The Beatles have the most number one songs out of any artist in history. While modern acts like Drake, Rihanna and Mariah Carey are doing their best to creep up close to that number, the Fab Four haven’t been beaten yet.
Since their debut album, Please Please Me, in 1963, the band had been on a golden run until the day they disbanded. Until their eventual split in 1970, they earned at least one number one hit every single year of their career, sometimes picking up several per album or shooting to the top of the charts the second a single dropped.
Mastering both quality and quantity, the band are also the highest-selling group in history. It’s estimated that The Beatles have sold over 500 million records worldwide, with that number still growing as interest in the band never seems to die off. Even in 2023, they proved how dedicated their fans remain as their last ever song, ‘Now and Then,’ was completed from an old and forgotten demo and hit number one in the modern charts.
Over the course of their discography, all four members penned tracks. It was John Lennon and Paul McCartney who truly wrote themselves into the history books as one of the most prolific and powerful songwriting duos of all time. Lennon wrote 95 songs for the band, with McCartney trailing just shortly behind with 90. Amidst those songs, there were plenty of major and timeless hits.
What was The Beatles’ first number one single?
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The answer for which Beatles tracks hit number one first is a hazy one as it involved the invention of charts as we know them.
Technically, their first UK official chart number one was ‘From Me To You’, released in May 1963 as their first-ever single. It was a surprise to the band, who thought the song was somewhat unremarkable, with Lennon stating, “We nearly didn’t record it because we thought it was too bluesy at first, but when we’d finished it and George Martin had scored it with harmonica, it was alright.”
In their mind, and in the minds of the UK’s music press at the time, their first number one hit was ‘Please Please Me’, the title track and lead single from their landmark debut. It’s said that after recording the track, their producer, George Martin, immediately predicted it would be a hit.
How many number one songs did The Beatles have?
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Over the course of their career, The Beatles earned 32 number one hits and 20 on the official Billboard Top 100 chart. This makes them the band with the most chart-topping songs in musical history. Mariah Carey is quickly catching up with 19 number ones, with Rihanna, Drake, Michael Jackson and The Supremes following behind.
In 1963, the year they first emerged in the music world, the band gained four number ones in that first 12 months alone. From then on, their success never falters, regularly gaining several chart toppers from one album. While still making timeless and pioneering tracks and never compromising on their artistry, The Beatles seemed to have a kind of magic that couldn’t keep the crowds away, even in their more experimental later periods.
Which member wrote the most Beatles hits?
While John Lennon wrote the most songs for The Beatles in total, with 95 tracks, it was Paul McCartney who penned the most number one hits for the group. He got his first chart-topper in 1964 with ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and then went on to score top spots with hits like ‘Yesterday’, ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Paperback Writer’.
In total, McCartney wrote ten chart-topping tracks for the band, and that’s only counting ones where he’s credited as the principal songwriter rather than Lennon and McCartney’s collaborative efforts.
McCartney continued to prove his pop powers as he also went on to be the Beatle with the most successful solo career, gaining a further nine number one songs.
