20th Century in the 20s (Sep 2024 Update)

It's been over a year since I updated which 20th Century debutants have had new Top 40 hits in the 2020s so far. The latest of those last time was "Padam Padam" by Kylie Minogue so I will begin from after this.

In 2019 I made this post questioning whether we'd see Madonna in the Top 40 again. It had been 4 years since her previous Top 40 hit and her latest single got nowhere near the Top 40. I speculated that she could get back in the Top 40 via a collaboration with a modern artist, and in June 2023 that's exactly what she did on the track "Popular" with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti.

This is also the way Shania Twain found herself back in the Top 40 that same month. She'd had a 7 year Top 40 career around the turn of the century with the last of those hits coming in 2005, but she was back alongside Anne-Marie with "Unhealthy".

That same month we also saw Aqua back in the Top 40. This was for another common reason for older artists returning to the Top 40, a reworking of one of their older songs. It was the time of the Barbie movie and rappers Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice did a record for it that samples "Barbie Girl" to the extent it gives Aqua an artist credit.

In September 2023 Kylie Minogue was back again with "Tension", there on it's own merit much like "Padam Padam" earlier on in the year. 

That same month something happened that I never thought I'd see again, The Rolling Stones back in the Top 40. Although they've never gone away since their 60s heyday and are still big enough to sell out stadiums, they've not had a Top 10 since 1981 and their popularity is mainly to do with their older material. They'd last been in the Top 40 in 2005 and had released several single since which failed to make the Top 40. However, "Angry" managed to get to 34 and gave them their first Top 40 hit in 18 years.

Blink 182 returned to the Top 40 that same month with "One More Time". They qualify for this list thanks to the one week they spent at number 38 in October 1999.

November saw The Beatles back in the Top 40 for the first time since 1995. After The Rolling Stones found themselves back in the Top 40 a couple of months earlier it was fully expected we would see The Beatles back too. Billed as the last ever Beatles song, "Now & Then" was originally worked on in 1995 using old John Lennon recordings but didn't work. New technology made this possible in 2023 and gave The Beatles a chart topper, something their mid-90s material failed to do. Although they won't release anything new in the future, they have plenty of well known non-charting songs that could find themselves in the Top 40 for one reason or another.

The inevitable flood of Christmas songs happened in December which included a new song by Cher with "DJ Play A Christmas Song". This makes Cher the only artist to have a Top 40 hit in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s and 20s. Another Christmas song entering the Top 40 for the first time was "A Holy Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives, who'd previous had just 2 Top 40 hits in 1962.

Into 2024 and December 1999 debutant Craig David was the first 20th century artist to have a Top 40 hit with "Abracadabra" with Wes Nelson. He's only had 20s hits in collaboration with modern artists but could yet still have one of his own accord.

In June we saw the return of Eminem. He had the first 3 Top 40 hits of the 20s by a 20th century act but it looked like his Top 40 may have been over after subsequent singles failed to make the Top 40. However he's clocked up 5 Top 40 hits this year which started with the chart topper "Houdini".

Nate Dogg returned to the Top 40 13 years after his death and 20 years after we'd last seen him in the Top 40 thanks to being sampled by Flex (UK).

Finally we had Celine Dion back in the Top 40 after 11 years away in collaboration with Majestic and Jammin Kid.

20th Century in the 20s - 2022 (plus early 2023)

One thing I forgot to do at the start of this year was the next in the series of 20th Century in the 20s posts. To recap, this is listing all acts who had a Top 40 hit in the 20th Century and an original Top 40 hit in the 2020s. As we've since had further acts scoring Top 40 hits in 2023 I thought I may as well include them too.

The first to do so in 2022 was Mariah Carey. It came 9 years after her last original hit in the Top 40. The record was "Big Energy" which in reality was a record by Latto and DJ Khaled that sampled "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey. 

Next up was Metallica with "Master of Puppets". It was never a Top 40 hit the first time round in 1986 but it's inclusion in the TV series "Stranger Things" helped it into the Top 40 and giving Metallica their first Top 40 hit since 2008.

Elton John's Top 40 career had looked to be finished in 2009 until he returned to top the charts by rehashing his older tunes EDM style with a modern artist. He did the same in 2022 with "Hold Me Closer" but this time his collaborator was another 20th century artist in 1999 debutant Britney Spears who was in the Top 40 for the first time since 2015.

Blink 182 just about qualify as a 20th century act with their debut "What's My Age Again?" making number 38 in October 1999 before it fared better in the charts in the year 2000. Original singer/guitarist Tom Delonge rejoined the band and they made the Top 40 with their new single "Edging".

