The status of PSB in Joel Whitburn's Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003
Joel Whitburn's Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003 (published in January 2004 and available from Record Research), lists the performance of hits on the U.S. dance charts as reported by Billboard magazine. I'm pleased to report that the Pet Shop Boys were cited as the fourth most successful artist in the history of the U.S. dance charts, behind only Madonna (#1), Janet Jackson (#2), and Donna Summer (#3). (In case you're wondering how certain other artists fared, at least at the time of the book's publication, Prince ranked #5, Michael Jackson #6, Whitney Houston #8, Depeche Mode #10, New Order #13, Erasure #17, and George Michael #25. Those rankings have, however, shifted quite a bit in the intervening years.)
According to this fascinating book, PSB could also claim these further distinctions:
- the most successful male artists on the U.S. dance charts
- the most successful duo or group
- the most successful non-Americans
- the eighth most successful artist of the 1980s
- the sixth most successful of the 1990s
- #3 in the number of dance hits (28), exceeded only by Madonna and Janet Jackson
- #5 in the number of Number One dance hits (8), surpassed by Madonna, Janet Jackson, Donna Summer, and Whitney Houston
The intervening years have naturally seen some changes in these rankings, although it hardly detracts from the Pet Shop Boys' achievement. In December 2016, Billboard announced new rankings of the top dance-music artists of all time, which saw PSB fall one notch, down to #5, but slipping ahead of one of the artists who had previously ranked higher than them: the late Donna Summer. The revised Top 10 dance-music artists ranking is:
- Madonna
- Janet Jackson
- Rihanna
- Beyonce
- Pet Shop Boys
- Donna Summer
- Mariah Carey
- Kristine W
- Jennifer Lopez
- Depeche Mode
For more detailed information about the Boys' performance on the U.S. dance charts, please visit my page devoted to that topic.
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