The Most Popular Song When You Graduated High School (2024)

It’s always fun to find out what was popular the year you were born, from books to movies to songs. As you weren’t sentient enough to enjoy that content at the time, though, it can’t exactly evoke nostalgia for the early days of your life. What probably can transport you into your own past is whatever music topped the charts during formative teen milestones—say, the grand finale of your high school career.

To that end, we’ve compiled a list of the most popular songs from every graduation season between 1960 and 2023. The methodology is simple: For each year, we identified the song that spent the most weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during May and June. The runner-up is the song (or, often, songs) with the second highest number of weeks at no 1. during those two months.

The result is an eclectic journey through pop music that starts with The Everly Brothers and Del Shannon and deposits you at the doorsteps of Drake and BTS. It turns out that Paul McCartney is the MVP of graduation season song charts: He and his associated acts made the list five times (not including appearances as runner-up).

Selecting your high school graduation year (or any year) in the rundown below will take you to its full entry in the list, where you can listen to the winner and find out which other single or singles came in second place. Again, the stats you’ll see are not the total number of weeks a song was ever at no. 1—just the weeks that fall in May and June, when kids are typically graduating from high school.

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“Stuck on You” by Elvis Presley (3 weeks)

1961: “Runaway” by Del Shannon

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runner-up:
“Travelin’ Man” by Ricky Nelson (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“Soldier Boy” by The Shirelles (3 weeks)

1963: “Sukiyaki” by Kyu Sakamoto

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“I Will Follow Him” by Little Peggy March (2 weeks)
“If You Wanna Be Happy” by Jimmy Soul (2 weeks)
“It’s My Party” by Lesley Gore (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runner-up:
“My Guy” by Mary Wells (2 weeks)

1965: “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” by Herman’s Hermits

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runner-up:
“Help Me, Rhonda” by The Beach Boys (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge (2 weeks)
“Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones (2 weeks)

1967: “Groovin’” by The Young Rascals

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runner-up:
“Respect” by Aretha Franklin (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro (2 weeks)
“Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & the Drells (2 weeks)
“This Guy’s in Love with You” by Herb Alpert (2 weeks)

1969: “Get Back” by The Beatles with Billy Preston

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” by The 5th Dimension (3 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“Everything Is Beautiful” by Ray Stevens (2 weeks)
“The Long and Winding Road” / “For You Blue” by the Beatles (2 weeks)

1971: “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runners-up:
“Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones (2 weeks)
“It’s Too Late” / “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“Oh Girl” by The Chi-Lites (1 week)
“I’ll Take You There” by The Staple Singers (1 week)

1973: “My Love” by Paul McCartney & Wings

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runners-up:
“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” by Stevie Wonder (1 week)
“Frankenstein” by The Edgar Winter Group (1 week)
“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” by George Harrison (1 week)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“The Loco-Motion” by Grand Funk (2 weeks)
“Billy Don’t Be a Hero” by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods (2 weeks)

1975: “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You)” by Tony Orlando and Dawn

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runner-up:
“Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runner-up:
“Love Hangover” by Diana Ross (2 weeks)

1977: “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“Hotel California” by the Eagles (1 week)
“When I Need You” by Leo Sayer (1 week)
“I’m Your Boogie Man” by KC and the Sunshine Band (1 week)
“Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac (1 week)
“Got to Give It Up” by Marvin Gaye (1 week)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 2
Runners-up:
“Night Fever” by the Bee Gees (1 week)
“If I Can’t Have You” by Yvonne Elliman (1 week)
“Too Much, Too Little, Too Late” by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams (1 week)
“You’re the One That I Want” by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (1 week)

1979: “Reunited” by Peaches & Herb

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runner-up:
“Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer (3 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4 weeks
Runner-up:
“Coming Up” by Paul McCartney (1 week)

1981: “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes

Number of weeks at no. 1: 6
Runner-up:
“Morning Train (Nine to Five)” by Sheena Easton (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 7
Runners-up:
“I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (1 week)
“Chariots of Fire” by Vangelis (1 week)

1983: “Flashdance… What a Feeling” by Irene Cara

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“Beat It” by Michael Jackson (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 2
Runner-up:
“Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” by Phil Collins (1 week)

1985: (Tie) “Everything She Wants” by Wham!; “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears; “Heaven” by Bryan Adams

