Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main Billboard Hot 100. Chart rankings are based on radio airplay, sales, and streams. In its initial years, the chart listed 15 positions, but expanded to as many as 36 during the 1960s, particularly during years when over 700 singles made the Billboard Hot 100 chart. From 1974 to 1985, the chart consisted of 10 positions; since 1992, the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart has listed 25 positions.
Chart history
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart was introduced in the June 1, 1959, issue of Billboard, under the name "Bubbling Under the Hot 100". Containing a listing of 15 singles, the chart was described as "the new listing that predicts which new records will become chart climbers." Its first number-one single was "A Prayer and a Juke Box" by Little Anthony and the Imperials Prior to its discontinuation, the chart had not been issued in four issues; three from 1974 and one in 1978. However, it returned as a feature in the December 5, 1992, issue of Billboard along with a new Bubbling Under Hot R&B Singles chart, Songs that had already appeared on the Hot 100 were not included in the Bubbling Under chart as they exit the charts, but were allowed to re-enter the Bubbling Under chart at a later date.
Changes and alterations
Over the years, the chart would undergo several changes and alterations. In the 1960s, the chart included as many as 35 slots; on two rare occasions in 1963 and 1968, the chart contained 36 slots. By the 1980s, the chart contained only 10 slots.
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| "Carry You Home"
| Alex Warren
| 2024–2026
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| 52
| "Even Flow"
| Pearl Jam
| 1997–1998
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| 48
| "Cinema"
| Benny Benassi featuring Gary Go
| 2011–2012
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| 47
| "From the Start"
| Laufey
| 2023–2026
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| 44
| "Praise"
|Elevation Worship featuring Brandon Lake, Chris Brown & Chandler Moore
| 2024–2026
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| 43
| "Think About You"
| Luther Vandross
| 2003–2004
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| 37
| "Savior"
| Rise Against
| 2010
|
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| 36
| "Mountain Sound"
| Of Monsters and Men
| 2012–2013
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| 35
| "How Do I Say Goodbye"
| Dean Lewis
| 2022–2023
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| 34
| "Dangerous"
| Big Data featuring Joywave
| 2014–2015
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| 33
| "Corazón Sin Cara"
| Prince Royce
| 2010–2011
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|rowspan="3"| 32
| "First"
| Cold War Kids
| 2015–2016
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| "Bellyache"
| Billie Eilish
| 2018–2019
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| "What He'll Never Have"
| Dylan Scott
| 2024–2026
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|}
Additional milestones
- Released in 1982, "Nasty Girl" by Vanity 6 spent a record-tying seven weeks at number 101, but never cracked the Billboard Hot 100. Before the addition of streaming services to Billboard charts in the 2010s, the record was formerly held by American soul singer Ray Charles, charting 15 from 1963 to 2005. It could be argued that at least some of these groups are actually separate (though related) artists, however Whitburn lists them as one act under multiple aliases.
- The Robbs hold the record for the act with the most appearances on the Bubbling Under chart without having any of their songs cross over into the Hot 100. Between 1966 and 1971, six of the group's singles appeared on the bubbling under charts. Their best showing was 1966's "Race with the Wind", which peaked at number 3.
- During the 1960s, there were as many as 35 slots in the Bubbling Under chart (with two exceptions; see below). Forty-three different songs grabbed the very bottom rung by peaking at number 135, including tunes from Donovan ("Summer Day Reflection Song"), Doris Day ("Send Me No Flowers"), the Applejacks ("Tell Me When", a Top 10 UK hit) and two from Sammy Davis Jr. ("Bee-Bom" and "If I Ruled The World"). The Nightcrawlers cult classic "The Little Black Egg" peaked at number 135 in 1965, but was re-released and cracked the Hot 100 (at number 85) two years later. Shirley Ellis also hit number 135 with "Ever See A Diver Kiss His Wife While The Bubbles Bounce About Above The Water?", the longest-titled song ever to "bubble under". ("Coal Man", by Sir Mack Rice, is the only song to spend two weeks at number 135, and peak there, in 1969.)
- The chart contained 36 positions on two occasions. The two records that appeared at number 136 were "The Bounce" by the Olympics (April 6, 1963; the song eventually hit number 40)
- One of the most mysterious records ever to appear in any Billboard chart was "Ready 'n' Steady", listed as recorded by an artist named "D. A.", which spent three weeks on the Bubbling Under chart in June 1979. In a 1995 interview, chart statistician Joel Whitburn stated that "Ready 'n' Steady" was "the only record we've never been able to find in the history of the pop charts." In the 4th edition of Whitburn's book Bubbling Under the Hot 100, published in 2005, the entry for "D. A." was amended with a note stating "the existence of this record and artist is in question." One of the more recent editions of Whitburn's book Billboard's Top Pop Singles 1955–2010, published in 2011, includes both Top 100 and Bubbling Under singles, but D. A. was not listed. In 2016, researcher Paul Haney finally located a tape recording of the song but determined that it had never been pressed onto a vinyl record or commercially released in any form, and that a record promoter had nevertheless managed to get the song on the Billboard chart. "D. A." was Dennis Armand Lucchesi (June 5, 1945 – August 18, 2005), a California-based mortgage broker and part-time musician.