A recap of the decade’s first half of Number One Hits (in the US, as tabulated by Billboard). A note: this entry is extremely media heavy, so it might be advantageous to open on a desktop browser.
Rihanna ruled the Number One spot between 2010-2014
I visited Nashville for the first time in 2018. I saw signs everywhere congratulating various artists on their Number One Songs. That’s the only place, geographically or otherwise, it seems that folks genuinely care about a Number One these days. The Number One Song represents an accomplishment of capital, and one that doesn’t usually pay off or directly translate into making a living as a musician. And the elusive Number One is getting harder to determine. But it’s a heck of a resume line.
Everything is invented, including decades, but the Billboard Hot 100 Charts are a particular capitalist invention. I’m fascinated by them regardless.
As a metric of how future anthropologists might determine how American culture valued music, a list of the Number One Songs in the country might have some meaning.
Or it might not.
Either way, the Billboard Number One songs of the last decade give us some interesting insight into popular culture over the last ten years, how media consumption is tracked, and how corporate media influences how we interact with art.
Let’s get started.
The Number Ones—2010
Here’s your playlist.
And your list list. Each week in 2010.
Weeks of January 2nd-February 27th: “Tik Tok”, Ke$ha
Weeks of March 3rd & 16th: “Imma Be”, Black Eyed Peas
Week of March 20th: “Break Your Heart”, Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris
Weeks of March 27th-April 24th: “Rude Boy”, Rihanna
Weeks of May 1st & May 8th: “Nothin’ on You”, B.o.B. ft. Bruno Mars
Week of May 15th: “OMG”, Usher ft. will.i.am
Week of May 22nd: “Not Afraid”, Eminem
Weeks of May 29th-June 12th: “OMG”, Usher ft. will.i.am (recapture)
Weeks of June 19th-July 24th: “California Gurls”, Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg
Weeks of July 31st-September 11th: “Love the Way You Lie”, Eminem ft. Rihanna
Weeks of September 18th & September 25th: “Teenage Dream”, Katy Perry
Weeks of October 2nd-October 23rd: “Just the Way You Are”, Bruno Mars
Weeks of October 30th & November 6th: “Like a G6”, Far East Movement ft. The Cataracs & Dev
Sunglasses were a big part of 2010…?
Week of November 13th: “We R Who We R”, Ke$ha
Week of November 20th: “What’s My Name”, Rihanna ft. Drake
Week of November 27th: “Like a G6”, Far East Movement ft. The Cataracs & Dev (recapture)
Week of December 4th: “Only Girl in the World”, Rihanna
Week of December 11th: “Raise Your Glass”, Pink
Weeks of December 18th-25th: “Firework”, Katy Perry
Notes on 2010
Ke$ha’s debut single, “Tik Tok” was the highest performing single of the year. It is now the name of an app that helped to develop the longest running single in chart history, nine years later, but we’ll get to that in the next entry. Ke$ha also seemed to help usher in the trend of taking photos in front of brightly colored walls, which would last throughout the decade.
This year, like most of the first half of the decade, the charts would pretty much be under control of the record companies. For all of their complaining about the shift away from physical media, big name artists on huge, conglomerate record labels were still the hottest commodities in music, at least up until 2014.
Katy Perry became the first female artist in 11 years (if you’re doing the math, since the ‘90s) to top the Billboard charts with her first three singles off of an album (“California Gurls”, “Teenage Dream”, and “Firework”, from the album Teenage Dream).
Round-up of 2010 no. 1 artists:
Rihanna (x4)
Katy Perry (x3)
Ke$ha (x2)
Bruno Mars (x2)
Eminem (x2)
will.i.am (technically x2)
Taio Cruz
Ludacris
B.o.B.
Usher
Snoop Dogg
Far East Movement
The Cataracs
Dev
Drake
Pink
Moving right along.
