Most Top 40 Hits of the 2010s so far

Now we're in the final year of the 2010s I thought it would be interesting to see which acts have had the most Top 40 hits of the decade so far. There are a total of 60 acts who have had 10 or more Top 40 hits so far this decade. I'd say 10 hits in a decade is enough to have had an impact without being excessive, you just need one hit a year to achieve it. This is correct as of the end of 2018.

I'm going to write a little bit about the first few and then list the rest who have 10 or more, so here we go:

1. Drake - 46

It probably won't surprise many of you to find Drake leading the way. He made his Top 40 debut in 2010 meaning he's had 46 Top 40 hits overall as well. On the Official Charts website they incorrectly list him as having 43 Top 40 hits but they miss out "KMT", "No Long Talk" and "Portland" which were all hits for him in 2017.

Drake already has the record of most Top 40 hits in a decade beating Cliff Richard who had 43 Top 40 hits in the 60s. He start the decade that way though, by the end of 2015 he'd had 12 Top 40 hits so therefore averaged 2 a year. 34 hits in the 3 years since, including the 2016 number one "One Dance" which was top for 15 weeks, pushes him up to first place. He's currently 12th place in terms of most Top 40 hits ever.

2. Justin Bieber - 41

Had I made this list a year ago then Justin Bieber would be top but he's just had one Top 40 hit in 2018 so has been pushed down to second. Like Drake, he made his Top 40 debut in 2010 but whilst he was a big name back then, the charts didn't really reflect this.

At the end of 2012 he'd had 14 Top 40 hits but just 4 Top 10s and no number ones. In 2013 he scored his 5th Top 10 as featured artist on "ThatPower" by Will.I.Am and then released 10 singles from his album of which none made the Top 10, so that was 5 Top 10s out of 25 hits by the end of 2013.

He had no Top 40 hits in 2014, but then in 2015 he was back with 9 hits including 3 number ones. Since 2015 he's not had any Top 40 hits by himself but has been part of several collaborations including 3 more number ones.

3. Ed Sheeran - 36

It was only a matter of time before we'd get to Ed Sheeran, some may be surprised he's only in 3rd place. However Ed Sheeran made his Top 40 debut in 2011 so Drake and Justin Bieber have a head start over him.

The first 5 years of his chart career brought 19 Top 40 hits including 2 number ones. Then in 2016 he didn't have any hits but 2017 saw all 16 tracks on his album reach the Top 20 in the same week which pushed his total up to 35 and a collaboration later on that year with Eminem brought it to 36. He had no Top 40 hits in 2018 though.

4. Nicki Minaj - 34

Now we have the most obvious 3 out of the way, in fourth place we have Nicki Minaj. To be honest whilst I knew she'd be on the list somewhere I didn't think it would be as high as fourth.

She debuted in 2010 when she had 2 hits as featured artist. She then had a further 19 hits between 2011 and 2014 before a few hits as featured artist between 2015 and 2017 and then in 2018 she's had 8 Top 40 hits. Of her 34 hits, only 10 of them are by herself.

5. David Guetta - 33

David Guetta on the other hand has done none of his 33 Top 40 hits this decade by himself. It could be argued that it's because of his younger collaborators that he's managed so many hits this decade given he's aged 51. He made his Top 40 debut back in 2003 but has had the bulk of his hits in the 2010s.

The most Top 40 hit's he's had in a year was 6 in 2011 but he's had at least one Top 40 hit every year of the decade so far which brings his total up to 33.

6. Rihanna - 32

At the start of the decade if you were to ask me to predict who would have the most Top 40 hit's in the 2010s I would have guess Rihanna. By the end of 2011 she'd already clocked up 16 Top 40 hits in 2 years.

However as the decade has gone on she's had less of a presence in the charts, taking 6 years to get her next 16 hits. In 2018 she didn't have any Top 40 hits ending her run of Top 40 hits every year since her debut in 2005. She is currently 11th in terms of most Top 40 hits ever with 48, but with Drake only 2 behind her I suspect she won't stay there much longer.

7. Glee Cast - 30

They debuted in 2010 and had their last Top 40 hit in 2011 and managed to clock up 30 Top 40 hits in those 2 years. Given the fact the TV show which produced those singles is no more I suspect we won't be having any more hits from them.

8. Calvin Harris - 27

Before I got the numbers my guess for fourth place would have been Calvin Harris, but it turns out he's down in 8th place.

