The Top 40 Leaderboard: 2025

A few years ago I started a series of posts after concluding modern chart music was about quantity over quality. 99% of chart music I've recent times is rubbish and at the same time the number of Top 40 hits some individual artists have been having each year is at levels never seen before.

This series of posts became the Top 40 Leaderboard with the winner being the chart act with the most Top 40 hits that year. I quietly retired them because it was getting a little tedious, lots of weeks of not much happening ending with the inevitability of Drake finishing the year at the top ahead of a few British rappers.

It's been a relatively quiet year chart wise for both Drake and British rap. Drake had is 99th Top 40 hit in August but his 100th is yet to come. On this years leaderboard he would come joint 4th.

As a one off I thought I'd bring back the leaderboard. This time though instead of leaving a list of mostly meaningless names to those over 30 I'm going to countdown the 3 artists to have had more Top 40 hits than Drake this year.

3. Sabrina Carpenter (6 Top 40 hits)

Back in the summer I was in the beer garden of a pub near Hyde Park on a Saturday night. Big crowds of 12 year old girls walked past the pub and it reminded me it was that time of year where were get concerts in Hyde Park. Who was playing that night? I asked someone, their answer was Sabrina.

How did a singer with just one big hit in the 80s manage to sell so many tickets I wondered. Turns out it wasn't that Sabrina, it was one with a surname.

She's the latest in a long line of child Disney actresses who's taken up singing. She had 3 chart toppers last year but just the one this year with "Tears". Her album is called "Mans Best Friend" and amongst the singles are "Manchild" and "My Man On Willpower"

Given the proper Sabrina's big hit in the 80s was called "Boys (Summertime Love)" is this a coincidence or is she trying to make some sort of statement?

2. Tate McRae (8 Top 40 Hits)

First of all Tate McRae is no relation to the late great rally driver Colin McRae as far as I'm aware. That's the first thing that sprang to mind when I read the name but looked like it was even more of a possibility when I saw her first Top 40 hit of the year was called "Sports Car".

She's not even Scottish though, she's Canadian. That's the same country as Drake and Justin Bieber who have both churned out lots of hits in a short space of time in recent years.

1. Olivia Dean (9 Top 40 Hits)

The way I'm most likely to identify a modern record these days is if I keep hearing it on the radio and find it particularly irritating. This was the case when Olivia Dean had a song about a vampire that kept coming on.....

Oh hang on, that was a different Olivia. Who is Olivia Dean then?

Well prior to this year she had one Top 40 hit to her name with a cover of "The Christmas Song" in 2021. This year she's been all over the charts quite literally with her highest being a number 1 and lowest being a number 38.

Quite impressive given that had I not made this post I would have never heard of her.

The Top 40 Leaderboard - 2023

Taylor Swift added one more to her total in December to finish a solid 2nd place. There was only ever going to be one winner though and that was Drake. He's now got 90 Top 40 hits to his name, the same again next year will take him above 100. Central Cee is now up to 23 Top 40 hits just 3 years into his Top 40 career. Nines only had 2 Top 40 hits to his name prior to this year but has added 6 to his total. One more and he'll be up to 9. Previous winner Dave has now reached 30 Top 40 hits. Ed Sheeran has now overtaken both Status Quo and David Bowie to reach 6th for most Top 40 hits overall. He needs 7 more Top 40 hits to catch Madonna in 5th.

Rap wise it's 85 of the 241 Top 40 hits, or 35% so not as dominant as it once was but no other genre comes close in terms of quantity.

It's now the 5th year I've done the leaderboard and Drake has been top for 4 of them so I fully expect him to top it again in 2024. I'll start the monthly posts at the end of March.

The Top 40 Leaderboard - Nov 2023

With just 1 month left of the year it looks Drake will finish top once again. He has a comfortable lead and could even add to his total before the end of the year. The midweek chart update last week had 2 new entries for him, but only 1 made it to the final Top 40 thanks to being blocked by one of his singles already in the Top 40 thanks to the 3 song per artist rule. He now has 90 Top 40 hits to his name overall and if his 100th doesn't come next year it will surely come in 2025.

83 out of the 231 Top 40 hits, or 36% have been rap. 

The Top 40 Leaderboard: October 2023

Drake is the leader by some distance now and with just 2 months left of the year including the influx of old Christmas hits it's looking like he'll still be there at the end of the year. His Top 40 hits total now stands at 89 so you can't rule out him having his 100th Top 40 hit next year.

76 of the 210 record this year have been rap which is 36%. 

The Top 40 Leaderboard: September 2023

Now we're 3/4 of the way through the year it's starting to take shape now with Drake sitting top by himself. I do expect he will add to his total before the end of the year and finish top but you can't write off those just behind him.

69 of the 190 records so far this year have been rap which is 36%. 

The Top 40 Leaderboard: August 2023

In August the inevitable happened, Drake made his way to the top of the leaderboard. He is joined at the top by Central Cee and Travis Scott, both of whom he's had collaborations with. Last months leader Taylor Swift also remains joint top. 

61 of the 163 Top 40 hits of the year so far have been rap, that's 37%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: July 2023

I've got out the habit of doing the leaderboard posts this year. Once I remember I figure I'm better of waiting until next month, but this time I remember on the first of the month.

I honestly had no idea who the leader in the year so far would be. That honour goes to Taylor Swift helped by the fact she's re-recording her older songs. Last years early leader sits in 2nd place having now clocked up 20 Top 40 hits in less than 3 years. Previous winners Dave and Drake are within touching distance.

Rap wise 54 of the 147 Top 40 hits so far this year have been that genre or 37%. 

