The Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart (formerly known as Adult Contemporary Singles and only Adult Contemporary) lists the most popular songs weekly calculated by airplay and occasionally sales. Billboard magazine publishes this listing which includes adult contemporary and pop songs played on "lite-pop" and adult contemporary radio stations and available for sale in stores across the United States. Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For popular music (music produced commercially rather than art or folk music), see Popular music. ...

Like most other Billboard charts since 1998, airplay-only songs are allowed to enter the Adult Contemporary chart besides commercially available singles. The first song to reach the AC chart without being available as a retail single was Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" in 1977. Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... ← Stevie Wonder is the stage name of Steveland Morris (born May 13, 1950 as Steveland Judkins[1]), an American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and social activist. ...

Comparison with the Hot 100

As noted in the above history of the chart, although some people would assume that The Billboard Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary (AC) chart are the same thing, they are not. The AC chart lists only pop/contemporary songs, while the Hot 100 includes songs from every genre. The Billboard Hot 100 is the main U.S. singles popularity chart used by Billboard magazine. ...

This situation has created some notable chart listing comparisons between the AC chart and the Hot 100 over the years. Pop songs generally tend to chart higher on the AC chart than the Hot 100 chart since on the Hot 100 they are competing with songs from other genres, such as country or hip-hop. One example of this was pop singer Amy Grant's 1991 single "That's What Love Is For" from her Heart In Motion album. The single topped the AC chart but reached the #7 position on the Hot 100. In fact, every one of Grant's singles have done better on the AC chart than the pop chart, and some have even charted solely on the AC chart. Amy Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American Christian and pop singer-songwriter and occasional actress. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Heart in Motion was the twelfth album by Christian pop singer Amy Grant, released in 1991 (see 1991 in music). ...

There are exceptions to this, however. In 1988 the Beach Boys topped the Hot 100 with their pop single "Kokomo." "Kokomo" did not make it to the top spot on the AC chart, however, and it peaked at #5, even though "Kokomo" was a pop/contemporary song. 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Beach Boys are a pop music group formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961 who are widely considered one of the most influential bands in rock and pop music history. ...

Other notable singles by adult-appeal artists which reached #1 Pop while coming close but falling short of the top spot on the AC chart have included "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler, "Top Of The World" by The Carpenters, "You Needed Me" by Anne Murray, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond, and "Don't Wanna Lose You" by Gloria Estefan. The Wind Beneath My Wings is the #1 single by Bette Midler from the soundtrack of the movie Beaches. ... Bette Midler, on the cover of her 1973 album of the same name This is about the performer also called The Divine Miss M; for her eponymous albums, see her list of albums. ... Richard and Karen Carpenter, the Carpenters The Carpenters were the biggest selling American artists of the 1970s. ... Anne Murray on the cover of her Christmas album What a Wonderful Christmas Anne Murray, CC , ONS , LL.D (born Morna Anne Murray June 20, 1945), is a Canadian singer born in Springhill, Nova Scotia, known for her rich alto voice and her taste in choosing songs that appeal to... Barbara Joan Streisand (born April 24, 1942 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American singer, theatre and film actress, composer, film producer and director. ... Essential Neil Diamond album cover. ... Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo on September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba) is a five-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-author, who began her career as lead vocalist for the Hispanic dance music band, Miami Sound Machine, in 1975. ...

In other instances, an artist with an established AC track record may release an uptempo song that becomes a big pop hit but is not widely accepted at AC radio. One example is that of Madonna. Of the 11 #1 Hot 100 hits she scored between 1984 and 2000, only two ("Live To Tell" and "Take A Bow") reached #1 AC as well. Three others ("Crazy For You," "Like A Prayer," and "This Used To Be My Playground") reached the AC top 10 without going to #1, four others made the AC chart but fell short of the top 10, and two ("Justify My Love" and "Music") did not chart AC at all. Two other Madonna singles - "La Isla Bonita" and "Cherish" - have reached #1 AC while falling short of #1 Pop. Olivia Newton-John was an AC staple for much of the 1970s, charting nine #1 AC hits from 1974 to 1980, but her biggest pop hit, "Physical," stopped at #29 AC while topping the Hot 100 for ten weeks, and some of her other early 1980s pop hits, such as "Heart Attack" and "Twist Of Fate," failed to chart AC. This article is becoming very long. ... Olivia Newton-John, circa 1988 Olivia Newton-John AO OBE (born September 26, 1948, Cambridge) is a British-born Australian singer and actress. ...

