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List of Billboard number-one singles from 1950 to 1958

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Billboard number-one singles charts preceding the Billboard Hot 100 were updated weekly by Billboard magazine and the leading indicator of popular music for the American music industry since 1940 and until the Billboard Hot 100 chart was established in 1958.

Before the Billboard Hot 100 chart was established in August 1958, Billboard used to publish several weekly charts. Throughout most of the 1950s, the magazine published the following three charts to measure a song's popularity:

  • Best Sellers in Stores – ranked the biggest selling singles in retail stores, as reported by merchants surveyed throughout the country.
  • Most Played by Jockeys – ranked the most played songs on United States radio stations, as reported by radio disc jockeys and radio stations.
  • Most Played in Jukeboxes – ranked the most played songs in jukeboxes across the United States. At that time, this chart used to be one of the most important channels for measuring the popularity of a song among the younger generation of listeners, as many US radio stations resisted adding rock and roll music to their playlists for many years.[citation needed]

The chart shown in this article comes from the Best Sellers in Stores chart only.

Number ones

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Key
 ♪  Number-one single of the year
Contents
Elvis Presley had the highest number of hits at the top of the Billboard number-one singles chart between January 1950 until August 1958 (10 songs) in addition, Presley remained the longest at the top of the Billboard number-one singles chart between January 1950 until August 1958 (57 weeks).
Patti Page was the artist with second-longest most cumulative run at number one (22 weeks) between January 1950 until August 1958.
Perry Como remained at the top of the Billboard number-one singles chart for 20 weeks between January 1950 until August 1958.
Reached number one Artist(s) Single Record label Weeks at
number one
Ref
1950
January 7, 1950 Gene Autry "Rudolph, The Red-nosed Reindeer"
Columbia
1
January 14, 1950 The Andrews Sisters "I Can Dream, Can't I"
Decca
4
February 11, 1950 The Ames Brothers "Rag Mop"
Coral
1
February 18, 1950 Red Foley "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy"
Decca
4
March 18, 1950 Teresa Brewer "Music! Music! Music!"
London
4
April 15, 1950 Eileen Barton "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake"
National (local); Mercury (nationwide)
2
April 29, 1950 Anton Karas "The Third Man Theme"
London
11
July 15, 1950 Nat King Cole "Mona Lisa"
Capitol
5
August 19, 1950 Gordon Jenkins and The Weavers "Goodnight Irene"♪ (1950)
Decca
13
November 18, 1950 Sammy Kaye "Harbor Lights"
Columbia
2
December 2, 1950 Phil Harris "The Thing"
RCA Victor
4
December 30, 1950 Patti Page "The Tennessee Waltz"
Mercury
9
1951
March 3, 1951 Perry Como "If"
RCA Victor
6
March 10, 1951 Mario Lanza "Be My Love"
RCA Victor (Red Seal)
1
April 21, 1951 Les Paul and Mary Ford "How High The Moon"
Capitol
9
June 23, 1951 Nat King Cole "Too Young"♪ (1951)
Capitol
5
July 28, 1951 Rosemary Clooney "Come On-a My House"
Columbia
6
September 8, 1951 Tony Bennett "Because Of You"
Columbia
8
November 3, 1951 Tony Bennett "Cold, Cold Heart"
Columbia
6
December 15, 1951 Eddy Howard "Sin (It's No Sin)"
Mercury
2
December 29, 1951 Johnnie Ray and The Four Lads "Cry"
Okeh (Columbia)
11
1952
March 15, 1952 Kay Starr "Wheel Of Fortune"
Capitol
9
May 17, 1952 Leroy Anderson "Blue Tango"♪ (1952)
Decca
5
June 21, 1952 Al Martino "Here In My Heart"
Capitol
2
July 5, 1952 Percy Faith "Delicado"
Columbia
1
July 12, 1952 Vera Lynn "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart"
London
9
September 13, 1952 Jo Stafford "You Belong To Me"
Columbia
5
October 18, 1952 Patti Page "I Went To Your Wedding"
Mercury
5
November 22, 1952 Johnny Standley "It's In The Book (parts 1 & 2)"
Capitol
1
November 29, 1952 Joni James "Why Don't You Believe Me"
MGM
4
December 27, 1952 Jimmy Boyd "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"
Columbia
2
1953
January 10, 1953 Perry Como "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes"
RCA Victor
5
February 14, 1953 Teresa Brewer "Till I Waltz Again With You"
Coral
5
March 21, 1953 Patti Page "The Doggie In The Window"
Mercury
8
May 16, 1953 Percy Faith "The Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)"♪ (1953)
Columbia
10
July 25, 1953 Eddie Fisher "I'm Walking Behind You"
RCA Victor
2
August 8, 1953 Les Paul and Mary Ford "Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You)"
Capitol
11
October 10, 1953 Stan Freberg "St. George And The Dragonet"
Capitol
4
