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American Top 40

American Top 40 (abbreviated to AT40) is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacrest and presented as an adjunct to his weekday radio program, On Air with Ryan Seacrest.

Other names

AT40

Music chart show, talk

4 hrs. (including commercials)
3 hrs. + 15 min. (w/out commercials)

United States

English

Miles Hlivko

  • Easton Allyn & Jennifer Sawalha (Present)
  • Nikki Wine (1970s)
  • Don Bustany (1970s, 1979–1987)
  • Lorre Crimi (1998–2004)

July 4, 1970 –
present
(hiatus January 28, 1995 – March 28, 1998)

Originally a production of Watermark Inc. (later a division of ABC Radio known as ABC Watermark, now Cumulus Media Networks), American Top 40 is now distributed by Premiere Networks (a division of iHeartMedia). Nearly 500 radio stations in the United States, and several other territories worldwide air American Top 40, making it one of the most listened-to weekly radio programs in the world. It can also be heard on iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and the official American Top 40 applications on mobile smartphones and tablets as well as on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 consoles (via iHeartRadio's console app), and the Armed Forces Network. GEICO is the main sponsor for the show.


Co-creator Casey Kasem hosted the original American Top 40 from its inauguration on July 4, 1970, until August 6, 1988. Shadoe Stevens took over the program on August 13, 1988, and hosted until January 28, 1995, when the original program came to an end. Three years later, Kasem teamed up with Premiere's predecessor AMFM Radio Networks to relaunch American Top 40. Kasem, who had spent nine years hosting his own countdown Casey's Top 40 for Westwood One, returned to hosting his creation on March 28, 1998. Seacrest took over American Top 40 on January 10, 2004, following Kasem's retirement from the series.


Currently, American Top 40 with Seacrest airs in two formats, with one distributed to Contemporary Hit Radio (Top 40) stations and the other to Hot Adult Contemporary stations. However, there is no distinction made between the two shows on air. There are also two classic editions of the original American Top 40 distributed every weekend, featuring past Kasem-hosted shows from the 1970s and 1980s.


In its early years, American Top 40 used the Billboard charts to compile the countdown, touting it as "the only source". The program subsequently switched to being based on Radio and Records airplay data upon its late 1990s return,[1] until R&R was folded into Billboard in 2009. The current source for the American Top 40 charts are unpublished mainstream Top 40 and hot adult contemporary charts compiled by Mediabase.


In October 2021, the show stopped using the AT40 abbreviation and now uses its full name on air. Despite this, some affiliates still use the abbreviation when promoting the show, and Seacrest (as well as guest hosts) occasionally continues to use it throughout the countdown after this change.

Bios & stories: Most segments of the show included two countdown songs. The second song in the segment would usually be introduced by Kasem with a brief story connected with the song, which could be about its performer, its composer, or a random bit of trivia. Kasem would often lead into the commercial break preceding the segment with a brief preview of the story, sometimes even giving away the song title or artist.

Competition[edit]

American Top 40 has faced numerous competitors since its debut in 1970. These include The Weekly Top 30 with Mark Elliott (1979–1982); several Dick Clark-hosted shows starting in 1981 with the National Music Survey and Countdown America, the latter of which was originally hosted by former R&R CHR editor John Leader and later by Clark; Rockin' America Top 30 Countdown with then Z100 Program Director and personality Scott Shannon; and the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, which has run continuously since 1983 with Rick Dees as host. Numerous other shows following the same format, both in the general top-40 category and in various specific radio formats, have aired over the course of AT40's history as well. In addition to Dees' show, Mario Lopez, Carson Daly, and (in overseas via World Chart Show) Mike Savage, all host competing countdown shows targeted at the pop top 40 market.

Reairing of older shows[edit]

AT40 flashback[edit]

From December 2000 to December 2002, many radio stations aired reruns of 1980–88 episodes under the title American Top 40 Flashback. The show was syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. In its early weeks the shows were the original four-hour format of an American Top 40 episode, but after the first month and a half the show was reduced to three hours. Although the national syndication of American Top 40 Flashback ceased in December 2002, radio station WMMX in Dayton, Ohio, continued to carry American Top 40 Flashback on Saturday mornings until the premiere of Casey Kasem's 'American Top 40: The 80s.