Chart history

Billboard has published an adult-music chart since July 1961; it was originally called "Easy Listening" and was simply a listing of the top singles on the Billboard Hot 100 excluding those with rock and roll overtones. The #1 song on the very first Easy Listening chart was "The Boll Weevil Song" by Brook Benton; the first female artist to top the chart was Connie Francis with her version of the standard "Together." In the early years of the Easy Listening chart, the top song on the chart was generally always a Top 10 pop hit as well. The methodology for compiling the chart at that time allowed some teenage-appeal artists to have Top 10 Easy Listening hits with their softer or ballad releases (for example, Shelley Fabares with "Johnny Loves Me" and Lesley Gore with "I Don't Wanna Be A Loser"), regardless of whether Easy Listening and Middle-of-the-Road radio stations were actually playing those songs. Over the next several years, the chart went by a variety of names, including "Middle-Road Singles" and "Pop-Standard Singles." 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Image:BrookBenton1. ... Connie Francis MGM LP record, 1961 Connie Francis (December 12, 1938 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American singer. ... Shelley Fabares (born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. ... Lesley Gore, French EP Lesley Gore (born May 2, 1946 in New York City as Lesley Sue Goldstein) is an American singer and songwriter, one of the best known performers of the girl group era. ...

In 1965, Billboard revamped the Easy Listening chart to better reflect what middle-of-the-road stations were actually playing, and the composition of the chart changed dramatically. As rock music continued to harden, there was much less crossover between the Hot 100 and Easy Listening chart than there had been in the early half of the 1960s. Several #1 Easy Listening hits of the late 1960s, such as Andy Russell's "It's Such A Pretty World Today" and John Gary's "Cold," made the Hot 100 in only minor positions, "Bubbled Under" the Hot 100, or failed to show up on the pop music radar entirely. In 1967, only one single reached #1 on both the Easy Listening and Hot 100 charts - "Somethin' Stupid" by Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra. Many of today's AC radio listeners may be surprised to learn that a great number of the 1960s songs played on modern-day AC and oldies radio, such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers, "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, "Downtown" by Petula Clark, and "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & The Papas, were considered too hard-edged by adult-oriented radio stations when they were originally released and never made the Easy Listening chart (or, in the case of "Unchained Melody," did not chart AC until they were re-released years later). Even the Beatles and Supremes had to wait until 1969 for their AC chart debuts (with "Something" and "Someday We'll Be Together," respectively). Songs that were popular on Easy Listening radio during the 1960s have, for the most part, been relegated to Music of Your Life and other pop standards radio formats. 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Andy Russell wore number 34 as an outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1963 and from 1966-1976. ... John Gary (1922-1998) was a popular vocalist. ... Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was a popular and highly acclaimed male vocalist. ... Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American singer and actress. ... The Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. ... George Ivan Van Morrison (born August 31, 1945) is a singer and songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... Urethra Franklin Urethra Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American gospel, soul and R&B singer born in Memphis, Tennessee, but raised in Detroit, Michigan. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... From left to right: Denny Doherty, Mama Cass Elliot, and John and Michelle Phillips. ... The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 as part of their first tour of the United States, promoting their first hit single there, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ... Reissue album cover showing The Supremes in 1966. ... Music of Your Life is a satellite network featuring the Adult Standards radio format. ... The term pop standards refers to an American songwriting, arranging, and singing style that is widely considered as the high point of Western vocal popular music. ...

This situation began to change toward the end of the 1960s and into the early and mid-1970s. By then, the audiences that middle-of-the-road stations were trying to attract were those who were more likely to identify with rock and roll than with the music of their parents' generation. They gravitated toward so-called "chicken rock" stations, which played a mix of softer Top 40 hits and rock oldies. In addition, contemporary artists who recorded adult-appeal music, such as The Carpenters, Bread, The Fifth Dimension, Barry Manilow, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Helen Reddy, Barbra Streisand and John Denver began to be played more often on Top 40 radio. Much of the music recorded by singer-songwriters such as Carole King, Carly Simon, James Taylor and Janis Ian got as much, if not more, airplay on Easy Listening stations as Top 40 stations. Easy Listening radio by then had also begun to open its airwaves to artists who had begun in the rock and roll or R&B fields, such as Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Diana Ross, and The Vogues, along with individual singles released by the former Beatles (such as John Lennon's "Imagine" and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord"). Once again, there was a good amount of crossover between the Easy Listening and Hot 100 charts, and many more songs reached #1 on both charts. Richard and Karen Carpenter, the Carpenters The Carpenters were the biggest selling American artists of the 1970s. ... Bread was a 1970s rock and roll band from Los Angeles, California. ... The Fifth Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire also includes R&B, Soul, and Jazz, best-known during the late 1960s and 1970s for popularizing hits of songwriters like Jimmy Webb, Laura Nyro, Burt Bacharach, Ashford & Simpson, and others, and helping to popularize flower power music... Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus in Brooklyn, New York on June 17, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter best known for his hit recordings I Write The Songs, Mandy and Copacabana (At The Copa). Manilow dominated the charts for much of the 1970s with a string... Anne Murray on the cover of her Christmas album What a Wonderful Christmas Anne Murray, CC , ONS , LL.D (born Morna Anne Murray June 20, 1945), is a Canadian singer born in Springhill, Nova Scotia, known for her rich alto voice and her taste in choosing songs that appeal to... Olivia Newton-John, circa 1988 Olivia Newton-John AO OBE (born September 26, 1948, Cambridge) is a British-born Australian singer and actress. ... 2003 Greatest Hits compilation Helen Reddy (born October 25, 1941 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian pop singer and actress. ... Barbara Joan Streisand (born April 24, 1942 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American singer, theatre and film actress, composer, film producer and director. ... John Denver (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. ... Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. ... Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1945 in New York City) is an American musician who emerged as one of the leading lights of the early 1970s singer-songwriter boom. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the singer Janis Ian, for the character from the movie Mean Girls see Janis Ian (Mean Girls) Janis Ian (born on April 7, 1951) is a Grammy-winning American songwriter, singer and multi-instrumental musician. ... Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often known simply as Elvis and also called The King of Rock n Roll or simply The King, was an American singer and actor. ... Essential Neil Diamond album cover. ... For other uses, see Diana Ross (disambiguation). ... The Vogues were a singing quartet from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania. ... John Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), was an iconic English 20th century composer and singer of popular music, best known as the founding member of The Beatles, in which he and Paul McCartney formed the massively successful Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership throughout... George Harrison, MBE (24 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was a popular English guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer, and film producer, best known as a member of The Beatles. ... My Sweet Lord is a song by former Beatle George Harrison from his triple album All Things Must Pass. ...

