1959 in music
Who ruled 1959? Lloyd Price was Artist of the Year on the Billboard Hot 100 and Russ Conway on the UK Singles Chart. Every #1 song of 1959, the biggest songs and the top artists.
Billboard Hot 100
| # | Artist | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lloyd Price | 133 | 0 | 21 |
| 2 | Frankie Avalon | 122 | 1 | 17 |
| 3 | Paul Anka | 120 | 1 | 21 |
| 4 | Connie Francis | 109 | 6 | 14 |
| 5 | Bobby Darin | 107 | 7 | 17 |
| 6 | Ricky Nelson | 99 | 11 | 13 |
| 7 | Brook Benton | 98 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Fats Domino | 94 | 3 | 5 |
| 9 | The Fleetwoods | 87 | 3 | 17 |
| 10 | The Coasters | 86 | 0 | 8 |
| First week at #1 | Song | Artist | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 5, 1959 | The Chipmunk Song | The Chipmunks & David Seville | 2 |
| Jan 19, 1959 | Smoke Gets In Your Eyes | The Platters | 3 |
| Feb 9, 1959 | Stagger Lee | Lloyd Price | 4 |
| Mar 9, 1959 | Venus | Frankie Avalon | 5 |
| Apr 13, 1959 | Come Softly To Me | The Fleetwoods | 4 |
| May 11, 1959 | The Happy Organ | Dave "Baby" Cortez | 1 |
| May 18, 1959 | Kansas City | Wilbert Harrison | 2 |
| Jun 1, 1959 | The Battle Of New Orleans | Johnny Horton | 6 |
| Jul 13, 1959 | Lonely Boy | Paul Anka | 4 |
| Aug 10, 1959 | A Big Hunk O' Love | Elvis Presley & The Jordanaires | 2 |
| Aug 24, 1959 | The Three Bells | The Browns | 4 |
| Sep 21, 1959 | Sleep Walk | Santo & Johnny | 2 |
| Oct 5, 1959 | Mack The Knife | Bobby Darin | 9 |
| Nov 16, 1959 | Mr. Blue | The Fleetwoods | 1 |
| Dec 14, 1959 | Heartaches By The Number | Guy Mitchell | 2 |
| Dec 28, 1959 | Why | Frankie Avalon | 1 |
| # | Song | Artist | Peak | Weeks | Record Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mack The Knife | Bobby Darin | #1 | 26 | 65.2 |
| 2 | He'll Have To Go | Jim Reeves | #2 | 23 | 53.2 |
| 3 | The Battle Of New Orleans | Johnny Horton | #1 | 21 | 52.4 |
| 4 | Mr. Blue | The Fleetwoods | #1 | 20 | 47.7 |
| 5 | Venus | Frankie Avalon | #1 | 28 | 44.7 |
| 6 | Running Bear | Johnny Preston | #1 | 27 | 44.7 |
| 7 | Heartaches By The Number | Guy Mitchell | #1 | 20 | 43.7 |
| 8 | El Paso | Marty Robbins | #1 | 22 | 43.4 |
| 9 | Put Your Head On My Shoulder | Paul Anka | #2 | 18 | 41.7 |
| 10 | Lonely Boy | Paul Anka | #1 | 15 | 40.6 |
UK Singles Chart
| # | Artist | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russ Conway | 182 | 21 | 35 |
| 2 | Marty Wilde | 123 | 0 | 14 |
| 3 | Lonnie Donegan | 121 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | Cliff Richard and The Drifters | 110 | 0 | 13 |
| 5 | Elvis Presley | 109 | 1 | 17 |
| 6 | Connie Francis | 109 | 1 | 11 |
| 7 | The Everly Brothers | 103 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | Bobby Darin | 101 | 2 | 17 |
| 9 | Ricky Nelson | 98 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | Paul Anka | 97 | 0 | 3 |
| First week at #1 | Song | Artist | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2, 1959 | It's Only Make Believe | Conway Twitty | 3 |
| Jan 23, 1959 | The Day The Rains Came | Jane Morgan | 1 |
| Jan 30, 1959 | One Night/I Got Stung | Elvis Presley | 3 |
| Feb 20, 1959 | As I Love You | Shirley Bassey | 4 |
| Mar 20, 1959 | Smoke Gets In Your Eyes | The Platters | 1 |
| Mar 27, 1959 | Side Saddle | Russ Conway | 4 |
| Apr 24, 1959 | It Doesn't Matter Anymore | Buddy Holly | 3 |
| May 15, 1959 | A Fool Such as I/I Need Your Love Tonight | Elvis Presley | 5 |
| Jun 19, 1959 | Roulette | Russ Conway | 2 |
| Jul 3, 1959 | Dream Lover | Bobby Darin | 4 |
| Jul 31, 1959 | Living Doll | Cliff Richard and The Drifters | 6 |
| Sep 11, 1959 | Only Sixteen | Craig Douglas | 4 |
| Oct 9, 1959 | Here Comes Summer | Jerry Keller | 1 |
| Oct 16, 1959 | Mack The Knife | Bobby Darin | 2 |
| Oct 30, 1959 | Travellin' Light | Cliff Richard And The Shadows | 5 |
| Dec 4, 1959 | What Do You Want? | Adam Faith | 3 |
| Dec 25, 1959 | What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For? | Emile Ford and the Checkmates | 1 |
| # | Song | Artist | Peak | Weeks | Record Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Side Saddle | Russ Conway | #1 | 30 | 80.3 |
| 2 | Living Doll | Cliff Richard and The Drifters | #1 | 23 | 64.9 |
| 3 | What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For? | Emile Ford and the Checkmates | #1 | 25 | 62.7 |
| 4 | Petite Fleur | Chris Barber's Jazz Band | #3 | 24 | 61.0 |
| 5 | It Doesn't Matter Anymore | Buddy Holly | #1 | 21 | 60.6 |
| 6 | Smoke Gets In Your Eyes | The Platters | #1 | 20 | 56.6 |
| 7 | Dream Lover | Bobby Darin | #1 | 19 | 55.0 |
| 8 | Roulette | Russ Conway | #1 | 19 | 52.9 |
| 9 | It's Late | Ricky Nelson | #3 | 20 | 51.3 |
| 10 | Travellin' Light | Cliff Richard And The Shadows | #1 | 17 | 50.1 |
Artist of the Year and the rankings are the ChartReign Power model: the artist with the most chart power over the year, not the most #1s. Crowns are weeks crowned Artist of the Week. How it works