Casey Kasem's American Top 40—the 70s and 80s[edit]

On August 4, 2006, XM Satellite Radio began replays of the original 1970s and 1980s AT40 shows with Casey Kasem that were digitally remastered from the original vinyl LPs and open-reel master tapes by Shannon Lynn of Charis Music Group. The event began with a weekend long marathon of original shows, with AT40 then being added as a regular show on two of XM's Decades channels, "The 70s on 7" and "The 80s on 8". With the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, these AT40 shows began airing on both services on November 15, 2008. On the 70s on 7, it replaced the 'Satellite Survey', a Top 30 countdown of 1970s hits, produced by Sirius and hosted by Dave Hoeffel. On the 80s on 8, it replaced 'The Big 40' countdown produced by Sirius and hosted by Nina Blackwood. As of October 11, 2009, Sirius XM replaced the AT40 countdown on 80s on 8 and debuted a revised version of 'The Big 40' countdown now co-hosted by three of the five original MTV VJs: Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman and Alan Hunter (Martha Quinn was a fourth co-host from 2009 to 2015).


Sirius XM "70s on 7" currently runs AT40 each Saturday at 12 pm with encore broadcasts the following Sunday at 9 am and at 12 midnight (Eastern Time). Most show dates roughly correspond to the current week in real time. A random episode is also featured on J.J.Walker's show on "70s on 7" Thursdays at 9 pm ET. The mix of AT40 episodes being run on XM include the year-end countdowns, which are typically run in two parts: the first half (#100-#51) in one time slot, and then the second half (#50-#1) in the following time slot. The AT40 specials are also part of XM's rotation; for instance, "AT40 Goes to the Movies" aired prior to the 2007 Academy Awards, and on February 24, "The Top 40 Acts of the 80s So Far" aired on XM 80s the first week of July 2007. Also, "The Top 40 Songs of the Disco Era (1974–1979)" aired on Sirius XM "70s on 7" the second weekend of July 2011. As of the weekend of February 11, 2023, the 6am and noon Saturday editions were discontinued and replaced by a single 9am Saturday airing, with the Sunday airing moved to noon Eastern time.


From October through early November 2006, oldies radio station KQQL in Minneapolis/St. Paul, which is owned by iHeartMedia, ran a series of American Top 40 episodes from the 1970s. Aside from one week, when the station attempted to air a four-hour episode from 1979 in the three-hour time slot (resulting in the show getting cut off at No. 11 and the top 10 not being heard), this test run was largely successful. Because of the success, Premiere Radio Networks decided to launch "Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The 1970s" into national syndication featuring the three-hour shows from 1970 to 1978, and the last three hours of shows originally aired from October 1978 through December 1979. (One original four-hour program, first aired in October 1978, was edited into a three-hour program for re-airing in 2007, and the four-hour "Disco Hits" special from July 1979 with the first hour optional was aired in 2008, but until the fall of 2010, no other program from the last 15 months of the 1970s was included in the "AT40: The 70s" package. Starting in late 2010, Premiere began airing three-hour versions of four-hour AT40s from 1978 to 1979, beginning the broadcasts at the start of the countdown's second hour; during the spring of 2012, Premiere began making the first hour of these programs "optional," meaning that stations can choose to air all four hours of the four-hour programs, or just the last three.) Starting in 2012, whenever programs from 1970 to 1972 were scheduled to air, Premiere began offering affiliates the option of airing a later 1970s program instead (typically, a corresponding year from seven years later, or 1977–1979).


The 1980s version premiered on April 8, 2007, replacing the American Top 40 Flashback reruns. The shows are available in either their full original four-hour format, or an abbreviated three-hour version that omits the first hour of the show. To date, the latest program to air as part of the "AT40: The 80s" package has been August 6, 1988 – Kasem's last show with the original program. Because the rights to Shadoe Stevens-era episodes were held by Cumulus Media, no programs from August 13, 1988, to 1995 have been re-aired as part of this or any similar block.


To date, the only re-aired classic AT40 programs that featured a host other than Kasem are the shows of March 25, 1972, with Dick Clark as host; September 12, 1981, with Gary Owens as host; and May 13, 1978, and July 17, 1982, both with Mark Elliott as host. All were aired as tributes after Clark's, Owens' and Elliott's deaths, respectively.