Number of weeks at no. 1: 2
Runners-up:
“We Are the World” by USA for Africa (1 week)
“Crazy for You” by Madonna (1 week)
“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds (1 week)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer (1 week)
“West End Girls” by Pet Shop Boys (1 week)
“Live to Tell” by Madonna (1 week)

1987: “With or Without You” by U2

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runner-up:
“(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runner-up:
“Anything for You” by Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine (2 weeks)

1989: “Forever Your Girl” by Paula Abdul

Number of weeks at no. 1: 2
Runners-up:
“Like a Prayer” by Madonna (1 week)
“I’ll Be There for You” by Bon Jovi (1 week)
“Rock On” by Michael Damian (1 week)
“Wind Beneath My Wings” by Bette Midler (1 week)
“I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” by New Kids on the Block (1 week)
“Satisfied” by Richard Marx (1 week)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O’Connor (2 weeks)
“It Must Have Been Love” by Roxette (2 weeks)

1991: “Rush Rush” by Paula Abdul

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runner-up:
“I Don’t Wanna Cry” by Mariah Carey (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 7
Runner-up:
“I’ll Be There” by Mariah Carey (2 weeks)

1993: “That’s the Way Love Goes” by Janet Jackson

Number of weeks at no. 1: 7
Runner-up:
“Freak Me” by Silk (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 6
Runner-up:
“The Sign” by Ace of Base (2 weeks)

1995: (Tie) “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan; “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” by Bryan Adams

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
No runners-up

Number of weeks at no. 1: 7
Runner-up:
“Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey (2 weeks)

1997: (Tie) “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G.; “MMMBop” by Hanson; “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans feat. 112

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
No runners-up

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runner-up:
“My All” by Mariah Carey (1 week)

1999: “Livin’ la Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“If You Had My Love” by Jennifer Lopez (3 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 6
Runners-up:
“Try Again” by Aaliyah (1 week)
“Be with You” by Enrique Iglesias (1 week)

2001: “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa, and Pink

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“All for You” by Janet Jackson (4 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 8
Runner-up:
“Hot in Herre” by Nelly (1 week)

2003: “21 Questions” by 50 Cent feat. Nate Dogg

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runner-up:
“Get Busy” by Sean Paul (3 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 6
Runner-up:
“Yeah!” by Usher feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris (3 weeks)

2005: (Tie) “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani; “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
No runners-up

Number of weeks at no. 1: 3
Runners-up:
“Ridin’” by Chamillionaire feat. Krayzie Bone (2 weeks)
“Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean (2 weeks)

2007: “Umbrella” by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runner-up:
“Makes Me Wonder” by Maroon 5 (3 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis (2 weeks)

2009: “Boom Boom Pow” by The Black Eyed Peas

Number of weeks at no. 1: 9
No runners-up

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runners-up:
“Nothin’ on You” by B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars (2 weeks)
“California Gurls” by Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg (2 weeks)

2011: “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele

Number of weeks at no. 1: 6
Runner-up:
“E.T.” by Katy Perry feat. Kanye West (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 7
Runner-up:
“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen (2 weeks)

2013: “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runners-up:
“Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink feat. Nate Ruess (2 weeks)
“Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runner-up:
“All of Me” by John Legend (3 weeks)

2015: “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth

Number of weeks at no. 1: 8
Runner-up:
“Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar (1 week)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“Panda” by Desiigner (2 weeks)

2017: “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runners-up:
“Humble” by Kendrick Lamar (1 week)
“That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars (1 week)
“I’m the One” by DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne (1 week)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“This Is America” by Childish Gambino (2 weeks)

2019: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus

Number of weeks at no. 1: 9
No runners-up

Number of weeks at no. 1: 2
Runners-up:
“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd (1 week)
“The Scotts” by The Scotts (Travis Scott and Kid Cudi) (1 week)
“Say So” by Doja Cat feat. Nicki Minaj (1 week)
“Stuck with U” by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber (1 week)
“Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande (1 week)
“Trollz” by 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj (1 week)

2021: “Butter” by BTS

Number of weeks at no. 1: 4
Runner-up:
“Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd and Ariana Grande (2 weeks)

Number of weeks at no. 1: 5
Runner-up:
“First Class” by Jack Harlow (2 weeks)

2023: “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen

Number of weeks at no. 1: 8
No runners-up

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