THE TOP 100 POP RECORDING ARTISTS 1890-2002

 

For more than one hundred years, pop music has been an intrinsic part of American culture. Over the years, thousands of artists have recorded their music for our entertainment and enjoyment. All have experienced a certain degree of popularity, but a select few have captured the attention of the public to such an extent that they have been catapulted to the status of super-stars. Listed below are the all-time top 100 pop recording artists, based on their performance in the pop music charts.

 

Each artist's performance for each hit for the period 1890-1954 is measured as follows:

 

#1 position - 50 points plus 5 points for each week at #1.

#2 position - 49 points plus 3 points for each week at #2.

#3 position - 48 points plus 1 bonus point.

#4-30 positions - from 47 down to 21 points.

Each week on the charts is valued at 1 point.

 

Throughout this period, the industry gradually expanded, and an increasing number of artists competed for the same few spots at the top of the charts. Artists from the early years had less competition and thus more opportunity to score at the top of the charts. However, over the years the depth of the charts grew from the top 3 positions to the top 30. Thus, artists from the later period picked up more points due to the depth of the charts, which compensated for the increased competition.

 

In order to provide a consistent growth in chart depth for this period, the measurement has been adjusted as follows:

 

1890s - 3 positions.

1900s - 5 positions.

1910s - 10 positions.

1920s - 15 positions.

1930s - 20 positions.

1940s - 25 positions.

1950s - 30 positions.

 

In  the mid 1950s, the industry underwent a massive expansion. The advent of rock and roll music brought in hundreds of new artists and dozens of new record labels, fueled by millions of teenagers with money to spend on records.  This substantially reduced the potential of an artist to have the number of hits that artists of previous years experienced, as this multitude of new performers competed for the same few spots at the top of the charts. Thus, an adjustment needed to be made to the rating system.

 

Each artist's performance for each hit for the period 1955-2002 is measured as follows:

 

#1 position - 100 points plus 10 points for each week at #1.

#2 position - 99 points plus 6 points for each week at #2.

#3 position - 98 points plus 2 bonus points.

#4-100 positions - from 97 down to 1 point.

Each week on the charts is valued at 1 point.

 

In 1955 the chart depth increased to 100 positions. However, chart depth measurement for this period has been gradually increased to simulate the chart depth growth of previous decades. The measurement for this period is as follows:

 

1950s - 40 positions.

 1960s - 50 positions.

 1970s - 60 positions.

 1980s - 70 positions.

 1990s - 80 positions.

 2000s - 90 positions.

 

From 1934-1958 Billboard published several different charts with different results. The reference works used for this study reported the best performance for each hit from the several charts. This resulted in the performance for this period being over-weighted. The figures for this period have thus been adjusted to simulate just one chart.

 

