Top 50 Artists From 1955-1955
The fifties was the decade that started the Rock N Roll era. There were a lot of new comers and faces during this period. We have provided a list of the top 50 artists from 1955-1959. Some artists only had one hit, these are called One Hit Wonders and they are never heard from again.
Knowing the popular artist will also provide how their music or style of music stood the test of time when compared to other artists that were also recording at the same time or, at least, during the same era. Artists include stand-alone male and female and groups or duos.
During this period, there were a total of 88 singles that peaked at the #1 position. The year of 1958 had a total of 23 songs that hit #1. The year of 1958 also had the most charted singles with 576. In the period, there were a total of 2,331 songs that made the charts and over 300 unique artists that released a single.
Some of the artists from this period were successful with crossover hits into the other fields such as Country & Western and Rhythm and Blues.
Ranking Of The Top 50 Artists
To determine the top 50 artists, we had to use a point system that would be fair to all artists that charted singles in this period. The point system used is as follows:
1. The highest chart position reached on the Hot 100, Hot 100 Airplay or Bubbling Under charts.
2. Point breakdown as follows:
• #1 = 100 points for its first week at #1, plus 10 points for each additional week.
• #2 = 90 points for its first week at #2, plus 5 points for each additional week.
• #3 = 80 points for its first week at #3, plus 3 points for each additional week.
• #4-5 = 70 points
• #6-10 = 60 points
• #11-15 = 50 points
• #16-20 = 45 points
• #21-30 = 40 points
• #31-40 = 35 points
• #41-50 = 30 points
• #51-60 = 25 points
• #61-70 = 20 points
• #71-90 = 15 points
• #91-100 = 10 points
• #101-110 = 5 points
• #111-120 = 4 points
• #121-135 = 3 points
3. Total weeks charted are added in.
4. In case of a tie, the artist listed first is determined by the following tie-breaker rules:
1) Most charted singles
2) Most Top 40 singles
3) Most Top 10 singles
When two artists combine for a hit single, such as Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, the full point total is given to both artists. Duos like Simon & Garfunkel and Hall & Oates are considered recording teams and their points are not shared.
Adjustment made for featured and lead artists. A featured artist on a single will receive 20% of the point total and the lead artist receives 100% of the point total.
| Rank / Artist | Points |
| 1. Elvis Presley | 3,410 |
| 2. Pat Boone | 2,736 |
| 3. Perry Como | 1,938 |
| 4. Fats Domino | 1,803 |
| 5. Nat “King” Cole | 1,662 |
| 6. The Platters | 1,597 |
| 7. Ricky Nelson | 1,402 |
| 8. Frank Sinatra | 1,348 |
| 9. The McGuire Sisters | 1,191 |
| 10. Bill Haley & His Comets | 1,130 |
| 11. The Everly Brothers | 1,080 |
| 12. Johnny Mathis | 1,073 |
| 13. The Four Lads | 1,063 |
| 14. Patti Page | 1,050 |
| 15. Four Aces | 955 |
| 16. The Diamonds | 928 |
| 17. Jimmie Rogers | 902 |
| 18. Paul Anka | 891 |
| 19. Chuck Berry | 861 |
| 20. The Fontane Sisters | 855 |
| 21. Teresa Brewer | 854 |
| 22. Billy Vaughn | 820 |
| 23. Little Richard | 808 |
| 24. Frankie Avalon | 797 |
| 25. The Ames Brothers | 792 |
| 26. Eddie Fisher | 786 |
| 27. Connie Francis | 783 |
| 28. Andy Williams | 755 |
| 29. Sarah Vaughan | 728 |
| 30. Georgia Gibbs | 696 |
| 31. Sam Cooke | 691 |
| 32. Jaye P. Morgan | 687 |
| 33. Buddy Holly & The Crickets | 656 |
| 34. The Coasters | 654 |
| 35. Gale Storm | 649 |
| 36. Johnny Cash | 647 |
| 37. Guy Mitchell | 623 |
| 38. Mitch Miller | 621 |
| 39. The Crew-Cuts | 608 |
| 40. Roger Williams | 602 |
| 41. The Chordettes | 599 |
| 42. Lloyd Price | 593 |
| 43. Bobby Darin | 581 |
| 44. Tony Bennett | 572 |
| 45. Dean Martin | 539 |
| 46. Joni James | 533 |
| 47. Clyde McPhatter | 528 |
| 48. “Tennessee” Ernie Ford | 524 |
| 49. Tommy Edwards | 516 |
| 50. Doris Day | 505 |
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