Most #1 Songs Written (Read 594 times)

[Todd]

I asked the question a while back if anyone knew which songwriter has the most number one hits to their credit. Well, I decided it might be fun to do the research myself. I made a spreadsheet of all the Billboard country number ones from 1944 to 2012, and listed the writers for each. I stopped at the point last year when Billboard changed their chart methodology. In that time span 1696 songs reached the summit. A total of 1088 songwriters have had a hand in crafting at least one chart topper. Here is a countdown of the 49 songwriters who have written at least 10 #1 hits:

10 #1's
Bobby Braddock
Dallas Frazier
David Malloy
Hank Cochran
Brett James
Dierks Bentley
Luke Laird
Dean Dillon
Don Cook
Dallas Davidson
Rory Michael Bourke
Roger Murrah
Kelley Lovelace
Garth Brooks

11 #1's
Tony Martin
Dennis Morgan
Sonny Lemaire
Charlie Black
Dolly Parton
Bob DiPiero
Mark D. Sanders
Conway Twitty
Chris Dubois

12 #1's
Bill Anderson
Norro Wilson
Troy Seals
Harlan Howard
Tom T. Hall
Rodney Crowell
Ronnie Dunn
Paul Overstreet

13 #1's
J.P. Pennington
Eddie Rabbitt
Even Stevens
Mike Reid
Hank Williams
Clint Black

14 #1's
Craig Wiseman
Buck Owens
Glenn Sutton
Dave Loggins

15 #1's
Tom Shapiro
Brad Paisley

16 #1's
Don Schlitz
Toby Keith

19 #1's
Alan Jackson

22 #1's
Bob McDill

24 #1's
Billy Sherrill

28 #1's
Merle Haggard


Congratulations goes out to countrychartnut who made a correct guess of Merle Haggard. In honor of Merle, here is a list of the 28 #1 songs he has written:

1. Branded Man
2. Sing Me Back Home
3. The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde
4. Mama Tried
5. Hungry Eyes
6. Workin' Man Blues
7. Okie from Muskogee
8. The Fightin' Side of Me
9. Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
10. Grandma Harp
11. I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me
12. A Shoulder to Cry On
13. Everybody's Had the Blues
14. If We Make It Through December
15. Things Aren't Funny Anymore
16. Old Man from the Mountain
17. Always Wanting You
18. Movin' On
19. It's All in the Movies
20. I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink
21. My Favorite Memory
22. Big City
23. Going Where the Lonely Go
24. I Always Get Lucky with You
25. Someday When Things Are Good
26. Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room
27. A Place to Fall Apart
28. Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star

These records were all recorded by Merle himself, with the lone exception of I Always Get Lucky with You, which was a #1 hit for George Jones.

A few side notes:

There have been many #1 hits written by one, two, three, or four songwrtiers, but none have been written by five songwriters. However, there is one song that is credited to a total of six songwriters. That would be the signature song of The Charlie Daniels Band, The Devile Went Down to Georgia. Writers on that one are Charlie Daniels, Tom Crain, Taz DiGregorio, Fred Edwards, Charles Hayward, and James W. Marshall, who were all members of the band, as you might have guessed.

Some notable "non country" songwriters who have written a #1 country hit:

Allen Toussaint
Barry De Vorzon
Benmont Tench
Billy Vera
Donna Summer
Irving Berlin
Jane Wiedlin
John Lennon
Jon Bon Jovi
Little Richard
Nat King Cole
Paul McCartney
Robert Altman
Ronan Keating


If you catch any errors, just let me know and I'll correct it. In sorting and sifting through the names, it's entirely possible I may have deleted one by accident.

[Jhomes87]

Great thread, Todd! This must've taken some time to do but it's really interesting. Thanks again!

[Todd]

You're welcome Jhomes! I look forward to contributing more to the discussions around here.

[Deleted]

I remember you asking me about this. Usually, when someone asks me a question, I do try to answer it. I loved reading your post. If you want to add any other reference points to this website feel free to do so. It only adds value here!