The artist who spent the most consecutive time at number one

Parton’s case isn’t unique. Countless artists across history have experienced the same reaction to chasing hits. Even David Bowie, someone who famously did everything he could to prioritise expression and experimentation over commercial success, wasn’t always opposed to the rush of getting a number one. It’s a common thread, one that always comes down to the integrity of commercialism and whether the concept itself is inherently contradictory to artistic value.

But there are many people who have argued against such a narrow view. As Rod Serling once explained, during a time when he was facing the same fight, people assume that “you cannot be commercial and quality,” that “you cannot be commercial concurrent with having a preoccupation with the level of storytelling that you want to achieve”. He “rejected” the idea because art was art, no matter its size, so long as the artist was never ashamed of their own work.

It’s the same debate we see time and time again with number ones. One of the main metrics of commercial success, a number one is what most popular artists vie for, the thing that drives them to keep pushing – the validity that gives them that invisible stamp of legitimacy and proof that their push has officially paid off. For others, it’s the ultimate sign of a cop out. But whichever it may be, there’s no denying how much weight it holds when looking back through history.

Which artist spent the most consecutive time at number one?

As it stands, the artist with the most weeks at number one – and one which shuns the commercial versus quality debate – is The Beatles. The Fab Four have the most weeks at 137, in front of Taylor Swift at 89, Elvis Presley at 67, Michael Jackson at 51, and Whitney Houston at 46, per Billboard.

However, consecutively, Houston holds the record with seven weeks, taking over both The Beatles and the Bee Gees by just one week. Houston’s streak won with hits such as ‘Saving All My Love For You’, ‘How Will I Know’, ‘Greatest Love Of All’, ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’, ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ and others.

But the achievement itself isn’t the only impressive thing – Houston was also a Black woman in a room filled mostly with white men, and even more piercing voices who were constantly pushing the opinion that commercial success meant a lack of artistic expression. When we look at Houston’s songs, however, there isn’t that substance-less mainstream filler that such critics look for. Instead, there was a best of both, a place where quality could exist at the top of the charts, all from someone who had to work twice as hard to even be heard.

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