Newly produced extra segments hosted by voiceover talent Larry Morgan are available for use at stations' discretion. Prior to Casey leaving Premiere Radio, these segments were hosted by his son Mike; when the series first began, these segments were hosted by one of Casey's former guest hosts, Ed McMann. These extra segments are also heard on the 80s show. KQQL was the first to sign on, airing programs beginning on December 30, 2006. Typically, the "optional extras" were songs that had yet to enter the top 40 of the Hot 100. However, some songs never reached the top 40 but had since become popular at classic hits/oldies/classic rock stations or certain novelty songs that were popularized by certain media events like the Who shot J.R.? cliffhanger (recorded by Gary Burbank) and the Chicago Bears 1985–86 NFC win and the team itself recording a rap tune about going to the Super Bowl, while others were tributes to performers who had just died. For early 1970s programs, some of the "optional extras" were actually extras (i.e., "oldies") that were originally a part of the original program; in this case, Kasem's original commentary and introduction of the song were kept intact, in lieu of Morgan's voiceover.


In March 2008, XM Satellite Radio rebranded the XM broadcasts with the "Casey Kasem's American Top 40" name and logo used for terrestrial broadcasts, although XM still aired the commercial-free broadcasts, while Premiere Radio carries edited and recut broadcasts with commercials. Following the merger of Sirius and XM, the AT40 shows airing on those platforms have occasionally been edited. In some cases, extras and LDDs have been cut from the original broadcasts.


Sirius XM 70s on 7 aired the inaugural AT 40 (which originally aired July 4, 1970) on July 4, 2013, as part of a special July 4 broadcast.


As of 2017, American Top 40: The 70s & 80s are produced by Toby James Petty and engineered by Shannon Lynn, both of whom had been members of the current AT40 production staff prior to Kasem's 2004 departure.


As of 2014, American Top 40: The 70s shows that were originally produced in mono are being converted to true stereo by Ken Martin, a program director and disk jockey for AT40 affiliate WTOJ in Carthage, New York. With some 1970s episodes featuring songs that were originally further edited by Watermark staff, Martin restored those songs to their original broadcast length; many of these extended editions were broadcast exclusively on Martin's station, WTOJ.


As of 2019, shows from the 1970s and 1980s are airing continually, without commercials, on the iHeartRadio station "Classic American Top 40". Most of iHeart's branded stations use an HD Radio subchannel in one of their markets to originate their app-only stations, and in this case, WMMX-HD2 in Dayton, Ohio, carries it over-the-air in that market.


As of December 2023, rebroadcast shows are currently aired on 200 radio stations in 5 countries and every U.S. state except Montana. Foreign rebroadcast shows are heard in four of the eastern provinces of Canada, as well as the American Forces Network, Australia, Berlin, Aruba, and The Cayman Islands.


In Late 2020, Sirius XM began airing an additional AT40 program on Thursday nights, presented as a random choice and not necessarily tied to the specific weekend. Included in this series were guest-host appearances from Dave Hull (a 1971 episode - the first AT40 to have a guest host - aired on November 12, 2020 to note Hull's recent passing) and Wink Martindale (a 1975 episode, airing on January 7, 2021).

Chart data used by American Top 40[edit]

Billboard magazine[edit]

AT40 used the top 40 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart from the show's inception in 1970 to November 23, 1991. The chart was widely regarded as the industry standard for tracking the popularity of singles, and was thus a natural choice to be used. Kasem would frequently announce during the show that Billboard was the only source for the countdown. While using these charts worked well for the first half of the 1970s, as music changed during the decade and disco became popular on the charts, some rock stations began to drop the show because of complaints from program directors that AT40 was playing too many songs not normally heard on their stations.


This gradually became a wide schism as rock splintered into several formats in the early 1980s. As a result, AT40's weekly playlist could be very diverse in the styles and formats of the songs played. Historians have noted that no one station actually played all of the songs on the Billboard Hot 100 list, because they represented overlapping formats, such as hard rock, mainstream rock, heavy metal, dance, new wave, punk, rap, pop, easy listening/adult contemporary and country. Stations tended to specialize in only one or two of these formats and completely ignore the others.


One solution for the AT40 producers was to air frequent specials (at least three or four times a year) that concentrated on the classic music of the past, such as Rock in the Movies and Top Hits of the Seventies. But as Top 40 stations evolved into CHR, they began to avoid syndicated shows like AT40, preferring to stick with their own special niche formats.


By the early 1990s, many singles, mostly of the rap, heavy metal or grunge genres, reached the chart based on strong sales despite low airplay; several were very long, others were too controversial or risqué for mainstream airplay (for instance, the sexually explicit "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Crew made it to No. 26 on the Hot 100 in 1989). These songs would generally only be aired in brief snippets during the show.


