History of Billboard Hot 100 in Timeline

The Billboard Hot 100 is the primary music chart in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It ranks songs based on a combination of sales, online streaming figures, and radio airplay data gathered across the U.S. It serves as the music industry standard for measuring the popularity of songs in the country.

July 1913: Billboard published first chart

In July 1913, Billboard published its first chart, "Last Week's Ten Best Sellers Among the Popular Songs," which was a list of best-selling sheet music.

1928: "Popular Numbers Featured by Famous Singers and Leaders" appeared

In 1928, Billboard introduced "Popular Numbers Featured by Famous Singers and Leaders", a chart that added radio performances to in-person performances.

January 4, 1936: "Ten Best Records for Week Ending" published

On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine published "Ten Best Records for Week Ending", which listed the top 10 selling records from three leading record companies.

October 1938: "The Week's Best Records" retitled

In October 1938, Billboard's review list, "The Week's Best Records", was retitled "The Billboard Record Buying Guide" by incorporating airplay and sheet music sales to assess record popularity.

July 20, 1940: "Billboard Music Popularity Chart" was created

For the week ending July 20, 1940, Billboard created the full-page "Billboard Music Popularity Chart" with lists covering jukebox play, retail sales, sheet music sales, and radio play.

March 24, 1945: Billboard's lead popularity chart was the Honor Roll of Hits

Starting on March 24, 1945, Billboard's lead popularity chart was the Honor Roll of Hits. This chart ranked the most popular songs regardless of performer based on record and sheet sales, disk jockey, and jukebox performances.

November 12, 1955: Billboard published The Top 100

On November 12, 1955, Billboard published The Top 100 chart for the first time, combining sales, airplay, and jukebox activity. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" by The Four Aces was the first No. 1 song.

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1955: Start of the rock era

At the start of the rock era in 1955, Billboard had three charts measuring songs by individual metrics.

June 17, 1957: Most Played in Jukeboxes chart discontinued

On June 17, 1957, Billboard discontinued the Most Played in Jukeboxes chart due to the declining popularity of jukeboxes.

July 28, 1958: Final Most Played by Jockeys and Top 100 charts

The week of July 28, 1958, marked the final publication of the Most Played by Jockeys and Top 100 charts. Perez Prado's instrumental version of "Patricia" topped both charts.

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August 4, 1958: "Poor Little Fool" was the first number-one song

On August 4, 1958, "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson became the first number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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October 13, 1958: Billboard discontinued the Best Sellers In Stores chart

On October 13, 1958, Billboard discontinued the Best Sellers In Stores chart after premiering the Hot 100 chart.

1958: A- and-B-sides charted separately

With the initiation of the Hot 100 in 1958, A- and-B-sides of singles were charted separately, as they had been on the former Top 100 chart.

November 29, 1969: Rule altered for listing both sides of a single

Starting with the Hot 100 chart for the week ending November 29, 1969, Billboard altered its rule to list both sides of a single together if they received significant airplay.

1972: Trend of putting the same song on both sides of singles

By 1972, most major record labels had solidified a trend of putting the same song on both sides of the singles provided to radio.

November 30, 1991: Relationship ended with American Top 40

On November 30, 1991, the Hot 100's relationship with the weekly radio countdown show American Top 40 ended, as American Top 40 started using the airplay-only side of the Hot 100.

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1991: Nielsen started tracking sales

In 1991, Nielsen began tracking sales data for the Billboard charts. The weekly tracking period was initially Monday–Sunday.

1991: Removed titles reached certain criteria regarding its current rank and number of weeks on the chart

Since 1991, Billboard has removed titles from the Hot 100 that have reached certain criteria regarding their current rank and number of weeks on the chart to allow for new and developing artists and tracks.

1994: Christmas songs

Older songs are allowed to re-enter the Hot 100 provided they chart higher than number 50. Since the relaxation of recurrent rules, Christmas songs have been a regular presence on the Hot 100 each December since 1994

December 5, 1998: Hot 100 changed from a "singles" chart to a "songs" chart

On December 5, 1998, the Hot 100 changed from being a "singles" chart to a "songs" chart, allowing songs not available as singles to chart based on airplay.

