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Billboard Hot 100

singles chart in the Unites States

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ180072
Source-derived summary

The Billboard Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), online streaming, and radio airplay in the U.S.

A new chart is compiled and released online to the public by Billboard's website on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday, when the printed magazine first reaches newsstands. Since July 2015, the weekly tracking period for sales has been Friday–Thursday. It was initially Monday–Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991. This tracking period also applies to the compilation of online streaming data. Radio airplay is readily available in real time, unlike sales figures and streaming, but is also tracked on the same Friday–Thursday cycle, effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021. Previously, radio was tracked Monday–Sunday and, before July 2015, Wednesday–Tuesday.

The first number-one song of the Billboard Hot 100 was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson, on August 4, 1958. As of the issue for the week ending on September 26, 2026, the Billboard Hot 100 has had 1,194 different number-one entries. The current number-one song on the chart is "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Billboard Hot 100” as singles chart in the Unites States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Billboard, singles and chart.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2015, 1991, 2021, 1958—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1958-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Billboard, singles and chart providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Billboard Hot 100”, the useful work is to connect “singles chart in the Unites States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q180072. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2015, 1991, 2021 and 1958.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Billboard Hot 100”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Billboard Hot 100 primary sources, Billboard Hot 100 archive and Billboard research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Billboard Hot 100” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.