The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart published since August 1958 by Billboard magazine which ranks the best-performing singles in the United States. In 1960, it was compiled based on a combination of sales and airplay data sourced from surveys of retail outlets and playlists submitted by radio stations respectively. During the year, 19 different singles spent time at number one.
In the year's first issue of Billboard, Marty Robbins moved into the number-one position with "El Paso", displacing the final chart-topper of 1959, "Why" by Frankie Avalon. It was Robbins' only number one on the Hot 100; his final top 40 entry came in 1962, but he continued to be achieve success on Billboards country music charts, with 17 number-one singles between 1952 and 1976. The next two artists to top the Hot 100, Johnny Preston and Mark Dinning, both had brief chart careers; "Teen Angel" was Dinning's only top 40 entry. In February, Percy Faith and his orchestra reached number one with "Theme from A Summer Place", from the film A Summer Place. The instrumental topped the chart for nine consecutive weeks, the year's longest run at number one and the longest unbroken run in the top spot since the launch of the Hot 100 in 1958. It was displaced from the top spot by "Stuck on You" by Elvis Presley; of the 15 acts that reached number one during 1960, only Presley had previously topped the Hot 100, although Faith and the Everly Brothers had both reached number one on the separate sales, airplay, and jukebox play charts that Billboard had published prior to the launch of the consolidated listing in 1958. "Stuck on You" was Presley's first new recording since the end of a two-year stint in the United States Army; although he had continued to chart with songs recorded before he entered the army, demand was high for his first newly recorded single since 1958.
Presley returned to number one in August with "It's Now or Never", which spent five weeks in the top spot; the single is reportedly the best-selling of his career, having sold 25 million copies worldwide. Presley, known as the "King of Rock and Roll", gained his third number one of the year in November with "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", which held the top spot for the final five weeks of 1960. He was the only act to take three singles to number one during the year, and his total of 14 weeks in the top spot was the most achieved by any act. Two female singers, Connie Francis and Brenda Lee, were the only other acts to have more than one number one during 1960. Francis topped the Hot 100 in June with "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and in September with "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own". Lee, who was 15 years old at the time, reached number one with "I'm Sorry" in July and "I Want to Be Wanted" in October. More than 60 years later, she set a record for the oldest singer to top the Hot 100 when her 1958 recording of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" reached number one in 2023 when she was 78 years old. Acts that reached number one in the second half of the year but had short-lived success included the Hollywood Argyles, a studio project organized by the singer Gary Paxton; the novelty song "Alley Oop" was the only song under the Hollywood Argyles name ever to chart on the Hot 100.
Chart history
+Issue dateTitleArtist(s)24"El Paso"25"Running Bear"26"Teen Angel"27"Theme from A Summer Place" and his orchestra28"Stuck on You"29"Cathy's Clown"30"Everybody's Somebody's Fool"31"Alley Oop"Hollywood Argyles32"I'm Sorry"33"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini"34"It's Now or Never"35""36"My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own"37"Mr. Custer"38"Save the Last Dance for Me"39"I Want to Be Wanted"38 (re)"Save the Last Dance for Me"40"Georgia on My Mind"41"Stay"42"Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
Notes
Number-one artists + List of number-one artists by total weeks at number one Weeks at No. 1 Artist 14 Elvis Presley 9 Percy Faith 5 The Everly Brothers 4 Connie Francis Brenda Lee 3 Johnny Preston The Drifters2 Marty Robbins Mark Dinning 1 Hollywood Argyles Brian HylandChubby Checker Larry Verne Ray Charles Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
See also 1960 in music List of Billboard number-one singles List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 1960 List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from 1958 to 1969
References
Works cited