American Idol Top 100 Hits

By On 03/05/2013 · 19 Comments · In American Idol, Charts

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Fred Bronson compiled the Top 100 hits from Billboard’s Hot 100 for Billboard Magazine. It’s no surprise that Kelly Clarkson dominates the list. She’s got 10 songs in the Top 20 alone. Clearly, she is the biggest POP star American Idol has (or may ever) produced.

Of course, Carrie Underwood has sold a gazillion records, even outselling Kelly up to this point in the US, but her domination in in the country genre, and the Hot 100 is all about CHR.

Other Idols making an appearance on the chart include: Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, David Cook, David Archuleta, Taylor Hicks, Phillip Phillips, Elliott Yamin, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, Katharine McPhee, Fantasia, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, Jennifer Hudson, Josh Gracin, Kellie Pickler, Diana DeGarmo, Blake Lewis, Bucky Covington, Bo Bice, Kimberley Locke, Mario Vazquez,

Here are the Top 20. For more check out the full article on Billboard Magazine

 

1. Since U Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson
2. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson
3. No Air – Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown
4. Behind These Hazel Eyes – Kelly Clarkson
5. Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson
6. Home – Phillip Phillips
7. Because of You – Kelly Clarkson
8. My Life Would Suck Without You – Kelly Clarkson
9. Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood
10. It’s Not Over – Daughtry
11. A Moment Like This – Kelly Clarkson
12. Tattoo – Jordin Sparks
13. Home – Daughtry
14. This is the Night – Clay Aiken
15. Sorry 2004 – Ruben Studdard
16 Miss Independent – Kelly Clarkson
17. Wait For You – Elliott Yamin
18. Inside Your Heaven – Carrie Underwood
19. Already Gone – Kelly Clarkson
20. Walk Away – Kelly Clarkson

 
  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1638805698 Jason Scott

    Yea, Carrie’s success in Country isn’t really reflected here, but I am glad to see 20 songs of hers on the list.

    And YAY Kelly!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1818332757 Seth McHale

    Nice list.

  • chris99x

    I like the stories they have behind the songs, more than anything. 

  • durbesque

    2 HOMEs, both great songs and performances, made the Top 20.  Very satisfying.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ENXWTPQX7WDUGFKDMOUHAWCQMY Van

    Dang, get it Kelly!! I really enjoyed reading all the stories too. 

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/HWRPW434YQTROZ3J5E4BSLWEYM H.A.

    Download your Spotify and enjoy this great American Idol playlist. 

  • Axxxel

    “No boundaries” (82) by Kris Allen is higher than “Heartless” (88) covered by Kris as well ? Yeah right….

  • heartly

    I thought this list has been the best thing Billboard has ever put together when “ranking” Idol specific things. The little bits of info that were included with just about every song was welcomed. There were quite a few new things said about many of the songs that I had no clue about previously and getting quotes by either the writers or the artists was a nice touch.

  • Kirsten

    So cool. Loved reading this!  Stories were fantastic.

    82. “No Boundaries” – “”It was a disaster,” she says candidly. “They put
    me together with Cathy Dennis. It was an odd pairing and it didn’t gel.
    The writing process was not easy.” and “”It wasn’t the guys’ fault,”
    DioGuardi believes. “The vocal range worked really well for a female but
    not a male. It was not the high point of my life.”"

    Why, why, why, did they pick this for a coronation song in a season when the top 5 were 4 guys and a girl who was more of a gritty alto? Exactly who was that song supposed to have been chosen for? Or did they just toss a bunch of song sheets down a flight of stairs and pick whichever one made it to the bottom first?

  • Mateja Praznik

    Probably they had nothing better. And at that point the idea of original mountains & rainbows type of coronation song was still alive. Just one season earlier David Cook managed to turn one into a hit. TPTB probably didn’t care. They just needed one song, no matter how bad, for the winner to sing right after the results. There was no plan to push NB to radio as a real single.

    One year later and they didn’t even bother with an original. Lee and Crystal each picked a cover as their coronation song.

  • standtotheright

    They just needed one song, no matter how bad, for the winner to sing
    right after the results. There was no plan to push NB to radio as a real
    single.

    I really wonder how much better the outcomes would have been if Weiss had pulled an Iovine when he got involved in 2007 and insisted that they cast about for sound-appropriate singles for the winners. Sparks eventually had her share but she had to build on all three singles over the long haul and got some uncomfortable press on her album sales at first. Cook’s was a hit but it didn’t fit the rest of his album (and likely made the already hard road to rock format airplay impossible). LLWD took so long to peak once it was released that Allen missed most of the advantages of it in the Christmas season.

