She's the Queen of Pop and royalty on the Billboard charts. To celebrate Madonna's 55th birthday today (August 16), we've compiled an exclusive ranking of the diva's 40 biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit singles.
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Since arriving on the Hot 100 the week of Oct. 29, 1983, with "Holiday," she has earned a total of 56 chart hits, including a record 38 top 10 singles. Yes, you read that right: Madonna has more top 10 hits than any other artist in the 55-year history of the chart (and incidentally, Madonna was born the exact same month as the Hot 100, which also just celebrated its 55th birthday). The Beatles are in second place, with 34 top 10s.
The ranking is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames were weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years.
Madonna's 40 Biggest Billboard Hits
Madonna's 40 Biggest Billboard Hits
1. "Like A Virgin"
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (six weeks) Peak Year: 1984
It's somehow appropriate that Madonna's first No. 1, "Like a Virgin," tops our list of her 40 biggest Hot 100 hit singles. The title track and lead single from her 1984 album spent six weeks atop the chart and became one of the diva's signature songs. It was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and produced by Nile Rodgers.
2. "Vogue"
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (four weeks) Peak Year: 1990
Initially planned as the b-side of "Keep It Together," Madonna's tribute to the fierceness that is vogueing was thankfully released as a single on its own. The thumping dance number is as iconic as its glamorous black-and-white music video, which was directed by David Fincher.
3. "Crazy For You"
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 Peak Year: 1985
Perhaps the ultimate slow-dance song, "Crazy For You" proved to be so popular upon its release, it bumped "We Are the World" by USA for Africa out of the No. 1 slot. Before "Crazy For You" had reached the top though, it had sat in the No. 2 position for three straight weeks, biding its time until it could push "We Are the World" aside.
4, "Take A Bow"
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (seven weeks) Peak Year: 1995
It may surprise some, but "Take a Bow" spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other Madonna single. (However, on this list, it ultimately ranks at No. 4.) With a seven-week run atop the Hot 100, 1995's "Take a Bow" returned her to the top of the chart for the first time since 1992 ("This Used to Be My Playground"). Co-written and co-produced with Babyface, "Take a Bow" is one of two No. 1 singles that she's yet to sing on tour -- the other is "This Used to Be My Playground."
5. "Justify My Love"
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks) Peak Year: 1991
"Justify My Love," like so many of Madonna's singles, spawned a music video that garnered more attention than perhaps the song itself. The clip for "Justify My Love" was so racy, MTV declined to air it entirely. Luckily for the buying public, Madonna opted to sell the video as the first-ever commercially available video single.
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