List of (U.S.) Billboard country chart achievements

This article highlights significant milestones and achievements based upon "Billboard" magazine's Hot Country Songs (and its titled predecessors) chart, and accomplishments on the Hot Country Albums chart.

This list spans from the issue dated January 8, 1944 to the present. "Billboard magazine" began tracking the popularity of country music songs at that time, and it is widely considered to be the standard music popularity chart in the United States.

From 1944-1948, "Billboard" used just one chart to track songs' popularity - "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records." There was no standard chart length; a given week had anywhere from two to eight positions. A "Best Sellers" chart (first titled "Best Seling Retail Folk Records") was added with the May 15, 1948 issue, while a "Jockeys" (first known as "Country & Western Records Most Played by Folk Disk Jockeys") first appeared on December 10, 1949. From 1949-1957, there were three charts that measured the popularity of country music songs; the Jukebox chart was dropped after the June 17, 1957 chart, while the final Best Sellers and Jockeys charts ended with the October 13, 1958 issue.

Starting October 20, 1958, there was one all-encompassing chart, combining both retail sales and radio airplay. First known as "Hot C&W Sides," the chart name changed to "Hot Country Singles" on November 3, 1962; "Hot Country Singles & Tracks" on January 20, 1990; and "Hot Country Songs" on April 30, 2005. The chart length varied through the years: 30 (1958-1964), 50 (1964-1966), 75 (1966-1973), 100 (1973-1990), 75 (1990-2000) and 60 (since January 6, 2001). [Whitburn, Joel, "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits," 2nd ed. Billboard Publications, 2006. (ISBN 0-8230-8291-1)]

Artist achievements

Most chart entries

Most Top 40 hits

* 145 — George Jones
* 128 — Eddy Arnold
* 105 — Johnny Cash
* 93 — Merle Haggard
* 92 — Waylon Jennings

Most Top 10 singles

* 92 — Eddy Arnold
* 79 — George Strait
* 78 — George Jones
* 75 — Conway Twitty
* 71 — Merle Haggard

Most No. 1 hits

* 43 — George Strait
* 40 — Conway Twitty
* 38 — Merle Haggard
* 35 — Ronnie Milsap
* 32 — Alabama
* 29 — Charley Pride
* 28 — Eddy Arnold
* 25 — Dolly Parton

Most consecutive No. 1 hits

Artists who have appeared in the Top 40 in at least five different decades

:^* In years where there were multiple charts, the most weeks spent on a particular chart is considered.:^A Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On" breaks the tie among the three 21-week chart toppers (most weeks in the Top 10, at 44) and has been given Billboard's No. 1 honor; "I'll Hold You In My Heart" spent 41 weeks in the Top 10, "In the Jailhouse Now" 34 weeks.

By decade*

* 1940s-"Bouquet Of Roses" (Eddy Arnold) 19 weeks at #1. 53 weeks in top 10 and 54 in top 15 far outstrips any song in history. "I'll Hold You In My Heart" 21 weeks at #1 but only 41 weeks in top 10
* 1950s - "I'm Movin' On" by Hank Snow and His Rainbow Ranch Boys (1950); and "In the Jailhouse Now" by Webb Pierce (1955), (21 weeks each)
* 1960s - "Walk On By" by Leroy Van Dyke (1961) (19 weeks)
* 1970s - "My Hang-Up Is You" by Freddie Hart (1972); "Convoy" by C.W. McCall (1976); and "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" by Waylon Jennings (1977) (6 weeks each)
* 1980s - "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers (1980); "My Heart" by Ronnie Milsap (1980); "Lookin' for Love" by Johnny Lee (1980); and "Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis (1987) (3 weeks each)
* 1990s - "Amazed" by Lonestar (1999) (8 weeks)
* 2000s - "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett (2003) (8 weeks):^* In years where there were multiple charts, the most weeks spent on a particular chart is considered.

Most weeks at No. 2

*Note: For pre-1958 songs, the most weeks spent atop any one of the component charts is considered

The charts

Most and fewest No. 1s in a given year

* Most: (tie) 1985 and 1986, when 51 different No. 1 songs peaked in each year.^*
* Least: 1960, when just four different songs (five, if "El Paso" by Marty Robbins is counted) topped the chart. Each of the new No. 1 songs that year spent 10 or more weeks atop the chart. [ibid] :^* Note: In 1985 and 1986, the No. 1 hit for the last week of December of each year spent two weeks in that position, in part due to the second week being a "frozen" week. This was at a time when "Billboard" "froze" the charts during the final week of the year due to its publication of the year-end issue). In addition, one song in 1985 — Ronnie Milsap's "Lost in the Fifties Tonight (In the Still of the Night)" — spent two weeks at No. 1 that October. [Whitburn.]

