Chubby Checker's "Twist" Is Number One in 50 Years of Billboard Chart Runs

Classic rocker Chubby Checker has been waiting decades for the recognition he knew he deserved, and this week he finally got it. In commemoration of its 50th year, the Billboard Hot 100 Chart released a list of the most popular singles in its history. The Associated Press reported that Checker's "The Twist" came in at number one. In response to the announcement, the artist had only to say, "I'm glad they finally recognized it."

According to the Baltimore Sun, "The Twist," a song that "helped inspire a global dance craze," made the top of the charts in both 1960 and 1962. According to the newspaper, Checker equated the song's historical importance with the invention of the telephone.

Closing in on Checker's number one spot were some equally unexpected songs. Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas's duet, "Smooth," place second, and Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife" came in third. The latter was number one on the charts for nine weeks in 1959, the BBC reported. Music icons like Michael Jackson, Elvis, and Madonna were noticeably absent from the top 10. The Beatles just made it at number 8 with "Hey Jude."

Transformation in the music industry has been so significant over the last 50 years that Billboard needed to develop a formula to decide the top song. Geoff Mayfield, director of charts at Billboard Magazine, told the AP, "We went through each era, and we looked through the rate of turnover. The rate of turnover was very high in the late '50s and early '60s, and we had to put a weight on that to make the chart runs of that era equal to the chart runs that can be accomplished since 1991."

According to the AP, "The Twist" spent only 3 weeks total at the top, but Mayfield explained that Checker's hit was "the only song that was ever Number 1 in two different chart runs."