Hot Country Songs andCountry Airplay are charts that rank the top-performingcountry music songs in the United States, published byBillboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based ondigital downloads,streaming, andairplay not only fromcountry stations but from stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. Country Airplay, which was published for the first time in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology which had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. In 2017, seven different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 34 different songs topped Country Airplay in 52 issues of the magazine.

In the issue ofBillboard dated February 25, singerSam Hunt reached number one with the song "Body Like a Back Road", which would remain in the top spot through the issue dated October 14. In August, the song broke the record for the most weeks spent at number one on the Hot Country Songs listing, surpassing the 24 weeks spent in the top spot byFlorida Georgia Line's "Cruise" in 2012 and 2013. Hunt's song was finally knocked from the top of the chart in the issue dated October 21 by "What Ifs" byKane Brown featuringLauren Alaina. Two months later, "Meant to Be" byBebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line entered the Hot Country chart at number one, only the fourth time a song had debuted in the top position of the Hot Country Songs chart. The song would go on to break Hunt's record the following summer when it spent a 35th consecutive week at number one. On the Country Airplay chart,Dustin Lynch had the longest run at number one of 2017, spending four consecutive weeks at the top with "Small Town Boy". Lynch tied withBlake Shelton for the highest total number of weeks at number one on that chart, both artists spending five weeks in the top spot. Shelton took three different songs to number one, a feat also achieved byThomas Rhett. No act achieved more than one chart-topper on the Hot Country Songs listing. (Full article...)

TheNME (orNew Musical Express) was a British weeklypopular music newspaper. Record charts in the United Kingdom began on 14 November 1952 whenNME imitated an idea started in AmericanBillboard magazine and compiled their ownhit parade. Until 15 February 1969, when theBritish Market Research Bureau (BMRB) chart was established, many periodicals compiled their own charts. During this time theBBC used aggregated results of the prominentNME,Melody Maker,Disc,Record Mirror and, later,Record Retailer charts to compile theirPick of the Pops chart. Prior to 1969 there was no universally accepted source or "official" singles chart; however, theOfficial Charts Company and Guinness'British Hit Singles & Albums regard the canonical sources for this period asNME before 10 March 1960 andRecord Retailer from then until the BMRB took over in 1969. AlthoughRecord Retailer is now the most predominantly used source for charting music in the 1960s,NME had the biggest circulation of charts in the decade and was more widely followed. After the BMRB was formed, theNME continued compiling its own chart up until 14 May 1988.

The Allisons' entry forthe Eurovision Song Contest, entitled "Are You Sure?", was the first single to be number one on theNME chart but not to reach the top spot onRecord Retailer's chart. In total, sixteen songs failed to reach number one withRecord Retailer but topped theNME chart. In 1969, after the BMRB chart was introduced, four songs topped theNME but not the BMRB chart. Notable discrepancies include "19th Nervous Breakdown", which reached number one forthe Rolling Stones on theNME,Disc, andMelody Maker charts, topped theBBC'sPick of the Pops aggregated chart and was announced as number one onTop of the Pops; however, because it did not reach number one on theRecord Retailer chart, it is omitted from the Official Charts Company's canon.The Beatles' "Please Please Me" suffered the same fate so, arguably, should be considered the Beatles' first number-one single. Conversely,Elvis Presley's double A-side, "Rock-A-Hula Baby"/"Can't Help Falling in Love", reached number one on all charts exceptNME because the entries were split byNME according to which song was requested when the shop returned its figures. (Full article...)

Hot Country Songs andCountry Airplay arecharts that rank the top-performingcountry music songs in the United States, published byBillboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based ondigital downloads,streaming, andairplay not only from country stations but from stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. Country Airplay, which was published for the first time in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology which had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. In 2014, 13 different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 35 different songs topped Country Airplay in 52 issues of the magazine.