Biggest jump to No. 1

Early Billboard Country Charts (1944-1958)

* "Guitar Polka" - Al Dexter -- (1946) -- debuted at #1
* "Kaw Liga" - Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys -- (1953) -- debuted at #1

Early Hot Country Singles era (1958-1973)

1973 to inception of BDS in 1990

*15 to 1 — "Convoy" -- C.W. McCall (December 20, 1975)

BDS-era (1990-present)

*9 to 1 - "Keep It Between the Lines" -- Ricky Van Shelton (October 12, 1991)

Biggest fall from No. 1

Prior to inception of BDS in 1990

* 1 to 43 (tie):*"Feels So Right" — Alabama (August 1, 1981) ["Billboard magazine" — August 1, 1981 issue] :*"Tight Fittin' Jeans" — Conway Twitty (October 3, 1981) ["Billboard magazine" — October 3, 1981 issue]

After inception of BDS in 1990

* 1 to 16 - "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)" - Pam Tillis (February 18, 1995)

Quickest climb to No. 1

ince the introduction of the 100-position chart in 1973

Prior to inception of BDS in 1990

* 4 weeks — "Convoy" by C.W. McCall (December 20, 1975)

After inception of BDS in 1990

*1 week — "More Than a Memory" by Garth Brooks (September 15, 2007)Note: Not counting Brooks's debut at #1, the record for fastest climb to #1 since the inception of BDS is tied among three songs, which all reached #1 in their fifth week: "Shameless" by Garth Brooks (1991), "It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (1997), and "Have You Forgotten?" by Darryl Worley (2003).

lowest climb to No. 1

* 41 weeks — "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" by Tracy Lawrence (June 23, 2007) [Cohen, Jonathan, "Rihanna's Hot 100 hat trick with 'Umbrella'," "The Hollywood Reporter", June 15, 2007. [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/music/news/e3i87a868b9f5d172aac14efe5902053dd5] ]

Highest chart debut

ince the introduction of the 100-position chart in 1973

:All six of these songs set their records after the inception of Nielsen SoundScan in 1990.

Male artists

"Note: These three songs also hold the record for the top three highest debuts overall."
* 1 - "More Than a Memory" - Garth Brooks (September 15, 2007)
* 16 - "Don't Blink" - Kenny Chesney (September 8, 2007)
* 17 - "Once in a Lifetime" — Keith Urban (September 2, 2006) [ [http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=26195 Keith Urban's 'Once In A Lifetime' Debut @ Top40-Charts.com - 40 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 25 Countries ] ]

Female artists

* 20 - "So Small" -- Carrie Underwood (August 18, 2007)
* 21 - "All Jacked Up" -- Gretchen Wilson (August 13, 2005)
* 24 - "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" -- Shania Twain (October 19, 2002)

Most year-end No. 1 songs of the year

: "See Billboard Year-End for more information."
* 3 — Alan Jackson (1991, 1993, 2003): — Tim McGraw (1997, 1998, 2004): — Willie Nelson (1978, 1982, 1984): — Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys (1949, 1951, 1953)

* 2 - Bill Anderson (1963, 1969): - Rodney Atkins (2006, 2007): — Clint Black (1989, 1990): — Brooks & Dunn (1996, 2001): — Freddie Hart (1971, 1972): — Waylon Jennings (1977, 1978): — Ronnie Milsap (1980, 1985): — John Michael Montgomery (1994, 1995): — Hank Snow and His Rainbow Ranch Boys (1950, 1954): — Conway Twitty (1970, 1973)

The albums

Most number one songs from an album

Male

From "Diamonds & Dirt" by Rodney Crowell
#"It's Such a Small World"
#"I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried"
#"She's Crazy for Leaving"
#"After All This Time"
#"Above and Beyond (The Call of Love)"

Tied with

From "5th Gear" by Brad Paisley
#"Ticks"
#"Online"
#"Letter to Me"
#"I'm Still a Guy"
#"Waitin' on a Woman"

Female

From "The Woman in Me" by Shania Twain
# "Any Man of Mine"
# "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!"
# "You Win My Love"
# "No One Needs to Know"

Tied with

From "King's Record Shop" by Rosanne Cash
# "The Way We Make a Broken Heart"
# "If You Change Your Mind"
# "Tennessee Flat Top Box"
# "Runaway Train"

Group

From "Southern Star" by Alabama
# "Song of the South"
# "If I Had You"
# "High Cotton"
# "Southern Star"

Most year-end No. 1 albums

: "See Billboard Year-End for more information."
* 4 — Garth Brooks (1991, 1992, 1995, 1998): — Shania Twain (1996, 1999, 2003, 2005)
* 3 — Willie Nelson (1976, 1978, 1982)
* 2 — Alabama (1983, 1985): — Glen Campbell (1968, 1969): — Tim McGraw (1994, 2001): — Charley Pride (1970, 1972): — Charlie Rich (1973, 1974)^*: — Kenny Rogers (1979, 1980)^*: — Randy Travis (1987, 1988): — Carrie Underwood (2006, 2007)^*:^*Note: Accomplished feat with the same album (Rich's "Behind Closed Doors", Rogers' "The Gambler" and Underwood's "Some Hearts").

Most weeks on the chart

Most charted albums by one artist at one time

ee also

* List of Hot 100 (U.S.) chart achievements and trivia

References and sources

References

ources

*Bronson, Fred, "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits" 5th ed. Billboard Publications, New York, 2003. ISBN 0823076776.
*Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits," Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)
*Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.
*Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006," 2007.:*"Additional information obtained can be verified within Billboard magazine's [http://www.billboard.biz online archive services] and print editions of the magazine."