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Artists achieving number-one hits in the United States and United Kingdom simultaneously

 
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These are the artists who have topped both the official album and singles chart for Billboard in the United States and The Official UK Charts Company from the United Kingdom (also the BPI). As of 2009, forteen artists have achieved this: The Beatles, The Monkees, Simon and Garfunkel, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Men at Work, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Hanson, Bryan Adams, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé Knowles, Coldplay, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas and Flo Rida.

Contents

The Beatles (1964-70, 2000-01)

The champion among recording artists with simultaneous US and UK #1 successes are The Beatles. The Beatles achieved unprecedented popularity in the United Kingdom in 1963 which began to spill over at the end of that year into North America culminating in their triumphant arrival in New York City in February 1964. When their US and UK releases fell in sync with each other, The Beatles achieved a record seven simultaneous #1 singles and (once the US and UK albums became identical beginning with Sgt. Pepper), five #1 albums.

Number 1 simultaneous singles:

Number 1 simultaneous albums (note that prior to 1967, the US and UK LP releases by The Beatles had major differences):

The Monkees (1967)

Number 1 simultaneous singles

  • "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees was #1 in the USA for seven weeks beginning December 31, 1966 and #1 in the UK for four weeks beginning January 19, 1967. So that record was #1 simultaneously in the US and UK from late January to early February in 1967.

Number 1 simultaneous albums

Simon and Garfunkel (1970)

In 1970, the folk-rock duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel released the single "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which shared the number one position in the British and American charts between the weeks ending March 28, 1970 and April 4, 1970. The album Bridge Over Troubled Water was No. 1 in both countries during those two weeks as well.[1] Thus, they were the first act to simultaneously have both the No. 1 single and album in both countries.

The single was the third number one hit for the duo in the US while being their first and only UK number one.

The album became the duo's most successful, holding the number one position in the British charts for 41 weeks, and would become the UK's best selling album of the decade. The recording of the album exposed the underlying tensions between the partnership and soon led to their break-up.

Rod Stewart (1971)

Stewart's simultaneous event occurred in May 1971 with his third album, Every Picture Tells a Story with the universal hit "Maggie May". The single "Maggie May" was supposed to be a B-side track to the song "Reason to Believe", but that was changed after the reception proved more positive for "May". Both single and album stayed at #1 for five weeks in the US and UK. Moreover, both managed to top at the same time, making him the second artist to do after Simon and Garfunkel. In the UK, the track climbed to number one on his sixth week in the chart after its entry position at number 31. The song declined slowly and enjoyed its successful run of 21 weeks. The singles chart was Top 50 during the period until the mid 1970s when the British Market Research Bureau (BRMB) expanded the list to Top 75. Stewart's first appearance of the expanded chart (between number fifty-one to seventy-five) was in 1978 for the song Ole Ola (Mulher Brasileira) with the Scottish World Cup Squad at number sixty-two before he was thrown off the chart a week later. The single was certified Gold from RIAA in October 1971 whilst the album was certified platinum much later in 1995. The album also was frequently voted one of the best British albums of all time. A recent, clear evidence was when Channel 4 in the UK ranked his album 99th of the 100 Greatest Albums Ever in 2005.

Pink Floyd (1975, 1994)

Albums

Elton John (1976, 1997)

Singles

John Lennon (1981)

Other than those achieved as part of The Beatles

Albums

Michael Jackson (1982-1983, 1987, 1995)

Albums

  • Thriller, (March 5, March 19–25, May 21 – June 24, December 24, 1983 – February 3, 1984)
  • Bad, (September 26 – October 16, 1987)

Singles

Men at Work (1983)

Men at Work are best known for their 1982 hit "Down Under", a joyful, comic song about Australians travelling the world with confidence in the virtues of their country. The song was commercially successful in many countries, including the UK (and became their only Top 20 entry in that country). It was also #1 on the Billboard Charts in the US. They are the first non-US/UK band to achieve this feat.

Their first album, 1982's Business as Usual, set a record for the most weeks for a debut album at #1 in the US charts.

