Triple J Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly funded national Australian youth radio station Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the year in an online poll conducted two weeks prior to the new year.[1][2]
"Hottest 100" redirects here. For other uses, see Hot 100 (disambiguation).Triple J Hottest 100
The year's top 100 songs as voted in a music listener poll
2017–present: the fourth Saturday in January;
1989–2016: 26 January
5 March 1989 (as Hot 100)
Triple J (1989–present)
The first countdown in 1989 was held in March and then on various days in January and February until 1998 when it was mostly consistently held on Australia Day.[3] Since 2017, the countdown has been held on the fourth weekend of January due to increasing controversy about Australia Day regarding its marking of the colonisation of Australia and dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.[4][5] Typically, on the day after the Hottest 100, Triple J has played the Hottest 200 ("the songs that didn't quite make it") from 10 am.[6]
The poll has grown from 500,000 votes in 2004 to a peak of over 3.2 million in 2019, and it has been referred to as "the world's greatest music democracy".[7][8] Since 2015, the countdown has raised at least $3.3 million for various Australian charity partners, including Lifeline, through merchandise sales.[9] ABC Music issued physical compilation albums following each year's countdown until 2022.[10] American rapper/singer Doja Cat's song "Paint the Town Red" is the latest song to top the Hottest 100.
In 2023, Triple J launched Triple J Hottest, an online radio station featuring a playlist of tracks from all previous Hottest 100 countdowns.[11][12]
History[edit]
1988–1991: The Hot 100[edit]
The idea for the poll came from Triple J producer Lawrie Zion in late 1988.[13] During this time, he conceived the idea of running a listener poll to determine their 100 favourite songs of all time.[3] The idea was taken from Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ, which developed the original Hot 100 in 1976.[14]
For the Hot 100, before Triple J had become a national broadcaster, Sydney listeners were required to write their 10 favourite tracks on the back of an envelope.[3] Some entries were sent into the station written on a variety of items, including paintings, sculptures, and hand-rolled cannabis cigarettes. The results of the first poll were counted down on Sunday 5 March 1989 between 10am and 6pm.
The station repeated the event the following year when it started broadcasting to other capital cities besides Sydney. In 1991, Triple J was forced to change the poll's name to 'Hottest 100' to avoid legal action with 4ZZZ.
During the poll's first few years — from 1989 to 1991 — the winner in the first two years was "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division,[3] while 1991's favourite song was "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana,[3] which had been released that year.