphster45
+1
Level 89
Mar 25, 2022
Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In is an absolute banger IMO. Billy Davis Jr. had the voice of a preacher
Atzuul
+1
Level 39
Aug 5, 2022
Wait thrift shop by Ryan lewis and Macklemore came out in 2012
Zylco
+1
Level 45
Oct 24, 2022
You need to update. The biggest song of 2021 was Levitating by Dua Lipa according to billboard and spotify.
Dylanplex
+1
Level 96
Dec 6, 2022
I've never once heard this year's top song, nor the band. Like who the heck are Glass Animals?
Quizmaster
+5
Level ∞
Dec 6, 2022
Congrats, you are officially old. I didn't recognize the group either, but then when I played the song on Spotify I realized it's been on loop basically everywhere, I just never registered it.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Dec 23, 2022
The band and song names did not ring a bell for me, either, but I have heard that song before. However, while I will readily admit to being well past by "best if sold by" date, I've always been fairly out of touch with pop music, even when I was young. So can't blame that on age... maybe just on the fact that I'm no longer friends with a bunch of other young people.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Dec 23, 2022
I've heard of the acts from the previous six years, though.... sometimes there is some hit song that comes along from an otherwise unremarkable group/artist that few people remember after the fact... like the Macarena people...
loganite
+1
Level 89
Dec 12, 2022
I didn't recognize any of the most recent three songs. When I listened to the 2020 song, I instantly recognized it - just didn't know the name of the song. But when I listened to the 2021 and 2022 entries, it was literally the first time I had ever heard either of those songs in my life. Don't know if it's because I'm old (quite possibly) or just don't listen to much pop music...
YogBarOg
+1
Level 74
Dec 23, 2022
This quiz does not accept Wham for Careless Whisper? Seriously?
seabird
+2
Level 67
Dec 23, 2022
It should accept both but if you answer top to bottom you'll answer the other one first and get credit for both.
idontkn1
+2
Level 91
Dec 27, 2022
Third time posting this...

I guess I am going to have to do this once a year until it finally gets updated...

"Careless Whisper" was the number one song in the US for 1985 not the UK where is was the number five song. In the US it was Wham! featuring George Michael. From the Wikipedia article...

The song also topped the charts in 25 other countries, including the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in February 1985 under the credit "Wham! featuring George Michael". Spending three weeks at the top in America, the song was later named Billboard's number-one song of 1985.

Every other song on the quiz that has a featured artist only the credited artist is acceptable much less listed. Please correct.

ballabrand
+2
Level 53
Feb 18, 2023
Accept Paul McCartney for Silly Love Songs?
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 69
Apr 10, 2023
31/60
TurkeyCookTime
+1
Level 77
Jun 2, 2023
Can you accept "The Mommas and the Poppas"?
MavsFanForLife25
+3
Level 74
Aug 9, 2023
Last Night by Morgan Wallen is seriously about to join this list lmao, what happened to society....
Murphster45
+1
Level 89
Sep 28, 2023
Why was "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" taken off in favor of "Sugar Sugar"?
jnsnmnhn
+2
Level 59
Jan 3, 2024
Update please!
idontkn1
+1
Level 91
Sep 17, 2024
Just because I took the 80s number 1 in the US quiz today https://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/number-one-hits-1980s-quiz

and read the comments and saw the discussion of "Careless Whisper". The credited answer for that quiz is Wham!. Both quizzes are based on the US charts so the best answer is Wham! since that is how the single was released in the US. Wham! Featuring George Michael.

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