Billboard Top 20 Singles: Britney Spears

[johnm1120]

In honor of Britney Spears' 30th birthday yesterday, Billboard put together her biggest Hot 100 hits based on inverse points.



Britney Spears' 20 Biggest Billboard Hits



20. Britney Spears - I'm A Slave 4 U
Peak: #27 (2001)

So many milestones in Spears' career coincided with her memorable music videos, with 2001's "I'm a Slave 4 U" -- from her third album, "Britney -- serving as the perfect example. The sultry sauna-meets-orgy clip not only made Brit's uber-toned body a common topic of conversation, it served as a grown-up coming out for the then 19-year-old singer. Yet somehow, the Pharrell-produced track reached only No. 27 on the Hot 100, a low position considering the song's top 10 ranking in many international markets.


19. Britney Spears - Break The Ice
Peak: #43 (2008)

The icy synth track, produced by Danja, found Ms. Spears singing, "I know it's been a while, but I'm glad you came." She was only half right. It had only been a few months since she rocketed to No. 3 on the Hot 100 with "Gimme More," but we're sure she was glad fans flocked to the tune despite the distraction of all the tabloid drama that surrounded her in the year before the song hit the charts in 2008. It's little wonder the real Britney doesn't appear in the animated video.


18. Britney Spears - Lucky
Peak: #23 (2000)

Britney's midtempo nod to doo-wop, "Lucky," turned out to be less than pure fiction when the singer later went through personal problems in the very public eye. But before all that, in 2000, the song -- a take on the "lonely at the top" concept -- peaked at No. 23 on the Hot 100.


17. Britney Spears - From the Bottom of My Broken Heart
Peak: #14 (2000)

Still a teenager when this Eric Foster White-produced single was released in 2000, Spears' convincing take on love lost helped "Broken Heart" reached the top 20 of the Hot 100.


16. Britney Spears - Stronger
Peak: #11 (2001)

Brit Brit kicked the potential sophomore slump to the curb with one of her best songs of female empowerment. The dance-y "Stronger," off "Oops!... I Did It Again" not only hit the Hot 100 hard, it also landed in the top 20 of the Pop Songs radio airplay chart, as 19 other singles of hers have done.


15. Britney Spears - Sometimes
Peak: #21 (1999)

"Sometimes," Spears' second single, epitomizes the innocence of the pop star's first album, especially in its sunny music video. Wearing all white, Spears and her dancers overtake Kenny's Cove and perform some unoffending dance moves while the singer yearns for her hunky man.


14. Britney Spears - Piece of Me
Peak: #18 (2008)

"Miss American Dream since [she] was 17" addresses her harshest critics in this woozy synth hit. Clearly, we did want a piece. In addition to its top 20 peak on the Hot 100, it went to No. 8 on the Digital Songs chart and won her the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year in 2008.


13. Britney Spears - If U Seek Amy
Peak: #19 (2009)

The third single from her comeback album, "Circus," captures Britney playing bad girl. (Say the title fast). The 2009 track finds Spears singing of society's perception of her life over electro-pop synthesized beats.


12. Britney Spears - Everytime
Peak: #15 (2004)

This breathy ballad came after her break-up with Justin Timberlake and rumors quickly swirled that her song was a response to his "Cry Me a River." Although Brit has never denied or confirmed, the lyrics are certainly curious. "I may have made it vague," she sings. "Please forgive me. My weakness caused you pain. And this song is my sorry."


11. Britney Spears - (You Drive Me) Crazy
Peak: #10 (1999)

"Crazy" snuck into the top 10 of the Hot 100 as the third single off "... Baby One More Time" and the lead cut from the soundtrack of the 1999 romantic comedy "Drive Me Crazy," starring Melissa Joan Hart and a pre-"Entourage" Adrian Grenier in his first major role.


10. Britney Spears - Gimme More
Peak: #3 (2007)

When a song begins with "It's Britney, bitch," you just know you're in for a treat. The fact that "Gimme More," Spears' lead single off 2007's "Blackout," wasn't very appetizing to critics didn't matter to fans, who helped send the breathy, stripper-ready dance track to No. 3 on the Hot 100 in October of that year. However, it was Brit's embarrassing performance of the song on the MTV VMAs a couple weeks before its release that has endured and in its wake spawned an early YouTube star in Chris "Leave Britney Alone!" Crocker.


