The 50 most-streamed artists from last century
How do their most played songs on Spotify compare to their biggest chart hits?
Ever since I discovered ChartMasters’ table of most-streamed artists on Spotify while researching my post on the state of rock music in the streaming era, I’ve been really interested in the older artists on that list. As of last year, catalogue music makes up 70% of the American music market. That doesn’t mean that decades-old old music is outperforming recent music — “catalogue” means music released more than 18 months ago — but looking at the ChartMasters list, you’ll see that more than 1 in 10 top artists on Spotify hail from the last century.
Since Spotify shows an artist’s most-played songs on their artist page, I was curious to see which artists’ biggest songs on streaming differed from their biggest songs of the pre-streaming era and which remained the same, so I put together a list of the top 50 artists who had most of their big hits in the 20th century. Since I’m focusing more on older artists, I’m not including artists who debuted in the late 1990s and had the majority of their hits post-2000, so no Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Eminem or Jay-Z — these artists are too contemporary for what I’m doing here — though I have included anyone who debuted before the mid-90s regardless of when they had their biggest hits. I’m also excluding foreign-language artists who never had any hits in English and film composers.1
For the 50 artists I’m looking at, I’m comparing their biggest chart, sales, and streaming hits, and since it’s easier to compare artists by the same metrics, I’m counting their highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 as their biggest chart hit, their highest RIAA single certification as their biggest sales hit, and their most-played song on Spotify as their biggest streaming hit.2 Where an artist has had multiple songs with the same Hot 100 chart peak, I will use the song with the highest peak on the relevant Billboard Year-End Hot 100.3
In a few cases, an artist’s most-streamed song on Spotify is a recent collaboration with a current popular artist because decently popular songs released during the streaming era generally rack up more streams than even incredibly popular songs released longer ago, so in those cases I’ll also note what the artist’s next-most-streamed track is.
Also, I usually hyperlink song titles, but I’d need to do that 150+ times here and I really cannot be bothered! It’s okay, you probably know most of the songs already.
1. Queen
Chart hit: “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (#1)4
Sales hit: “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Diamond)
Spotify hit: “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2.2 billion streams)
2. The Beatles
Chart hit: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Hey Jude”5
Sales hit: “Hey Jude” (4x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Here Comes the Sun” (1 billion streams)6
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Chart hit: “Under the Bridge” (#2)
Sales hit: “Californication” (5x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Under the Bridge” (1.1 billion streams)7
4. Michael Jackson
Chart hit: “Billie Jean”8
Sales hit: “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” (Diamond)
Spotify hit: “Billie Jean” (1.5 billion streams)
5. Metallica
Chart hit: “Until it Sleeps” (#10)
Sales hit: “Enter Sandman” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Enter Sandman” (1.1 billion streams)
6. Elton John
Chart hit: “Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind ’97”9
Sales hit: “Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind ’97” (11x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” (1.6 billion streams)10
7. AC/DC
Chart hit: “Moneytalks” (#23)
Sales hit: “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Back in Black” (3x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Back in Black” (1.3 billion streams)
8. Nirvana
Chart hit: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (#6)
Sales hit: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1.5 billion streams)
9. Green Day
Chart hit: “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (#2)
Sales hit: “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” (5x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Basket Case” (903 million streams)
10. Bob Marley & The Wailers
Chart hit: “Roots, Rock, Reggae” (#51)11
Sales hit: no RIAA single certifications12
Spotify hit: “Three Little Birds” (837 million streams)
11. Fleetwood Mac
Chart hit: “Dreams” (#1)
Sales hit: “Dreams” (Gold)
Spotify hit: “Dreams” (1.3 billion streams)
12. Pink Floyd
Chart hit: “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2” (#1)
