Thanks to a pair of new collaborations with DJ Khaled, Drake now stands alone as the artist with the most top 10 songs in the Billboard Hot 100's history. Up until now he had been tied at the top of that list with Madonna, with each artist (previously) having 38 songs apiece that had cracked the Top 10. But now, thanks to working together with Khaled on "Popstar" (which currently sits at No. 3) and "Greece" (which currently sits at No. 8), Drake now stands alone with 40 songs that have broken that barrier.
Note that the chart dates back to Aug. 4, 1958.
Billboard, citing Nielsen Music/MRC Data, writes that "Popstar" and "Greece" will be the No. 3 and No. 4 streaming songs on their latest chart, with 28.4 million and 22.1 million respective streams. Those songs are also first and seventh when it comes to Digital Song Sales (at 15,000 and 9,000 sold) and had respective radio airplay audience numbers of 13.1 million and 3.5 million. Consider those a fancy way of saying a lot of people have heard them.
In addition to breaking the tie with Madonna, an update of the artists/bands to achieve the most hits in the Top 100 should put things in perspective. Lots of household names here:
Drake had tied Madonna at the top of the list on the chart, dated May 16 from earlier this year, after "Pain 1993" (featuring Playboi Carti) debuted at No. 7.
Madonna's run had begun in November 2002, after she jumped The Beatles with "Die Another Day" for the Bond film of the same name. That song peaked at No. 8, and simultaenously gave her her 35th Top 10 hit. Before that, she had been tied with them at 34 since February 2001.
As one might expect, whether you're a music history buff or not, The Beatles were in the top spot for a much longer time, dating back to March 1967. They hopped Elvis Presley to get to No. 1, after "Penny Lane" gave them their 21st Top 10 entry.
Billboard writes that Madonna still sits at the top spot for most top 10s in the lead role. In fact, all 38 of her hits to bust into that elite company fit that criteria. The outlet notes that Drake has been a beneficiary of hip-hop's collaborative nature, with 25 of his 40 Top 10s coming in the lead, while the other 15 were songs where he was a featured artist.
Drake's run began back in July 2009 when "Best I Ever Had" hit No. 2.
Oh, and also these two new entries help him pile onto his already existing records of most career songs in the Hot 100 (that's now at 224), and most career songs in the top 40 (which is now at 113).
