As part of Billboard's celebration of the 60th anniversary of our Hot 100 chart this week, we're taking a deeper look at some of the biggest artists and singles in the chart's history. Here, we revisit the ranking's 100 biggest artists of all-time.
On Aug. 4 1958, Billboard launched the Hot 100, forever changing pop music -- or at least how it's measured. Sixty years later, the chart remains the gold-standard ranking of America's top songs each week. And while what goes into a hit has changed (bye, bye jukebox play; hello, streaming!), attaining a spot on the list -- or better yet, a coveted No. 1 -- is still the benchmark to which artists explore, from Ricky Nelson on the first to Drake on the latest. Which brings us to this hottest-of-the-hot list: the 100 most massive artists over the charts six decades.
1. The Beatles