{"id":812446,"date":"2026-08-13T16:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/812446\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T16:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:40:10","slug":"ella-langley-ruling-hot-100-but-2026-has-been-a-banner-year-for-no-1s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/812446\/","title":{"rendered":"Ella Langley Ruling Hot 100, But 2026 Has Been a Banner Year for No. 1s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tElla Langley<\/a>\u2019s \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d has dominated the Billboard Hot 100<\/a> in record fashion, ruling the Aug. 15-dated chart for a 17th week<\/a>, the fourth-longest No. 1 run in the chart\u2019s history. Among its latest triumphs, it rewrites the record for the most weeks<\/a> on top for a non-holiday song by a woman, breaking out of a tie with Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men\u2019s mid-\u201890s classic, \u201cOne Sweet Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStarting on the Hot 100 dated Feb. 14 (ironically, given Langley\u2019s resignation<\/a> in the losing-love song\u2019s lyrics), \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d has made six ascents to No. 1, the most separate chart-topping stays ever for a title over a single release cycle.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlong the way, Langley has also earned three No. 1s on the Country Airplay chart: \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d reached the summit the same week that it first led the Hot 100, reigning for three total weeks; \u201cBe Her\u201d led for four weeks in June; and \u201cI Can\u2019t Love You Anymore,\u201d with Morgan Wallen, takes over<\/a> atop the latest radio ranking for the format.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, 2026 has so far been a notable year for spreading the wealth at No. 1 on the Hot 100, as reflected by \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d having yo-yoed to and from the top.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the mid-point of August, 10 songs have risen to No. 1 on the Hot 100 for the first time since January. How does that stack up among other years?<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s a rundown of how many songs have hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 over the first eight-and-a-half months of every year this century:<\/p>\n

2026 \u2014 10<\/p>\n

2025 \u2014 6<\/p>\n

2024 \u2014 13<\/p>\n

2023 \u2014 8<\/p>\n

2022 \u2014 8<\/p>\n

2021 \u2014 12<\/p>\n

2020 \u2014 12<\/p>\n

2019 \u2014 6<\/p>\n

2018 \u2014 7<\/p>\n

2017 \u2014 7<\/p>\n

2016 \u2014 8<\/p>\n

2015 \u2014 4<\/p>\n

2014 \u2014 6<\/p>\n

2013 \u2014 6<\/p>\n

2012 \u2014 7<\/p>\n

2011 \u2014 9<\/p>\n

2010 \u2014 9<\/p>\n

2009 \u2014 7<\/p>\n

2008 \u2014 8<\/p>\n

2007 \u2014 12<\/p>\n

2006 \u2014 12<\/p>\n

2005 \u2014 5<\/p>\n

2004 \u2014 7<\/p>\n

2003 \u2014 7<\/p>\n

2002 \u2014 4<\/p>\n

2001 \u2014 9<\/p>\n

2000 \u2014 12<\/p>\n

\n\t2026, thus, is one of only seven years since 2000 in which 10 or more songs have made initial climbs to No. 1 on the Hot 100 through mid-August, a 26% success rate.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the same time, 2026 is squarely in the middle of the pack this decade: Three years since 2020 have had more Hot 100 No. 1s by charts dated Aug. 15 and three years have had fewer.<\/p>\n

\n\tComparing a quarter-century<\/a>-plus of hits can be tricky, as chart outcomes in that span have resulted from varying dominant trends in consumption. The early 2000s were heavily radio-driven, the later part of the decade was at times powered by high download sales and the last decade has been generally ruled by streaming.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, the numbers above show that 2026 is on the higher end of artists tasting success atop the Hot 100.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the year\u2019s victories so far: Bruno Mars joined the exclusive club of artists with at least 10 career Hot 100 No. 1s<\/a> when \u201cI Just Might\u201d launched atop the chart in January; Ariana Grande did the same when \u201cHate That I Made You Love Me\u201d opened at the summit in June; and Taylor Swift\u2019s \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d also premiered at No. 1 in June, lifting her into sole possession of the third-most leaders ever, 15, after only The Beatles (20) and Carey (19).<\/p>\n

\n\tPlus, in February, Bad Bunny\u2019s \u201cDtMF\u201d became just the fourth all or mostly Spanish-language Hot 100 No. 1 in the chart\u2019s history, which dates to 1958, and the first by a soloist and no other billed acts.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso making a splash, \u201cSWIM\u201d in April became BTS\u2019 seventh Hot 100 No. 1, the most among groups in nearly half a century, since the Bee Gees banked their nine career leading songs in 1971-79.<\/p>\n

\n\tEvery other Hot 100 No. 1 this year also carries its own honors, a list rounded out by Harry Styles\u2019 \u201cAperture,\u201d<\/a> Swift\u2019s \u201cOpalite,\u201d<\/a> Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s \u201cDrop Dead\u201d<\/a> and Drake\u2019s \u201cJanice STFU.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tLooking a bit ahead, it should continue to be a mix of \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d and company vying for the top of the Hot 100, with albums by high-profile acts still to come<\/a> and Langley\u2019s steady<\/a> strong metrics, even deep into the song\u2019s already-record run<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ella Langley\u2019s \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d has dominated the Billboard Hot 100 in record fashion, ruling the Aug. 15-dated chart…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[33337,88,64964,497,216,498],"class_list":["post-812446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-chart-beat","tag-entertainment","tag-genre-country","tag-genre-pop","tag-music","tag-music-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}