9. Britney Spears - Oops!... I Did It Again
Peak: #9 (2000)

After her debut album made her a bubblegum pop star, Spears declared, "I'm not that innocent" on the title cut to her sophomore album, which peaked at No. 9 on the Hot 100. "Oops" will forever be remembered as the song Spears performed at the MTV VMA's in a risque, skin-colored outfit.


8. Britney Spears - Toxic
Peak: #9 (2004)

For the second single off 2004's "In the Zone," Britney went with something a little different, sonically-speaking. "Toxic" went to places previously unexplored by Spears: aggressive electronic sound effects, shrieking strings and a killer surf-guitar riff. The unlikely combo, ushered in by steamy vocals, worked, as "Toxic" burned into the Hot 100's top 10.


7. Britney Spears - I Wanna Go
Peak: #7 (2011)

Who says Brit shouldn't do what she wants? Here on "I Wanna Go" from "Femme Fatale," it's clear that when she just lets go of her inhibitions and cuts loose, she's capable of making hot dance jams and top 10 hits. This happens to be both.


6. Britney Spears - Hold It Against Me
Peak: #1 (2011)

This pulsating dance track with its thickly-layered production (via Max Martin, Dr. Luke & Billboard), a pickup-line chorus ("If I said I want your body now ...") and a dubstep-ish breakdown debuted in January 2011 atop the Hot 100 and made Britney only the second artist to launch a song at No. 1 multiple times. The lavish and futuristic video, which contains a "Fight Club"-esque scene where Brit battles Brit, helped to make "Hold It Against Me" -- and her platinum-selling album "Femme Fatale" -- the huge hits they are.


5. Britney Spears - Circus
Peak: #3 (2008)

"There's only two types of people in the world. The ones that entertain and the ones that observe," is the lead line of Britney's "Circus." We've known which one she is -- the lady in the limelight -- since her debut single. This title track of her sixth album reinforces that, marking a return to the straight-forward pop sound for which she became known in her early days.


4. Britney Spears - Till The World Ends
Peak: #3 (2011)

"Hold It Against Me" may have been the lead single to "Femme Fatale," but its follow-up, "Til The World Ends," captures the essence of Spears' latest electro-pop opus. The track was a Hot 100 hit even before fellow pop divas Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha joined Brit for a remix.


3. Britney Spears - 3
Peak: #1 (2009)

A single from her 2009 "Singles Collection" package, "3" is the combination of several Britney signature styles. Mainstream pop is certainly in the forefront, lustful moans on the chorus and a touch of electronic is also in the mix. The title, meanwhile, may be seemingly innocent, but it actually refers to something quite less so. Fun fact: the song is 3:33 long and it's her third biggest hit to date, but when it hit the Hot 100, it was all about No. 1.


2. Britney Spears - Womanizer
Peak: #1 (2008)

With a tumultuous 2007 behind her, Britney knew she needed a big year in music to come back from all the tawdry drama. With "Womanizer," from "Circus," she was able to do just that, and score her first No. 1 on the Hot 100 since "... Baby One More Time."


1. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time
Peak: #1 (2 weeks) (1999)

Britney's debut single, "... Baby One More Time," remains her biggest hit, undoubtedly fueled by its sexy schoolgirl music video. The Max Martin-penned single sustained a steady build, ruling the Hot 100 chart at No. 1 for two weeks in early 1999 after debuting on the chart in late November '98, a month after it was serviced to radio and just a few weeks shy of her 17th birthday.

[HolidayGuy]

So, Billboard has compiled lists like this (ranging from 10 positions to 50) for Michael Jackson (including his solo and Jackson 5 hits), Madonna, Beyonce, George Harrison, Rihanna and Spears. Any others?

Only the MJ and Madonna lists had a weighing system for pre-1991 hits, as the others' hits all occurred in the BDS/SoundScan era. Harrison's top 10 were all pre-1991, so no need for weighing there.