Madonna (1986)

Albums

Whitney Houston (1987, 1992-1993)

Albums

  • Whitney, (June 27 – July 24, 1987)

Singles

Phil Collins (1989-1990)

Albums

Bryan Adams (1991)

Singles

Meat Loaf (1993)

Albums

Mariah Carey (1994)

Albums

R.E.M. (1994)

Albums

Alanis Morissette (1996)

Albums

Hanson (1997)

Singles

  • "MMMBop" (June 1 - June 7, 1997)

Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112 (1997)

Singles

James Horner (1998)

Albums

Céline Dion (1998)

Singles

Note: This song appears in the Titanic soundtrack listed above.

Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink (2001)

Singles

Linkin Park (2003, 2007)

Albums

Beyoncé Knowles (2003)

Beyoncé Knowles' album Dangerously in Love and single "Crazy in Love" have topped simultaneously in the US and the UK in July 2003 which made her the first female artist to achieve this feat, the first artist in the 21st century and the third artist (after Simon and Garfunkel & Rod Stewart) to top both the singles and albums charts in the US and the UK simultaneously.

In the US, the album made a strong debut at #1 whilst the single moved up to the top position from #3, knocking off Clay Aiken's single This Is the Night. It was simultaneous for only one week. The following week saw Knowles' album being knocked from the top spot whilst the single remained at #1 for seven more weeks, before being replaced by Shake Ya Tailfeather by Nelly. The single itself spent 28 weeks on the Hot 100 and the album for 72 weeks with the certification of 2x-Platinum and four times (4x) platinum respectively.

In the UK, the album (released a week earlier than the single) also debuted at #1, replacing Evanescence's Fallen which the artist have managed to have simultaneous number ones in the UK. The next week saw the single debuting at the top position replacing Bring Me to Life by Evanescence therefore resulting in her single (topped for three weeks) co-inciding with the album (five weeks) to top at the same time for three consecutive weeks. The following week's #1 single was replaced by Daniel Bedingfield's "Never Gonna Leave Your Side", as Knowles slipped to number two.

Dangerously in Love held on at #1 for one more week before being succeeded by Magic and Medicine from the British band The Coral. The next artist to have a simultaneous #1 album and single in the UK was Pop Idol winner Will Young with the single "Leave Right Now" and the album Friday's Child in December 2003.

Beyoncé's album had the most consecutive weeks at #1 in the UK for 2003, even though the album did not have the most total weeks at #1. She became the second female artist in the UK to hold simultaneous #1s, after Kylie Minogue in 2001 (album Fever, single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"). Because the download sales were not integrated until April 2005 for the singles chart, the single "Crazy in Love" spent 15 weeks based on physical sales alone which was considered a quite long run with 260,000 units of shipments certifing the song to silver. The album Dangerously in Love spent 54 weeks in the UK Albums Chart and was awarded three times (2x) platinum from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Despite mixed reviews from international critics, the album earned her five Grammy Awards and a nomination for the "Record of The Year" (won by Coldplay), one BRIT Award for "Best International Female Solo Artist" but missed out on the "Best International Album" which she was nominated for (won by Justin Timberlake), and thirty other music industry awards. The album sold eight million copies worldwide; the single sold 3.2 million copies worldwide.

Knowles is the only American solo artist to achieve this feat. British music magazine, New Musical Express (NME) voted "Crazy in Love" as the Best Single Release of 2003 beating 49 other candidates such as Outkast (for "Hey Ya!") and The White Stripes (for "Seven Nation Army") at their end of year review. This was considered surprising because the NME tends to specialise in indie rock.

Coldplay (2005, 2008)

Albums

Singles

Rihanna (2007-2008)

Rihanna's worldwide hit "Umbrella" debuted at number one in the "UK Singles Chart" chart in May 24, knocking off McFly's "Baby's Coming Back/Transylvania" and topping the chart for ten weeks, the longest running single of this decade. It was knocked off by Timbaland's, Keri Hilson's and D.O.E.'s "The Way I Are". After two weeks topping the charts in the UK, the song ascended from number 42 to number 1, knocking off T-Pain's and Young Joc's "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" and topping the "Billboard Hot 100" for seven weeks, being knocked off by Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah".