Jason Aldean had the longest unbroken run at number one on the Hot Country Songs, spending 14 consecutive weeks in the top spot with "Burnin' It Down".Luke Bryan spent the most total weeks at number one during the year, however. His songs "Drink a Beer" and "Play It Again" totaled 14 weeks atop the chart and he spent a further 6 weeks in the top spot as a featured vocalist onFlorida Georgia Line's chart-topper "This Is How We Roll" for a total of 20 weeks at number one. Bryan and Florida Georgia Line were the acts with the most number ones during 2014, as each act had two chart-toppers in addition to their collaboration on "This Is How We Roll". No other act had more than one number one during the year. Bryan also spent the most weeks at number one on the Country Airplay listing, but with a much smaller total of seven weeks. This figure included a run of four consecutive weeks with "Play It Again", which tied with Florida Georgia Line's "Stay" for the longest unbroken run at the top of the radio-based chart during 2014. Bryan and Florida Georgia Line were both associated withbro-country, an emerging subgenre which incorporated elements fromhip hop music and emphasized lyrics about partying, drinking, and attractive young women.Blake Shelton had the most chart-toppers on the airplay listing, reaching the top spot with "Doin' What She Likes", "Neon Light" and "My Eyes". (Full article...)

TheUK singles chart is the officialrecord chart in the United Kingdom. Until 1983, it was compiled weekly by theBritish Market Research Bureau (BMRB) on behalf of the British record industry with a two-week break each Christmas. The BMRB usedmotorcycle couriers to collect the sales figures taken up to the close of trade on Saturday. This data was compiled on Monday and given to the BBC on Tuesday to be announced on BBC Radio 1 at lunchtime and later published inMusic Week. On 4 January 1983, the chart was taken over byGallup who expanded the chart from the Top 75 to the Top 100 and began the introduction of computerised tills, which automated the data collection process. The chart was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets and announced on Tuesday until October 1987, when the Top 40 was revealed each Sunday, due to the new automated process.

During the 1980s, there were a total of 191 singles that took the UK chart number 1 spot. In terms of number-one singles,Madonna was the most successful single act of the decade, as six of her singles reached the top spot.George Michael had significant involvement with eight number-one singles; with two number-one singles as a solo artist, four as a member of pop duoWham!, one as a duet withAretha Franklin and one as a member of charity supergroupBand Aid. The longest duration of a single at number one was nine weeks, achieved byFrankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes" in 1984. (Full article...)

In 1951Billboard magazine published threecharts covering the best-performingcountry music songs in the United States: Most-Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records, Best-Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records and Country & Western Records Most Played By Folk Disk Jockeys. Thejuke box chart was compiled based on a "weekly survey among a selected group of jukebox operators whose locations require country and western records", the best sellers chart based on a "survey among a selected group of retail stores, the majority of whose customers purchase country and western records", and the jockeys chart based on a "weekly survey among a select list of over 400 disk jockeys specializing in country and western tunes". The juke box chart would be discontinued in 1957 and the other two charts merged in 1958 to form a multimetric chart, which has been published weekly since that date and since 2005 has been entitledHot Country Songs.

In the first issue ofBillboard of 1951, each chart had a different number one, although two were by the same artist.Lefty Frizzell was atop both the juke box and jockeys charts, with "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" and "I Love You a Thousand Ways" respectively, while the best sellers chart was headed byHank Snow with "The Golden Rocket". During the year, each of the three charts had a song spend more than ten consecutive weeks at number one: Frizzell had an unbroken run of eleven weeks in the top spot of the best sellers chart with "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" and had a similar run at number one on the jockeys chart with "I Want to Be with You Always". The longest run at number one on any of the charts, however, was the fourteen consecutive weeks whichTennessee Ernie spent atop the juke box chart with "Shotgun Boogie". Frizzell reached number one for the first time in late 1950 and achieved five chart-toppers within 18 months, but soon afterwards his chart performance began to decline, his career suffering in part due to issues in his personal life. He was the only artist with four number-one country songs in 1951; Snow andEddy Arnold each had three.Hank Williams had two number ones on the jockeys chart, but none on either of the other two charts. (Full article...)

TheBillboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performingsingles of the United States. Published byBillboard magazine, the data is compiled byNielsen SoundScan based collectively on each single's weeklyphysical anddigital sales, andairplay. In2008, there were 14 singles that topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine.

RapperFlo Rida's "Low" was the first number one of the year, and the longest-running single in 2008, staying at number one for 10 consecutive weeks. It is the longest stay at the top for a single since R&B singerBeyoncé's "Irreplaceable" reigned for 10 straight weeks starting in late 2006. "Low" is the best-performing single of 2008 in the United States, ranking number one onBillboard's year end chart of theTop Hot 100 Hits of 2008. Other singles with extended runs at number one includeKaty Perry's "I Kissed a Girl", which stayed at the top spot for seven straight weeks, andT.I.'s "Whatever You Like", which topped the chart for seven non-consecutive weeks. (Full article...)

