Famous Artists Who Never Had a Number One Hit Quiz

Answer: James Brown

James Brown had seventeen number one singles on the United States Billboard Hot R&B singles chart during his career. Yet none of his over ninety hit singles ever hit number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100. He did have seven top ten singles on the United States Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival released seven studio albums and twenty-nine singles. The band had nine top ten hits including five number two hits on the United States Billboard Hot 100. But they had no number one hit single on this chart.

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen has sold over 120 million albums and released seventy singles between 1973 and 2016. Between 1980 and 1994, he had twelve top ten hits on the United States Billboard Hot 100. He had seven top ten hits from his 1984 album "Born in the U.S.A.". He never had a number one on this chart.

Answer: The Who

The Who have sold 100 million records worldwide. They performed at appearances at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. They had seven top twenty singles on the United States Billboard Hot 100 and fourteen top ten singles on the United Kingdom Singles chart between 1965 and 1981. None of the hit singles hit number one on either of the two charts.

Answer: Pat Benatar

Between 1979 and 2017, Pate Benatar released thirty-nine singles and thirty-four music videos. The music video for Pat Benatar's 1980 song "You Better Run" the second music video played on MTV on August 1, 1981. Despite her music videos being on heavy rotation on MTV, Pat Benatar never had a number one hit on the United States Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: B.B. King

B.B. King released forty-three studio albums during his fifty year career. He had eighteen top ten hits on the United States Billboard Hot R&B singles chart. Despite his success in the genres of blues and R&B, B.B. King never had a number one hit on the United States Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: The Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys were a boy band who formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. Between 1993 and 2016, the group sold over 130 million records and released twenty-eight singles. They had six top ten hits on the United States Billboard Hot 100 with no number one singles.

Answer: ZZ Top

ZZ Top have sold over 50 million albums and won MTV Video Music Awards. They hit the United States Billboard Hot 100 seventeen times without a number one single.

Answer: Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash sold over 90 million records worldwide. His sound embraced the genres of rockabilly, rock and roll, country, blues, folk, and gospel. Cash was inducted into the Rock and Roll, Country Music and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. Despite his acclaim and influential style, Johnny Cash never had a number one single on the United States Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Bob Dylan

Robert Allen Zimmerman, more commonly known as Bob Dylan, has been a singer, author, painter and songwriter for over fifty years. Bob Dylan has sold over 100 million during his career. Yet he has never performed on a number one single on the United States Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: KISS

The band KISS released their first album in 1974. Since 1974, the band has released twenty studio albums, eight live album and sixty singles to date. Yet the band had only six singles hit the top twenty on the United States Billboard Hot 100 with none of these singles hitting number one.

Answer: The Pointer Sisters

The Pointer Sisters formed in 1969 in Oakland, California. They won three Grammy Awards and three American Music Awards. Between 1973 and 1985, the group had thirteen top twenty hits on the United States Billboard Hot 100 with seven of those singles hit the top ten. None of these singles hit number one on the chart.

Answer: R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an alternative rock band that was formed in 1980 in Athens, Georgia. The band's 1992 song "Man on the Moon" inspired the 1999 Andy Kaufman biographical film with the same name. Their debut studio album "Murmur" was Rolling Stone Magazine's top album of 1983.

The band released over sixty singles. Nine of those singles hit the top forty on the United States Billboard Hot 100 yet none of them hit number one.

Answer: The Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers are only act to have had on the United States Hot 100 in six consecutive decades. Their first hit single was the 1959 "Shout" and their most recent hit single was the 2001 song "Contagious". The group had eighteen hits on this chart between 1959 and 2001 without a number one single.

Answer: Led Zeppelin

Led Zepplin's musical style blended psychedelic music, blues, heavy metal and folk music. The group has sold an estimated 200 to 300 million albums. The band concentrated more on generating album-oriented rock and less on releasing popular singles. Thus the group never had a number one single on the the United States Billboard Hot 100.