Sales hit: “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2” (777 million streams)
13. Guns N’ Roses
Chart hit: “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (#1)
Sales hit: “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (1.6 billion streams)13
14. The Rolling Stones
Chart hit: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”14
Sales hit: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, “Ruby Tuesday”, “Honky Tonk Women”, “Angie” and “Miss You” (Gold)
Spotify hit: “Paint It, Black” (985 million streams)
15. 2Pac
Chart hit: “How Do U Want It/California Love” (#1)15
Sales hit: “How Do U Want It/California Love” (2x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Ambitionz Az a Ridah” (663 million streams)
16. Frank Sinatra
Chart hit: “Five Minutes More”16
Sales hit: “All or Nothing At All”, “I’ll Never Smile Again”, “There Are Such Things” and “Somethin’ Stupid” (Gold)17
Spotify hit: “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)” (586 million streams)
17. Mariah Carey
Chart hit: “One Sweet Day”18
Sales hit: “All I Want For Christmas is You” (12x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “All I Want For Christmas is You” (1.4 billion streams)
18. Radiohead
Chart hit: “Creep” (#34)|
Sales hit: no RIAA single certifications19
Spotify hit: “Creep” (1.3 billion streams)
19. Foo Fighters
Chart hit: “Best of You” (#18)
Sales hit: “Everlong”, “Best of You” and “The Pretender” (2x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Everlong” (941 million streams)
20. David Bowie
Chart hit: “Fame” and “Let’s Dance” (#1)
Sales hit: “Under Pressure”20 (2x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Under Pressure”21 (1.4 billion streams)
21. Elvis Presley
Chart hit: “Heartbreak Hotel” and “All Shook Up”22
Sales hit: “Hound Dog/Don’t Be Cruel” (4x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (750 million streams)
22. ABBA
Chart hit: “Dancing Queen” (#1)
Sales hit: “Dancing Queen” and “Take a Chance on Me” (Gold)
Spotify hit: “Dancing Queen” (1 billion streams)
23. Daft Punk
Chart hit: “Get Lucky” (#2)23
Sales hit: “Get Lucky” (8x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Get Lucky” (1.4 billion streams)24
24. U2
Chart hit: “With or Without You” (#1)25|
Sales hit: “With or Without You” (2x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “With or Without You” (907 million streams)
25. Led Zeppelin
Chart hit: “Whole Lotta Love” (#4)
Sales hit: “Whole Lotta Love” (Gold)
Spotify hit: “Stairway to Heaven” (873 million streams)26
26. Snoop Dogg
Chart hit: “Drop It Like It’s Hot” (#1)27
Sales hit: “Young, Wild & Free” (6x Platinum) (California Gurls is 8x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Young, Wild & Free” (1.2 billion streams)
27. The Notorious B.I.G.
Chart hit: “Mo Money Mo Problems” (#1)28
Sales hit: “Juicy” and “Big Poppa” (6x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Hypnotize” (976 million streams)
28. Bon Jovi
Chart hit: “Livin’ on a Prayer” (#1)29
Sales hit: “Wanted Dead or Alive” (4x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Livin’ on a Prayer” (1.3 billion streams)
29. Madonna
Chart hit: “Like a Virgin” (#1)30
Sales hit: “Vogue” and “4 Minutes” (2x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Material Girl” (374 million streams)
30. Creedence Clearwater Revival
Chart hit: “Proud Mary” (#2)31
Sales hit: “Fortunate Son” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” (3x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” (1.2 billion streams)
31. Oasis
Chart hit: “Wonderwall” (#8)
Sales hit: “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova” (Gold)
Spotify hit: “Wonderwall” (1.7 billion streams)
32. Whitney Houston
Chart hit: “I Will Always Love You” (#1)32
Sales hit: “I Will Always Love You” (Diamond)
Spotify hit: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” (1 billion streams)
33. Bruce Springsteen
Chart hit: “Dancing in the Dark” (#2)
Sales hit: “Dancing in the Dark” (4x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Dancing in the Dark” (600 million streams)
34. Dr. Dre
Chart hit: “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” (#2)33
Sales hit: “I Need a Doctor” (2x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Still D.R.E.” (1.2 billion streams)
35. Aerosmith
Chart hit: “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” (#1)
Sales hit: “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” (5x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Dream On” (958 million streams)
36. Stevie Wonder
Chart hit: “Fingertips” (#1)34
Sales hit: “Isn’t She Lovely” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You” (Gold)
Spotify hit: “Superstition” (559 million streams)
37. Billy Joel
