Backstreet Boys are the most successful boy band of all time, having sold more than 100 million albums worldwide since their 1996 debut. They are one of just a few acts in history to have released multiple Diamond albums.
They have received nine Grammy nominations and embarked on several record-breaking world tours.
What Backstreet Boys haven’t done, however, is put a song atop the Billboard Hot 100.
The revelation in yesterday’s post that Bruce Springsteen has never had a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 got me wondering how many other major artists are in the same boat.
Turns out it’s quite an extensive and surprising list, long enough for me to dedicate the next three weeks to the topic.
The week of June 30, 1984, belonged to New Wave band Duran Duran, whose ‘The Reflex’ gave them their first #1 hit in the U.S. I would have guessed that honor belonged to ‘Hungry Like the Wolf,’ but that song peaked at #3 a couple of years earlier.
Fans have speculated about the meaning of ‘The Reflex’ since it was released, with popular theories suggesting it is about gambling, addiction, or ejaculation. Simon Le Bon has never clarified one way or the other.
Throwing back to the week of June 29, 1974, we find Canadian folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Sundown.’ This was Lightfoot’s only #1 hit in the U.S., though he reached #2 with ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ and #5 with ‘If You Could Read My Mind.’
I like Lightfoot’s sound and I’m only familiar with those hits, so maybe I’ll add him to the potential deep dive list. He released 20 studio albums, however, so perhaps a shallow dive is a better idea.
The Ladies of 2024
#1 – Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
I don’t think there was any suspense over which album would end up in the top spot. Beyoncé’s latest opus has left all competition in the dust on its way to what — God willing — should be her first ever Album of the Year Grammy.
The icon has now delivered four straight albums of emotionally resonant, genre-bending work, starting with her 2013 self-titled album, then 2016’s Lemonade, 2022’s Renaissance, and now Cowboy Carter, part two of a planned trilogy. For my money, this is the best of them.
Meet Me In Montauk 