ABC/Rick Rowell
Aside from being hitmaking artists who’ve sold millions of records in their long careers, U2, Michael Jackson, Madonna and “Weird Al” Yankovic have something else in common: They’re the only artists who’ve scored at least one top-40 hit each decade since the ’80s.
As Billboard notes, U2 is the latest group to achieve this feat, thanks to the fact that the Irish rockers collaborated with rapper Kendrick Lamar on one of his new songs, “XXX.” That tune just charted at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, U2 has now scored six top-40 hits in the ’80s, seven in the ’90s, three from 2000 to 2010 and now one since 2010.
As for the late King of Pop, he scored 18 top-40 hits in the ’80s, ten in the ’90s, and two each in the ’00s and ’10s. His most recent hit came in 2014, with his posthumous virtual duet with Justin Timberlake, “Love Never Felt So Good.”
Madonna’s most recent top-40 hit was 2012’s “Give Me All Your Luvin’.” She had 19 top-40 hits in the ’80s, 20 in the ’90s, nine in the ’00s and one in the ’10s.
And surprisingly, comedy rocker “Weird Al” is among these legendary artists, all of whom — save for Yankovic — are Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. He’s notched one top-40 hit per decade since the ’80s: “Eat It” in 1984, “Smells Like Nirvana” in 1992, “White & Nerdy” in 2006, and “Word Crimes” in 2014. Those four songs were parodies of, respectively, Jackson’s “Beat It,” Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Chamillionaire‘s “Ridin’,” and Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines.”
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