Move over, Fab Four. Toronto’s favorite son, Aubrey Graham, now has more top-five songs on the Billboard Hot 100 than any artist in history.
When John Lennon said in 1966 — perhaps jokingly, perhaps deadly serious — that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, little did he know that 20 years later, another son would rise across the sea in stately Toronto.
For decades, Liverpool’s Fab Four held the elite distinction of producing the most songs ever to crack the top five of the preeminent singles chart in the global pop canon, the Billboard Hot 100, with an incredible 29. That is, until today, when DJ Khaled’s “Staying Alive” featuring Drake and Lil Baby checked in at No. 5.
That makes 30 top-five singles for Drizzy, folks.
Yes, you may be tempted to argue that several of Aubrey’s biggest-selling, most-streamed, best-charting tracks are features rather than cuts on which he’s the primary artist. Yes, that practice (mostly) wasn’t a thing back when the Beatles were banging out an album every four to six months. Yes, the Beatles weren’t even together for a full decade.
But don’t let anyone tell you that Drake isn’t a hard-working cat fully capable of musical reinventions and the sorts of stylistic flourishes that capture — or even shape — our sonic zeitgeist every bit as effortlessly as Mr. Lennon’s twists and shouts.
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With all this in mind, we got ourselves thinking about the full breakdown of Drake’s top-fivers on the Billboard Hot 100. How routinely has he struck gold at No. 1 (spoiler alert: 11 times)? When was his first top-five track? And how much does he owe Rihanna for all this, to say nothing of the aforementioned DJ Khaled?
You have questions, Boardroom (Billboardroom?) has answers.
Every Top-5 Drake Song on the Billboard Hot 100
Data courtesy of Billboard.
Peaked at No. 5
- “Find Your Love,” 2010
- “Look Alive” (BlocBoy JB feat. Drake), 2018
- “MIA” (Bad Bunny feat. Drake), 2018
- “No Guidance” (Chris Brown feat. Drake), 2019
- “Staying Alive” (DJ Khaled feat. Drake & Lil Baby), 2022
Peaked at No. 4
- “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” 2013
- “Knife Talk,” 2021
- “Champagne Poetry,” 2021
Peaked at No. 3
- “She Will” (Lil Wayne feat. Drake), 2011
- “Popstar” (DJ Khaled feat. Drake), 2020
- “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” 2021
- “Fair Trade,” 2021
Peaked at No. 2
- “Best I Ever Had,” 2009
- “Hotline Bling,” 2015
- “Nonstop,” 2018
- “Life is Good” (Future feat. Drake), 2020
- “Laugh Now Cry Later,” 2020
- “Wants and Needs,” 2021
- “Girls Want Girls,” 2021
Reached No. 1
- “What’s My Name?” (Rihanna feat. Drake), 2010
- “Work” (Rihanna feat. Drake), 2016
- “One Dance,” 2016
- “God’s Plan,” 2018
- “Nice for What,” 2018
- “In My Feelings,” 2018
- “Tootsie Slide,” 2020
- “What’s Next,” 2021
- “Way 2 Sexy,” 2021
- “Wait For U” (Future feat. Drake & Tems), 2022
- “Jimmy Cooks,” 2022
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