Key points from the chart
- Bands’ share of the US Top 100 rose from the late 1950s to a peak era from the mid 1960s to the mid 1990s, then fell steadily.
- In 2023 bands held just 4% of chart places, against 41% in 1995.
- Collaborations were a thin slice until the mid 1990s; since 2007 there have been more collaborations on the chart than bands.
- Solo artists dominated in the 1950s, held about half the places for decades, and are dominant again.
- Bands held the number one spot for close to the whole of a year in the mid 1960s, but rarely after 2000.
All points are from the graphic by Skoove and DataPulse, which cites the Billboard Hot 100.
The historical music charts breakdown in text
Title: The Decline of Bands and the Rise of Solo Stars. Chart heading: Historical Breakdown of the Top 100 US Song Charts 1958-2024. Legend: Solo artist, Collaboration, Band.
Main chart. A 100% stacked area chart of chart places by act type for each year, bands at the bottom, collaborations in the middle and solo artists on top, with a vertical axis from 0% to 100% and a horizontal axis marked 1960 to 2020. The chart prints no yearly values; its three annotations are:
- “Solo artists reigned the charts in the 1950s, then held about half the spots for decades. Now they’re dominating once again.”
- “Since 2007, there have been more collaborations than bands.”
- “In 2023, bands occupied just 4% of the charts, compared to 41% in 1995.”
Lower panels. Heading: “Proportion of the year that the #1 song was by a …”. Three small area charts, Solo artist, Collaboration and Band, each with a vertical axis of 0%, 50% and 100% and years 1960 to 2020. The solo panel swings widely throughout and peaks at the right-hand end. The collaboration panel is near zero until the 1990s, then has tall peaks in the 2000s and 2010s. The band panel peaks near 100% in the mid 1960s, stays high in places through the 1970s to 1990s, and is mostly empty after 2000.
Footer: “Sources: Billboard Hot 100, Skoove.com”. Logos: Skoove and DataPulse.
What the Skoove study found
Skoove, a piano learning app, worked with DataPulse Research to analyse 67 years of US chart history [1]. Between August 1958 and September 2024, bands claimed 34% of the top spots on the charts, solo artists half, and collaborations 16% [1].
The study puts numbers on the chart’s lower panels. In 1965 bands held the number one position 94% of the time. In 2023 only 189 chart places out of 5,200 went to bands, and no band reached number one; that year a solo artist held the top spot 90% of the time [1]. Bands also failed to reach number one from 2015 to 2018, and in six of the ten years since 2015 they went a full year without the top spot [1].
Collaborations were under 10% of chart success before the mid 1990s and peaked in 2018 at 42% of chart places [1]. Across all 34,533 songs to chart over the 67 years, bands made up about 32% of songs but 25% of those that stayed on the chart for 25 weeks or more; collaborations made up 17% of songs and 26% of the long stayers [1].
When did music charts start
Billboard’s first chart was a list of best-selling sheet music in July 1913 [2]. It began a record chart, “Ten Best Records”, on 4 January 1936, and the full-page Billboard Music Popularity Chart followed in July 1940 [2]. The Hot 100, the chart this graphic is based on, replaced several separate charts on 4 August 1958, with “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson as its first number one [2]. That is why the graphic starts in 1958.
The Hot 100 ranks songs by sales, airplay and, since the issue of 11 August 2007, streaming data [2], not by how often a song is recorded. The 2007 change is the same year the graphic marks as the point when collaborations overtook bands.
Notes on this infographic
- The chart heading says “Top 100 US Song Charts 1958-2024”; the study’s data runs from August 1958 to September 2024 [1], so the first and last years are part years.
- Skoove’s article shows this chart in a teal, mint and yellow colour scheme [1]. Our copy has the same title, annotations, layout and footer in a dark purple, white and red scheme, so it appears to be another colour version of the same graphic.
- Skoove publishes a separate UK version of the study, based on the UK charts from October 1980 to October 2024, with different figures [3].
Questions about bands on the Hot 100
What share of the US charts do bands have?
In 2023 bands held just 4% of US chart places, compared with 41% in 1995. Skoove's study found that only 189 of 5,200 chart places went to bands in 2023, and no band reached number one that year [1]. Bands' share peaked from the mid 1960s to the mid 1990s and has fallen steadily since.
How often did bands hold the number one spot in the 1960s?
In 1965 bands held the number one position on the Hot 100 94% of the time [1]. Bands rarely held the top spot after 2000, failed to reach number one from 2015 to 2018, and in six of the ten years since 2015 went a full year without it [1]. In 2023 a solo artist held the top spot 90% of the time [1].
Are there more collaborations than bands on the charts?
Yes, since 2007 there have been more collaborations than bands on the US Top 100, according to Skoove and DataPulse. Collaborations were under 10% of chart success before the mid 1990s and peaked in 2018 at 42% of chart places [1]. 2007 is also the year the Hot 100 began counting streaming data, from the issue of 11 August 2007 [2].
When did the Billboard Hot 100 start?
The Billboard Hot 100 began on 4 August 1958, replacing several separate charts, and its first number one was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson [2]. Billboard's first chart, a list of best-selling sheet music, appeared in July 1913, and its first record chart, "Ten Best Records", followed on 4 January 1936 [2]. The Hot 100 ranks songs by sales, airplay and, since 2007, streaming data [2].
Sources
- Skoove, How streaming shifted focus from bands to solo acts, January 2025. The creator’s article for this chart, with DataPulse Research.
- Wikipedia, Billboard Hot 100.
- Skoove, In the age of on-demand streaming, have solo stars killed off UK bands for good?. The UK version of the study.
Last reviewed 30 October 2026