Because of this, American Top 40 switched to the Hot 100 Airplay chart (then known as the Top 40 Radio Monitor). These songs generally scored much higher radio airplay, and some were not even released as singles (such as "Steel Bars" by Michael Bolton). During this time, a few songs made very high debuts, including two that almost debuted in the No. 1 spot: "I'll Be There" by Mariah Carey, which entered at No. 4, and "Erotica" by Madonna, which entered at No. 2.


In January 1993, American Top 40 switched charts again, this time to the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart. This chart had more mainstream hits but fewer urban, dance and rap songs.


AT40 did not always use the official year-end Billboard chart during the 25 years in which the show used Billboard charts. In 1972, 1973 and 1977, as well as 1980–1984 and 1990–1994, AT40 compiled its own year-end chart. These charts were often close to Billboard's, but AT40 would use a mid-December to early-December time period while Billboard's survey year varied from year to year. AT40 matched Billboard's No. 1 year-end song every year except 1977, 1984, 1990 and 1993.

Radio and Records magazine[edit]

With the show's revival in 1998, a new chart was implemented, the top 40 portion of Radio and Records CHR/Pop top 50 chart, which was already in use on Casey's Top 40. This chart used a recurrent rule that removed songs below No. 25 that had exceeded 26 weeks in the top 50; these removals, if they occurred in the top 40, would be reflected on the appropriate week's program. In 1999, the rule was modified to further restrict long chart runs: songs falling below #20 with at least 20 weeks in the top 50 would now be removed.


On October 21, 2000, American Top 40 began using an unpublished chart on a weekly basis for the first time in its history. The chart seemed to be a variant of the CHR/Pop chart provided by Mediabase, the data provider to Radio & Records. The most noticeable feature of this new chart was its ambiguous recurrent rule. Songs would be removed regularly from within the top 15, seemingly regardless of the number of weeks they had spent on the chart. Additionally, the chart has resulted in songs that otherwise peaked at #41–50 on R&R's charts appearing on the AT40 charts. This chart lasted until August 11, 2001, when AT40 returned to the Radio & Records pop chart. The return coincided with another modification in the recurrent rule; songs would be removed below No. 25 after three consecutive weeks without a bullet (an increase in radio plays). This change would be short-lived, as in November 2001, Radio & Records returned to the 20 weeks/below No. 20 rule, which remained in place for the remainder of Kasem's tenure.

Syndication[edit]

In the United States, American Top 40 is available in almost every radio market in the USA. It had at least one radio station in every state up until December 2022 when New Jersey-based WHCY converted to country music. As of December 2022, New Jersey and Rhode Island are the only two states that don't have a local station carrying American Top 40. Rhode Island can pick up the show either from Connecticut's WKSS or Boston's WXKS-FM. North Jersey can still receive the show either from New York's WHTZ or the Lehigh Valley's WAEB. KKBT in American Samoa is the only radio station in an American territory that airs the show.


In Canada, more than 50 stations air AT40, most being owned by IHeartRadio and Golden West Broadcasting. The Move Radio stations air the show as Move Radio's Exclusive AT40 with some songs omitted and replaced with songs by Canadian artists.[41] In 2021, Ontario-based station CKPR-FM added a special Hot AC version of the chart that included contemporary Canadian artists that also airs on CIGO-FM and CHGK-FM. This is done to follow Canadian broadcast regulations. Other Canadian stations like CKIK-FM, and CKSY-FM omit the optional extras.


In addition to the United States and Canada, American Top 40 is also carried by more than several stations worldwide, including Hi FM in Oman, Amber Sound FM in England, Nile FM in Egypt, and Loud FM in Saudi Arabia.[42][43]


Some stations broadcast the program on its Hot AC version. The only ones outside the U.S. and Canada to do so are Antena 8 in Panama, and Black Star Radio in Australia.

