Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince Achieve Rare Billboard Hot 100 Feat for First Time Since 2004

(July 10, 2026) – For the first time in 22 years, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna all placed songs on the Billboard Hot 100 during the same calendar year (see comparison table below).

Thanks to a bit of Jackson nostalgia, a well-timed synch with a popular TV show for the Purple One, and a return-to-form by music’s dance-pop icon, the Big Three Artists of the 1980s accomplished in 2026 what they hadn’t done since 2004.

Prince started this old-school hit parade in January when “Purple Rain” returned to the Hot 100 for its third chart run after its use in the series finale of the popular show Stranger Things.  Although the episode aired at the end of December, the resulting streaming interest pushed the song back onto the chart at No. 27 in early January.  It was Prince’s first time on the Hot 100 since an onslaught of singles – including “Purple Rain” – returned in 2016 following his untimely passing.

Michael followed in May with the equally iconic “Billie Jean,” which saw a resurgence following the debut of the record-breaking biopic Michael, starring his nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role.

A week later, as several other Jackson singles joined “Billie Jean” in the chart’s upper half, Madonna entered the list at No. 74 with “Bring Your Love,” her collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter.  Though it only spent a single week on the chart, Madonna’s entry meant that the trio had charted in the same calendar year for the first time since 2004 – and even that year qualified only by the slimmest of margins.

In 2004, both Madonna and Prince spent multiple weeks on the Hot 100 – Prince with the Grammy-winning tune “Call My Name” from his 2004 album Musicology, and Madge in another duet with a more contemporary artist – Britney Spears – on “Me Against the Music.”  But Jackson barely made the cut as the last single recorded during his lifetime, “One More Chance” – penned and co-produced by R. Kelly – spent the first week in January at No. 100 after peaking the prior year at No. 83.  Had “Chance” not held on for that lone week, you would have had to go back to 1995 to find the last time Jackson, Prince and Madonna all had chart hits in the same year.

That, incidentally, was also the last time the three superstars appeared on the Hot 100 in the same week.  On December 30, 1995, Prince placed at No. 100 with “Gold” after debuting at its peak position of No. 88 the prior week.  Michael was at No. 57 in the waning weeks of his history-making No. 1 chart run with “You Are Not Alone” – the first song to ever debut at the top, and Madonna was at No. 11 with her No. 6-peaking tune “You’ll See.”  When Prince exited the chart the following week it was the last time the ‘80s icons appeared on the list simultaneously.

While Michael, Prince and Madonna are widely viewed as the three artists who ruled the 1980s – Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles book ranks them at Nos. 1, 2, and 3, respectively, for that decade – they rarely dominated the charts at the same time.  The last of only a handful of times they appeared in the top 40 together was in April 1993 when Madonna’s “Bad Girl,” Prince’s “7,” and Jackson’s “Heal the World” were all simultaneously listed.

The only period in which all three simultaneously occupied the Hot 100’s top ten came in the fall of 1987.  Their dominance reached its peak on the chart dated October 24, when Jackson’s “Bad,” Madonna’s “Causing a Commotion,” and Prince’s “U Got the Look” occupied the Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.  Prior to that, the only other year in which they had simultaneous Hot 100 hits as solo artists was 1983.

The following comparison table shows all the occasions that Michael, Prince and Madonna charted in the same year and the highest tiers that all three reached simultaneously (checkmarks denote non-simultaneous appearances during the same year for the three artists).

*Note: there were years when two of the artists had simultaneous hits, but this table only captures the years all three reached the milestone.  Also, 1984 (with Michael as part of the Jacksons) and 1985 (with Michael as part of USA for Africa) would give them simultaneous top 40 hits in both years.  That last fact is especially ironic considering both Prince and Madonna were famously excluded from USA for Africa’s “We Are the World” single.

While this year’s Hot 100 “reunion” was already historic, Madonna could soon add another chapter to her story.  It’s true that both Prince and Michael managed to reach the top 40 of the Hot 100 this year while Madonna remained the hold-out as her last song to reach that upper tier was in 2012.  However, the former Queen of Pop’s redemption may come in the form of Confessions II, her new album that is projected to debut at No. 1 on next week’s Billboard 200 with more than 100,000 units moved.  It would become her tenth No. 1 album and make her the only woman to have scored chart toppers in the last five decades – the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s, and ‘20s.

For those keeping track, only Barbra Streisand has had No. 1 albums in six consecutive decades, beginning with the 1960s and ending with the 2010s.  Babs is also the oldest woman to have a No. 1 album, as she was 74 when her Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway topped the Billboard 200 in 2016.  Madge, 67, would become the second oldest if Confessions II pulls the trick next week.

Whether Madonna’s Confessions II tops the Billboard 200 or not, 2026 has already delivered something few would have predicted: a year in which the three defining pop superstars of the 1980s all found their way back onto the Billboard Hot 100.  It took nostalgia, streaming, television, a blockbuster biopic, and a new collaboration to make it happen – but for chart watchers, it was a welcome reminder that even decades after their commercial peaks, the legacies of Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna remain powerful enough to write new chapters in Billboard history.

For three artists whose careers helped define an era, that’s one remarkable statistic to add to their already extraordinary résumés.

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 Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.

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