Chart hit: “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” (#1)35
Sales hit: “Piano Man” (5x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Piano Man” (726 million streams)
38. Pearl Jam
Chart hit: “Last Kiss” (#2)
Sales hit: “Daughter” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Even Flow” (490 million streams)
39. The Offspring
Chart hit: “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” (#53)
Sales hit: “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” and “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid"
40. Johnny Cash
Chart hit: “A Boy Named Sue” (#2)
Sales hit: “Ring of Fire”, “A Boy Named Sue” and “Hurt” (Gold)
Spotify hit: “Hurt” (562 million streams)
41. Eagles
Chart hit: “One of These Nights” (#1)36
Sales hit: “Hotel California” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Hotel California” (1.4 billion streams)
42. Phil Collins
Chart hit: “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)37
Sales hit: “In the Air Tonight” (2x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “In the Air Tonight” (615 million streams)
43. Bee Gees
Chart hit: “Night Fever” (#1)38
Sales hit: “Stayin Alive”, “Night Fever”, “Too Much Heaven” and “Tragedy” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Stayin Alive” (888 million streams)
44. Céline Dion
Chart hit: “Because You Loved Me” (#1)39
Sales hit: “My Heart Will Go On” (4x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “My Heart Will Go On” (483 million streams)
45. Dire Straits
Chart hit: “Money For Nothing” (#1)
Sales hit: no RIAA single certifications40
Spotify hit: “Money For Nothing” (1 billion streams)
46. Bryan Adams
Chart hit: “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” (#1)41
Sales hit: “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” (3x Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Summer of ’69” (1 billion streams)
47. The Police
Chart hit: “Every Breath You Take” (#1)
Sales hit: “Every Breath You Take” (Gold)
Spotify hit: “Every Breath You Take (1.6 billion streams)
48. Ricky Martin
Chart hit: “Livin’ La Vida Loca” (#1)
Sales hit: “Livin’ La Vida Loca” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Vente Pa’ Ca” (579 million streams)42
49. Marvin Gaye
Chart hit: “Let’s Get It On” (#1)43
Sales hit: “Let’s Get It On” and “Sexual Healing” (Platinum)
Spotify hit: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (1.1 billion streams)
50. The Cure
Chart hit: “Lovesong” (#2)
Sales hit: no RIAA single certifications44
Spotify hit: “Friday I’m in Love” (662 million streams)
The former category includes a handful of Spanish-language artists, the German band Rammstein, and the Indian singer A. R. Rahman. The latter includes Hans Zimmer and John Williams.
Since Billboard and the RIAA both track US data, whereas Spotify is used worldwide, in some cases, that may account for the difference between the chart/sales hit and the Spotify hit, but not necessarily always. If an artist didn’t have any major hits on the Hot 100 but had significant hit(s) on another chart, I’ll mention it.
The Year End Hot 100 is generally pretty indicative of a song’s popularity, but it can be misleading when it comes to songs released close to the end of the year. For example, Céline Dion’s signature song is undeniably her Titanic theme “My Heart Will Go On”, but because it was released as a single on November 24, the sales and radio play it racked up in 1997 weren’t enough to get it onto that year’s Year End Hot 100, nor did those first five weeks count towards the 1998 list. “My Heart Will Go On” was #13 on the 1998 Year End Hot 100, but had its entire chart run occurred within a single calendar year, it may have placed significantly higher. As it is, Dion’s highest Year-End hit was “Because You Loved Me”, which was #3 in 1996. This, and the general flukiness of the charts, why I’m also including RIAA certifications as a second indicator of each artist’s signature song in the pre-Spotify era.
Queen had two #1 hits, and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” had the best Year-End Hot 100 placement, #6 in 1980.
Which was not released as a single upon release, so did not chart on the Hot 100 at all.
“Californication” also has 1.1 billion streams, trailing “Under the Bridge” by only 600,000 plays. I’m going to refrain from commenting on second place songs from here on out, but these two are close enough to be worth mentioning.
Michael Jackson had thirteen #1 hits, and “Billie Jean” had the best Year-End Hot 100 placement, #2 in 1983.
Elton John had eight #1 hits, and “Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind ’97” was the #1 song of 1997.
“Cold Heart” is a collaboration with Dua Lipa released in 2021. Elton John’s next-most-streamed song is “Rocket Man” (949 million streams).
