Artists with the most number ones on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

First: The Beatles (20)

English rock band The Beatles achieved a record holding 20 number one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1964 and their split in 1970. Some of their hits include "Ticket To Ride", "Can't Buy Me Love", "A Hard Day's Night", "Let It Be", and "Hey Jude".

Second: Mariah Carey (18)

American singer, songwriter and producer Mariah Carey has achieved 18 number-one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Carey's self-titled debut studio album produced four number-one songs. She achieved her first with "Vision of Love" in August 1990, which reached the peak for four weeks. It was followed by "Love Takes Time" later that year in November for three weeks, "Someday" in March 1991 for two weeks, and "I Don't Wanna Cry" in May 1991 for two weeks. "Emotions" became her fifth consecutive number-one song in October 1991. This run of five consecutive number-ones means that Carey is the only artist in the history of the Hot 100 to have her first five single releases top the chart. The streak broke when "Can't Let Go", released as the single following "Emotions", peaked at number two. Carey's cover of the Jackson 5 song "I'll Be There" topped the chart for two weeks in August 1992, and she collected two further chart toppers in 1993 when "Dreamlover" peaked atop the chart in September for eight weeks and with "Hero" in December for four consecutive weeks.

"Fantasy" became the first song to debut atop the Hot 100 by a female artist, and only the second song to debut at number-one after Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone", which did so only one month prior. "One Sweet Day", a duet with Boyz II Men, became her tenth number-one song, spending a record-breaking 16 weeks at the peak of the Hot 100 chart, a record it still holds today. It also debuted at number one, becoming her second single to do so and only the fourth instance on the Hot 100, following Jackson's "Your Are Not Alone", Carey's "Fantasy" and Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)". "One Sweet Day" finished at number one on Billboard's Hot 100 songs of the decade chart. "Always Be My Baby" became the singer's eleventh number-one in May 1996 for two weeks, tying her with Houston and Madonna for female artist with the most number-ones. In September 1997, "Honey" became Carey's third single to debut atop the Hot 100, the most for any artist to date, and only the sixth song in history to do so. It also meant that Carey broke with Houston for joint fifth place, and into joint fourth with Madonna.

When "My All" peaked at number-one for one week in May 1998, it meant that Carey became the first artist in the history of the chart to have two runs of five consecutive number-ones, first with "Vision of Love", "Love Takes Time", "Someday", "I Don't Wanna Cry" and "Emotions" in 1990/91, and again with "Fantasy", "One Sweet Day", "Always Be My Baby", "Honey" and "My All" between 1995–98. The streak broke, however, when Carey's duet with Houston, "When You Believe", peaked at number 15. "Heartbreaker" topped the chart for two weeks in October 1999, extending her lead for female artist with the most number-ones, and only third to Elvis Presley (17) and The Beatles (20) overall. "Thank God I Found You" became Carey's fifteenth number-one song in February 2000, meaning that Carey had charted a number-one single for eleven consecutive years starting with "Vision of Love" in 1990, a record she still holds.

"We Belong Together" spent 14 weeks at number-one in 2005, while "Don't Forget About Us" became her seventeenth chart topper, tying her with Presley. "Touch My Body" became Carey's eighteenth number-one song on the Hot 100 in 2008, breaking her tie with Presley and placing her second for the most chart toppers in the history of the chart. It also means that Carey is in fourth place for songwriters with the most-number ones, with 17, only behind Max Martin (21), John Lennon (26) and Paul McCartney (32). Carey and Presley hold the record for having spent 79 weeks at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. Carey holds the record for solo artist with the most number-ones.

Third: Rihanna (14)

Barbadian singer Rihanna has achieved 14 number-one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming the youngest artist to accomplish this record. Her first number-one was "SOS" in May 2006; spending two weeks atop the chart. "Umbrella" became her second number-one in May 2007, selling 277,000 downloads in its first week, logging the highest digital sales debut since tracking of downloads began in 2003, jumping from number 44 to number-one. It spent a total of seven weeks at the summit, and became the second most successful song of 2007, behind Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable". On May 15, 2008, "Take a Bow" peaked at number one on the chart. It logged the second highest debut week sales at the time, as Mariah Carey's song "Touch My Body" debuted with first week sales of 286,000 in April 2008, meaning that Rihanna occupied two of the top three debut week sales tally, along with "Umbrella", which debuted with 277,000 copies. When "Disturbia" became Rihanna's fourth number-one in August 2008, it tied her with Carey and Beyoncé for the most number-one songs by a female in the 2000–2009 decade.

"Live Your Life", a song by T.I. featuring Rihanna, jumped seventy-nine positions from 80–1 on the Hot 100, becoming her fifth number-one and set a new record for largest leap to the peak (at the time). It also sold 355,000 copies, besting Carey's sales of 286,000 with "Touch My Body". "Rude Boy" became her sixth in March 2010, tying her in fifth position with Paula Abdul and Diana Ross for females with the most number-ones, only behind Janet Jackson (10), Whitney Houston (11), Madonna (12) and Carey (18). It also became the eleventh song in the history of the Hot 100 to feature "boy" in the title to top the chart, meaning that a number-one with "boy" in the title had occurred in every decade since its inception in 1958. Her collaboration with Eminem, "Love the Way You Lie", became Rihanna's seventh chart topper in July 2010 since she made her Hot 100 debut in June 2005, the most amongst all artists in this time span.

