The week of Oct. 3, 1992, Billboard premiered the Pop Songs radio airplay chart, as then-new Nielsen BDS-based monitoring technology allowed for unprecedented accuracy in gauging the biggest hits on mainstream top 40 radio.
Exactly 20 years later, let’s celebrate the anniversary by counting down the top 100 songs on the Pop Songs chart over the past two decades. From rock to rap and R&B to country, let’s see who has hooked the top-charting mainstream top 40 airplay hits from 1992 through 2012., including Maroon 5 now (2012) and then (2004)
THE TOP 100 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 90-81:
90 PAYPHONE Maroon 5 Featuring Wiz Khalifa (2012)
89 HIPS DON’T LIE. Boy bands attack: the Wanted, ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys
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THE TOP 100 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 80-72:
80 GLAD YOU CAME The Wanted (2012)
79 STICKWITU The Pussycat Dolls (2006)
78 NO ONE, including debut hits from Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera and a bespectacled Lisa Loeb
THE TOP 100 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 70-61:
T70 FOREVER Chris Brown (2008)
T70 JUST DANCE, from Doctors to a “DJ”
THE TOP 10 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 60-51:
60 SAVE TONIGHT Eagle-Eye Cherry (1999)
59 TWO PRINCES Spin Doctors (1993)
58 MISSING Everything But The Girl (1996)
57 DJ GOT US FALLIN’ IN LOVE. Bad romance never sounded so good.
THE TOP 100 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 50-41:
50 BAD ROMANCE Lady Gaga (2010)
49 FAR AWAY Nickelback (2006)
48 THE SIGN Ace Of Base (1994)
47 HEY YA! OutKast (2003)
46 BEHIND THESE HAZEL EYES Kelly Clarkson (2005)
45 SEMI-CHARMED LIFE Third Eye Blind (1997)
44 3 AM matchbox 20 (1998)
43 YOU BELONG WITH ME, including debut No. 1s from Bruno Mars and Chris Brown
THE TOP 100 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 40-31:
40 DON’T LET GO (LOVE) En Vogue (1996)
39 BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY. Even now, some DJs still have trouble trying to say Hoobastank and Natalie Imbruglia correctly.
THE TOP 100 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 30-21:
30 YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME, including a song that ranks high – No. 13 – depsite its title
THE TOP 10 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 20-11:
20 PARTY ROCK ANTHEM LMFAO Featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock (2011)
19 THE WAY I ARE Timbaland Featuring Keri Hilson (2007)
18 MOVES LIKE JAGGER Maroon 5 Featuring Christina Aguilera (2011)
17 BECAUSE OF YOU Kelly Clarkson (2005)
16 …BABY ONE MORE TIME, as we reveal the No. 1 pop radio song of the past 20 years
THE TOP 100 POP SONGS 1992-2012, Nos. 10-1:
10 SINCE U BEEN GONE Kelly Clarkson (2005)
9 SLIDE Goo Goo Dolls (1999)
8 HERE WITHOUT YOU 3 Doors Down (2003)
7 DON’T SPEAK No Doubt (1996)
6 TRULY MADLY DEEPLY Savage Garden (1998)
5 SMOOTH Santana Featuring Rob Thomas (1999)
4 HANGING BY A MOMENT Lifehouse (2001)
3 APOLOGIZE Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic (2008)
2 ANOTHER NIGHT Real McCoy (1994)
… And, with four weeks at No. 1 in 1998 (from the “City of Angels” soundtrack), and 39 weeks on the chart total (it’s tied for the second-longest run), the No. 1 title on Billboard’s Pop Songs chart over its first 20 years, from 1992 to 2012, is …:
1 IRIS Goo Goo Dolls (1998)