"Top 40 Recording Acts of the Rock Era 1955–1971" (Weekend of May 1–2, 1971)

"Top 40 Christmas Songs" (Weekend of December 25–26, 1971)

"Top 40 Songs of the Rock Era 1955–1972" (weekend of July 1–2, 1972)

"Top 40 Albums of the Week" (weekend of August 5–6, 1972; the Top 40 singles were also counted down alongside that week's albums)

"Top 40 Artists from Sept 1, 1967, to Sept 1, 1972" (weekend of September 30 – October 1, 1972)

"Top 40 Songs from March 1968 to March 1973" (weekend of April 7–8, 1973)

"Top 40 Disappearing Acts" (weekend of July 7–8, 1973)

"Top 40 Recording Acts of the Rock Era 1955–1973" (weekend of October 6–7, 1973)

"Top 40 Christmas Songs" (weekend of December 22–23, 1973)

"Top 40 Hits of British Artists 1955–1974" (weekend of April 6–7, 1974)

"Top 40 Acts of the 1970s, So Far" (weekend of July 6–7, 1974)

"Top 10 Producers of the 1970s" (weekend of October 5–6, 1974)

"Top 40 Disappearing Acts" (weekend of April 1–2, 1975)

"Top 40 Rock 'n' Roll Acts of the 1950s" (weekend of October 4–5, 1975)

"Bicentennial Special: #1 July 4 Songs of the Past 40 Years" (weekend of July 3–4, 1976)

"Top 40 Songs of the 'Beatle Years'[1964–1970]" (weekend of October 2–3, 1976)

"Top 40 Girls of the Rock Era 1955–1977" (weekend of July 2–3, 1977)

"Top 40 Movie Songs 1960–1978" (weekend of Apr 4–5, 1978)

"Top 40 Acts of the 1970s, So Far" (weekend of Jul 1–2, 1978)

"The Top 40 Songs of the Disco Era 1974–1979" (weekend of July 7–8, 1979)

"The Top 50 Songs of the 1970s" (weekend of January 5–6, 1980)

"AT40 Book of Records" (weekend of July 5–6, 1980)

"Top 40 Hits of the Beatles: Together and Apart" (weekend of July 4–5, 1981)

"Top 40 Acts of the 1980s, So Far" (weekend of July 2–3, 1983)

"Giants of Rock" (weekend of July 5–6, 1986)

"Top 40 Hits of the 1980s, So Far" (weekend of July 4–5, 1987)

"Top 40 Newcomers of the 1980s, So Far" (weekend of May 30–31, 1988)

"Triathlon of Rock 'n Roll" (weekend of July 4–5, 1988)

"World Tour" (weekend of May 27–29, 1989)

"AT40 Book of Records, 1980s Edition" (weekend of August 31 – September 4, 1989)

"Top 40 American Acts of the Previous 10 Years" (weekend of July 1–2, 1991)

"Top 40 Hits of the Past Decade" (weekend of January 2–3, 2010)

"Top 40 Songs of the Decade" (weekend of December 28–29, 2019)

Ed Sheeran

(Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak)

Silk Sonic

Charlie Puth

and Ava Max[56]

Tiësto

[57]

Blackbear

[58]

Lizzo

Gayle

The first song played on the very first American Top 40 show in 1970 at No. 40 was "" by Marvin Gaye. It would remain and peak at No. 40 the following week.[2]

The End of Our Road

The first No. 1 song on American Top 40's inaugural 1970 broadcast was "" by Three Dog Night.[2]

Mama Told Me Not to Come

The first top 10 countdown on the first American Top 40 show featured songs by both ("The Wonder of You") and The Beatles ("The Long and Winding Road"). These are the top two artists of the entire rock era according to AT40's original source, Billboard magazine.[2]

Elvis Presley

The first song played on the first American Top 40 year-end show in 1970 at No. 80 was 's "The Letter" as covered by Joe Cocker.[63]

The Box Tops

The first No. 1 song on American Top 40's year-end countdown was "" by Simon & Garfunkel.[63]

Bridge over Troubled Water

When American Top 40's year-end countdown divided from 80 to 40 songs in 1971, the No. 1 song of the year was "" by Three Dog Night.[64]

Joy to the World

When American Top 40's year-end countdown expanded to 100 songs in 1974, the No. 1 song of the year was "" by Barbra Streisand.[65]

The Way We Were

had the No. 1 song "Disco Duck" on American Top 40 in October 1976 long before Dees would launch a rival countdown show, Rick Dees Weekly Top 40.[66]

Rick Dees

When American Top 40 expanded from three to four hours in October 1978, the No. 1 song was "" by Exile.[67]

Kiss You All Over

The very first "Long-Distance Dedication" ever played in 1978 was 's "Desirée".