    There are many things one can contest in the Interscope era, but the dictum to “begin as you mean to go on” is the best thing a label has ever done for the winners.

  • Kirsten

    Interesting story about “God Bless the USA”

    Season two’s top 10 finalists performed this Lee Greenwood song as a
    group effort, but not before rewriting the line, “and I won’t forget the
    men who died.” Susan Slamer, music supervisor on the first four seasons
    of “Idol,” explains: “Josh Gracin, who was a Marine, decided that since
    men and women have died, the lyric should be changed to reflect that.”
    Slamer had to call the publisher to get permission to change the lyric
    to “the ones who died” – and was turned down. Slamer suggested the
    publisher sue the show, so “Idol” could go public with the refusal and
    see how it played out in the press for Greenwood. The words were altered
    per Gracin’s request, both on air and on the single released to raise
    funds for the American Red Cross.

    Wow. It’s not often that we hear about Idol going to the mat for contestants, so I’m impressed at this. I’m also impressed with Gracin for insisting on the lyric change. Good on all of them.

  • Mateja Praznik

    I think it’s just hard to find good singles right in time for the Idol finale. At the beginning of the season they don’t even know what to look for because there are so many different finalists and the picture only gets clearer one we get near the finale, but at that time the time is running out and the songs have to be recorded in a rush.

    Last year Iovine found a good single for only one finalist of the two. Sure, that one went on to win, but hypothetically, what if the one with a bad single won? Also, if they can’t find songs of comparable quality for both finalists, then it would be better not to release those singles. Remember, the idea of this is for both finalists to release their first singles right after the finale, not just the winner. It worked for season 10 TOP 2 (Lauren’s single actually sold better on iTunes until the announcement of the winner), but last year Jessica’s single was no better than “This is My Now”.

  • standtotheright

    Well, I don’t disagree (about Change Nothing or about the timeframe), but I also think that every single contestant in the top 5 should go to a workshop session with any interested writers. Maybe some of the contestants cowrite, maybe some of them don’t. But I strongly suspect that the song submissions would improve if the producers and label had writers actually come meet the contestants, hear their natural ranges, and know what material they each prefer to sing outside of the constraints of the show. It would also be much better filler material for a results show than another movie premiere.

    It wouldn’t get a Home every year, but they could fit songs to contestants at least as well as LMMD for LA, I’d think.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/PVEFG2TOUIXSROKUSO2O2DOWWE Taylor

    LLWD took so long to peak once it was released that Allen missed most of the advantages of it in the Christmas season.

    Home took just as long to peak as LLWD did. The difference was Home was released at the end of May and LLWD was released at the end of September. That’s the difference between using a coronation song as the first single vs. trying to find one that will work on radio after the Idol tour is over.

  • Montavilla

    Why, why, why, did they pick [No Boundaries]  for a coronation song in a season when the top 5 were 4 guys and a girl who was more of a gritty alto? Exactly who was that song supposed to have been chosen for? Or did they just toss a bunch of song sheets down a flight of stairs and pick whichever one made it to the bottom first?

    Maybe they started on it before Lil Rounds and Alexis Grace flamed out?  Lil might have been able to sing it well.

    I always thought the theory that it was written with Danny Gokey in mind might have been part of the problem.  I think he would have had trouble hitting those notes, but it might have sounded cool in a strained, emotional kind of way.  And the sentiment would have worked, I suppose.  He was the most “inspirational” of the Top 5 guys.

    Or maybe Scott McIntyre could have something with it.  I could see people thinking a blind man singing a song about having No Boundaries would have hit a sweet spot with the public.

    But, in spite of that Jessica Sanchez debacle (fully as bad the “No Boundaries” one), Jimmy Iovine’s strategy of picking songs that fit the finalists is much better than the previous strategy of looking for a generic uplifting ballad that fits nobody well.

    ETA: Jeez, imagine what might have happened if Kris Allen’s coronation song had been a tender love song. Or if Adam’s had been something like “Whataya Want From Me?”

  • http://twitter.com/bluinjewin Landon Cox

     Really? I always thought No Boundaries was written for Adam. High range, him winning would make him the first gay Idol, breaking glass ceilings, no boundaries, etc.

  • Montavilla

     Really? I always thought No Boundaries was written for Adam. High range, him winning would make him the first gay Idol, breaking glass ceilings, no boundaries, etc.

    I could that being a subtext with Adam.  On the other hand, Lil had weather an actual hurricane (or twister?)  But I don’t know what they were thinking about when they wrote it.  It didn’t really suit anyone in that competition.  Or in the world.

  • bridgette12

     Any song that has mountains and hurricanes in it shouldn’t have seen the light of day. No one could make that song sound good.