Prior to the 2010s he'd only had one collaboration but that did give him his first number one. He began the decade with the solo effort "You Used to Hold Me" which was his only hit of 2010. Since then he's only managed 3 hits by himself, but he leads the way in terms of most number ones this decade with 8.

9. Chris Brown - 23

After Rihanna's failure to score a Top 40 hit in 2018, the honour of most consecutive years of hits now goes to Chris Brown who's had a hit every year since his 2006 debut.

For 4 of those 9 years (2010, 2016, 2017 and 2018) he's just had the one hit.

= Tinie Tempah - 23

Also in 9th place we have Tinie Tempah. He made his debut in 2010 and had clocked up 12 Top 40 hits by the end of 2011. He's been more low key in the second half of the decade with just 4 Top 40 hits and none in 2018.

He's managed to score 7 number ones in that time as well meaning just under a third of his Top 40 hits were number ones.

11. Pitbull - 21

Pitbull made his Top 40 debut in 2009 and would soon be known as the rapper who seems to feature on everybody's record. You could normally tell he was going to appear when the record starts with the line "Mr Worldwide".

The only Top 40 hit he's done by himself this decade is "Back in Time", the rest have all been collaborations. However, he hasn't had a Top 40 hit since the start of 2015.

= Little Mix - 21

A few years ago it was said that the only X Factor winner to have some sort of music career after winning the X Factor was Leona Lewis. However 2011 winners Little Mix have now had a Top 40 career just as long and have had more Top 40 hits in the process.

They are still behind Girls Aloud (22), Bananarama (24) and Sugababes (26) in terms of most Top 40 hits for a Girl Group but as they're still currently active they could yet achieve this by the end of the decade.

13. Eminem - 20

We now have an artist who's Top 40 career started in the 20th century on the list. In fact despite Eminem being associated with the turn of the century more than any other era he's actually had more Top 40 hits this decade than any other decade.

It's been quite stop/start for him this decade though with no Top 40 hits in 2012, 2015 or 2016 and 9 of his 20 hits this decade coming in the last 2 years.

= Ellie Goulding - 20

Ellie Goulding made her Top 40 debut in 2010 and has had a Top 40 hit every year of the decade so far. She's never had more than four in a year (2010 and 2013) and has had one hit in 2017 and 2018.

= Katy Perry - 20

Katy Perry made her chart debut in 2008 and had the bulk of her hits this decade came in the first half. The only year she hasn't had a Top 40 hit was 2015, though she only just managed a hit in 2018 at the end of the year with a Christmas song.

= Taylor Swift - 20

Taylor Swift made her Top 40 debut in 2009 but got off to a slow start this decade with just one Top 40 hit in 2010 and none in 2011. Then she had hits every year between 2012 and 2017 but didn't have any in 2018.

Here is the list in full of those with 10 or more Top 40 hits this decade:

1	Drake	46
2	Justin Bieber	41
3	Ed Sheeran	36
4	Nicki Minaj	34
5	David Guetta	33
6	Rihanna	32
7	Glee Cast	30
8	Calvin Harris	27
9	Chris Brown	23
=	Tinie Tempah	23
11	Pitbull	21
=	Little Mix	21
13	Eminem	20
=	Ellie Goulding	20
=	Katy Perry	20
=	Taylor Swift	20
17	Kanye West	19
=	Rita Ora	19
19	Jason Derulo	18
=	Olly Murs	18
=	One Direction	18
22	Beyonce	17
=	Bruno Mars	17
=	Ariana Grande	17
25	Weeknd	16
=	Kendrick Lamar	16
27	Example	15
=	Jessie J	15
=	Lady Gaga	15
30	Will.I.Am	14
=	Emeli Sande	14
=	Selena Gomez	14
=	Sam Smith	14
34	Usher	13
=	Lil Wayne	13
=	Maroon 5	13
=	Flo Rida	13
38	Sia	12
=	Wanted	12
=	Avicii	12
=	Jess Glynne	12
42	Coldplay	11
=	Pink	11
=	Sean Paul	11
=	Dizzee Rascal	11
=	Ne-Yo	11
=	Kesha	11
=	Labrinth	11
=	Saturdays	11
=	Clean Bandit	11
=	Stormzy	11
52	DJ Fresh	10
=	JLS	10
=	Professor Green	10
=	Skepta	10
=	James Arthur	10
=	Rudimental	10
=	Charli XCX	10
=	Ella Eyre	10
=	Dua Lipa	10