Rihanna's first single from the re-release of her album, "Take a Bow", topped the Hot 100 in May 24, ascending 52 spots from number 53, knocking off Leona Lewis' smash hit "Bleeding Love" and topping the chart for only one week, being knocked off by Lil' Wayne's and Static Major's "Lollipop". One day after it topped the chart in the United States,the single, that debuted at number two the week before, topped the UK chart for two weeks, knocking off The Ting Tings' "That's Not My Name" and being knocked off by Mint Royale's "Singin' in the Rain".

Katy Perry (2008)

Singles

Metallica (2008)

Albums

Lady GaGa (2009)

Lady GaGa debut single "Just Dance" topped the charts at the United States after being for twenty-two weeks in the charts, being the second song to be in the charts for most weeks before reach the top spot, the first place it's still being Creed's "With Arms Wide Open" with twenty-seven weeks[3]. Lady GaGa replaced Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" after being four weeks at the top. Her 2nd single "Poker Face" climbed to No.1 in the UK on 22 March and 2 weeks later in US it climbed to No.1 giving her her 2nd simultaneous No.1 in the UK and US.

At the same weeks, in January 11, 2008 after debuting in number three at the UK charts, the song moved to the first position[4], achieving a single at the top position simultaneously at the charts in both countries.

At both countries the song still being at the top spot for three consecutive weeks[5][6].

Singles

Black Eyed Peas (2009)

Singles

Flo Rida (2009)

For the second time in 2009 already the No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart were the same. This time it was Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha that achieved it. After being at No.1 for 3 weeks already in America, Flo Rida's new single "Right Round" debuted at No.1 on the UK Singles Chart knocking off Kelly Clarkson with her new single "My Life Would Suck Without You".

Susan Boyle (2009)

Albums

References

  1. ^ UK album chart (see articles for other charts)
  2. ^ http://www.emigroup.com/Press/2008/press75.htm Coldplay’s Viva La Vida simultaneously tops the US and UK album charts
  3. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE5078GG20090108
  4. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/lady-gaga-kings-of-leon-lead-u-k-charts-1003929336.story
  5. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7850093.stm
  6. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE50L7RN20090122
  7. ^ http://www.billboard.com/news/susan-boyle-sees-dream-soar-to-no-1-on-billboard-1004050070.story#/news/susan-boyle-sees-dream-soar-to-no-1-on-billboard-1004050070.story
  8. ^ http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5490055-146/story.csp
v • d • e
UK music charts
Singles chart:

Records • Number-one singles (by American artists • simultaneous U.S. and UK no.1 hits) • Number-one artists • Best selling singles by year • UK Million-Selling Singles • Most Number-ones • One-hit wonders

Number-one singles by Decade • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Albums chart

Number-one albums • All Time Best-Selling • Best selling albums by year

Number-one albums by Decade • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Download chart
Other charts
Miscellaneous
Related articles
v • d • e
Billboard charts
Albums
Singles and tracks
Hot 100 • Hot 100 Airplay  • Hot 100 Singles Sales • Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles • Digital Songs • Hot Digital Tracks • Pop 100 (defunct) • Pop 100 Airplay (defunct) • R&B/Hip-Hop Songs • Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay • Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales • Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles • Rap Songs • Top 40 Tracks (defunct) • Country Songs • Top 40 Mainstream • Rhythmic Top 40 • Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks • Adult Contemporary • Latin Rhythm Airplay Chart • Alternative Songs • Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks • Rock Songs • Dance/Club Play Songs • Hot Dance Airplay • Hot Dance Singles Sales • Latin Songs • Christian Songs • Ringtones • Hot RingMasters • Canadian Hot 100 • European Hot 100 • Japan Hot 100 • Brasil Hot 100
Lists of number-ones
Lists of artists who
reached number one
See also

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