Knowing which songs that were the most popular during this period was great and it’s great information to know however, it is also equally as important to know which artist was the most popular as well. This is where the top 100 artists 1890-1954 will help.
The chart will provide a list of the artists that stood the test of their recorded music which is a lasting tribute not only to them, but also with the fans of their music with many of their songs still be recorded by others today.
There were a total of 889 singles that charted at #1. The year with the most #1 songs is 1937 with 31. The year of 1890 had the fewest with three.
Included in this chart listing are two artist achievements: most charted singles, and most #1 singles.
Source: “Top Pop Memories 1890-1954” by Joel Whitburn.
Point System Used
The artist’s points are calculated using the following formula:
- Each artist’s charted singles are given points based on their highest charted position (#1 = 30 points; #2 = 29 points, etc.).
- Bonus points are awarded to each single based upon its highest charted position (#1 = 25 points; #2-5 = 20 points; #6-10 = 15 points; #11-20 = 5 points).
- Total charted weeks are added in.
- Total weeks a single held the #1 position are also added in.
With this information we can rank the top 100 artists.
Top 100 Artists 1890-1954
| Rank / Artist | Points |
| 1. Bing Crosby | 35,150 |
| 2. Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra | 25,484 |
| 3. Guy Lombardo & His Orchestra | 23,856 |
| 4. Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra | 20,439 |
| 5. Billy Murray | 19,772 |
| 6. Benny Goodman & His Orchestra | 17,280 |
| 7. Glenn Miller & His Orchestra | 14,482 |
| 8. Henry Burr | 13,607 |
| 9. Peerless Quartet | 12,542 |
| 10. Harry MacDonough | 12,074 |
| 11. Ben Selvin & His Orchestra | 11,751 |
| 12. Ted Lewis & His Band | 11,393 |
| 13. Al Jolson | 11,166 |
| 14. Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra | 11,144 |
| 15. Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan | 10,601 |
| 16. Perry Como | 10,589 |
| 17. Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra | 10,552 |
| 18. Frank Sinatra | 10,251 |
| 19. Prince’s Orchestra | 9,492 |
| 20. Andrews Sisters | 9,173 |
| 21. Freddy Martin & His Orchestra | 8,884 |
| 22. Kay Kyser & His Orchestra | 8,743 |
| 23. John McCormack | 8,616 |
| 24. Leo Reisman & His Orchestra | 8,443 |
| 25. Isham Jones & His Orchestra | 8,341 |
| 26. Rudy Vallee | 8,259 |
| 27. Eddy Duchin & His Orchestra | 8,256 |
| 28. American Quartet | 7,949 |
| 29. Dinah Shore | 7,852 |
| 30. Harry James & His Orchestra | 7,770 |
| 31. Jo Stafford | 7,616 |
| 32. Haydn Quartet | 7,600 |
| 33. Ada Jones | 7,496 |
| 34. Duke Elllington & His Orchestra | 7,052 |
| 35. Louis Armstrong | 6,931 |
| 36. Vaughn Monore & His Orchestra | 6,902 |
| 37. Fats Waller | 6,859 |
| 38. Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra | 6,791 |
| 39. Jan Garber & His Orchestra | 6,750 |
| 40. Hal Kemp & His Orchestra | 6,747 |
| 41. Mills Brothers | 6,682 |
| 42. Ruth Etting | 6,679 |
| 43. Byron G. Harlan | 6,600 |
| 44. Gene Austin | 6,296 |
| 45. Ray Noble & His Orchestra | 6,199 |
| 46. Russ Morgan & His Orchestra | 6,101 |
| 47. Nat Shikret & The Victor Orchestra | 5,943 |
| 48. Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians | 5,864 |
| 49. Arthur Collins | 5,846 |
| 50. Nat “King” Cole | 5,765 |
| 51. Henry Burr & Albert Campbell | 5,702 |