ARTIST

YEAR FIRST CHARTED HITS CHARTED WEEKS AT NO. 1 WEEKS AT NO. 2 WEEKS CHARTED POINTS
         1. Bing Crosby 1931 324 105 40 1826 16298
         2. Elvis Presley 1956 127 66 11 1525 12715
         3. Paul Whiteman 1920 213 146 37 1196 11491
         4. Guy Lombardo 1927 209 65 25 1140 10175
         5. Tommy Dorsey 1935 181 42 9 974 8769
         6. Billy Murray 1903 145 91 35 572 7766
         7. Perry Como 1943 127 34 7 978 7464
         8. Frank Sinatra 1942 129 15 5 765 7142
         9. Elton John 1970 68 35 7 1017 7036
        10. Benny Goodman 1931 151 32 7 642 6975
        11. The Beatles 1964 59 59 6 576 6363
        12. Glenn Miller 1935 125 63 6 802 6318
        13. Henry Burr 1903 108 94 19 379 5915
        14. Madonna 1983 48 32 14 824 5572
        15. Stevie Wonder 1963 54 25 4 723 5499
        16. James Brown 1960 68 0 0 674 5435
        17. Al Jolson 1912 89 114 39 542 5360
        18. Peerless Quartet 1904 99 24 26 380 5083
        19. Nat "King" Cole 1943 86 17 4 610 5077
        20. Harry MacDonough 1899 86 78 28 421 5030
        21. Rolling Stones 1964 52 17 6 569 4944
        22. Aretha Franklin 1961 55 4 4 571 4929
        23. Ben Selvin 1919 100 33 8 437 4896
        24. Ted Lewis 1920 99 28 13 432 4892
        25. Michael Jackson 1971 43 37 5 673 4867
        26. Sammy Kaye 1937 102 18 7 576 4815
        27. Janet Jackson 1982 42 33 6 754 4784
        28. Marvin Gaye 1962 52 10 3 573 4764
        29. Jimmy Dorsey 1936 96 28 6 513 4572
        30. The Temptations 1964 50 6 2 507 4488
        31. Rod Stewart 1971 47 20 0 710 4483
        32. Prince 1979 50 12 4 628 4402
        33. Pat Boone 1955 45 13 0 556 4384
        34. Paul McCartney 1971 42 24 6 506 4324
        35. Mariah Carey 1990 37 61 4 590 4317
        36. Whitney Houston 1984 40 31 3 683 4268
        37. Collins & Harlan 1901 77 52 30 328 4267
        38. Beach Boys 1962 46 6 2 505 4266
        39. Bee Gees 1967 41 27 0 567 4203
        40. Neil Diamond 1966 47 4 3 524 4200
        41. Chicago 1970 43 6 0 598 4174
        42. Connie Francis 1958 43 5 1 451 3930
        43. Rickey Nelson 1957 41 3 3 452 3920
        44. The Supremes 1963 38 22 4 386 3911
        45. Prince's Orchestra 1905 79 10 5 253 3893
        46. John McCormack 1910 73 35 5 308 3830
        47. Andrews Sisters 1938 86 20 4 434 3794
        48. Patti Page 1948 60 22 4 508 3793
        49. Dinah Shore 1940 79 14 4 436 3755
        50. Kay Kyser 1935 76 20 6 415 3754
        51. Freddy Martin 1933 84 12 3 384 3721
        52. American Quartet 1910 66 56 8 328 3670
        53. Rudy Vallee 1929 72 23 15 389 3659
        54. Isham Jones 1920 71 32 7 335 3646
        55. Leo Reisman 1921 77 29 1 345 3626
        56. Billy Joel 1974 38 5 0 577 3625
        57. Ray Charles 1957 41 8 1 422 3627
        58. Dionne Warwick 1962 41 5 4 470 3589
        59. Paul Anka 1957 62 8 5 445 3582
        60. Olivia Newton-John 1971 36 18 0 521 3571
        61. Fats Domino 1953 38 0 2 416 3483
        62. Brenda Lee 1959 38 4 0 370 3471
        63. Eddy Duchin 1932 71 18 9 340 3465
        64. Diana Ross 1970 35 20 0 490 3407
        65. Hall & Oates 1974 32 14 4 528 3402
        66. Jo Stafford 1944 73 13 1 414 3393
        67. 4 Seasons 1962 33 18 0 357 3374
        68. Bobby Vinton 1962 36 12 0 336 3338
        69. Gladys Knight 1961 37 6 5 448 3314
        70. Harry James 1938 72 16 3 374 3292
        71. The Miracles 1960 38 3 1 404 3246
        72. Kenny Rogers 1968 32 8 0 482 3179
        73. Haydn Quartet 1898 51 68 21 267 3120
        74. George Michael (tie) 1983 29 23 1 432 3106
        75. Vaughn Monroe (tie) 1940 66 28 3 361 3106
        76. Louis Armstrong 1926 70 3 0 281 3093
        77. Jackson 5 1969 30 12 7 351 3012
        78. Mills Brothers 1931 60 18 6 393 3002
        79. Barbara Streisand 1964 31 14 0 433 2974
        80. Ada Jones 1905 57 23 15 196 2973
        81. Cher 1965 31 9 1 430 2921
        82. Eddie Fisher (tie) 1950 50 12 1 427 2906
        83. Frankie Laine (tie) 1947 60 10 3 378 2906
        84. R. Kelly 1992 30 10 12 542 2890
        85. Andy Williams 1956 31 7 4 337 2875
        86. Sam Cooke 1957 31 2 2 340 2868
        87. Hal Kemp 1930 62 5 4 262 2866
        88. Bryan Adams 1982 27 17 1 438 2848
        89. Gene Austin 1925 52 48 7 304 2843
        90. Puff Daddy 1996 28 20 9 464 2836
        91. Donna Summer 1975 31 13 4 426 2829
        92. Everly Brothers 1957 28 11 3 331 2819
        93. Four Tops 1964 32 4 0 318 2813
        94. Brook Benton 1959 31 0 3 326 2807
        95. Arthur Collins 1898 46 64 16 237 2799
        96. Glen Gray 1931 61 9 1 283 2781
        97. John Mellencamp 1979 28 4 5 478 2770
        98. Byron G. Harlan 1899 46 60 15 221 2767
        99. Fats Waller 1934 59 8 0 245 2754
        100. Phil Collins 1981 26 15 2 448 2722

 

Sources for chart data:

Pop Memories 1890-1954 by Joel Whitburn

Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 by Joel Whitburn

 

Click the following link for a listing of the top 100 pop record hits:

 

     THE TOP 100 POP RECORD HITS                             

 

Contact Me: CRFordMusic@aol.com 

 

© Copyright: Charles R. Ford, 2004

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