In 2010 Rihanna released her fifth album Loud, which included three number one singles. Its lead single, "Only Girl (In the World)", reached number one, as did the album's second single, "What's My Name?", featuring rapper Drake. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 before "Only Girl (In the World)", the first time in the chart's history that an album's lead single reached number one after the second. The third single, "S&M", reached number one on the Hot 100 following the release of its official remix featuring Britney Spears, becoming her tenth number one single, which tied her with Janet Jackson for fourth place among female soloists who have topped the chart. With only four years, eleven months, and two weeks between her first and tenth number one on the chart, Rihanna set a record as the solo artist with the fastest accumulation of ten chart toppers. in 2011 Rihanna released the single, "We Found Love", it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten non-consecutive weeks, becoming Rihanna's longest-running number one single and the longest-running number one of 2011.

In 2012 Rihanna released "Diamonds", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, her twelfth number one on the chart which tied her with Madonna and The Supremes as the artists' with the fourth most number ones on the chart's history. A year later Eminem released his Rihanna-assisted single, "The Monster", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which marked Rihanna's thirteenth chart topper, tying her with Michael Jackson for the third most number ones in the chart's 55-year history. Additionally, Rihanna became the fastest solo artist to achieve 13 chart-toppers, surpassing the previous record held by Mariah Carey (seven-years, eight-month and 19 days), with only The Beatles reaching 13 number ones more quickly. In 2016, Rihanna's single, "Work" peaked at number one on the Hot 100 chart and became Rihanna's fourteenth number one song in the United States. Subsequently, she became the third artist with most number one songs on the chart following The Beatles with 20 and Carey with 18.

Fourth: Michael Jackson (13)

American singer, songwriter and producer Michael Jackson achieved 13 number one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 between 1972 and 1995 prior to his death in June 2009. Jackson is also the first of two artists to gain five number-one singles from one album; the other being Katy Perry. In 1972, "Ben" topped the Hot 100 for a week, with Jackson becoming one of the youngest artists to have a number-one hit in America, at age 13. Jackson's fifth studio album Off the Wall contained two number-one hits "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You". This was followed by "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" from the worldwide smash hit album Thriller and "Say Say Say", a duet with Paul McCartney", from the latter's Pipes of Peace album. Bad saw five number-one hits reach number-one from September 1987 to July 1988: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana". Dangerous's lead single, "Black or White", reached number one within a month of its release and (along with "Billie Jean") becoming his longest reign at the top at seven consecutive weeks. Finally, his last number-one single "You Are Not Alone" debuted at number one, with Jackson becoming the first act in the Billboard Hot 100's 37-year history to do so.

The Supremes

American female singing group The Supremes achieved 12 number one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 between 1964 and 1969.

Madonna

American singer, songwriter and producer Madonna has achieved 12 number one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. "Like a Virgin" from the eponymous second studio album reached number one, despite considerable controversy, and stayed at the top for six consecutive weeks between December 1984 and January 1985. "Crazy for You" from the Vision Quest soundtrack topped the Billboard Hot 100 several months later. A year later, Madonna's third studio album True Blue saw three singles ("Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", and "Open Your Heart") reached the top of the charts. In late 1987, "Who's That Girl" became Madonna's sixth number-one single in the United States. Like a Prayer saw its title track top the chart for three weeks in 1989. This was followed by "Vogue", "Justify My Love", and "This Used to Be My Playground" from her compilation albums and soundtrack albums between 1990 and 1992. In 1995, "Take a Bow" became Madonna's longest-running number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, staying there for seven consecutive weeks. In 2000, Madonna received her twelfth (and currently, last) number-one single to date with "Music" topping the chart for four consecutive weeks.

Seventh: Whitney Houston (11)

American singer Whitney Houston achieved 11 number-one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1985 and 1995 before her death in February 2012. Houston is notable for seven consecutive number-one singles, the only artist to achieve this feat. Whitney Houston spawned three number-one singles: "Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know", and "Greatest Love of All. Houston's 1987 album Whitney achieved four number-one singles: "I Wanna Dance with Somebody", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional", and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go".

These singles were followed by "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need". In 1992, Houston saw the biggest hit of her career with a cover version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" which topped the Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks (at the time, the longest reign at the top of the Billboard Hot 100), and later became the best-selling single by a female artist of all time. In 1995, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" debuted at number one, making Houston the third artist to do so.

Stevie Wonder

American singer, songwriter and producer Stevie Wonder has achieved 10 number-one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Janet Jackson

American singer, songwriter and producer Janet Jackson has achieved 10 number-one songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Control saw its third single, "When I Think of You" reach number-one. Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 saw four of its single reaching number-one in three different years, in 1989, 1990, and 1991, the only album to do so in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. Then, janet. spawned two number-one hits "That's the Way Love Goes" and "Again"; the former is the longest run at number-one in Jackson's career. This was followed by "Together Again" from The Velvet Rope which topped the chart for two weeks in early 1998, after debuting at number nine in late December 1997; the song is Jackson's biggest hit worldwide, selling 6 million copies globally. The song "Doesn't Really Matter" reached number one; it is included on the soundtrack for the film Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. "All for You" reached number one for seven consecutive weeks in 2001, becoming one of the biggest hits of the year in the United States.

Elvis Presley (14)

American singer Elvis Presley achieved 14 number-one songs on Billboard Best Sellers In Stores and Hot 100 charts between 1956 and 1969 prior to his death in August 1977.