The Number Ones—2011
Week of January 1st: “Firework”, Katy Perry (cont. from 2010)
Week of January 8th: “Grenade”, Bruno Mars
Week of January 15th: “Firework”, Katy Perry (recapture)
Week of January 22nd: “Grenade”, Bruno Mars (recapture)
Week of January 29th: “Hold It Against Me”, Britney Spears
Week of February 5th & 12th: “Grenade”, Bruno Mars (recapture)
Week of February 19th: “Black and Yellow”, Wiz Khalifa
Weeks of February 26th-April 2nd: “Born This Way”, Lady Gaga
Weeks of April 9th-23rd: “E.T.”, Katy Perry ft. Kanye West
Week of April 30th: “S&M”, Rihanna ft. Britney Spears
Weeks of May 7th & 14th: “E.T.”, Katy Perry ft. Kanye West (recapture)
Weeks of May 21st-July 2nd: “Rolling in the Deep”, Adele
Week of July 9th: “Give Me Everything”, Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, and Nayer
Weeks of July 16th-August 20th: “Party Rock Anthem”, LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & Goon Rock
Weeks of August 27th & September 3rd: “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”, Katy Perry
Week of September 10th: “Moves Like Jagger”, Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera
Week of September 17th: “Someone Like You”, Adele
Weeks of September 24th-October 8th: “Moves Like Jagger”, Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera (recapture)
Week of October 15th-November 5th: “Someone Like You”, Adele (recapture)
Weeks of November 12th-December 31st: “We Found Love”, Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
Notes on 2011
Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” was the top performing single of the decade. This would start many years of her chart & award season dominance. Girls also ruled in 2011; there were only six weeks where no women were present at the top of the charts, either as lead or featured artists.
“Party Rock Anthem” is the highest performing single from 2011 on the all-time Billboard charts. You might also refer to it as the “song of the summer”, another chart invention. It genuinely captured the “party” feel of many other singles the topped the charts in 2011. Could you call 2011 on the charts a hangover from the 2000s?
Britney Spears became the first female artist to attain a Number One in the 90s, 00s, and 10s.
“Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” cemented Katy Perry’s record as being the only female artist to have her first five consecutive singles at Number One on the Billboard charts. (Still doesn’t take down Janet, though.)
The chart-toppers in 2011 were out for a fight. The recapture of the Number One spot was the big story of the charts that year. Five songs dropped from Number One, only to recapture the spot in later weeks: “Firework”, “Grenade”, “E.T.”, “Moves Like Jagger”, “Someone Like You”. Bruno Mars did it twice.
It was a crowded field in 2011. Here are your Number One-achieving artists of the year:
Katy Perry (x3, with a 2010 holdover/recapture)
Rihanna (x2)
Adele (x2)
Britney Spears (x2)
Bruno Mars
Wiz Khalifa
Lady Gaga
Kanye West
Pitbull
Ne-Yo
Afrojack
Nayer
LMFAO
Lauren Bennett
GoonRock
Maroon 5
Christina Aguilera
Calvin Harris
Number Ones of 2012
Weeks of January 7th & 14th: “Sexy & I Know It”, LMFAO
Weeks of January 21st & 28th: “We Found Love”, Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris (recapture)
Weeks of February 4th & 11th: “Set Fire to the Rain” Adele
Weeks of February 18th & 25th: “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”, Kelly Clarkson
Week of March 3rd: “Part of Me”, Katy Perry
Week of March 10th: “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”, Kelly Clarkson (recapture)
Weeks of March 17th-April 21st: “We Are Young” fun. ft. Janelle Monae
Weeks of April 28th-June 16th: “Somebody That I Used to Know”, Goyte ft. Kimbra
Weeks of June 23rd-August 18th: “Call Me Maybe”, Carly Rae Jepsen
(Photo by Joe Bielawa; Creative Commons license)
Week of August 25th: “Whistle”, Flo Rida
Weeks of September 1st & 8th: “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, Taylor Swift
Week of September 15th: “Whistle”, Flo Rida (recapture)
Weeks of September 29th-November 1st: “One More Night”, Maroon 5
Weeks of December 1st-15th: “Diamonds” Rihanna
Weeks of December 22nd-29th: “Locked Out of Heaven”, Bruno Mars
notes on 2012
The alt-rock (?) crossover smash “Somebody That I Use to Know” by Belgian singer Gotye was the top performing single of the year.