November 21, 1953 Tony Bennett "Rags To Riches"
Columbia
6
1954
January 2, 1954 Eddie Fisher "Oh! My Pa-pa (O Mein Papa)"
RCA Victor
8
February 27, 1954 Doris Day "Secret Love"
Columbia
3
March 13, 1954 Jo Stafford "Make Love To Me!"
Columbia
3
April 10, 1954 Perry Como "Wanted"
RCA Victor
8
June 5, 1954 Kitty Kallen "Little Things Mean A Lot"♪ (1954)
Decca
9
August 7, 1954 The Crew Cuts "Sh-Boom"
Mercury
7
September 25, 1954 Rosemary Clooney "Hey There"
Columbia
6
November 6, 1954 Rosemary Clooney "This Ole House"
Columbia
1
November 13, 1954 Eddie Fisher "I Need You Now"
RCA Victor
3
December 4, 1954 The Chordettes "Mr. Sandman"
Cadence
7
1955
January 22, 1955 Joan Weber "Let Me Go, Lover!"
Columbia
2
February 5, 1955 The Fontane Sisters "Hearts Of Stone"
Dot
1
February 12, 1955 The McGuire Sisters "Sincerely"
Coral
6
March 26, 1955 Bill Hayes "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett"
Cadence
5
April 30, 1955 Pérez Prado "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White"♪ (1955)
RCA Victor
10
July 9, 1955 Bill Haley & His Comets "Rock Around The Clock"
Decca
8
September 3, 1955 Mitch Miller "The Yellow Rose of Texas"
Columbia
6
October 15, 1955 The Four Aces "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing"
Decca
2
October 29, 1955 Roger Williams "Autumn Leaves"
Kapp
4
November 26, 1955 Tennessee Ernie Ford "Sixteen Tons"
Capitol
7
1956
January 14, 1956 Dean Martin "Memories Are Made Of This"
Capitol
5
February 18, 1956 Kay Starr "Rock And Roll Waltz"
RCA Victor
1
February 25, 1956 Nelson Riddle "Lisbon Antigua"
Capitol
4
March 24, 1956 Les Baxter "Poor People Of Paris"
Capitol
4
April 21, 1956 Elvis Presley "Heartbreak Hotel"♪ (1956)
RCA Victor
8
June 16, 1956 Gogi Grant "The Wayward Wind"
Era
6
July 28, 1956 Elvis Presley "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"
RCA Victor
1
August 4, 1956 The Platters "My Prayer"
Mercury
2
August 18, 1956 Elvis Presley "Don't Be Cruel" / "Hound Dog"
RCA Victor
11
November 3, 1956 Elvis Presley "Love Me Tender"
RCA Victor
5
December 8, 1956 Guy Mitchell "Singing The Blues"
Columbia
9
1957
February 9, 1957 Elvis Presley "Too Much"
RCA Victor
3
March 2, 1957 Tab Hunter "Young Love"
Dot
4
March 30, 1957 Buddy Knox "Party Doll"
Roulette
1
April 6, 1957 Perry Como "Round And Round"
RCA Victor
1
April 13, 1957 Elvis Presley "All Shook Up"♪ (1957)
RCA Victor
8
June 8, 1957 Pat Boone "Love Letters In The Sand"
Dot
5
July 13, 1957 Elvis Presley "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear"
RCA Victor
7
August 31, 1957 Debbie Reynolds "Tammy"
Coral
3
September 14, 1957 Paul Anka "Diana"
ABC-Paramount
1
September 28, 1957 The Crickets "That'll Be The Day"
Brunswick
1
October 5, 1957 Jimmie Rodgers "Honeycomb"
Roulette
2
October 19, 1957 The Everly Brothers "Wake Up Little Susie"
Cadence
1
October 26, 1957 Elvis Presley "Jailhouse Rock"
RCA Victor
7
December 7, 1957 Sam Cooke "You Send Me"
Keen
2
December 28, 1957 Pat Boone "April Love"
Dot
2
1958
January 11, 1958 Danny & the Juniors "At The Hop"
ABC-Paramount
5
February 15, 1958 Elvis Presley "Don't"
RCA Victor
5
March 22, 1958 The Champs "Tequila"
Challenge
5
April 26, 1958 The Platters "Twilight Time"
Mercury
1
May 3, 1958 David Seville "Witch Doctor"
Liberty
2
May 17, 1958 The Everly Brothers "All I Have To Do Is Dream"
Cadence
4
June 14, 1958 Sheb Wooley "The Purple People Eater"
MGM
6
July 26, 1958 Elvis Presley "Hard Headed Woman"
RCA Victor
2

Statistics by decade

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By artist

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The following artists achieved three or more number-one hits during the 1950–1958. A number of artists had number-one singles on their own as well as part of a collaboration.

Artist Number-one hits
Elvis Presley 10
Perry Como 4
Patti Page 3
Rosemary Clooney 3
Eddie Fisher 3
Tony Bennett 3

Artists by total number of weeks at number-one

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The following artists were featured in top of the chart for the highest total number of weeks during the 1950–1958.

Artist Weeks at number-one
Elvis Presley 57
Patti Page 22
Tony Bennett 20
Perry Como 20
Les Paul and Mary Ford 20
Rosemary Clooney 13
Eddie Fisher 13

Songs by total number of weeks at number-one

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The following songs were featured in top of the chart for the highest total number of weeks during the 1950–1958.

13 "Goodnight Irene" Gordon Jenkins and The Weavers
11 "Don't Be Cruel" / "Hound Dog" Elvis Presley
11 "Vaya Con Dios" Les Paul and Mary Ford
11 "Cry" Johnnie Ray and The Four Lads
11 "The Third Man Theme" Anton Karas

See also

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References

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