Discover · The slow burn

The longest climbs to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100

“Heat Waves” by Glass Animals took the longest to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100: it got there in its 59th week on the chart, in March 2022, having first charted in January 2021.

The longest climbs to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
#	Song	Artist	Debut	First at #1	Reached #1 in week
1	Heat Waves	Glass Animals	January 2021	March 2022	59
2	Rockin' Around The Christmas TreeChristmas song	Brenda Lee	December 1960	December 2023	53
3	All I Want For Christmas Is YouChristmas song	Mariah Carey	January 2000	December 2019	34
4	Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)	Los Del Rio	September 1995	August 1996	33
5	Lose Control	Teddy Swims	August 2023	March 2024	32
6	Amazed	Lonestar	June 1999	March 2000	31
7	All Of Me	John Legend	September 2013	May 2014	30
8	With Arms Wide Open	Creed	May 2000	November 2000	27
9	Everything You Want	Vertical Horizon	January 2000	July 2000	26
10	Red Red Wine	UB40	January 1984	October 1988	25
11	Someone You Loved	Lewis Capaldi	May 2019	November 2019	24
12	Cruel Summer	Taylor Swift	September 2019	October 2023	24
13	Baby, Come To Me	Patti Austin A & James Ingram	April 1982	February 1983	23
14	Cheap Thrills	Sia feat. Sean Paul	March 2016	August 2016	23
15	Chariots Of Fire - Titles	Vangelis	December 1981	May 1982	22
16	Just Dance	Lady Gaga feat. Colby O'Donis	August 2008	January 2009	22
17	Havana	Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug	August 2017	January 2018	22
18	Shallow	Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper	October 2018	March 2019	22
19	DTMF	Bad Bunny	January 2025	February 2026	22
20	Hot Child In The City	Nick Gilder	June 1978	October 1978	21
21	Sad Eyes	Robert John	May 1979	October 1979	21
22	The Way You Move	OutKast feat. Sleepy Brown	September 2003	February 2004	21
23	Set Fire To The Rain	Adele	March 2011	February 2012	21
24	Love Machine (Part 1)	The Miracles	October 1975	March 1976	20
25	A Fifth of Beethoven	Walter Murphy	May 1976	October 1976	20
26	Please Don't Go	KC And The Sunshine Band	August 1979	January 1980	20
27	Bad Guy	Billie Eilish	April 2019	August 2019	20
28	Watermelon Sugar	Harry Styles	November 2019	August 2020	20
29	Die With A Smile	Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars	August 2024	January 2025	20
30	Opalite	Taylor Swift	October 2025	February 2026	20
31	Don't Leave Me This Way	Thelma Houston	December 1976	April 1977	19
32	Jessie's Girl	Rick Springfield	March 1981	August 1981	19
33	Big Girls Don't Cry	Fergie	May 2007	September 2007	19
34	Dark Horse	Katy Perry feat. Juicy J	October 2013	February 2014	19
35	Kill Bill	SZA	December 2022	April 2023	19
36	My Eyes Adored You	Frankie Valli	November 1974	March 1975	18
37	Before The Next Teardrop Falls	Freddy Fender	February 1975	May 1975	18
38	You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)	Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr.	September 1976	January 1977	18
39	Dancing Queen	ABBA	December 1976	April 1977	18
40	(Love Is) Thicker Than Water	Andy Gibb	November 1977	March 1978	18
41	Do That To Me One More Time	Captain & Tennille	October 1979	February 1980	18
42	Don't You Want Me	The Human League	March 1982	July 1982	18
43	When I'm With You	Sheriff	May 1983	February 1989	18
44	You're Beautiful	James Blunt	November 2005	March 2006	18
45	Black And Yellow	Wiz Khalifa	October 2010	February 2011	18
46	Rolling In The Deep	Adele	December 2010	May 2011	18
47	Say So	Doja Cat feat. Nicki Minaj	January 2020	May 2020	18
48	You Needed Me	Anne Murray	July 1978	November 1978	17
49	I Love A Rainy Night	Eddie Rabbitt	November 1980	February 1981	17