While many Number Ones were the result of heavy hitter commercial artists, new artists like Gotye, fun., and Carly Rae Jepsen breathed a little bit of new life into the charts.
Artists to top the charts in 2012:
Rihanna (x2)
LMFAO
Calvin Harris
Adele
Kelly Clarkson
Katy Perry
fun.
Janelle Monae
Gotye
Kimbra
Carly Rae Jepsen
Flo Rida
Taylor Swift
Maroon 5
Bruno Mars
The Number Ones—2013
Weeks of January 5th-26th: “Locked Out of Heaven”, Bruno Mars (holdover)
Weeks of February 2nd-23rd: “Thrift Shop”, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz
Weeks of March 2nd-30th: “Harlem Shake”, Baauer
Weeks of April 6th & 13th: “Thrift Shop”, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz (recapture)
Week of April 20th: “When I Was Your Man”, Bruno Mars
Weeks of April 27th-May 11th: “Just Give Me a Reason”, Pink & Nate Ruess
Weeks of May 18th-June 15th: “Can’t Hold Us”, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton
Weeks of June 22nd-September 7th: “Blurred Lines”, Robin Thicke ft. T.I. & Pharrell
Weeks of September 14th & 21st: “Roar”, Katy Perry
Weeks of September 28th-October 5th: “Wrecking Ball”, Miley Cyrus
Weeks of October 12th-December 7th: “Royals”, Lorde
Week of December 14th: “Wrecking Ball”, Miley Cyrus (recapture)
Weeks of December 21st & 28th: “The Monster”, Eminem ft. Rihanna
Notes on 2013
“Thrift Shop” was the top performing single of 2013. This also encapsulated the theme of even more newcomers to the Number One spot: joining Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at the top (as lead artists) were Baauer, Robin Thicke, Miley Cyrus, and Lorde.
Lorde was the youngest singer to top the charts since Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” in 1987.
“Harlem Shake”, one of the first truly viral Number Ones of the decade, was the first fully instrumental Number One since 1985, when the Miami Vice theme topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Despite most of the songs on the charts being soaked in the sounds of Black American Music (with two hip-hop tracks among them), no Black lead artists topped the charts in 2013. Wanz, Ray Dalton, T.I., Pharrell, and Rihanna were featured artists on Number One tracks.
Artists attaining Number Ones:
Bruno Mars (x2)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (x2)
Wanz
Baauer
Pink
Nate Ruess
Ray Dalton
Robin Thicke
T.I.
Pharrell
Katy Perry
Miley Cyrus
Lorde
Eminem
Rihanna
Things get even weirder in the next year.
The Number Ones—2014
Weeks of January 4th & 11th: “The Monster”, Eminem ft. Rihanna (holdover)
Weeks of January 18th-February 1st: “Timber”, Pitbull ft. Kesha
Weeks of February 8th-March 1st: “Dark Horse”, Katy Perry ft. Juicy J
Weeks of March 8th-May 10th: “Happy”, Pharrell Williams
Weeks of May 17th-31st: “All of Me”, John Legend
Weeks of June 7th-July 19th: “Fancy”, Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX
Weeks of July 26th-August 30th: “Rude”, Magic!
Weeks of September 6th-13th: “Shake It Off”, Taylor Swift
Weeks of September 20th-November 8th: “All About that Bass”, Meghan Trainor
Weeks of November 15th-22nd: “Shake It Off”, Taylor Swift (recapture)
Weeks of November 29th-December 27th: “Blank Space”, Taylor Swift
Notes on 2014
“Happy” was the top performing single of the year. Not only was it an immaculately produced (that crisp high hat is really something else), well-written, harmonically interesting, riff-tastic, Dorian mode smash, but it was also in a kids’ movie, allowing its commercial potential to skyrocket. A clean song in a massive hit kids movie? Everyone’s going to spin that to perpetuity. (Honestly, it is still a bop. I don’t know why we don’t hear it more these days, except that our culture got “Happy” fatigue & the popular sentiment in the second half of the decade wasn’t terribly happy.)
