Maroon 5's Impressive Streak of Making 'Memories' in the Hot 100's Top 10: Ask Billboard Mailbag
The band has sent a new song into the top 10 each year since 2011.
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@gthot20 Going back to "Memories", this is Maroon 5's 9th straight year charting a new Hot 100 top 10. I did some extra homework and found out that this ties them with Rihanna's 2005-2013 for the 2nd longest streak, and the longest would be 12 years for Mariah Carey, 1990-2001.
— Jake Rivera (@jjr4897) November 11, 2019
Hi Jake,
Great stat, worthy of looking even further.
As previously reported, Maroon 5 earned its 15th total top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Nov. 16, as "Memories" rose from No. 11 to No. 9. This week (Nov. 23), the song surges to No. 5.
"Memories" is the band's 12th top 10 this decade, and, as you tweeted, the haul includes at least one new song sent into the top 10 each year since 2011:
2011, "Moves Like Jagger" (feat. Christina Aguilera), No. 1, four weeks
2012, "Payphone" (feat. Wiz Khalifa), No. 2
2012, "One More Night," No. 1, nine weeks
2013, "Daylight," No. 7
2013, "Love Somebody," No. 10
2014, "Maps," No. 6
2014, "Animals," No. 3
2015, "Sugar," No. 2
2016, "Don't Wanna Know" (feat. Kendrick Lamar), No. 6
2017, "What Lovers Do" (feat. SZA), No. 9
2018, "Girls Like You" (feat. Cardi B), No. 1, seven weeks
2019, "Memories," No. 5 (to date)
Notably, Maroon 5 has extended its streak via assists from featured R&B/hip-hop acts, as well as a touch of trop-house (on "Don't Wanna Know"), keeping pace with evolving sounds in hit pop, a strategy long employed by acts that have maintained relevance over decades.
As for Rihanna, her streak ran from her breakthrough hit, "Pon de Replay," in 2005 through her featured turn on Eminem's "The Monster," which debuted at No. 3 on the Hot 100 in November 2013 and began a four-week rule the following month.
Mariah Carey sent new Hot 100 top 10s into the bracket each year from, likewise, her debut hit, "Vision of Love," in 1990 (her first of 18 No. 1s, the most among soloists) through "Loverboy," featuring Cameo, in 2001.
As it turns out, two other artists belong to the exclusive club, and one is tied with Carey for the exceptional stat, as fellow insightful reader Patrick Yearout replied to the original tweet above:
Picking 1 each year...1983: Little Red Corvette, 1984: When Doves Cry, 1985: Raspberry Beret, 1986: Kiss, 1987: Sign O' The Times, 1988: Alphabet Street, 1989: Batdance, 1990: Thieves in the Temple, 1991: Cream, 1992: Diamonds and Pearls, 1993: 7, 1994: The Most Beautiful Girl.
— Patrick A. Yearout (@patrickyearout) November 20, 2019
Plus, The Temptations added at least one new Hot 100 top 10 each year between 1965 ("My Girl") and 1973 ("Masterpiece").
Along with Carey, Prince, The Temptations, Rihanna and Maroon 5, other notable legends have almost strung together streaks with new top 10s in each of nine years or more, also reflecting their uncommon longevity in the Hot 100's upper reaches.
Perhaps most notably, Stevie Wonder nearly linked such a run between 1966 and 1977, but fell shy of a streak that would match Carey and Prince's … by a single week. Wonder added at least one new Hot 100 top 10 each year from 1966 through 1971. On the last chart dated in 1972 (Dec. 30), "Superstition" bounded 22-16. The next week, the song soared to No. 4, on its way to No. 1, and, from that first chart week of 1973, a year in which Wonder tallied two more top 10 hits, he added new top 10s every year through 1977.
Madonna likewise almost scored a streak of 12 years of sending at least one new song into the Hot 100's top 10, but sat out a single year. She added new top 10 material every year from 1984 through 1995 except for 1988; "Causing a Commotion" spent its last week in the top 10 on Nov. 14, 1987, and she didn't return to the tier until "Like a Prayer" zoomed 11-5 on April 8, 1989.
As for 1995, Madonna moved two songs into the top 10, one in January and one in December: "Take a Bow," the longest-leading of her 12 No. 1s (seven weeks) and "You'll See," which debuted at No. 8, marking her first of three top 10 entrances.
More recently, Taylor Swift nearly made it 10 years of propelling at least one song into the Hot 100's top 10 every year between 2008 and 2017, missing only in 2013. Still, 2013 was a productive year for her, as "I Knew You Were Trouble." reached No. 2, after debuting at No. 3 the previous October. Meanwhile, 2016 went down to the last possible day, as her only new top 10 that year, "I Don't Wanna Love Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)," with Zayn, debuted at No. 6 on the chart dated Dec. 31.
Plus, if "Delicate" had risen two notches higher in 2018, 2013 would mark Swift's only year without a new Hot 100 top 10 dating to 2008, as 2019 has brought her three top 10s so far, with "Lover" having become her latest in September. This week, it jumps back to the top 40, and to No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, thanks in part to its new Shawn Mendes remix. "Lover" is likely to sport further gains following today's news of its Grammy nomination for song of the year.
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Gary Trust, Khareem Sudlow