50	Keep On Loving You	REO Speedwagon	November 1980	March 1981	17
51	Who Can It Be Now?	Men At Work	July 1982	October 1982	17
52	Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)	Eurythmics	May 1983	September 1983	17
53	Wishing Well	Terence Trent D'Arby	January 1988	May 1988	17
54	Sexy And I Know It	LMFAO	September 2011	January 2012	17
55	The Hills	The Weeknd	June 2015	October 2015	17
56	Despacito	Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber	February 2017	May 2017	17
57	Girls Like You	Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B	June 2018	September 2018	17
58	Sicko Mode	Travi$ Scott	August 2018	December 2018	17
59	Truth Hurts	Lizzo	May 2019	September 2019	17
60	Blinding Lights	The Weeknd	December 2019	April 2020	17
61	Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat)	Jawsh 685 & Jason Derulo	June 2020	October 2020	17
62	Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian)	The Raiders	April 1971	July 1971	16
63	I Am Woman	Helen Reddy	June 1972	December 1972	16
64	Laughter In The Rain	Neil Sedaka	October 1974	February 1975	16
65	Theme From S.W.A.T.	Rhythm Heritage	November 1975	February 1976	16
66	I'm Your Boogie Man	KC And The Sunshine Band	February 1977	June 1977	16
67	Baby Come Back	Player	October 1977	January 1978	16
68	If I Can't Have You	Yvonne Elliman	January 1978	May 1978	16
69	Celebration	Kool & The Gang	October 1980	February 1981	16
70	What's Love Got To Do With It	Tina Turner	May 1984	September 1984	16
71	How You Remind Me	Nickelback	September 2001	December 2001	16
72	Laffy Taffy	D4L	October 2005	January 2006	16
73	Hey There Delilah	Plain White T's	April 2007	July 2007	16
74	Call Me Maybe	Carly Rae Jepsen	March 2012	June 2012	16
75	Thrift Shop	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz	September 2012	February 2013	16
76	When I Was Your Man	Bruno Mars	December 2012	April 2013	16
77	Sad!	XXXTENTACION	March 2018	June 2018	16
78	Ordinary	Alex Warren	February 2025	June 2025	16
79	Choosin' Texas	Ella Langley	November 2025	February 2026	16
80	Please Mr. Postman	The Marvelettes	September 1961	December 1961	15
81	Will It Go Round In Circles	Billy Preston	March 1973	July 1973	15
82	Rock Me Gently	Andy Kim	June 1974	September 1974	15
83	Nothing From Nothing	Billy Preston	July 1974	October 1974	15
84	Shining Star	Earth, Wind & Fire	February 1975	May 1975	15
85	The Hustle	Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony	April 1975	July 1975	15
86	Rhinestone Cowboy	Glen Campbell	May 1975	September 1975	15
87	Kiss And Say Goodbye	The Manhattans	April 1976	July 1976	15
88	Car Wash	Rose Royce	October 1976	January 1977	15
89	Undercover Angel	Alan O'Day	April 1977	July 1977	15
90	I Just Want To Be Your Everything	Andy Gibb	April 1977	July 1977	15
91	Abracadabra	The Steve Miller Band	May 1982	September 1982	15
92	Hard To Say I'm Sorry	Chicago	June 1982	September 1982	15
93	Mickey	Toni Basil	September 1982	December 1982	15
94	Africa	Toto	October 1982	February 1983	15
95	Maniac	Michael Sembello	June 1983	September 1983	15
96	Take On Me	a-ha	July 1985	October 1985	15
97	Holding Back The Years	Simply Red	April 1986	July 1986	15
98	Here I Go Again	Whitesnake	July 1987	October 1987	15
99	Need You Tonight	INXS	October 1987	January 1988	15
100	Wind Beneath My Wings (From "Beaches")	Bette Midler	March 1989	June 1989	15

How is this counted?

For every #1, the chart week in which it first reached the top, counting only the weeks it was on the chart: a song that dropped off and came back years later counts its weeks on the chart, not the years between.

Every week of the Billboard Hot 100 to Sep 19, 2026. About the data

30-second previews and store links from Apple Music.