Madonna Makes History With 45th No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs Chart

From Billboard.com:

The Queen of Pop is now unequaled chart royalty, making momentous Billboard chart history, as she now has the most No. 1s ever by an act on a singular Billboard chart.

On the next update of the Dance Club Songs chart, dated May 30, which will refresh on Billboard.com next Thursday, May 21, Madonna earns her 45th No. 1 dance hit with Ghosttown moving up to the top spot from #3.

With the coronation, Madonna passes another icon, George Strait, who’s logged 44 No. 1s on Hot Country Songs.

Madonna said in an exclusive statement to Billboard:

Thanks to all my fans on and off the dancefloor, I’ll (always) be your partner.

With her 45th leader on Dance Club Songs, which measures reports submitted by a national sample of club DJs, Madonna pulls further ahead of runners-up Beyonce and Rihanna. In fact, Madonna has tallied more No. 1s as they have combined: 22 each. The chart launched as a national survey in the Billboard issue dated Aug. 28, 1976.

Madonna bests Strait (still, and always, the King of Country), who’s sent 44 singles to No. 1 on Hot Country Songs between 1982 and 2009. He first reigned with “Fool Hearted Memory” (Aug. 28, 1982) and most recently ruled with “River of Love” (April 18, 2009).

Ghosttown , the second single Madonna’s 13th studio album, Rebel Heart, received a remix treatment from the likes of Don Diablo, Mindskap, Dirty Pop, Offer Nissim, Razor & Guido,  Mike Cruz, DJ Yianiis, Roger Sanchez and Armand Van Helden, among others, making the track – born as a ballad – top Dance Club Songs.

Madonna wrote Ghosttown with Evan Bogart, Sean Douglas and Jason Evigan. “When I write with people, we always try to come up with a theme,” she told Billboard’s Keith Caulfield in December. “So, this one is about the city after Armageddon. The burnt-out city, the crumbling buildings, the smoke that’s still lingering after the fire. There’s only a few people left. How do we pick up the pieces and go on from here?

“Kind of dramatic,” she added with a laugh.

In honor of Madonna’s milestone achievement, here is an updated look at Madonna’s 45 historic Dance Club Songs No. 1s, beginning with the double-sided single “Holiday”/”Lucky Star,” which reached the top the week of Sept. 24, 1983. You’ll notice that one of her No. 1s is an entire album: You Can Dance (1988), a collection of mostly remixes of previously-released songs (and one new cut, “Spotlight”). Prior to Feb. 23, 1991, the chart wasn’t always song-specific and full albums were, at some points, allowed to chart.

(For titles that spent multiple weeks at No. 1, total frames in the lead are noted in parentheses.)

Madonna’s 45 Dance Club Songs No. 1s

1983, “Holiday”/”Lucky Star” (five weeks at No. 1)
1984, “Like a Virgin” (four)
1985, “Material Girl”
1985, “Angel”/”Into the Groove”
1987, “Open Your Heart”
1987, “Causing a Commotion (Remix)”
1988, “You Can Dance (LP Cuts)”
1989, “Like a Prayer” (two)
1989, “Express Yourself” (three)

1990, “Keep It Together”
1990, “Vogue” (two)
1991, “Justify My Love” (two)
1992, “Erotica”
1993, “Deeper and Deeper”
1993, “Fever”
1994, “Secret” (two)
1995, “Bedtime Story”
1997, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”
1998, “Frozen” (two)
1998, “Ray of Light” (four)
1999, “Nothing Really Matters” (two)
1999, “Beautiful Stranger” (two)

2000, “American Pie”
2000, “Music” (five)
2001, “Don’t Tell Me”
2001, “What It Feels Like for a Girl”
2001, “Impressive Instant” (two)
2002, “Die Another Day” (two)
2003, “American Life”
2003, “Hollywood”
2003, “Me Against the Music,” Britney Spears featuring Madonna (two)
2004, “Nothing Fails”
2004, “Love Profusion”
2005, “Hung Up” (four)
2006, “Sorry” (two)
2006, “Get Together”
2006, “Jump” (two)
2008, “4 Minutes,” Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland (two)
2008, “Give It 2 Me”
2009, “Celebration”

2012, “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” Madonna featuring Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.
2012, “Girl Gone Wild”
2012, “Turn Up the Radio”
2015, “Living for Love”
2015, “Ghosttown”

Article by Gary Trust. Additional reporting by Keith Caulfield and Gordon Murray.
Check out the original story on Billboard.com.