Canadian rapper Drake (39) has broken Michael Jackson’s long-standing record for the most No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 by a solo male artist. His new track, ‘Janice STFU,’ surged to the top of the Hot 100, marking his 14th career No. 1 and officially surpassing the King of Pop’s legendary achievement.
According to Billboard on the 26th (local time), ‘Janice STFU’ made a direct debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100, accumulating an impressive 40.7 million streams in its first week. This latest triumph brings Drake’s total Hot 100 chart-toppers to 14, placing him alongside global superstars Rihanna and Taylor Swift as the joint third most successful artists of all time. Only Mariah Carey (19 No. 1s) and The Beatles (20 No. 1s) currently hold more.
Drake surprised fans on May 15th with the simultaneous, unannounced release of three albums: ‘Iceman,’ ‘Habibti,’ and ‘Maid of Honour.’ These three LPs not only made unprecedented history by simultaneously claiming the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 spots on the Billboard 200, but Drake also shattered Morgan Wallen’s record (37 songs) for the most simultaneous Hot 100 entries in a single week, with a staggering 42 tracks. His cumulative number of Hot 100 entries also reached an all-time high of 402, making him the first artist ever to surpass 400 songs on the chart.
However, this monumental achievement has not been without significant backlash from fervent Michael Jackson fans. The comment sections on platforms like Yahoo News were flooded with remarks such as, “Drake is still not good. MJ is the real legend,” and “Will anyone be singing ‘Janice STFU’ in 40 years? ‘Thriller’ is still being played.” One particularly critical comment, “If this song is No. 1, something is wrong,” garnered 14 likes. Conversely, Drake’s ardent supporters countered, asserting, “Chart records are facts, and numbers don’t lie,” defending the legitimacy of his accomplishments.
This record-breaking feat holds even greater significance as Drake famously declared, “I’m one away from Michael,” in his 2023 track ‘First Person Shooter,’ directly referencing his pursuit of Michael Jackson’s record. Responding to the accomplishment, Rolling Stone lauded the rapper, stating, “Drake rewrote a page in Billboard history this week.”
‘Janice STFU’ notably samples ‘I Follow Rivers’ by acclaimed Swedish artist Lykke Li. It also marks a significant return for rap music to the top of the Hot 100, being the first rap song to achieve this feat in approximately a year, following Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s ‘Luther.’
In related news, Drake also made history this week as the most streamed artist in a single day on both Spotify and Amazon Music for 2026. The day after his triple album release, both leading streaming platforms reported unprecedented daily streaming figures for the artist. These newly released albums are currently distributed digitally only, with no physical release plans, and industry experts widely anticipate their strong chart performance will continue to dominate throughout the summer.