Billboard changed the name of the Easy Listening chart to the younger-sounding "Adult Contemporary" in 1979, by which time, like most other music formats, the format had transitoned from the AM dial to the FM dial. Since then, the amount of crossover between the AC chart and the Hot 100 has varied based on how much the passing pop music trends of the times appealed to adult listeners. Not many disco or new wave songs were particularly successful on the AC chart during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and much of the hip-hop and harder rock music now featured on CHR formats would be unacceptable on AC. But in the 1980s and 1990s and into the new millennium, artists like Elton John, Cher, Hall & Oates, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart, Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton, the Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion, and Shania Twain appealed to both CHR and AC listeners. More recently, AC radio has come to embrace more artists and songs from the softer side of pop rock and alternative rock (i.e. Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson, Daniel Powter, Natasha Bedingfield, Lifehouse and James Blunt). This page refers to the year 1979. ... Disco is a genre of music that originated in discothèques. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Top 40 (radio format). ... Sir Elton Hercules[1] John, CBE[2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... Cher[1] (born Cheryl[1] Sarkisian LaPiere on May 20, 1946) is an American pop/rock singer, songwriter, actress, director, author and all-around entertainer. ... Hall & Oates is the popular music duo made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates. ... Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American pop and R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. ... Roderick David Stewart (born January 10, 1945) is an English singer and songwriter of Scottish descent, most known for his uniquely raspy, gravelly, hoarse-sounding voice and personable singing style, as exemplified in his signature song Maggie May. In a career in its fifth decade, Stewart has achieved 27 Top... Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is an iconic American pop and R&B singer, actress, film producer, occasional songwriter and former fashion model. ... An example of the famous Clapton is God graffiti craze Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born March 30, 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer, who is one of the most respected and influential musicians of the rock era, garnering an unprecedented three inductions into... The Backstreet Boys are a Grammy-nominated pop group that enjoyed enormous success in the mid-late 1990s and 2000s. ... Celine Marie Claudette Dion (OC, OQ) (born March 30, 1968) is a Canadien Grammy and Juno award winning pop singer, and occasional songwriter[1] and actress. ... Shania Twain, OC (born August 28, 1965 in Windsor, Ontario) is a Canadian singer and songwriter who has enjoyed popular if not critical success in the country and pop music genres. ... Sheryl Suzanne Crow (Born February 11, 1962) is an eight-time Grammy winning American blues rock singer, guitarist, bassist and songwriter. ... Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is a Grammy Award-winning American pop rock singer and actress. ... Daniel Keaton Powter (born February 25, 1971) is a Canadian recording artist. ... Natasha Bedingfield (born November 26, 1981) is a British pop singer, and sister of pop singer, Daniel Bedingfield. ... Lifehouse is a melodic rock band from the United States, popular with mainstream and Contemporary Christian Music audiences. ... James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, 22 February 1974) is an English singer-songwriter whose debut album, Back to Bedlam, and single releases — especially the number one hit Youre Beautiful — brought him to fame in 2005. ...