Neil Diamond

When American Top 40's year-end countdown divided from 100 to 50 songs in 1979, the No. 1 song of the year was "" by The Knack.[68][69]

My Sharona

The No. 1 song of the year for the last Casey Kasem AT40 year-end show in 1987 was "" by The Bangles.[70][71]

Walk Like an Egyptian

appeared on the very first AT40 in 1970 (with "Question", which ranked at #27),[2] and Casey Kasem's last episode of the original AT40 on August 6, 1988 ("I Know You're Out There Somewhere", which ranked at #30).[72]

The Moody Blues

When Shadoe Stevens replaced Casey Kasem as host on August 13, 1988, the first song he played was "" by Bobby McFerrin which debuted at number 40.[73]

Don't Worry, Be Happy

The No. 1 song for the last Casey Kasem AT40 and the first Shadoe Stevens AT40 was "" by Steve Winwood.[72][73]

Roll With It

The first song Shadoe Stevens played on his year-end countdown in 1988 was "" by Taylor Dayne at number 100.[74][75]

Prove Your Love

The No. 1 song of the year for the first Shadoe Stevens AT40 year-end show in 1988 was "" by George Michael.[76][77]

Faith

When American Top 40 switched from the Billboard Hot 100 to the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay in November 1991, the No. 1 song was "" by Michael Bolton.

When a Man Loves a Woman

When American Top 40 switched from the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay to the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream in January 1993, the No. 1 song was "" by Whitney Houston.

I Will Always Love You

The last No. 1 song on American Top 40 on July 9, 1994, when the show was pulled from American stations, was "" by Ace of Base.[78]

Don't Turn Around

The last No. 1 song on American Top 40 in January 1995 before its 3-year hiatus was "" by Boyz II Men.

On Bended Knee

Before playing the No. 1 song on the final original-run episode of American Top 40, Shadoe Stevens played a special Long-Distance Dedication to his fans: "So Tired of Standing Still, We Got to Move On" by . As Stevens did his closing at the end of the show, the song "Happy Trails" by Roy Rogers was played in the background.

James Brown

When American Top 40 returned in March 1998, the No. 1 song was "" by Celine Dion; it remained in that position since Kasem left his previous program, Casey's Top 40, four weeks earlier.

My Heart Will Go On

In 2000, "" by DMX and in 2003, "Breathe" by Blu Cantrell and "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones, all appeared in the chart three times, after falling off twice during their respective runs.

Party Up (Up In Here)

The No. 1 song on Casey Kasem's final AT40 show in January 2004 was "" by Outkast. It stayed at No. 1 when Ryan Seacrest replaced Kasem.

Hey Ya!

On July 5, 2009, the final No. 1 song on American Top 20 was "" by Shinedown. The final No. 1 song on American Top 10 was "Love Story" by Taylor Swift.

Second Chance

The youngest artist to enter the chart is , then age 10 when her song "Whip My Hair" debuted at No. 35 on chart week of December 11, 2010. (The song was recorded when she was 9.)

Willow

The oldest artist to enter the chart is , whose "What a Wonderful World" entered the chart at No. 32 (where it peaked) in February 1988. Armstrong was 66 years old when the song was recorded and, had he survived to witness it, would have been 86 when the song became a hit. Recorded in 1967 and originally peaked at No. 116 on Billboard's pop chart, the song entered the Top 40 21 years later, after its appearance in the film Good Morning, Vietnam. (The oldest living artist to chart on AT40 was Gordon Sinclair, who recorded "The Americans" at age 71 and saw it become a hit at age 73; this record was broken in 2021 when Elton John charted at age 74 with "Cold Heart", a collaboration with Dua Lipa, and the oldest songwriter to chart a song on AT40 was Irving Berlin, who, at 95 years old, reached the top 40 with "Puttin' on the Ritz" as performed by Taco.[79])

Louis Armstrong

The oldest recorded song to chart on AT40 was "", a novelty song written by Benny Bell and originally sung in 1946 by Paul Wynn.[80] Recorded in 1946, it took 29 years until it entered the Top 40 in 1975,[81] peaking at #30.[80]

Shaving Cream

No song has debuted at #1. The closest song was "" by Madonna, debuting at No. 2 on October 17, 1992.

Erotica

The song that charted on the CHR chart the longest was “” by Rema & Selena Gomez, charting for 74 weeks between November 26, 2022 and April 20, 2024. The record was previously held by the song "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz, charting for 72 weeks between July 17, 2010 and November 26, 2011. "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon charted the longest on the HAC chart for 117 weeks.