Finally for 2022 Nat 'King' Cole overtook Vera Lynn for having the longest Top 40 career. Like Vera Lynn he was in the first ever chart and he was back in the Top 40 with "The Christmas Song" which was originally recorded in 1946 before the charts even existed.

Into 2023 we had Missy Elliot back in the Top 40 for the first time in a decade as featured artist on "Fly Girl" by girl group Flo. The previous time Missy Elliot had been in the Top 40 it was with girl group Little Mix, you have to go back to 2006 for the last time she was in the Top 40 as the sole artist.

The latest 20th century act to have a Top 40 hit is Kylie Minogue with "Padam Padam", her first Top 40 hit in 5 years. 

Here's the full list:

20th Century in the 20s - 2021

Following on from last years post about which artists have had Top 40 hits in both the 20th century and 2020s, here's a look at what has happened since.

It was the first week of 2021 when we had out next addition to the list. Jose Feliciano had 2 Top 40 hits to his name prior to this year which both came in the 60s, but neither were his festive hit "Feliz Navidad". It just scraped into the Top 40 amongst many other old Christmas records and returned the the Top 40 again at the end of the year.

Next up was the Nightcrawlers who received a credit on the track "Friday" which was an EDM remake by other DJs of "Push The Feelin On". It's a similar story for ATB who has credit on "Your Love (9pm)" which is a remake of "9pm (Till I Come)". Then Boney M received credit on an EDM remake of "Rasputin".

During the Euro's the fans started singing "Whole Again" by Atomic Kitten with different lyrics written for England manager Gareth Southgate. This was subsequently re-recorded by Atomic Kitten with these new lyrics so technically counts as a new record.

It had looked like we'd seen the last of Elton John in the Top 40, but then thanks to an EDM remake of "Sacrifice" and "Rocket Man" combined on a record called "Cold Heart" not only was Elton John back in the Top 40 he was topping the charts too.

In September we had the first 20th century act to hit the Top 40 in 2021 with completely new material and without the help of any modern artist. This was Abba who scored 2 Top 40 hits with their comeback.

Craig David added another Top 40 hit to his name with "Who You Are". As mentioned previously he only just qualifies as a 20th century artist but it can also be said that it was with the aid of a more modern artist as it was a collaboration with MNEK.

Then we had Elton John back again with another two chart toppers which were both collaborations with Ed Sheeran with the latter also featuring Ladbaby.

Finally we had the return of Frank Sinatra with a Christmas song that never made the Top 40 before. 

Here's the list in full:

20th Century in the 20s - 2020

Back in the 90s there was no shortage of acts way past their heyday who were still having big hits. Cliff Richard had 2 number ones for example. Many of the chart heavyweights would continue to have hits into the 21st Century.

By the 2010s though few of the older acts were still having hits and as we entered the era of streaming it almost ensured that new singles from acts who dominated the charts in previous years would no longer make the Top 40.

Now we're in the 2020s I thought it would be interesting to see which old timers are still managing to have Top 40 hits. A logical cut off point for me is the end of the 20th Century i.e. acts who made their Top 40 debut before 31st December 1999.

The rules are that the single has to be in the Top 40 for the first time this decade so all the Christmas songs making their annual visit to the Top 40 don't count. They also need to be the same entity as their 20th Century counterpart, for example Dave Grohl has had a hit this year as part of the Live Lounge Allstars and in the 20th Century as part of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, but it would need to be either a Nirvana or Foo Fighters hit to count. Collaboration's do count as let's face it pretty much everyone collaborates these days.

The first 20th Century debutant to score a Top 40 hit this year was Eminem. He had 3 hits at the same time, one of which was a number one. Eminem has seemingly kept himself relevant with the kids and had more Top 40 hits in the 2010s than any other decade.

Next up was Michael Ball who scored his first number one in collaboration with Captain Tom Moore. The last time we'd seen Michael Ball in the Top 40 was back in 1996 and he reached number 40 with that particular record.

Then came Tina Turner on Kygo's remake of "What's Love Got To Do With It?". We'd last seen Tina Turner in the Top 40 in 2004 and she retired in 2009. I think it's fair to say she didn't have an awful lot to do with this particular record.

In August we had Vera Lynn return to the Top 40 after a 63 year absence with "Land Of Hope & Glory". It was just 2 months after her death but it came as part of a campaign against the proms banning certain songs and this was it's first time in the Top 40.

Finally we had Craig David collaborate with KSI and Digital Farm Animals on "Really Love". Craig David only just qualifies as a 20th Century artist having made his debut 3 weeks before the end of the century.

Here's the list in full: