More than 300 songs have peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, and despite not hitting No. 1 or even the top 10, many remain memorable years or even decades later.
The Beatles, Bee Gees, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and Aretha Franklin all boast notable No. 26 Hot 100 hits among their iconic catalogs, which include a record 20, nine, eight, four and two leaders, respectively. (The Beatles’ No. 26 single, noted in the list below, would’ve peaked four spots higher if not for a fab four other songs of theirs in its way the week that it reached its high, amid early Beatlemania.)
Other acts sport No. 26-peaking entries on their Hot 100 résumés that mark career highs, ranging from The Jamies in the 1950s to the Psychedelic Furs in the ‘80s and CKay in the 2020s.
For certain artists, No. 26 Hot 100 hits kicked off especially lengthy chart careers, including LeAnn Rimes in the ‘90s and Paramore in the ‘00s.
Meanwhile, over on the Billboard 200 albums chart, noteworthy No. 26-peaking collections include John Denver and the Muppets’ warm and fuzzy (literally) A Christmas Together, P!nk’s debut, Can’t Take Me Home, and 2022’s Elvis soundtrack.
On Hot Country Songs, Kenny Rogers spun “The Greatest” to a No. 26 best. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” hit a No. 26 high. On Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Foo Fighters’ recent radio ruler “Asking for a Friend” has reached No. 26.
In honor of their enduring legacies, here’s a rundown of 26 No. 26 Hot 100 hits, for 2026.
Happy New Year!
-
“Summertime, Summertime,” The Jamies
Hot 100 peak date: Sept. 22, 1958
Summer 1958 (when the Hot 100 premiered) was big for summer-themed hits. As this song was making its splash, it was joined in the top 40 by Eddie Cochran’s eventual top 10 “Summertime Blues” and The Four Preps’ “Lazy Summer Night.”
-
“My Bonnie (My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean),” The Beatles with Tony Sheridan
Image Credit: Central Press/Getty Images Hot 100 peak date: March 14, 1964
Recorded in 1961, with original Beatles drummer Pete Best, the cover of the folk song piqued the interest of then-Liverpool, England, record shop owner Brian Epstein, who decided to see the group perform. “He immediately sees their potential,” noted Dean Harmeyer of Heritage Auctions, which in 2015 sold the band’s first contract (for $90,000). “He tells them, ‘I want to manage you and I’ll make you successful.’ That’s really where the story started … it’s where they really become The Beatles.”
-
“Edge of the Universe,” Bee Gees
Hot 100 peak date: Sept. 3, 1977
Following this pop-rock track, the trio would rocket to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with its next six singles (a record streak among groups), as Saturday Night Fever fever took hold. The song preceded “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever,” “Too Much Heaven,” “Tragedy” and “Love You Inside Out.”
-
“She’s So Cold,” The Rolling Stones
Hot 100 peak date: Nov. 8, 1980
The band rolled further into the ‘80s after its “Emotional Rescue” hit No. 3 that September. The Stones scored 11 top 40-peaking titles that decade, after 12 in the ’70s and 18 in the ‘60s.
-
“Getcha Back,” The Beach Boys
Hot 100 peak date: June 29, 1985
The breezy song is one of the band’s 35 top 40 Hot 100 hits, and its highest-charting entry (No. 2) on Adult Contemporary.
-
“In Your Eyes,” Peter Gabriel
Hot 100 peak date: Oct. 25, 1986
The song returned to the Hot 100 in 1989, fueled by buzz (and boombox play) generated by its famous synch in the big-screen favorite Say Anything.
-
“What About Love,” ‘til tuesday
Hot 100 peak date: Nov. 22, 1986
The band earned its second top 40 Hot 100 hit with the lead single from its second album, Welcome Home, after “Voices Carry,” the title cut from the act’s 1985 debut, climbed to No. 8. In 2025, the group — lead singer Aimee Mann, Michael Hausman, Robert Holmes and Joey Pesce — reunited for its first show in more than 30 years at the Cruel World festival in Pasadena, Calif. “And by the way, everybody’s great,” Mann mused. “Like, everybody just developed into a sweet, nice person. And not that they weren’t before, but it’s nice when people don’t calcify into their worst selves.”
-
“Heartbreak Beat,” Psychedelic Furs
Image Credit: Bill McCay/Getty Images Hot 100 peak date: May 23, 1987
The track is the highest-peaking Hot 100 hit for the British band, which also charted with fellow alt classics “Love My Way,” “The Ghost in You” and “Pretty in Pink” in 1983-86.
-
“Power of Love,” Laura Branigan
Hot 100 peak date: Jan. 9, 1988
In 1985, Air Supply’s “Power of Love (You Are My Lady)” reached No. 68 on the Hot 100. In 1986, Jennifer Rush’s version of the ballad, which she co-wrote, hit No. 59. Branigan’s version took the composition to the top 40 — six years before Celine Dion’s interpretation reigned for four weeks.
-
“Edge of a Broken Heart,” Vixen
Hot 100 peak date: Nov. 19, 1988
The band’s debut single arrived on the Hot 100 as “Hold On to the Nights” (by “Edge of a Broken Heart” co-writer, producer and then-EMI labelmate Richard Marx) was continuing its run after becoming his first No. 1. Marx wrote in his 2021 memoir, Stories To Tell, that he had a 48-hour window in which to produce the track for the group. “Looking back,” he shared, “I still can’t believe everybody just took the leap of faith that I’d not only write the right song but be able to produce it in a matter of hours.”
-
“Send Me an Angel ‘89,” Real Life
Hot 100 peak date: July 22, 1989
The song first reached No. 29 in 1984. It’s been featured on multiple movie soundtracks, with a new placement at the end of the 2025 film Good Fortune, starring Aziz Ansari, Sandra Oh, Keke Palmer, Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen.