Calm Down

"" by Michael Jackson scored the biggest upward movement of the show on November 30, 1991, rising 33 spots from No. 35 to No. 2.

Black or White

"" by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, "Roar" by Katy Perry, "Hello" by Adele, and "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar took five weeks to get to the No. 1 position, making them the only songs to have the fastest period of time to get to No. 1 in the 21st century. After "See You Again" was on top for 4 weeks, it was replaced by "Want To Want Me" by Jason Derulo (Not one of the tracks to make it to the top in 5 weeks, but lasting 1 week at #1) and then "Bad Blood" (which debuted at #23) and took 5 weeks to get to No. 1.

See You Again

In January 2017, and Taylor Swift's "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" climbed 26 spots from No. 40 to No. 14, the first song to do so since 1972.

Zayn

Only one recording with no musical elements has ever appeared on the American Top 40 chart: the "Sister Mary Elephant" by Cheech and Chong, which peaked at No. 28 in 1974. (The aforementioned "The Americans", along with Les Crane's 1971 spoken word hit "Desiderata", both had instrumental music playing in the background.)

comedy sketch

The No. 1 song of the 1970s was "" by Debby Boone (The longest run of the decade at 10 weeks).

You Light Up My Life

The No. 1 song of the 1980s was "" by The Police, as canonized by Ryan Seacrest during the 2000s decade-end chart (and repeated during the 2010s decade-end show), since AT40 did not have a 1980s decade-end show. The No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (which AT40 was using in 1989) was "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John (The longest run of the decade at 10 weeks), but whether AT40 would have used that chart, or their own compilation (as they sometimes did) is unknown.

Every Breath You Take

The No. 1 song of the 1990s was "" by Donna Lewis lasting 12 weeks, but the longest run of the decade was the longest of all time which was "The Sign" by Ace of Base which spent 14 weeks on top.

I Love You Always Forever

The No. 1 song of the 2000s was "" by Usher lasting 4 weeks, but the longest run of the decade was "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey which lasted 12 weeks on top.

Yeah!

The No. 1 song of the 2010s was "" by Ed Sheeran (tied for the longest run of the decade along with "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell Williams at 10 weeks).

Shape of You

The 1,000th episode aired on Saturday, September 30, 1989. The number one song was "" by Milli Vanilli.

Girl I'm Gonna Miss You

The 2,000th episode aired on Saturday, January 14, 2012. The number one song was "" by Rihanna.

We Found Love

When the show aired its 50th anniversary special on July 4, 2020, the CHR chart's No. 1 song was "" by Justin Bieber featuring Quavo, and the HAC chart's No. 1 song was "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd.

Intentions

Stevie Wonder

Doja Cat has 'bookended' the regular edition of the countdown on the weekend of April 16-17, 2022, with "" (ft. The Weeknd) at No. 40 and "Woman" at No. 1; SZA is the second artist to do so, with "Kill Bill" at No. 40 and "Snooze" at No. 1 on the weekend of November 4-5, 2023.

You Right

The first number one hit not to be sung in English was 's "Rock Me Amadeus" in 1986. In its original recording, the song's lyrics are entirely in German, though the show would sometimes play a mix that omitted the verses in favor of a timeline (narrated in English) of the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Falco

In July 2018, "" by Bazzi became the shortest song at 2:13 to reach No. 1.

Mine

In 2019, 's "Old Town Road" became the shortest song on the chart at 1:53.

Lil Nas X

Also in 2019, became the first artist to be born in the 2000s to have a number 1 song with "Bad Guy".

Billie Eilish

In March 2020, "" by Post Malone became the first song in 25 years to reclaim the No. 1 spot 3 times. Later that year in July 2020, The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" became the second. The others were "Another Night" by Real McCoy and "On Bended Knee" by Boyz II Men in 1994 and 1995, respectively. Another song did this in 1979, being "Le Freak" by Chic. The same would occur again when, on the weekend of November 11-12, 2023, on the HAC chart, Taylor Swift’s "Cruel Summer" reclaimed the top spot for a third time, after being first dethroned by Dua Lipa’s "Dance The Night" and then by Olivia Rodrigo’s "vampire"; the song would eventually reclaim the top spot for a fourth time when, on the weekend of January 13-14, 2024, it took over Miley Cyrus’ “Used To Be Young” after staying four weeks atop the chart. In April 2024, "Lovin' On Me" by Jack Harlow ended up reclaiming the No. 1 spot on the regular (CHR) version of the chart dated April 6, 2024, from Taylor Swift's "Is It Over Now? (Taylor's Version) [From The Vault]".