Internationally, “No Woman, No Cry (Live ’75)” was #8 in the UK and “Is This Love” was #8 in New Zealand.
Internationally, Bob Marley has multiple Platinum songs in the UK.
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” is Guns N’ Roses’ biggest hit by most metrics, but it’s worth mentioning that their “November Rain” video is not only their most-watched music video on YouTube, it’s the most-watched music video from the 20th century.
The Rolling Stones had eight #1 hits, and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” had the best Year-End Hot 100 placement, #3 in 1965.
“How Do U Want It” and “California Love” were released together as a double A-single.
Frank Sinatra had two Hot 100 #1s and a further nine #1s on charts that predate the Hot 100 (which launched in 1958). “Five Minutes More” was the #4 song of 1946,
The RIAA Gold certification was introduction in 1958, so only “Somethin’ Stupid” was certified by the RIAA, the other three singles predate it.
Mariah Carey had 19 #1 hits — the most of any solo artist — and “One Sweet Day” was the #2 song of 1996.
Internationally, “Creep” is 2x Platinum in the UK and Finland, 3x Platinum in New Zealand, and 6x Platinum in Canada.
“Under Pressure” is a collaboration with Queen; both are credited as lead artists, but I thought I should also mention that Bowie’s highest-certified solo songs are “Fame” and “Let’s Dance”, which are both Gold.
Bowie’s most-streamed solo song is “Heroes”, with 445 million streams.
“Get Lucky” is Daft Punk’s biggest hit as lead artist, but “Starboy” by The Weeknd, which they feature on, was a #1 hit.
The combined total streams from the six-minute album version and the four-minute radio edit.
U2 had two #1 hits, and “With or Without You” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #15 in 1987.
Which was not released as a single upon release, so did not chart on the Hot 100 at all.
“Drop It Like It’s Hot” is Snoop Dogg’s only #1 as lead artist, but “California Gurls” by Katy Perry, which he is featured on, performed even better and was the #4 song of 2010.
Biggie had two #1 hits, and “Mo Money Mo Problems” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #20 in 1997.
Bon Jovi had four #1 hits, and “Livin’ on a Prayer” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #10 in 1987.
Madonna had 12 #1 hits, and “Like a Virgin” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #2 in 1985.
Creedence Clearwater Revival had five #2 hits — the record for most #2 hits without ever having a #1 — and “Proud Mary” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #19 in 1969.
Whitney Houston had 11 #1 hits, and “I Will Always Love You” was the #1 song of 1993.
“Nuthin’ But a G Thang” is Dr. Dre’s biggest hit as lead artist, but “No Diggity” by Blackstreet, which he featured on, was a #1 hit.
Stevie Wonder had 10 #1 hits, and “Fingertips” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement of his hits has lead artist, #7 in 1963. “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne Warwick & Friends, which Wonder featured on, was the #1 song of 1986.
Billy Joel had three #1 hits, and “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #9 in 1980.
The Eagles had five #1 hits, and “One of These Nights” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #10 in 1975.
Phil Collins had seven #1 hits, and “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me)” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #5 in 1984.
The Bee Gees had nine #1 hits, and “Night Fever” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #2 in 1978.
Céline Dion had four #1 hits, and, as mentioned in an earlier footnote, “The Power of Love” surprisingly had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #3 in 1996.
I was very surprised that “Money For Nothing” doesn’t even have a Gold certification is the US when it was one of the biggest songs of 1985 and is certified in other countries, including going Platinum in the UK, Italy, and Denmark, but searching Dire Straits on the RIAA websites only brings up their many Platinum and Gold albums (including a greatest hits album named Money For Nothing).
Bryan Adams had four #1 hits, and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” was the #1 song of 1991.
“Vente Pa’ Ca” is a collaboration with Maluma released in 2016. Ricky Martin’s next-most-streamed song is “Livin’ La Vida Loca” (359 million streams).
Marvin Gaye had three #1 hits, and “Let’s Get It On” had the highest Year-End Hot 100 placement, #4 in 1973.
Internationally, “Boys Don’t Cry”, “Just Like Heaven” and “Friday I’m in Love” are certified Platinum in the UK.