In 1952,Billboard magazine published threecharts covering the best-performingcountry music songs in the United States. At the start of the year, the charts were published under the titles Most-PlayedJuke Box (Country & Western) Records, Best-Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records and Country & Western Records Most Played By Folk Disk Jockeys. Beginning with the issue ofBillboard dated November 15, the titles of the charts were changed to Most Played in Juke Boxes, National Best Sellers, and Most Played By Jockeys respectively, with the genre denoted in an overall page title rather than within the titles of the charts themselves. All three charts are considered part of the lineage of the multimetricHot Country Songs chart, which was first published in 1958.

In the first issue ofBillboard of the year, "Slow Poke" byPee Wee King retained its place at number one on both the juke box and retail charts from the previous week but was displaced from the top spot on the jockeys chart byCarl Smith's "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way". Smith had three number-one country songs in 1952, two of which topped all three listings.Webb Pierce was the only other artist to take as many as three different songs to the top spot in 1952, although none of his songs reached number one on all three charts during the year. The longest-running number one on both the juke box and retail charts was "The Wild Side of Life" byHank Thompson, which on both listings spent fifteen consecutive weeks in the top spot before being replaced by "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" byKitty Wells. Wells' song, which had been written as ananswer song to "The Wild Side of Life", was the first million-selling country single by a female artist and the firstBillboard country number one by a solo female. Despite this success, it did not top the jockeys chart, as the song's lyrics were deemed too controversial by some radio stations. (Full article...)

Hot Country Songs is achart that ranks the top-performingcountry music songs in the United States, published byBillboard magazine. In 2006, 23 different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weeklyairplay data from country music radio stations compiled byNielsen SoundScan.

The number one song at the start of the year was "Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" byBilly Currington, which had reached number one in the issue ofBillboard dated December 31, 2005, and remained at the top until the issue dated January 14 when it was replaced by "She Let Herself Go" byGeorge Strait. This gave Strait his 40th number one, tying the record held byConway Twitty for the highest number of Hot Country Songs number ones. Strait returned to the top spot in September with "Give It Away" to take the record outright. (Full article...)

TheBillboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performingsingles in the United States. Published byBillboard magazine, the data are compiled byNielsen SoundScan based collectively on each single's weeklyphysical sales, andairplay. In2003, there were 11 singles that topped the chart.

During the year, ten acts achieved a first U.S. number-one single, either as a lead artist or featured guest. Those acts wereB2K,LL Cool J,50 Cent,Sean Paul,Nate Dogg,Clay Aiken,Murphy Lee,Ludacris, andShawnna.Beyoncé, despite having hit number one withDestiny's Child, also earns her first number one song as a solo act.P. Diddy, 50 Cent, Sean Paul, and Beyoncé were the only acts to hit number one more than once, each of them reaching number one twice throughout the year. (Full article...)

In October 1994,Billboard magazine establishedTropical Airplay, achart that ranks the top-performing songs played ontropical radio stations in the United States based on weeklyairplay data compiled byNielsen'sBroadcast Data Systems (BDS). It is a subchart ofHot Latin Songs, which lists the best-performing Spanish-language songs in the country. According to a 1985 article byBillboard, tropical music is the "sound of the Spanish-speakingCaribbean – though it extends beyond it". It usually encompassesdance genres such assalsa,merengue,bachata,vallenato, and theColombian cumbia and tropical music in Mexico. Five songs topped the chart in 1994 and 12 tracks did the same in 1995. Until November 5, 1994, BDS ran test charts which only listed the number one song of the week onBillboard's electronic database.

The first song to reach number one on the Tropical Airplay chart was "Quién Eres Tú" byLuis Enrique which remained in the top spot for three weeks. It was replaced byLa India'scover of "Nunca Voy a Olvidarte", making her the first female artist to reach the top of the chart. Both artists were the only acts to have more than one chart-topper in 1994. La India had the final number one song of the year with her rendition of "Ese Hombre" which was also the first at the start of 1995. La India andGloria Estefan were the only female acts to reach number one in 1995. (Full article...)