Circles

In July 2021, 's "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" became the second shortest song at 2:17 to reach No. 1. The first song being "Mine" by Bazzi at 2:13 in 2018, falling only 4 seconds short of being the shortest.

Lil Nas X

In August 2021, became the first female solo artist to hold the top two songs by herself, namely "Good 4 U" at No. 1 and "Deja Vu" at No. 2. Iggy Azalea and Halsey are also held their respective top two spots but has collaborated artists. She also became the first artist to have her first four singles on the same chart when "Traitor" debuted at No. 35 since "Drivers License" was still on that week's chart.

Olivia Rodrigo

From October–December 2021, "" by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber held the top spot for 11 weeks, being the longest-running No. 1 of 2021 (As well as becoming the longest run of the decade), surpassing "Mood" by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior on its last week on top, falling one week short of being the longest running No. 1 of the century ("We Belong Together" was the longest), and was the most successful song for both artists. It was replaced by "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow.

Stay

In December 2021, "" by Glass Animals became the highest song to re-enter the chart (#14 on the CHR version and No. 18 on the HAC version months after dropping off the chart and having peaked at that same position on the CHR chart). In February 2022, the song became one of the few songs in the show's history to have its first week at No. 1 after re-entering the chart.

Heat Waves

In March 2022, "" became Justin Bieber's 12th song to reach No. 1, making him the artist with most number one songs of the 21st century.[82]

Ghost

In May 2022, hit number 1 with "Big Energy". It sampled the Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" (which peaked No. 31 in 1982), which was also sampled in Mariah Carey's 1995 number 1 hit "Fantasy". The Tom Tom Club's hit song became the first to be sampled in two number one songs.

Latto

In July 2022, 's "Running Up That Hill", which originally spent 4 weeks on AT40 in 1985, re-entered the chart at No. 31 on CHR and No. 30 on HAC due to its resurgence in popularity after being featured in an episode of Netflix's Stranger Things.

Kate Bush

In October 2022, 's single "Billie Eilish" became the shortest song on the chart at 1:39 (1:34 being the length mentioned by the countdown itself).

Armani White

After becoming a earlier in the year, Miguel's "Sure Thing" reached the number one spot in June 2023, 12 ½ years after its original release in 2010, making it the longest gap between a song's release and reaching the top spot. It was previously held by The Weeknd's "Die For You", originally released in 2016 as a track off "Starboy", then released as a single in 2017 and having topped the chart earlier in February 2023; it didn't top the HAC chart, having peaked at No. 5 in April 2023.

sleeper hit

In October 2023, and Ice Spice with Aqua's "Barbie World" became the shortest song at 1:50 to reach #1.

Nicki Minaj

In February 2024, 's song "Murder on the Dancefloor", originally released in December 2001 and was originally serviced to Top 40 radio in September 2002 in the US, debuted at #32 on the CHR version of the chart on the week ending February 24, 2024, following its resurgence in popularity after being featured in the 2023 film "Saltburn". This made it one of the longest gaps between a song's release and debut in the AT40 charts, with the song debuting 22 years after its original release.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Doja Cat's "" debuted at No. 40 on the HAC chart of the weekend of March 9-10, 2024, while the song was atop the CHR chart, a rare case of bookending on two different charts.

Agora Hills

Durkee, Rob. American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century.  0-02-864895-1. New York City: Schirmer Books, 1999. Accessed December 10, 2007.

ISBN

Battistini, Pete. American Top 40 with Casey Kasem (The 1970s). Authorhouse.com, January 31, 2005.  1-4184-1070-5.

ISBN

Battistini, Pete. American Top 40 with Casey Kasem (The 1980s). Authorhouse.com, December 21, 2010.  978-1-4520-5038-6.

ISBN

Trust, Gary (June 15, 2014). . Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2022.

"How Casey Kasem Gave Billboard A Voice"

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Archive 1955 through 2006

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‘Well, Here It Comes! The Biggest Song in the U.S.A.!’

– featuring cue sheets for most shows in PDF format. Charis' owner, Shannon Lynn, has remastered all the episodes of the original AT40 run (1970-1988) from tape and LP to digital format for syndicated re-broadcast. Also features info on other countdown shows and syndicated programs

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