Adult Contemporary (chart)

The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by Billboard magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to Billboard by stations that are members of the Adult Contemporary radio panel. The chart debuted in Billboard magazine on July 17, 1961. Over the years, the chart has undergone a series of name changes, being called Easy Listening (1961–1962; 1965–1979), Middle-Road Singles (1962–1964), Pop-Standard Singles (1964–1965), Hot Adult Contemporary (1984–1996) and Adult Contemporary (1979–1984, 1996–present). The current number-one song on the chart, as of the issue of Billboard dated May 23, 2026, is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren.

Chart history

The Billboard Easy listening chart, as it was first known, was born of a desire by some radio stations in the late 1950s and early 1960s to continue playing current hit songs but distinguish themselves from being branded as "rock and roll" stations. Billboard had written articles about this trend during the time, and the magazine's editors decided to publish a separate chart for these songs beginning in 1961. The magazine offered an "Easy Listening" programming guide beginning January 9, 1961, which continued until the numbered chart appeared in July. The first No. 1 song on the Billboard Easy Listening chart was "The Boll Weevil Song" by Brook Benton. In 1967, only one single reached No. 1 on both charts "Somethin' Stupid" by Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra. This trend began to reverse by the end of the decade.

Notable artists with multiple No. 1 songs on this chart during the 1960s include Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, the 5th Dimension, and Glen Campbell. "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat held the top of the Easy Listening chart for 11 weeks in 1968, which remained the longest stay at No. 1 until 1993.

Some of the artists who achieved success on the adult contemporary chart in the 1980s were already established names, such as Elton John, Chicago, Barbra Streisand, Dan Fogelberg, Sheena Easton, Kenny Rogers, and Dionne Warwick, while newer acts such as Whitney Houston, Madonna, Air Supply, Lionel Richie, and Gloria Estefan also made an impact on the chart. The amount of crossover between the AC chart and the Hot 100 has varied based on how much the passing pop music trends of the times appealed to adult listeners. Not many disco or new wave songs were particularly successful on the AC chart during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and much of the hip-hop and harder rock music featured on CHR formats later in the decade would have been unacceptable on AC radio.

No song spent more than six weeks at No. 1 on this chart during the 1980s, with nine songs accomplishing that feat. Two were by Lionel Richie, "You Are" in 1983 and "Hello" in 1984, which also reached No. 1 on the Hot 100. Other songs reaching the summit on both the AC and pop charts were "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder, "Live to Tell" by Madonna, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" by Michael Jackson (his only No. 1 on both charts), "Seasons Change" by Exposé, "Look Away" by Chicago, "Tell Her About It" by Billy Joel, and "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx. Two consecutive singles ("The River of Dreams" by Billy Joel and "Said I Loved You...But I Lied" by Michael Bolton) logged twelve weeks apiece atop the AC chart, surpassing "Love Is Blue"'s previous mark of eleven weeks at number one. As the decade progressed, other songs had even longer stays at number one, including "Change the World" by Eric Clapton (13 weeks, 1996), "Un-Break My Heart" by Toni Braxton (14 weeks, 1997), "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion (19 weeks, 1996) and "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins (19 weeks, 1999).

In addition to Collins, who has had significant success on this chart, other artists with multiple number ones in the 1990s include Mariah Carey, Michael Bolton, Whitney Houston, and Shania Twain. Newer female singer-songwriters such as Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge, and Sheryl Crow also broke through on the AC chart during this time. One theory states that many adult contemporary stations play less newer music because they also give ample airtime to hits of the past, so the de-emphasis on new songs slows the progression of the AC chart. Also, certain program directors have asserted that AC is a song-based format, as opposed to other radio formats that are infused with singer-based programming, so there is no guarantee that a new single by a certain artist will appeal to the listeners.

In 2011, Billboard announced the top 100 performing songs on the AC chart and the top 50 performing artists to celebrate the 50th anniversary on the chart. The top song on the list was "Truly Madly Deeply" by Savage Garden, which hit number one for 11 weeks in 1998, spent a total of 58 weeks in the top 10, and spent 123 weeks on the chart. That chart longevity would only be passed by another one of their songs, "I Knew I Loved You" (which ranked at #21 on that list), from their album Affirmation. Elton John was nominated the top performing AC artist through that time, and also holds the record for the most No. 1 AC singles, top 10 singles, and singles on the chart. His song "The One" was ranked on No. 53 on the top 100 performing songs on the AC chart.