Crossover from the country charts has also been common on the AC chart since the chart began. Among the country stars who had a number of singles cross over to the AC chart (and the pop chart as well) from the 1960s through the 1980s included Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, Eddy Arnold, Roger Miller, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton, Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, Willie Nelson, and Juice Newton. The huge growth of country music as a radio format in the 1990s brought a number of new country crossovers onto the AC airwaves, including LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Lonestar, Lee Ann Womack (whose "I Hope You Dance" reached #1 AC as well as Country), and Garth Brooks. More recently, a new wave of country performers have been crossing over to AC, including Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, the Dixie Chicks (who topped the AC chart with their cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide"), Martina McBride, and Rascal Flatts. Brenda Lee on the cover of her collection, part of The Millennium Collection Brenda Lee, real name Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1942 in Lithonia, Georgia) was an American teen idol and is currently a touring country singer. ... Patsy Cline (September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was a country music singer, who enjoyed pop music cross-over success during the era of the Nashville Sound in the early 1960s. ... Eddy Arnold (May 15, 1918) is an American country music singer. ... A section of the album jacket for Golden Hits. ... Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born January 16, 1946 (though the internet, including Wikipedia, lists a variety of contradictory years) in Robbinsville, North Carolina, USA) is an American country music singer and musician with 40 number one hit songs to his credit. ... Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American country singer, songwriter, composer, author and actress. ... Edward Thomas Eddie Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 - May 7, 1998) was a country music singer and songwriter who reached the peak of his popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ... Crystal Gayle on the cover of her concert DVD Crystal Gayle in Concert, showing her trademark long hair Crystal Gayle (born January 9, 1951) is an American country music singer. ... Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 30, 1933) is an American entertainer and songwriter, born and raised in Abbott, Texas. ... Juice Newton (born Judith Kaye Cohen on February 18, 1952, in Lakehurst, New Jersey) is an American pop and country singer. ... LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes (born August 28, 1982 in Jackson, Mississippi) is a popular American country music singer. ... Shania Twain, OC (born August 28, 1965 in Windsor, Ontario) is a Canadian singer and songwriter who has enjoyed popular if not critical success in the country and pop music genres. ... Audrey Faith Perry, later known as Faith Hill (born September 21, 1967 in Jackson, Mississippi), is a successful American country singer, known for her commercial success as well as her much-publicized marriage to country singer Tim McGraw. ... Lonestar also refers to a Rock Band that released a self titled album in 1976 under the UK CBS label Lonestar poses for pictures before a show Lonestar is an American country music band consisting of Richie McDonald (lead vocals) (born Richard Vance McDonald, on 6 February 1962, in Mesquite... Lee Ann Womack performs for troops and their families at the Coalition to Salute Americas Heroes Gala, Gratitude Tribute to Veterans Lee Ann Womack (born August 19, 1966 in Jacksonville, Texas) is a country music artist who may best be known for her 2000 crossover hit, I Hope You... Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) and raised in Yukon, Oklahoma is an American country music singer-songwriter and charity director. ... Tim McGraw (born Samuel Timothy McGraw in Delhi, Louisiana, on May 1, 1967) is an American country music singer who has achieved many number one entries on the country singles and album charts, with total sales in excess of 25 million units. ... Keith Lionel Urban, born 26 October 1967, is an New Zealander-Australian country music singer. ... The Dixie Chicks are an American all-female country music trio, comprising Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, and Natalie Maines. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Martina McBride at the 2003 American Music Awards. ... Rascal Flatts is an American country music band comprised of lead vocalist Gary LeVox (real name: Gary Wayne Vernon, Jr. ...

The Contemporary Christian music market has also been relatively successful in crossing over to mainstream radio. In the mid-1980s, one of the biggest CCM artists at the time, Amy Grant, crossed over into secular music with the 1985 single "Find a Way," which became a Top Ten AC hit and a #1 Christian single simultaneously. In the 1990s, while Grant continued to enjoy AC success, other artists such as MercyMe ("I Can Only Imagine"), Chris Rice, Sandi Patti, and Michael W. Smith (who had a Top Ten Hot 100 and AC hit in 1991 with "Place In This World") have crossed in between the Christian and secular worlds with little disapproval from their fan bases. Contemporary Christian Music (referred to frequently by the abbreviation CCM and sometimes called Christian pop music) is a genre of popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith. ... Amy Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American Christian and pop singer-songwriter and occasional actress. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Find A Way was the first major single released by Christian music singer Amy Grant. ... MercyMe Mercy Me (also known as MercyMe) are a U.S. Contemporary Christian band, originally formed in Greenville, Texas, in the mid 1990s. ... Chris Rice is an American CCM songwriter. ... Sandi Patty (born July 14, 1957) is a Contemporary Christian music singer. ... Michael W. Smith // Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957, to Paul and Barbara Smith in Kenova, West Virginia), often nicknamed Smitty, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist. ...

See also

• Adult Contemporary radio panel