Every new Drake release brings its share of Billboard chart history, and his new collaboration with DJ Khaled and Lil Baby, “Staying Alive,” is no different.
Earlier this year, he became the first solo male in history to debut atop the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously twice, thanks to his latest LP Honestly, Nevermind and its single “Jimmy Cooks,” featuring 21 Savage.
Now, he secures the honor of the artist with the most top five hits in Hot 100 history, with 30, as DJ Khaled’s “Staying Alive,” on which he and Lil Baby are featured, debuts at No. 5 on the latest, Aug. 20-dated chart. Drake passes The Beatles, who have 29, for sole ownership of the record over the list’s 64-year history. The Beatles solely held the top-five mark for 55 years, having last reached the region in 1970 with “The Long and Winding Road”/”For You Blue,” which spent two weeks at No. 1.
“Staying Alive” also helps Drake extend his records for the most top 10s, top 20s, top 40s and overall Hot 100 entries, dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception.
As Drake makes more history, here’s a look at all the Hot 100 records that the superstar has broken in his career, and those he hasn’t (yet).
Most Top Five Billboard Hot 100 Hits: 30
Most Top 10 Hot 100 Hits: 59
Most Top 20 Hot 100 Hits: 100
Most Top 40 Hot 100 Hits: 158
Most Hot 100 Hits: 277
Most No. 2-Peaking Hot 100 Hits: 7
Most No. 1 Hot 100 Debuts: 7
Most Top Five Hot 100 Debuts: 20
Most Top 10 Hot 100 Debuts: 44
Most Top 20 Hot 100 Debuts: 77
Most Top 40 Hot 100 Debuts: 125
Most Consecutive Weeks Spent on the Hot 100: 431 (2009-17)
Most Simultaneous Top Five Hot 100 Hits: 5 (on the Sept. 18, 2021-dated chart, matching The Beatles, April 4, 1964)
Most Simultaneous Top 10 Hot 100 Hits: 9 (Sept. 18, 2021)
Most Simultaneous Top 20 Hot 100 Hits: 14 (Sept. 18, 2021)
Most Simultaneous Top 40 Hot 100 Hits: 21 (July 14, 2018, Sept. 18, 2021)
Most Simultaneous Hot 100 Hits: 27 (July 14, 2018)
Most Top 10 Hits in a Calendar Year: 13 (2018 and 2021)
Most Top 40 Hits in a Calendar Year: 30 (2021)
Most Top 10 Hot 100 Hits From One Album: 9 (Certified Lover Boy)
And now, here are some of the most notable Hot 100 records that Drake hasn’t broken — at least so far:
Most No. 1 Hits
Drake has tallied 11 No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 in his career, the most among rappers. Among all artists, though, he’s tied with Whitney Houston for the seventh-most, after The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (19), Rihanna (14), Michael Jackson (13), The Supremes and Madonna (12 each).
Most Cumulative Weeks Spent at No. 1
Drake has spent a combined 54 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in his career. That’s the fourth-most, after Mariah Carey (87), Rihanna (60) and The Beatles (59).
Most Cumulative Weeks Spent in the Top 10
Drake has spent 341 total weeks in the top 10 of the Hot 100 (combining the totals of all his 58 top 10s), the second-most after Rihanna (360).
Most Consecutive Weeks Spent in the Top 10
Drake spent 51 consecutive weeks in the Hot 100’s top 10 in 2015-16, thanks to “Hotline Bling,” Rihanna’s Drake-featuring “Work,” “Summer Sixteen” and “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla. That’s the fourth-longest unbroken run in the top 10, after Katy Perry’s 69-week run in 2010-11, The Chainsmokers’ 61-weeks in 2016-17 and Justin Bieber’s 59 weeks in 2021-22.
Most Weeks Simultaneously Topping the Hot 100 & Billboard 200
Drake has doubled-up atop both charts simultaneously on eight different occasions in his career, the third-most of all time after The Beatles and Whitney Houston, who have doubled for 12 weeks apiece.
Most No. 1 Hits in a Calendar Year
Drake biggest year, in terms of No. 1 Hot 100 singles, was 2018, where he scored three of his 11 No. 1 hits: “God’s Plan,” “Nice for What” and “In My Feelings.” The record for the most No. 1 hits earned in a calendar year belongs to The Beatles, who earned six in 1964: “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Love Me Do,” “A Hard Day’s Night” and “I Feel Fine.” (Though Drake’s vocals are used on Travis Scott’s 2018 No. 1 “Sicko Mode,” he is not officially credited on the track and it therefore does not count towards his chart history.)
Most Top Five Hits in a Calendar Year
Drake tallied eight top five hits on the Hot 100 in 2021 alone, his personal best for any year: “What’s Next,” “Wants and Needs,” “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” “Champagne Poetry,” “Girls Want Girls,” “Fair Trade,” “Way 2 Sexy” and “Knife Talk.” The Beatles hold the all-time record for most top five hits in a calendar year, with 10 earned in 1964: “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” “Please Please Me,” “Twist and Shout,” “Do You Want To Know a Secret,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Love Me Do,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “I Feel Fine” and “She’s a Woman.”
Most Overall Entries in a Calendar Year
Drake earned 35 total entries on the Hot 100 in both 2016 and 2018, his personal best in a single year. The overall record for most entries earned in a calendar year is 80, achieved by the Glee Cast in 2010.
Song With the Most Weeks Spent at No. 1
Drake’s longest running No. 1 hit is “God’s Plan”: 11 weeks in 2018. Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, holds the all-time longevity record, with 19 weeks spent at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2019.
Song With the Most Weeks Spent in the Top Five
Drake’s longest running top five Hot 100 hit is “God’s Plan” (22 weeks). The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” holds the record for the most weeks spent in the region, with 43 weeks.
Song With the Most Weeks Spent in the Top 10
Drake’s longest running top 10 hit is “God’s Plan” (26 weeks). The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” holds the record for the most weeks spent in the region, with 57 weeks.
Song With the Most Weeks Spent in the Top 20
Drake’s longest running top 20 hit is “No Guidance” (Chris Brown featuring Drake; 31 weeks). The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” holds the record for the most weeks spent in the region, with 80 weeks.
Song With the Most Weeks Spent in the Top 40
Drake’s longest running top 40 hit is “No Guidance” (Chris Brown featuring Drake; 44 weeks). The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” holds the record for the most weeks spent in the region, with 86 weeks.
Song With the Most Weeks Spent on the Hot 100
Drake’s longest running hit is “No Guidance” (Chris Brown featuring Drake; 46 total weeks). The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” holds the record for the most weeks spent on the chart, with 90 weeks.
It’s worth noting that, for about a decade now, the Hot 100 has included streaming data. That’s also after December 1998, when album cuts became eligible to chart, so songs didn’t have to be commercially available as singles to appear on the ranking, as before. Thus, an entire album’s tracklist can chart after its debut in 2022, whereas a major album decades ago could have charted only as many songs on the Hot 100 as it had released commercially for individual purchase.
Chart methodology changes over time, thanks to the evolution of how fans consume music, and in turn, so does the measurement of that activity. For decades, the best way to measure the popularity of individual songs was to track individual physical, and later digital, single purchases, and their radio airplay. Eventually, the chart expanded to include airplay-only cuts (and the record industry halted most major physical single releases in the late ’90s). Today, with streaming factoring into the chart, along with airplay and sales, streaming’s strength, especially, makes it common for hit albums like Drake’s latest to infuse the Hot 100 with a double-digit amount of songs, a feat that Drake continues to make a fairly regular, and impressive, occurrence.
