On this date during 1994, Boyz II Men stuck around for a 14th week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with its hit "I'll Make Love To You." That tally left it in a tie with Whitney Houston and "I Will Always Love You" for the most weeks on top of the Hot 100. As album sales have grown less important to the industry and single sales have become more relevant, that record has since changed hands. Check out the Top 13 songs in terms of weeks at no. 1 (mind you, there are quite a few ties...we ranked ties according to age of the song, not by how much we personally enjoyed it).
13) "Smooth" by Santana featuring Rob Thomas (12 weeks, 1999)
Carlos Santana had a massive rediscovery during 1999 as parents rediscovered the iconic guitarist and kids found him for the first time thanks to help from the Matchbox 20 frontman. If you belonged to a swim club or went to a public pool during the summer of 1999, this song was unavoidable.
12) "Lose Yourself" by Eminem (12 weeks, 2002)
If there's any argument to made that a song's time on top of the Billboard charts isn't relevant to its relevance, it has to be Eminem's 8 Mile anthem. We can only think of one other song that seeped into culture as much as this single since the turn of the century, and that's Outkast's "Hey Ya."
11) "Yeah!" by Usher featuring Ludacris and Lil Jon (12 weeks, 2004)
Admittedly, we might be a little biased toward this one, considering we were attending proms and such around this single's peak of popularity (and we've attended dances where it was played multiple times). Of course, we shouldn't be surprised a track featuring three different popular Atlanta music scenes would turn out any other way.
10) "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas (12 weeks, 2009)
Studies have been done studying the simplicity of song titles and lyrics and how that correlates to the track's success as a single. Case and point comes with this Black Eyed Peas single, which featured a title similar to the noise our heads made slamming against the wall as it was played on the hour.
09) "End of The Road" by Boyz II Men (13 weeks, 1992)
No act appears more on this list than the Boyz II Men. Before the act managed to tie Houston with "I'll Make Love To You," it had actually owned the record by itself with "End of The Road," which left the Hot 100 just 17 Weeks before Houston took it with "I Will Always Love You."
08) "The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy & Monica (13 weeks, 1998)
What's the best way to craft a pop song that the world simply won't forget? A good start would be to mimic the actions of the greatest pop star of all time: Michael Jackson. Brandy & Monica's hit "The Boy Is Mine" is a less than ambiguous reference to Jackson's "The Girl Is Mine" duet with Paul McCartney from Thriller.
07) "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston (14 weeks, 1992)
As Frozen has proven this year, all film soundtracks that aspire to go platinum need a big single to drive those sales. "I Will Always Love You" is a huge single from a huge voice. Houston can take credit for not only the best-selling film soundtrack of all time but also the third best-selling album in history in general for her contribution to The Bodyguard (which she starred in as well).
06) "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men (14 weeks, 1994)
The Boyz couldn't bounce back and reclaim its record from Houston as quickly as Houston had taken it to begin with but the group did pretty well with the single "I'll Make Love To You" during 1994. It's interesting to note that this is the best-selling single in Motown history, a label that packs a huge discography of hit-makers over its history.
05) "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" by Los Del Rio (14 weeks, 1996)
It's humorous to note how music fans condescend to songs nearly 20 years after they've hit their peak. It's easy to laugh at the comical single from Los Del Rio and the hand-dance that went along with it but considering that the song spent 14 weeks on top of the Hot 100, which means at least a few snobs who mock it took a different tone in 1996.
04) "Candle In The Wind/Something About The Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John (14 weeks, 1997)
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. This wasn't Elton John's thought process at all but it may as well have been. The single "Candle In The Wind" was written during to pay homage to Marilyn Monroe following her death (12 years later, in fact). He recycled the song with a few changes to honor Princess Diana following her death in 1997. It may be tied for second in terms of Hot 100 weeks, but it holds sole possession of second place for singles sales all time, trailing only "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby.
03) "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey (14 weeks, 2005)
Mariah Carey is a Billboard force, and one that may be under appreciated by the current generation of young pop fans. She's tied for second all-time in terms of no. 1 singles, sharing 18 with Elvis Presley and trailing The Beatles by only two. Many thought her career was over during the early years of the new century but "We Belong Together" was a wake-up call. She's only had two no. 1's since but we'll never rule her out.
02) "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas (14 weeks, 2009)
Elton John's got a lock on the foreign single sales but when it comes to United States' audiences, the Black Eyed Peas have it locked down. "I Gotta Feeling" is the bestselling digital song in U.S. history with more than 8.3 million downloads the last time anyone checked...which was 2012. It's probably stayed strong since then.
01) "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men (16 weeks, 1995)
Mariah Carey gets the chart-topping credit she deserves and Boyz II Men seal up their Hot 100 record in one fell swoop. Combining Carey and the Boyz set the standard nearly 20 years ago, leading the chart for 16 weeks, a streak that no act has ever come within a week of even in the era of digital downloads and streaming.