Other formats

Relatively few urban contemporary and hip-hop artists manage to successfully cross over to AC, although there were a few exceptions in the later part of the 2000s decade, such as Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable", Fergie's ballad "Big Girls Don't Cry", Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", Rihanna's "Take a Bow", and Timbaland's remix of OneRepublic's "Apologize". R&B artists who have achieved major success on the AC chart in the past include Dionne Warwick, Aaron Neville, Diana Ross (with her solo career), James Ingram, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

Crossover from the country charts has also been common on the AC chart since the chart began. Among the country stars who had a number of singles cross over to the AC chart (and the pop chart as well) from the 1960s through the 1980s included Brenda Lee, Ray Price, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Anne Murray, Ronnie Milsap, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, Willie Nelson, and Juice Newton. The huge growth of country music as a radio format in the 1990s brought a number of new country crossovers onto the AC airwaves, including Martina McBride, Wynonna Judd, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain, Billy Joel, Lonestar, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Garth Brooks. More recently, a new wave of country performers has been crossing over to AC, including Tim McGraw, the Dixie Chicks (who topped the AC chart with their cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide"), Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean (whose AC success came by way of his duet with Kelly Clarkson, "Don't You Wanna Stay"), The Band Perry, Sam Hunt, and Dan + Shay.

Contemporary Christian music has also been relatively successful in crossing over to mainstream radio. In the mid-1980s, the most successful CCM artist at the time, Amy Grant, crossed over into secular music with the 1985 single "Find a Way", which became a Top Ten AC hit and a No. 1 Christian single simultaneously. In the 1990s and into the 2000s, other artists such as Lifehouse, MercyMe, Natalie Grant, Kathy Troccoli, Sixpence None the Richer, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Michael W. Smith have crossed in between the Christian and secular worlds with little disapproval from their fan bases.

Many notable classic rock artists have also crossed over to the adult contemporary chart as well by way of releasing power ballads. Artists such as Journey, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, and John Mellencamp among many other artists have had AC chart hits in addition to charting on the Mainstream Rock chart. In addition, newer recordings by established classic rock artists have also gotten some airplay on adult contemporary stations. Heart, Bob Seger, and Elton John are just some of the artists to have some of their 21st-century songs played on adult contemporary.

In addition, some classic rock artists whose songs did not chart on the adult contemporary chart during their initial heyday have been played on AC stations in recent years: Whitesnake with Here I Go Again, Joan Jett with I Love Rock and Roll, and Def Leppard with Pour Some Sugar on Me among other artists.

Recurrents

The Adult Contemporary Recurrent charts ranks airplay from the adult contemporary radio stations in the United States chart that have reached recurrent criteria. Descending songs are moved to recurrent status based upon the following three-tiered system: if they rank below the top five after 52 weeks, if they rank below the top 10 after 26 weeks, or if they rank below the top 15 after 20 weeks.

Exceptions are sometimes made, usually on a case-by-case basis. Occasionally an older song is re-released (for example, featured on a current movie soundtrack and given a renewed promotional push from a record label) or a song can take an extended amount of time to climb to position fifteen. Billboard chart managers ultimately make the decision about which songs can remain on the current chart in such cases.

Records and achievements

<!--This table needs a source.

Most consecutive number-ones

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

!scope="col" style="width:6em;"| Number of songs

!scope="col" style="width:10em;"| Artist name

!scope="col" style="width:13em;" class="unsortable"| First hit and date

!scope="col" style="width:13em;" class="unsortable"| Last hit and date

!scope="col" style="width:16em;" class="unsortable"| Streak breaking song and date

| 6

| Helen Reddy

| "Delta Dawn" (June 1973)

| "Emotion" (January 1975)

| "Free and Easy" (May 5, 1975)

|rowspan="4"| 5

|Whitney Houston

|"Saving All My Love for You" (August 13, 1985)

|"Didn't We Almost Have It All" (August 13, 1987)

|"So Emotional" (#8) (October 12, 1987)

|Lionel Richie

|"Endless Love" (with Diana Ross) (August 1, 1981)

|"All Night Long (All Night)" (August 31, 1983)

|"Running with the Night" (#6) (November 1983)

|Barry Manilow

|"I Write the Songs" (November 15, 1975)

|"Looks Like We Made It" (April 20, 1977)

|"Daybreak" (#7) (September 1977)

|The Carpenters

|"Please Mr. Postman" (November 8, 1974)

|"I Need to Be in Love" (May 21, 1976)

|"Goofus" (#4) (June 11, 1976)

|rowspan="5"| 4

|Michael Bolton

|"Love Is a Wonderful Thing" (April 1, 1991)

|"Missing You Now" (with Kenny G) (December 1991)

|"Steel Bars" (#7) (February 1992)

|Lionel Richie

|"Hello" (February 13, 1984)

|"Say You, Say Me" (October 1985)

|"Dancing on the Ceiling" (#3) (July 15, 1986)

|Anne Murray

|"I Just Fall in Love Again" (September 23, 1977)

|"Daydream Believer" (December 1979)

|"Lucky Me" (#8) (March 1980)

|Captain & Tennille

|"The Way I Want to Touch You" (September 1975)

|"Muskrat Love" (September 1976)

|"Can't Stop Dancin'" (#12) (February 1977)

|John Denver

|"Sunshine on My Shoulders" (October 22, 1973)

|"Sweet Surrender" (December 1974)

|"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (#5) (March 1975)

