Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die with a Smile” rules the Hot 100 this week. The song finally shoots to the top spot on the competitive chart 20 frames into its stay on the list, and after months of living tantalizingly close to the peak position.
As it reaches the throne on the Hot 100, Gaga makes history and manages a feat that only a handful of other musicians in the past have accomplished. Coincidentally—or perhaps not so—those stars are brother and sister, and they ruled the ‘80s and ‘90s as fixtures of pop culture.
“Die with a Smile” gives Gaga her second No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 in the 2020s. This is the third decade in which she’s earned more than a single leader on the tally, which is an extremely rare showing, and according to Billboard, only two others before her paved the way.
The first artist to land several No. 1 singles across three different decades was Michael Jackson. He started in the ‘70s, with both “Ben” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” with the latter reaching the peak position just before the end of 1979.
Jackson really dominated throughout the ‘80s, with nine No. 1s. His roundup in that decade includes “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Rock With You,” “Say Say Say” with Paul McCartney, “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Dirty Diana,” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” with Siedah Garrett, and “Bad,” with many of those coming from the Bad album.
In the ‘90s, he added two more champions, the final ones of his lifetime. Both “Black and White” and “You Are Not Alone” reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in the span of a few years.
His younger sister Janet, meanwhile, started her winning streak in the ‘80s with both “When I Think of You” and “Miss You Much” leading. She hit her stride in the ‘90s, demanding that “Black Cat,” “Escapade,” “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” “Again,” “That’s The Way Love Goes,” and “Together Again” all take a turn at No. 1. The following decade, both “Doesn’t Really Matter” and “All For You” also soared to the highest position on the chart.
Gaga has snagged exactly a pair of No. 1s in each of the past three decades, including this current one. Two tunes from her debut album The Fame, “Just Dance” with Colby O’Donis and “Poker Face,” reached the peak in 2009. She nearly bookended the 2010s, as “Born This Way” controlled the roster in 2011, while “Shallow” with Bradley Cooper hit No. 1 in 2019.
The singer and actress waited half a decade between her most recent two rulers. Before “Die with a Smile,” she was last in charge of the Hot 100 with “Rain on Me” alongside Ariana Grande, which topped the tally in mid-2020.