Unfortunately, “Happy” was not indicative of other Number Ones in 2014. Pharrell & John Legend topping the charts back to back was an interesting instance of two Black men who were talented industry veterans, both of whom would later win Oscars, finally attaining Number One singles. Out of 52 weeks of the year, 31 of them featured Number Ones by or featuring white women, and only a few of them: Kesha, Katy Perry, Iggy Azalea, Charli XCX, Meghan Trainor, and Taylor Swift. Trainor & Swift alone were at number one for the entire fourth quarter of the year. This was also deep into the second term of America’s first Black president the year that Black Lives Matter was founded. It seems, however, that we would not genuinely understand that we were not “post-racial” as a country until at least 2015.
Following the example of white men commandeering the commercial hip-hop landscape when Macklemore & Ryan Lewis dominated the 2013 charts, Iggy Azalea still holds the record for longest running female rap Number One on the Billboard Hot 100. In the subsequent years, however, Azalea has become something of a cultural punchline, especially as national conversation about cultural appropriation seems to have gotten her number.
Artists to attain Number One in 2014:
Taylor Swift (x2)
Eminem
Rihanna
Pitbull
Kesha
Katy Perry
Juicy J
Pharrell Williams
John Legend
Iggy Azalea
Charli XCX
Magic!
Meghan Trainor
The Billboard Charts are not a genuine reflection of our culture, but aside from just making good copy, they do give us some insight as to what is going on. There is definitely a narrative in the first half of the decade, as Rihanna more frequently became a featured artist after having dominated charts in 2010-11 and Taylor Swift rose again.
The first half of the decade saw female dominance on the charts, including Rihanna, Swift, the record-setting juggernaut that was Katy Perry (who never hit Number One after “Dark Horse”), Kesha, Pink, Adele, one time Number One-ers like Carly Rae Jepsen, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, Megan Trainor, and longtime best sellers like Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. Men represented on the charts, but in the first half of the decade, Drake’s only number one was a feature on a Rihanna song. That would not remain in the second half of the decade.
Another notable thing in the first half of the 2010s, Rihanna aside, is the absence of Black women (or Latina or Asian women) at Number One. The only Black woman to top the chart in a span of five years besides RiRi was Janelle Monae, who is my personal artist of the decade, heard only on a hardly audible feature on fun.’s anthemic hit “We Are Young”.
As mentioned, many of the cultural conversations we’re having these days about race & ethnicity, appropriation, sexual intimidation & violence in the recording industry, and artist privilege was happening at a much lower volume in the first half of the decade. No one could really stop the predatory steamroll of “Blurred Lines” until after it had already flattened its way to the Song of the Summer spot of 2013. It wasn’t until these issues came to a head in electoral politics that we started to examine our pop culture on a large scale, wondering how we got to where we are.
Even as an intended reflection of our cultural fabric, the Billboard Hot 100 was indeed getting harder to track. As MP3s gave way to streaming songs, and Spotify became a game-changer in (and weakener to) the recording industry, Billboard has had to change its chart-tracking methods several times in order to keep up with these shifts.
And indeed, it could be said that outside of Nashville — in a decade where we wouldn’t even come close to a country Hot 100 Number One until 2019 — no one really cares about what the Number One song in the country is. Sometimes, the Number One is a song is the result of a brand new single released by an artist, usually a Katy Perry or a Taylor Swift, that is eaten up by hungry fans. Sometimes, it’s a song that has built up steam on specific genre charts (like Gotye, or Lorde, who in 2013 was the first female artist to attain a Modern Rock Number One since Tracy Bonham in 1996) or lays in wait on a children’s movie soundtrack until it cuts through & crosses over onto the Billboard Hot 100.
These are just data points, and some of my extrapolations & observations. I’ve done no qualitative research on these items, but I think that as a musician, as a consumer of popular music, and as a committed teacher of the same, it’s important to watch trends & read tea leaves.
More on all of that in Part II.