This Week in Billboard Chart History: In 1992, Madonna Sported the No. 1 ‘This Used to Be My Playground’
Twenty-three years ago, her ballad drew applause atop the Hot 100. Plus, remembering chart feats by Los Del Rio, Selena & Guns N' Roses.
Your weekly recap celebrating significant milestones from more than seven decades of Billboard chart history.
Aug. 3, 1996
Still remember the moves? Los Del Rio‘s “Macarena” Hot 100 began a whopping 14-week command of the Billboard Hot 100, eventually earning the honor of the top single of all of 1996.
Aug. 4, 1958
Happy 57th birthday, Billboard Hot 100! The U.S. songs chart of record launched, ranking – as it does today – the most popular hits nationwide each week. Ricky Nelson‘s “Poor Little Fool” was the chart’s first No. 1 song.
Selena’s Legacy: Remembering the Singer on the 20th Anniversary of Her Death
Aug. 5, 1995
A decidedly more bitter than sweet Billboard 200 coronation: Selena‘s Dreaming of You debuted at No. 1, four months after her murder. Two years later, Selena’s self-titled biopic would become a box office and mark the breakthrough for the actress in the title role, Jennifer Lopez.
Aug. 6, 1988
Spurred by the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Guns N’ Roses rocked to the top of the Billboard 200 in its 50th week with its classic breakthrough, Appetite for Destruction.
Aug. 7, 2004
Ashlee Simpson‘s Autobiography bowed atop the Billboard 200. Take that, sis: Jessica Simpson has peaked at a high of “only” No. 2 on the chart, with In This Skin, also in 2004. Ashlee returned to the top with I Am Me in 2005.
Aug. 8, 1992
Olympic memories: Madonna‘s lush ballad “This Used to Be My Playground,” from the Olympics-themed 1992 album Barcelona Gold, finished first on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is also beloved via another sports-related tie-in: as the theme to the hit baseball film A League of Their Own, starring, among others, Madonna, Tom Hanks and Rosie O’Donnell.
Aug. 9, 2003
Alan Jackson‘s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” began an eight-week reign on Hot Country Songs, the longest of his 26 career No. 1s. His singing and drinking buddy on the track? Jimmy Buffett. (And, did you know that Buffett worked as Billboard‘s Nashville correspondent in the early ’70s? Cheers to us!)
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