-
“Me So Horny,” The 2 Live Crew
Hot 100 peak date: Nov. 18, 1989
Alan Light, whose résumé includes Rolling Stone and SiriusXM, told Billboard of the song (also a No. 1 hit on Hot Rap Songs) in 2019, “The lyrics were different for that time, coming out of Public Enemy and N.W.A [being] ascendant, which had a real sense of hip-hop as storytelling — Black America’s CNN — and then there’s De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, which gave a sense of hip-hop as a lyrical form. I’m not saying it was in opposition to that, but these were clearly party records. No message, just sex and dancing and partying and using these records to have a good time.”
-
“Hard To Handle,” The Black Crowes
Hot 100 peak date: Aug. 17, 1991
Otis Redding co-wrote the song and his version became a posthumous No. 51 hit on the Hot 100 in 1968.
-
“Jessie,” Joshua Kadison
Hot 100 peak date: Jan. 29, 1994
The song introduced Kadison’s trademark piano pop. Follow-up “Beautiful in My Eyes” did even better, reaching No. 19 on the Hot 100 and going top five on Adult Contemporary.
-
“Blue,” LeAnn Rimes
Image Credit: Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Hot 100 peak date: July 6, 1996
“LeAnn Rimes, who’s kicking up a bit of a fuss with her debut single, stopped by our offices to chat,” Chet Flippo wrote in the May 25, 1996, Billboard, the week that the then-13-year-old Rimes made her chart debut as “Blue” entered Hot Country Songs, where it would go on to hit No. 10. “The song,” the then-Nashville bureau chief continued, “was written by longtime Fort Worth, Texas, DJ Bill Mack for Patsy Cline. When Cline died before recording it, Mack put it away. Rimes says he offered it to her after hearing her sing. Rimes does indeed have a big voice in the Cline tradition. ‘My mom says I was born singing,’ she says.”
-
“A Rose Is Still a Rose,” Aretha Franklin
Hot 100 peak date: May 2, 1998
The Queen of Soul appeared in the Hot 100’s top 40 from 1961 through 1998, logging two No. 1s among 17 top 10s. Her last two top 40 entries each reached No. 26: prior to “A Rose Is Still a Rose,” “Willing To Forgive” charted in 1994.
-
“We Like To Party!,” Vengaboys
Hot 100 peak date: April 17, 1999
“This wildly energetic foursome (two gals, two guys) from the Netherlands is pretty much a household name throughout Europe, where this infectious pop gem has been a constant on radio and in clubs,” read a Billboard review of the single in January 1999. It praised the song’s “sugar-soaked sing-along chorus,” correctly predicting that “people who embraced Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ and Los Del Rio’s ‘Macarena’ will be lining up for this latest slice of energetic pop.”
-
“What I Really Meant To Say,” Cyndi Thomson
Hot 100 peak date: Sept. 22, 2001
The week that it hit its Hot 100 high, the ballad also began a three-week reign on Hot Country Songs.
-
“I Love This Bar,” Toby Keith
Hot 100 peak date: Nov. 15, 2003
The anthem became the 12th of the late legend’s 20 No. 1s on Hot Country Songs.
-
“Misery Business,” Paramore
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Hot 100 peak date: Jan. 12, 2008
The band’s breakthrough hit also reached No. 3 on the Alternative Airplay chart.
-
“Poetic Justice,” Kendrick Lamar feat. Drake
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images Hot 100 peak date: March 16, 2013
Different times. The team-up, Lamar’s second Hot 100 entry, after “Swimming Pools (Drank)” (a No. 17 hit in December 2012), peaked in the top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
-
“Ew!,” Jimmy Fallon feat. will.i.am
Image Credit: Douglas Gorenstein/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images Hot 100 peak date: Oct. 25, 2014
Eight months after Fallon became host of NBC’s The Tonight Show, he reached the Hot 100 with this novelty track born on his day (night) job. “Everyone has dreams. I remember lip-syncing into a mirror when I was a kid. Having a song chart is just crazy,” he beamed, with his Billboard history including two No. 1s on Comedy Albums. “I didn’t even know that this would be a song. Will.i.am came on the show and said he loves ‘Ew,’ this character where I’m a 15-year-old girl, just listing things that I think are … ‘ew!’ He just liked it because it’s fun. It’s just a goofy sketch. The song has no other goal than to make you smile.”
-
“Water Under the Bridge,” Adele
Hot 100 peak date: Feb. 11, 2017
One of her 16 top 40 Hot 100 hits, it rose to the top 10 on the all-format Radio Songs chart.
-
“What Ifs,” Kane Brown feat. Lauren Alaina
Hot 100 peak date: Nov. 4, 2017
The collaboration between the chart-toppers, and childhood friends, ruled Hot Country Songs for five weeks.
-
“Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life),” Black Eyed Peas X J Balvin
Hot 100 peak date: April 4, 2020
The Peas’ comeback hit — their first top 40 Hot 100 single since 2011 — also dominated Hot Latin Songs for 24 weeks.
-
“Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah),” CKay
Image Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images Hot 100 peak date: Feb. 5, 2022
The track topped Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs for six weeks, starting with the inaugural list. The Nigerian artist’s introductory hit was first released in 2019 and surged when it went viral, helped by remixes. Originally, “no one took it seriously because it wasn’t a fast song,” he told Billboard in 2021. He shared that he was in love while making the record, whose title in his native Igbo language means “small love.” “Emo Afrobeats is a way to express myself, my emotions and my sound and still have a groove to it,” he said. “My energy is basically emotions.”
Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox
Sign Up