[jink]

Dec 2, 2011 12:49:28 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

So, Billboard has compiled lists like this (ranging from 10 positions to 50) for Michael Jackson (including his solo and Jackson 5 hits), Madonna, Beyonce, George Harrison, Rihanna and Spears. Any others?

Only the MJ and Madonna lists had a weighing system for pre-1991 hits, as the others' hits all occurred in the BDS/SoundScan era. Harrison's top 10 were all pre-1991, so no need for weighing there.

Do you have a link to the Rihanna article?

[Rodze]

Please, put the link to the article. Not only you're posting it in full elsewhere without any authorization from Billboard at all (OK, common practice on the internet), you're not even providing a link to the original source. (And, no this is not about me, because I know I can google it in 2s.)

Dec 2, 2011 12:49:28 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

So, Billboard has compiled lists like this (ranging from 10 positions to 50) for Michael Jackson (including his solo and Jackson 5 hits), Madonna, Beyonce, George Harrison, Rihanna and Spears. Any others?

T.I. (Random, I know).

[slw84]

Glad they showed Break the ice some love...great vocals :'( :'( :'(
Mad they messed up the lyric to Everytime
So yeah,

LEGENDNEY... :'( :'( :'(ur faves neva cud.

[badrobot]

She needed weighting among her own hits -- it skews her digital era stuff much higher.

[HolidayGuy]

Could also be said for the Beyonce hits list? Record labels opted not to issue commercial CD singles for some of Spears' hits from 1999-2003, so it is what it is. "Beautiful Stranger" and "American Pie" would have ranked higher on the Madonna Top 50 if they had commercial singles- should they be weighted differently for her list. :)

Rodze- yeah, I do recall the T.I. one. It's also posted some others, but based on peaks on another chart (i.e. R&B), rather than an inverse points system.

[Deleted]

There was also that Clear Channel ban, in between I'm a Slave 4U and Toxic, which worked against her.

[areyoureadytojump]

This isn't music news.

It should go in her FF thread here.

[PDC1987]

Dec 2, 2011 19:43:10 GMT -5 slw84 said:

Glad they showed Break the ice some love...great vocals :'( :'( :'(

Yeah, that computer sound nice!

[HolidayGuy]

ry4n, as we discussed before, did not one single Clear Channel station play her music for that period of time? I find that hard to believe. Or was it a matter of CC stations playing the music less than they had before? That I could buy. But an outright ban, where all CC stations didn't play her? Hard to fathom. :)

I agree that, as an act-specific chart, this probably belongs in another thread.

[slw84]

Dec 3, 2011 10:11:14 GMT -5 PDC1987 said:

Dec 2, 2011 19:43:10 GMT -5 slw84 said:

Glad they showed Break the ice some love...great vocals :'( :'( :'(

Yeah, that computer sound nice!

Chile...I know you want attention and I'm going to give it to you...there is a YouTube link with Britney singing the vocals withuout background. If I have to pull out my seating chart to tell you where to sit...don't do it.lol

[jebsib]

At the time of the "Britney Ban" there was a teen pop ban on Pop radio emerging; And since Britney & BSB were the poster children for that genre they suffered the most (N Sync had transitioned to r&b and / or disbanded, 98 degrees was DOA, and Christina Aguilera - thanks to Dirrty - had completely defected from that image). Despite "Slave" also trying to develop Spears beyond the Disney Max Martin pop sounds of 1999, B's image (at that time) thanks to tabloids et al was still very much 'bubblegum princess' - an image CHR was fleeing from FAST. Their research showed that a continued push in that direction would over time errode their core audience. The irony is they had nothing substantial to replace it with and thus more or less mirrored Rhythmic's playlists for four years, thus losing many of the audience they wanted. But that's another tale...

[Deleted]

I read that Clear Channel is pretty conservative and disliked Britney's image- too sexual and a bad role model for young girls. And that Brit's management turned down CC as the promoter for her tour and CC blacklisted her songs because of it.

