Madonna‘s long been regarded as the most successful female recording artist in history thanks not only to her reported 300+ million in record sales, but also a nearly unrivaled 36-year run on the Billboard charts – namely the Hot 100.
Granted, her reigns atop the Billboard 200 with 9 of her 14 studio albums are nothing to shake a stick at (placing her second among women for most career chart-toppers as Barbra Streisand leads with 11), the Queen of Pop’s truest crowning glory has come with the strides she’s made on the singles chart. With 38 top 10 hits (12 of them hitting #1), she – as of time reported – sits in history books for having the most placements on the chart’s topmost dectet. Other notable accomplishments include first female artist in history to have 6 (or more) #1 singles, most consecutive top 5 singles of any artist, and she was once listed as the artist who took the shortest time to amass 20 top 10 singles (a feat later surpassed by Rihanna as we reported here).
At present, Madge stands to see another member of the new school – Taylor Swift – break another of her longstanding records: most top 20 singles of all time (among females). Details inside:
As we reported here, ‘Lover’ – the title track from Swift’s latest album (released August 23) – made its inaugural impact on this week’s Hot 100 when it debuted at #19. The impressive premiere gave the 29-year-old the 44th top 20 hit of her career, a feat no other female artist has known since M nabbed her 44th top 20 in 2012 with the Nicki Minaj-assisted ‘Gimme All Ur Lovin.’
With all of the songs from the ‘Lover’ album dominating Spotify as of time of this report it is likely one or more of them will impact next week’s refreshed Hot 100. If and when this happens, Taylor will enter history books as the female artist with the most top 20 hits.