nine of them — and the first did not arrive until her fifth year of releases, which is the most surprising fact on her chart record.
the short answer
nine songs have reached number one on the billboard hot 100: thank u, next, 7 rings, positions, yes, and?, we can't be friends (wait for your love) and hate that i made you love me as lead artist, plus rain on me with lady gaga, stuck with u with justin bieber and the save your tears remix with the weeknd. six of the nine debuted at number one.
| song | year | with |
|---|---|---|
| thank u, next | 2019 | — |
| 7 rings | 2019 | — |
| stuck with u | 2020 | justin bieber |
| rain on me | 2020 | lady gaga |
| positions | 2020 | — |
| save your tears (remix) | 2021 | the weeknd |
| yes, and? | 2024 | — |
| we can't be friends (wait for your love) | 2024 | — |
| hate that i made you love me | 2026 | — |
six years without one
this is the part that surprises people. between 2013 and late 2018 she released problem, break free, bang bang, love me harder, dangerous woman, side to side, no tears left to cry and god is a woman. every one of them was enormous. none of them reached number one — problem stalled at two in 2014, and so did break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored five years later.
the reason is mostly structural rather than musical: the hot 100 in the mid-2010s was still weighted heavily toward sales and radio in ways that punished exactly her kind of release pattern. by the time streaming dominated the formula, she was making thank u, next, and it debuted at the top.
the entire top three
in february 2019 she occupied the whole of the top three simultaneously — 7 rings at one, break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored at two, thank u, next at three. the previous act to manage that was the beatles, in 1964.
it is the single most impressive line on her chart record and it is a direct consequence of the six-month album turnaround: releasing two records in half a year put three simultaneous singles into the same chart week, which is not a thing that normally happens by accident.
the collaborations
three of the nine are features, and all three are from the same eighteen-month stretch in 2020 and 2021. stuck with u and rain on me were both released during the first year of the pandemic — stuck with u as a charity single — and the save your tears remix followed in 2021. the full list of who she has recorded with is in the collaborations piece.
questions people ask
how many number one songs does ariana grande have?
nine on the billboard hot 100 — six as lead artist and three as a collaborator.
what was ariana grande's first number one?
thank u, next, which debuted at number one in november 2018. it was her first, six years after her debut album.
did ariana grande have the whole top three at once?
yes, in february 2019, with 7 rings, break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored and thank u, next. the last act to do it was the beatles in 1964.
why did problem not reach number one?
it peaked at two in 2014, when the hot 100 formula still leaned heavily on sales and radio. her chart position improved sharply once streaming dominated the calculation.
which ariana grande collaborations went to number one?
rain on me with lady gaga, stuck with u with justin bieber, and the save your tears remix with the weeknd — all between 2020 and 2021.