(April 14, 2024). How poetic is it that in the midst of a presidential election year where immigration is a key issue and when at least a half-dozen foreign countries are at war (and the U.S. has inserted itself in all of them) that American musicians are on track to do something at home that hasn’t happened in 19 years on the Billboard Hot 100 and has only happened two times in the chart’s entire 66-year history?
Since January 1 (and actually every week since October 21 of last year), every No. 1 song on the nation’s premier singles chart has been by an American-born artist.
The last non-American to reach No. 1 was Canadian rapper Drake, who topped the list with his beef-instigating single (with North Carolina rapper J. Cole), “First Person Shooter,” which preceded Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” at the top of a chart that Americans have held court on ever since.
Nearly four months into 2024, the No. 1 spot has been dominated by the following U.S.-born artists (including featured acts) in chronological order: Brenda Lee, Jack Harlow, Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign, Rich the Kid, Playboi Carti, Teddy Swims, Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar.
That’s 13 Americans and zero artists born outside of U.S. borders.
If you don’t think it’s a big deal that no foreign-born artists have reached the top this deep into a calendar year, think again. It’s only happened on two occasions in Hot 100 history (since August 4, 1958) that American artists have dominated the chart in a calendar year from start to finish. And those instances occurred consecutively 19 and 20 years ago.
First in 2004 and then again in 2005, every No. 1 song in this country was by an American act. Those years were also notable for their R&B domination of the pop charts. Particularly in 2004, every No. 1 song on the Hot 100 was by a Black American artist (including both lead and featured roles), the first and only time that’s occurred in the chart’s history.
It should also be noted that there were fewer contenders in those years. In 2005, only eight different songs made it to No. 1 (that year four songs each spent nine or more weeks dominating the list). In 2004, there were just twelve different No. 1 hits.
In 2024 (so far), there’ve already been nine songs that have occupied the top spot and we’re still only in April. This year is on pace to have the most No. 1 songs (27) of any year since before Billboard began tracking actual sales and airplay in 1991, which already makes this year’s American blockade nearly as impressive as those from two decades ago.
Interestingly, only one of the artists who was part of the 2004-05 story is also in this year’s lineup: Kanye West.
West, or Ye as he is now known, topped the chart in 2004 as a featured guest on Twista’s “Slow Jam” also featuring Jamie Foxx, and again in 2005 on his own “Gold Digga,” which, ironically, also featured Foxx.
Also of note, Beyoncé, who’s topped this year’s chart with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” is the only American artist to top the list in 2024 with a song named for her birth state. And although she missed out on being part of the 2004-05 story, she bookended those years with No. 1 songs in 2003 and 2006 (making her the second-longest tenured No. 1 artist of this year’s roster, behind Brenda Lee whose No. 1 songs span 64 years).
While 2024 is trending to be an all-American year at the top, mid-April isn’t the latest we’ve gone into a calendar year before the first non-American born artist topped the Hot 100. Just five years ago in 2019, Americans ruled the list until late August when Cuban-born Camila Cabello — who, btw, has dual American citizenship — topped the list with Canadian Shawn Mendes and the song “Señorita.”
Many other years have had just one non-American top the list, especially before the Beatles crossed the Atlantic in 1964 and the first British Music Invasion happened.
But only two years have managed to go from January to December with zero foreign citizens atop the Hot 100.
Will 2024 continue on a path to join 2004 and 2005 in this unique place in history?
It’s possible, but not likely.
Knocking on the door to No. 1 on the current chart is Hozier’s new single “Too Sweet,” which is projected to climb to No. 2 (from No. 4) on the next chart (dated April 20, to be announced Monday, April 15). It’s also expected to continue its upward momentum and go to No. 1 the following week (April 27) although it’s still too early to tell as the tracking week for that chart began just two days ago.
Hozier hales from Newcastle, County Wicklow, Ireland, and “Too Sweet” would be his first career No. 1 if it happens.
Another wildcard is Drake’s newly leaked diss single “Push Ups (Drop & Give Me 50),” a vitriolic response to the current No. 1 song “Like That” by American rappers Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar, in which Lamar fired lyrical shots at the 6 God.
Drake’s song, in which he takes swipes at every A-list rapper on the planet, has yet to be released to DSPs, but if and when it is, it is likely to return the Canadian rapper to the top of the list given his fans’ (and non-fans’) rabid reaction to bootleg versions currently circulating the internet.
Of course, Drake is a large part of why Americans haven’t had an exclusive lock on the Hot 100 in recent years. He’s had 13 No. 1 singles since 2016, the most of any artist — domestic or foreign — in that span. It seems only fitting that he’d be the artist who would bookend this current streak of Americans dominating the chart.
But there is that one American artist who is Drake’s Kryptonite. And her name is Taylor Swift. Her new album The Tortured Poets Department is coming April 19 and is sure to contain a No. 1 single that none of us has heard yet.
Drake has already acknowledged that he concedes to Swift when it comes to new music release dates. So if he’s gonna have a shot at the top with “Push Ups,” he’ll have to officially release it now while the window of opportunity is open and the beef between him and the current No. 1 occupants is still cooking.
Of course, djrobblog will continue to keep an eye on the Hot 100 charts and whether Americans can maintain their stranglehold on the top spot.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog and on Meta’s Threads.
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That’s interesting- I would have guessed the mid-60s, during the first British Invasion. Look forward to finding out! Thanks
I’ll research both eras.
Thanks – sorry for the multiple replies – wasn’t sure the first one went through!
No worries.
Hey DJR. Thanks for another insightful article. I have a follow-up “reverse” question. Which year in Hot 100 history had the most foreign artists to top the Charts?
Hey no problem, Alex! That would require some research, but I’m willing to bet it’s somewhere between 1985-87.
Will be interesting to see – I would have thought the mid-60s (British Invasion)
I’ll look there too, of course. But the reason I guessed the mid-1980s first was because of the sheer number of No. 1 songs. There were on average 30-plus different chart toppers in each of the years 1985, ‘86 and ‘87, not to mention we were in the midst of the second British Music Invasion, but I’ll focus on both eras in my research.