You don’t have to be young to be successful. It’s entirely possible to reach the peak of your career when you’re over 40. Let’s see which mature artists managed to top the charts, proving that age is only a number when it comes to making incredible music.
Sia and Her Song ‘Cheap Thrills’
We’re starting with the time Sia made history when her song “Cheap Thrills” hit No. 1 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 list in 2016. How is this making history? At the time, Sia was the only woman over 40 who had a No. 1 hit on this chart.
In fact, 16 years before her, the last female artist over 40 with a No. 1 hit was Madonna. With that in mind, we’re sure you can imagine how big of an achievement this was.
‘Happy’ by Pharell
In 2014, it was like the entire world knew the words to this song. Your relatives, friends, coworkers — everyone was blasting “Happy” by Pharell, and there was no escaping it. Why was this the case? This track hit No. 1 on Hot 100 and remained there for ten weeks!
That’s how much people loved it. This isn’t Pharell’s only hit song at 40. He had another one a year before, which was part of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” album.
‘The Monster’ by Eminem
Eminem and Rihanna really know how to make a hit song. They did this with their song “Love the Way You Lie” first, and after seeing how successful this collaboration was, they went ahead and did it again. “The Monster” flew to the top of the charts in both 2013 and 2014, where it remained for a total of four weeks.
This makes Eminem one of the few over-40 artists with this achievement. Some of his other No. 1 songs include “Not Afraid” and “Lose Yourself.”
Dr. Dre’s ‘Crack a Bottle’
Top artists aren’t singers and rappers only. They also include successful producers like Dr. Dre. His song “Crack a Bottle,” featuring Eminem and 50 Cent, rose to the top of the charts pretty easily. At the time, Dr. Dre was 44 years old, which makes this quite an achievement.
This wasn’t his first time at the top of the charts. In 1996, “No Diggity” by Blackstreet dominated the charts for four weeks, and this incredible producer was part of it.
‘Music’ by Madonna
We all know how iconic Madonna is, so it’s not surprising to find her on our list. She is now 62 years old (who would’ve thought!), and she’s had a total of 12 No. 1 hits in her career. One of those hits is her song “Music,” which we all know and love.
Apart from this retro gem, some of her other hits include “Vogue” and “Take a Bow.”
‘Believe’ by Cher
If you’re not familiar with this song, you’re seriously missing out. Cher is yet another woman over 40 who scored a No. 1 hit. In fact, she’s the oldest female artist to do so, reaching the top of the charts at 52! If you’re ever having a throwback party, this song is a must on your playlist.
Other than this song, Cher’s No. 1 songs include “Dark Lady” and “Half-Breed.”
Elton John, ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ & ‘Candle in the Wind 1997’
Now that we’re talking about iconic artists, we cannot forget Sir Elton John. Over the course of his career, he scored quite a number of top hits — nine to be exact. Some of those hits include “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me,” which rose to the top of the charts after his live performance with George Michael.
On the other hand, a new version of “Candle in the Wind” didn’t fail at climbing the charts either. After all, this piece is dedicated to Princess Diana.
Meat Loaf, ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)’
At 46 years of age, Meat Loaf beat the competition for the Hot 100 with his song “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” He was at the top for a total of five weeks before going down.
Sadly, this is his only No. 1 and even a Top 10 song on Billboard’s Hot 100. The closest he got to Top 10 was with his song “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” which landed at No. 11.
Billy Joel, ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’
Billy Joel, ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’If you’ve never heard of this song, now’s the perfect time to give it a try. It talks about all the major historical events that happened in the artist’s lifetime, and the music video accompanies the song quite well too. This song became No. 1 just a few months after Billy Joel turned 40, which secures his place on our list.
This isn’t Joel’s first visit to the top of the charts. His other chart-toppers include “Tell Her About It” and “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me.”
Tina Turner, ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’
Yet another iconic song coming from an equally iconic artist. Everybody knows Tina Turner, so this is the first song that would come to mind when they think of her, and rightfully so because this chart-topper remained No. 1 for three weeks before falling down the ladder. Turner was 44 at the time, and this was her first and only time at the top of Hot 100 as a solo artist.
Prior to this, she had another No. 1 as part of Ike & Tina Turner.
Frank Sinatra, ‘Strangers in the Night’ and ‘Somethin’ Stupid’
Closing this list is Frank Sinatra. This beloved artist has many songs that people love and come back to all the time. However, only two of them landed at the top of the charts. One of them was “Strangers in the Night,” which became No. 1 when Sinatra was 50 years old. Only a year later, he scored another hit with “Somethin’ Stupid,” featuring his daughter, Nancy Sinatra.
Despite his popularity, these two songs are Frank Sinatra’s only chart-toppers. Aside from that, he had another Top 10 song – “That’s Life.”
Conclusion
It might come as a surprise that some of these artists didn’t have more chart-topping songs, considering their immense popularity. Be that as it may, this list just proves that age is really just a number in the music industry. You never know when you’ll be able to hit a new milestone in your career, and we can’t wait to see who will be next.
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