December 1998: Hot 100 changed from a "singles" chart to a "songs" chart

In December 1998, the Billboard Hot 100 transitioned from a 'singles' chart to a 'songs' chart, enabling songs without physical single releases to chart based on airplay and other metrics.

2003: Downloads tracked with the Hot Digital Tracks chart

In 2003, Billboard started tracking downloads with the Hot Digital Tracks chart. These downloads did not count towards the Hot 100, and each version of a song was counted separately.

February 12, 2005: Paid digital downloads tracked

Since February 12, 2005, the Billboard Hot 100 tracks paid digital downloads from internet services such as iTunes, Musicmatch, and Rhapsody.

February 2005: Pop 100 created

In February 2005, Billboard created the Pop 100 chart to address criticisms that the Hot 100 was too dominated by hip hop and R&B.

2006: Record for biggest single-week upward movement broken

Since 2006, the all-time record for the biggest single-week upward movement on the Billboard chart has been broken nine times.

June 16, 2007: Canadian Hot 100 launched

The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on June 16, 2007. It uses sales and airplay tracking compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and Broadcast Data Systems, similar to the Hot 100.

August 11, 2007: Billboard incorporated streaming data

In the issue dated August 11, 2007, Billboard began incorporating weekly data from streaming media and on-demand services into the Hot 100.

May 31, 2008: Billboard Japan Hot 100 launched

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 was launched in the issue dated May 31, 2008. It uses the same methodologies as the Hot 100 charts for the U.S. and Canada, using sales and airplay data.

June 2009: Pop 100 discontinued

In June 2009, the Pop 100 chart was discontinued due to the charts becoming increasingly similar to the Hot 100.

March 24, 2012: On-Demand Songs chart premiered

On March 24, 2012, Billboard premiered its On-Demand Songs chart, ranking web radio streams from services such as Spotify.

January 2013: Expanded to a broader Streaming Songs chart

In January 2013, the On-Demand Songs chart was expanded to a broader Streaming Songs chart, and its data was incorporated into the equation that compiles the Hot 100.

February 2013: YouTube views added to Hot 100 formula

In February 2013, U.S. views for a song on YouTube were added to the Hot 100 formula. "Harlem Shake" was the first song to reach number one after the changes were made.

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June 2015: United States product was formerly released on Tuesdays before June 2015

Before June 2015, United States product was formerly released on Tuesdays. The Hot 100 altered its tracking-week for sales, streaming and radio airplay in order to conform to a new Global Release Date.

July 2015: Sales tracking period changed

In July 2015, the weekly tracking period for sales and online streaming data changed from Monday–Sunday to Friday–Thursday.

July 25, 2015: Modified tracking schedule

The modified tracking schedule took effect in the issue dated July 25, 2015. Billboard altered its tracking-week for sales, streaming and radio airplay in order to conform to a new Global Release Date, which now falls on Fridays in all major-market territories.

2015: Current Recurrent criteria

As of 2015, Billboard's recurrent criteria stated that a song is permanently moved to recurrent status if it has spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100 and fallen below position number 50.

December 2019: "All I Want for Christmas Is You" reached No. 1

In December 2019, Mariah Carey's 1994 recording "All I Want for Christmas Is You" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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July 2020: Billboard no longer allow sales of physical/digital bundles to be reported as digital sales

In July 2020, Billboard announced that they would no longer allow sales of physical/digital bundles (songs bought along with merchandise) to be reported as digital sales to prevent boosting chart positions.

July 17, 2021: Radio airplay tracked on a Friday–Thursday cycle

Effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021, radio airplay tracking began on a Friday–Thursday cycle, aligning with sales and streaming data tracking. Previously, radio airplay was tracked from Monday–Sunday.

January 14, 2022: Billboard Vietnam Hot 100 launched

On January 14, 2022, the Vietnamese edition of Hot 100, Billboard Vietnam Hot 100, was launched.

October 18, 2025: 1,184 different number-one entries

As of the issue for the week ending on October 18, 2025, the Billboard Hot 100 has had 1,184 different number-one entries, with "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift as the current number-one song.

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