American Idol's Tenth Anniversary: Kelly Clarkson's Journey to 73 Billboard Chart Toppers

[Shawn]

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/tv-film/american-idol-s-tenth-anniversary-kelly-1007278152.story

Amazing. <3

LOVE HER.

[All My Shadows]

Am I missing something? When they say "73 chart-toppers," are they talking about songs that went to #1 on multiple charts?

[Shawn]

Yes.

[Mr. Vixen]

LOVE her!!! <3 <3

[quartermainefan]

And yet, I would say a good 70 of them the average person on the street couldn't name for a million bucks. These are fake #1s. When the Backstreets went to #1 with "I want it that way" and Ricky Martin with "Livin La Vida Loca" you heard those songs non-stop on the radio, in every store all day long. Who even knew Kelly Clarkson even had 73 songs, let alone 73 #1s?

[DRW50]

I'd say plenty of people knew. You hear her songs quite a bit on the radio and she's always been in the public eye since winning Idol.

[JackPeyton]

There is no wat the averge person could name 73 kelly clarkson songs. 10 would be a stretch. She has def done well, and she has a great voice and makes some great music, but this is beyond reaching and overstating her popularity. Her and Carrie Underwood are basically the only successful winners, at least that I can think of.

[DRW50]

I don't think anyone is saying people know 73 of her songs. I was just saying people know her well enough to know she would have a lot of hit songs. The chart isn't 73 different songs.

[quartermainefan]

There are #1s, and then there are "# 1s". Elvis had #1s, Madonna had #1s, The Beatles and The Bee Gees and Oh Mickey You're So Fine. These were #1s you could not avoide. Mariah Carey had #1s only her diehard fans know and probably on charts so niche people probably never even heard of the charts. I would bet that is where the vast majority of Kelly Clarkson's hits reside.

[DRW50]

Kelly Clarkson's biggest hits were and are frequently played. I don't think she's comparable to hugely influential groups but I also don't think she's comparable to a novelty song, which will be played and played and then the person who sings it goes on to little recording success.

I think Kelly's peak was the Breakaway album, many of the songs were very prominent at the time and sometimes still are (Breakaway, Because of You, Since You've Been Gone, Behind These Hazel Eyes). After that she declined, but her new songs have gone back to being prominent, although I don't care for "Stronger."

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Breakaway was definitely her peak, and the last time I cared for her musically or as a person. It was when she didn't pretend she was anything more than your typical pop act, unlike in some of the years that followed.

Most of the songs off that album were #1 radio hits, which was rare for a pop artist at time, as radio was being dominated by generic hip-hop trash in the mid 00's.

That was also Kelly's peak globally, she's not really had that type of worldwide success since.

Since You've Been Gone is definitely one of the definitive songs of the last 10 years, that's not saying much, but still...

[Melroser]

I love Kelly Clarkson!! The headline is extremely misleading. It refers to 73 times that a Kelly Clarkson song has been #1 on a chart. For example, it lists the single "Stronger" separately for Hot Digital Songs, Hot Digital Tracks, The Billboard Hot 100, Hot Dance Club play, etc...counting each chart as one.