The Top 40 Leaderboard: March 2023

I deliberately held off doing my leaderboard posts until now as there's very little to report after the first month or two. Now we have a handful of acts with more than one Top 40 hit so far this year with the early leader being Miley Cyrus with 3. Headie One, Calvin Harris, Pink and Jimin all have 2 each.

It's been a slower start to the year for rap music. It's still the leading genre but just 20 of the 64 Top 40 hits so far this year or 31% have been rap.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: 2022

Better late than never, we have the final leaderboard of 2022. No surprise to see it was won by Drake with a total of 10 Top 40 hits and with 79 Top 40 hits overall to his name. If he keeps up that momentum for the next 5 years which he probably will, then he'll overtake Elvis and Cliff.

Central Cee was a close second having been an earlier leader of the board. His number of Top 40 hits overall went from 8 to 16. That's in a Top 40 career of just 2 years and 2 months. 

D-Block Europe brought their total to 27 Top 40 hits in 4 years whilst Aitch is on 18 in 3.5 years. Ed Sheeran ended the year with 57 Top 40 hits to his name, equal with Status Quo and one behind David Bowie and Justin Bieber. I expected the latter to be up there, but he ended up having no Top 40 hits in 2022.

The number of rap Top 40 hits in 2022 fell just short of 100, reaching 98 of the 220 records or 45%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: November 2022

After being knocked off the top of the leaderboard last month, Drake is back on top this month with a further 3 Top 40 hits giving him a 2 point lead. He brings his collaborator on all 3 of those records, 21 Savage, onto the leaderboard.

It's hard to see Drake not winning it again this year, but you never know. 

Rap wise we're up to 93 of the 208 records this year coming from that genre or 45%. Will it reach 100 by the end of the year?

The Top 40 Leaderboard: October 2022

I realised some point this month that I'd forgotten to do a leaderboard for September, but then thought sod it, I may as wait until the end of the month now.

The big news this month is Drake has been knocked off the top by Central Cee. I also predicted in August that it was only a matter of time before Ed Sheeran would overtake Central Cee, shows what I know.

I've heard new Drake music is on it's way, but given how prolific Central Cee, D-Block Europe and Aitch have been in their short careers so far you can't rule any of them out as well as Ed Sheeran who's probably planning on getting the Christmas number one again.

Rap wise we're up to 82 of the 191 records this year coming from that genre or 43%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: August 2022

Drake now tops the leaderboard alone, somewhere I suspect he will stay until the end of the year. Ed Sheeran consolidates 3rd place and with most of Central Cee's hits coming at the start of the year it only seems a matter of time before Ed Sheeran overtakes him.

Rap wise it's been a bit more low key this month, 61 of the 139 records this year coming from that genre or 44%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: July 2022

Drake added one more to his total this month but so did Central Cee with them remaining joint leaders. Ed Sheeran also added another to his total and I wouldn't be surprised if he started challenging for the top. Everyone on the leaderboard except Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles are rappers.

Speaking of rap, it's been a quieter month for the genre with the total for the year now 55/123 or 45%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: June 2022

Surprise surprise Drake is now top of the leaderboard with 5 Top 40 hits to his name so far this year. This brings his overall total to 74 leaving just Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard for most hits overall. 

The rap count is 51 out of the 108 hits so far this year or 47%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: May 2022

Early leader Central Cee remains top though he hasn't added to his total for a while. Kendrick Lemar had 4 Top 50 hits in the last month which puts him 2nd. A bunch of people on 3, whilst Drake has finally made it onto the board and now has 71 Top 40 hits to his name, just Elvis, Cliff and Elton John can claim to have more.

There's been a few rap hits this last month and now accounts for 43 of the 91 Top 40 hits so far this year or 47%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: Apr 2022

A bit late this month with the month end being a busy bank holiday weekend straight after the charts announced.

Central Cee remains top of the leaderboard but hasn't added to his total this month. Ed Sheeran is now in 2nd place having clocked up his 54th Top 40 hit overall.

28 of the 67 Top 40 hits so far this year have been rap which is 42%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: March 2022

I still think a table is a bit pointless at this stage. At the top by some distance is Central Cee who has 5 Top 40 hits to his name so far this year.

Aside from that we have 7 acts on 2 hits. There's Aitch, Arrdee and Tion Wayne who like Central Cee are relatively new rappers quickly clocking up hits. There's Ed Sheeran surprise surprise. Also no surprise is Weeknd who's clocked up 30 hits in less than a decade. There's Galantis which are both collaborations with pop singers. Finally there's Stephanie Beatriz who's some actress singing in some kids movie.

The rap count is 20 out of 50 or 40% meaning it continues to be the leading genre.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: Feb 2022

Central Cee has doubled his Top 40 count putting him clear at the top of the leaderboard with 4. Weeknd is still on 2 and the rest are all on 1.

The rap count is 13 out of 38 or 34% meaning it continues to be the leading genre.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: Jan 2022

At this early stage of the year we have 2 acts who have had 2 Top 40 hits this year. There's Central Cee who made his Top 40 debut in October 2020 and is on his 9th Top 40 hit already so I wouldn't be surprised to see him up there by the end of the year. The other is Weeknd who now has 30 Top 40 hits to his name.

Rap is the biggest genre so far accounting for 6 of the 18 Top 40 hits or 33%.

The Top 40 Leaderboard: 2021

What's this all about?

No surprise to see that Drake has once again had the most Top 40 hits this year. Fredo finishes 2nd having led it earlier on in the year. Ed Sheeran had a prolific December to get joint 3rd. Amongst other in jount 3rd is Olivia Rodrigo who never had a Top 40 hit prior to this year. Almost a surprise to see Justin Bieber as low down the board as he is.

To illustrate how dominant rap has been as a genre this year I've decided to show the number of Top 40 hits for all genres, though I've lumped those with 3 or less hits together as "other".