| 52. Artie Shaw & His Orchestra | 5,637 |
| 53. George Olsen & His Orchestra | 5,637 |
| 54. Hoarce Heidt & His Orchestra | 5,614 |
| 55. Len Spencer | 5,596 |
| 56. Frankie Laine | 5,455 |
| 57. Ada jones & Billy Murray | 5,265 |
| 58. Enrico Caruso | 5,255 |
| 59. Woody Herman & His Orchestra | 5,216 |
| 60. Frank Stanley | 5,185 |
| 61. Marion Harris | 5,099 |
| 62. Cal Stewart | 4,920 |
| 63. Ink Spots | 4,862 |
| 64. Eddy Howard & His orchestra | 4,853 |
| 65. Ella Fitzgerald | 4,797 |
| 66. Ben Bernie & His Orchestra | 4,742 |
| 67. Dick Haymes | 4,691 |
| 68. Walter Van Brunt | 4,618 |
| 69. Patti page | 4,532 |
| 70. Nora Bayes | 4,478 |
| 71. Dan Quinn | 4,392 |
| 72. Eddie fisher | 4,356 |
| 73. Bob Crosby & His Orchestra | 4,227 |
| 74. Fred Astaire | 4,216 |
| 75. Larry Clinton & His Orchestra | 4,201 |
| 76. Cab Calloway & His Orchestra | 4,154 |
| 77. Shep Fields & His Orchestra | 4,151 |
| 78. Margaret Whiting | 4,121 |
| 79. George J. Gaskin | 4,101 |
| 80. Charles Harrison | 4,095 |
| 81. Doris Day | 4,079 |
| 82. Bert Williams | 4,063 |
| 83. Billie Holiday | 4,024 |
| 84. Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra | 4,011 |
| 85. Ozzie nelson & His Orchestra | 4,005 |
| 86. J.W. Myers | 3,950 |
| 87. Ted Weems & His Orchestra | 3,842 |
| 88. Wayne King & His Orchestra | 3,780 |
| 89. Tony Martin | 3,528 |
| 90. Vic Damone | 3,498 |
| 91. Lewis James | 3,490 |
| 92. Frank Crumit | 3,411 |
| 93. Peggy Lee | 3,344 |
| 94. Vincent Lopez & His Orchestra | 3,209 |
| 95. Cliff Edwards | 3,194 |
| 96. Sousa’s Band | 3,180 |
| 97. Vess Ossman | 3,186 |
| 98. Connee Boswell | 3,119 |
| 99. Kay Starr | 3,094 |
| 100. Johnny Mercer | 3,090 |
Most Charted Singles
| Rank | Artist | Number |
| 1 | Bing Crosby | 317 |
| 2 | Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra | 220 |
| 3 | Guy Lombardo & His Orchestra | 218 |
| 4 | Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra | 186 |
| 5 | Billy Murray | 169 |
| 6 | Benny Goodman & His Orchestra | 164 |
| 7 | Glenn Miller & His Orchestra | 129 |
| 8 | Henry Burr | 116 |
| 9 | Peerless Quartet | 108 |
| 10 | Ben Selvin & His Orchestra | 107 |
| 11 | Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra | 103 |
| 12 | Ted Lewis & His Band | 102 |
| 13 | Frank Sinatra | 102 |
| 14 | Perry Como | 100 |
| 15 | Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra | 100 |
| 16 | Harry MacDonough | 99 |
| 17 | Al Jolson | 91 |
| 18 | Andrews Sisters | 90 |
| 19 | Arthur Collins & Bryon Harlan | 89 |
| 20 | Freddy Martin & His Orchestra | 85 |
Artists With The Most #1 Singles
| Most #1 Singles | ||
| Rank | Artist | Number |
| 1 | Bing Crosby | 36 |
| 2 | Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra | 32 |
| 3 | Guy Lombardo & His Orchestra | 26 |
| 4 | Glenn Miller & His Orchestra | 23 |
| 5 | Al Jolson | 23 |
| 6 | George J. Gaskin | 19 |
| 7 | Billy Murray | 18 |
| 8 | Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra | 17 |
| 9 | Dan Quinn | 17 |
| 10 | Benny Goodman & His Orchestra | 16 |
| 11 | Henry Burr | 16 |
| 12 | Harry MacDonough | 15 |
| 13 | Len Spencer | 15 |
| 14 | Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra | 12 |
| 15 | Arthur Collins & Bryon Harlan | 12 |
| 16 | American Quartet | 12 |
| 17 | Haydn Quartet | 12 |
| 18 | Byron G. Harlan | 12 |
| 19 | Arthur Collins | 12 |
| 20 | Perry Como | 11 |
| 21 | Kaye Kyser & His Orchestra | 11 |
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