-->

The top 10 adult contemporary songs (1961–2011)

{| class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Single

!Year released

!Artist(s)

!Peak and duration

| align="center" | 1

|"Truly Madly Deeply"

| align="center" | 1997

|Savage Garden

|#1 for 11 weeks

| align="center" | 2

|"Lead Me On"

| align="center" | 1978

|Maxine Nightingale

|#1 for 7 weeks

| align="center" | 3

|"Drift Away"

| align="center" | 2003

|Uncle Kracker featuring Dobie Gray

|#1 for 28 weeks

| align="center" | 4

|"Heaven"

| align="center" | 2004

|Los Lonely Boys

|#1 for 18 weeks

| align="center" | 5

|"Born Free"

| align="center" | 1966

|Roger Williams

|#1 for 6 weeks

| align="center" | 6

|"Hello Dolly!"

| align="center" | 1964

|Louis Armstrong and The All Stars

|#1 for 9 weeks

| align="center" | 7

|"You Needed Me"

| align="center" | 1978

|Anne Murray

|#3 for 3 weeks

| align="center" | 8

|"Change the World"

| align="center" | 1996

|Eric Clapton

|#1 for 13 weeks

| align="center" | 9

|"Hero"

| align="center" | 2001

|Enrique Iglesias

|#1 for 15 weeks

| align="center" | 10

|"Lonely No More"

| align="center" | 2005

|Rob Thomas

|#1 for 18 weeks

| colspan="5" style="text-align: center;" | Source:

The top 10 adult contemporary artists (1961–2011)

{| class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Artist

| align="center" | 1

|Elton John

| align="center" | 2

|Neil Diamond

| align="center" | 3

|Barbra Streisand

| align="center" | 4

|Barry Manilow

| align="center" | 5

|Kenny Rogers

| align="center" | 6

|Chicago

| align="center" | 7

|Billy Joel

| align="center" | 8

|Carpenters

| align="center" | 9

|Lionel Richie

| align="center" | 10

|Anne Murray

| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | Source:

Songs with most weeks at number one

These are the songs with 20 or more weeks at number one as of the chart dated May 30, 2026.

{| class="wikitable"

! Weeks at No. 1 !! Song !! Artist !! Issue date reached No. 1 !! Source

|align="center" | 57 || "Flowers" || Miley Cyrus || April 15, 2023 ||

|align="center"| 49 || "Lose Control" || Teddy Swims || August 10, 2024 |||

|align="center"| 36 || "Girls Like You" || Maroon 5 || November 10, 2018 ||

|align="center" | 35 || "Blinding Lights" || The Weeknd

|| November 7, 2020 ||

| align="center" | 30 || "Ordinary" || Alex Warren || October 25, 2025 ||

| align="center" | 28 || "Drift Away" || Uncle Kracker featuring Dobie Gray || June 7, 2003 ||

| rowspan="2" align="center" | 24 || "Shape of You" || Ed Sheeran || May 6, 2017 ||

| rowspan="2" align="center" | 22 || "Hey, Soul Sister" || Train || July 3, 2010 ||

| rowspan="3" align="center" | 21 || "A New Day Has Come" || Celine Dion || March 30, 2002 ||

| align="center" | 15 || The Carpenters ||

| align="center" | 13 || Barry Manilow ||

|rowspan="2" align="center" | 11 || Celine Dion ||

|| Lionel Richie ||

|rowspan="2" align="center" |10 || Olivia Newton-John ||

|| Whitney Houston ||

|rowspan="2" align="center" | 9 || John Denver ||

|| Taylor Swift ||

|rowspan="5" align="center" | 8 || Anne Murray ||

|| Chicago ||

|| Neil Diamond ||

|| Phil Collins ||

|| Stevie Wonder ||

Artists with most cumulative weeks at number one

As of the issue of Billboard dated May 30, 2026

{| class="wikitable"

! Weeks !! Artist !! Source

| align="center" | 87 || Celine Dion ||

| align="center" | 83 || Adele ||

|align="center" | 72 || Miley Cyrus ||

|align="center" | 64 || Elton John ||

| align="center" | 56 || Taylor Swift ||

|align="center" | 49 || Teddy Swims ||

| align="center" | 35 || Barbra Streisand ||

| align="center" | 29 || Dionne Warwick ||

|rowspan="2" align="center" | 28 || Barry Manilow ||

|| Kenny Rogers ||

|rowspan="4" align="center" | 24 || Billy Joel ||

|| Chicago ||

| align="center" | 64 || Barbra Streisand ||

| align="center" | 44 || Dionne Warwick ||

| align="center" | 41 || Anne Murray ||