It's clear something was holding back CHR from playing her songs. After Slave, all her songs from there to Toxic had very underwelming peaks.

As for teen pop being on the way out, is that reason why she did that "Crossroads" movie and the song "I'm not Girl.."? to show she was no longer part of the Boy Band era?

[Black Jesus]

I actually like that order. Pretty accurate!

[jebsib]

I was working in radio programming at the time (Clear Channel) and remember specifically a conference where program directors were 'highly encouraged' to let Teen Pop go. This was the summer of 2000, mid-way through Britney's "Lucky" chart run. I recall being stunned at the time, as Britney, N Sync & BSB were selling millions of records and were at the top of their game commercially. I think the radio Industry was so burned by the New Kids / Spice Girls phenoms (which attracted far younger audiences to their stations - thus corrupting the 'edgy' or 'cool' factor that CHR thinks it projects) that the general radio industry over reacted to the late 90s teen boom.

Now I had left by the time the so-called Britney Ban would have started, so I don't know anything about that. I do know though, that in the beginning, Britney wasn't exactly Lady Gaga or Katy Perry when it came to #1 songs. She had her fair share of misses (FTBOMBH or DLMBTLTK or Boys) so when she started coming out with perceived weaker material, it is no surprise that more stations didn't put her stuff into power rotation.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that "Toxic" and "Everytime" were anomalies: Radio really wasn't 'on Brit's side' again until Womanizer in 2008.

[Hefty Hanna]

All classics.

[leoapp]

Too bad she didn't release release regualr physical singles for most of her earlier singles, like Sometime,s Crazy, Oops!. Lucky, Don't Let Me Be The Last to Know, Slave, and I'm Not A Girl, made her Hot 100 history wasn't that amazing in late 90s/early 00s. And Clear Channel ban in 2001-2003 made it worse.

[c0ldasfire]

Wish Billboard would have provided sales figures to make this list even better lol

[TheJakes]

Dec 3, 2011 15:20:02 GMT -5 jebsib said:

I was working in radio programming at the time (Clear Channel) and remember specifically a conference where program directors were 'highly encouraged' to let Teen Pop go. This was the summer of 2000, mid-way through Britney's "Lucky" chart run. I recall being stunned at the time, as Britney, N Sync & BSB were selling millions of records and were at the top of their game commercially. I think the radio Industry was so burned by the New Kids / Spice Girls phenoms (which attracted far younger audiences to their stations - thus corrupting the 'edgy' or 'cool' factor that CHR thinks it projects) that the general radio industry over reacted to the late 90s teen boom.

Now I had left by the time the so-called Britney Ban would have started, so I don't know anything about that. I do know though, that in the beginning, Britney wasn't exactly Lady Gaga or Katy Perry when it came to #1 songs. She had her fair share of misses (FTBOMBH or DLMBTLTK or Boys) so when she started coming out with perceived weaker material, it is no surprise that more stations didn't put her stuff into power rotation.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that "Toxic" and "Everytime" were anomalies: Radio really wasn't 'on Brit's side' again until Womanizer in 2008.

I think the lack of success for Britney on radio during this time period was a combination of what you mentioned, the desire of CHR to move away from teen-pop, and, in Britney's case, specific issues that have been termed "the blacklist" by fans.

In terms of sound it is clear that IAS4U was a dramatic shift away fro the teen-pop sound. Here we had a song with a leading edge sound from the hottest producers at that moment; a song that was introduced with a memorable MTV VMA performance that is regarded as one of that shows highlights; a song that had a super hot video created for it; a song from the biggest selling female popstar of the last several years coming off a hugely successful album; a song that was the lead single on another hugely successful album; a song from an act about to embark on a sellout arena tour; and yet it was a song that died on the radio at the format most amenable to it.

Is it any wonder that suspicions of a "blacklist" arose. In particular because of the timing related to Clear Channels attempt that year to create synergies between its radio arm and its concert promotion arm. Britney was the first big name act to sign with AEG concert promotions that year. It is not unreasonable to speculate that if she had signed with Clear Channel for her concert tour then Clear Channel radio stations, especially in the markets she was touring in, would have promoted her more heavily.