Hot 100 Airplay number-one hits of 1986 (USA)
Encyclopedia
This is a list of the U.S. Billboard magazine Hot 100 Airplay number-ones of 1986.
| Issue Date | Song | Artist |
| January 4 | "Say You, Say Me Say You, Say Me "Say You, Say Me" is a Oscar winning song, written and recorded by Lionel Richie for the film White Nights, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. The single hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in December 1985. It became Richie's ninth number one on the... " |
Lionel Richie Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records... |
| January 11 | "Say You, Say Me" | Lionel Richie |
| January 18 | "Say You, Say Me" | Lionel Richie |
| January 25 | "That's What Friends Are For That's What Friends Are For "That's What Friends Are For" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.-Dionne Warwick cover:... " |
Dionne and Friends Dionne Warwick Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health.... |
| February 1 | "That's What Friends Are For" | Dionne and Friends |
| February 8 | "That's What Friends Are For" | Dionne and Friends |
| February 15 | "How Will I Know How Will I Know "How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for her debut album, entitled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985. It was released by Arista Records in November that year, as the album's third single. Composed by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,... " |
Whitney Houston Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among... |
| February 22 | "How Will I Know" | Whitney Houston |
| March 1 | "Kyrie Kyrie (song) "Kyrie" was a #1 hit song by the 1980s pop/rock band Mr. Mister, from their 1985 album Welcome to the Real World. Released in late 1985, it hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in March 1986, where it was #1 for two weeks. It also hit the top spot on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart... " |
Mr. Mister Mr. Mister Mr. Mister is an American pop rock band most popular in the 1980s. The band's name came from an inside joke about a Weather Report album called Mr. Gone where they referred to each other as "Mister This" or "Mister That", and eventually selected "Mr. Mister." Mr. Mister may be considered as... |
| March 8 | "Kyrie" | Mr. Mister |
| March 15 | "Sara" | Starship |
| March 22 | "These Dreams These Dreams "These Dreams" is a song by the rock band Heart released in 1986 from their 1985 self-titled album. It was the first song by the band to become a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.-Origin of the song:... " |
Heart Heart (band) Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music... |
| March 29 | "Rock Me Amadeus Rock Me Amadeus "Rock Me Amadeus" is a 1985 song by Austrian pop musician Falco from his album Falco 3. It topped the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was Falco's only number one hit in either the United States or the United Kingdom, despite his popularity in Germany, his native Austria, and much... " |
Falco Falco (musician) Johann Hölzel , better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian pop and rock musician and rapper. He had several international hits: "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home " and posthumously, "Out Of The Dark"... |
| April 5 | "Rock Me Amadeus" | Falco |
| April 12 | "Rock Me Amadeus" | Falco |
| April 19 | "Kiss Kiss (song) In 1988 Art of Noise released a cover of the song, featuring Tom Jones on vocals. The song became the band's biggest hit to that point, reaching number eighteen on the U.S. dance charts and number five on the UK Singles Chart, higher than the original in that country... " |
Prince Prince (musician) Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of... |
| April 26 | "Kiss" | Prince |
| May 3 | "West End Girls West End Girls "West End Girls" is a song by British pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. It is a synthpop song, influenced by hip hop music. The lyrics focus on class, and inner-city pressure, and were inspired by T.S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land... " |
Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards.... |
| May 10 | "West End Girls" | Pet Shop Boys |
| May 17 | "Greatest Love of All Greatest Love of All "The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer... " |
Whitney Houston |
| May 24 | "Greatest Love of All" | Whitney Houston |
| May 31 | "Live to Tell Live to Tell "Live to Tell" is a pop ballad by American singer-songwriter Madonna. Originally written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of the film Fire with Fire, the song was shown to Madonna, who decided to use it for then-husband Sean Penn's film At Close Range... " |
Madonna Madonna (entertainer) Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983... |
| June 7 | "Live to Tell" | Madonna |
| June 14 | "Live to Tell" | Madonna |
| June 21 | "On My Own" | Patti Labelle Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry... and Michael McDonald Michael McDonald (singer) Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan... |
| June 28 | "On My Own" | Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald |
| July 5 | "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) "There'll Be Sad Songs " is a 1986 single by Billy Ocean. The song was written and produced by Wayne Brathwaite and Barry Eastmond; Ocean was also credited as a co-writer for the song. It appears on Ocean's 1986 album Love Zone, which was released on Jive Records... " |
Billy Ocean Billy Ocean Billy Ocean is a Trinidad-born English Grammy Award winning popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British-based R&B singer / songwriter of the early to mid-1980s... |
| July 12 | "Invisible Touch Invisible Touch (song) "Invisible Touch" is the title track of the 1986 Genesis album of the same name. It is the most successful single in the band's lengthy history and was their first and only #1 single in the United States. It went to number four in Canada, but only reached number 15 in the United Kingdom.Its B-side... " |
Genesis Genesis (band) Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years... |
| July 19 | "Invisible Touch" | Genesis |
| July 26 | "Invisible Touch" | Genesis |
| August 2 | "Glory of Love Glory of Love "Glory of Love" is a 1986 Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit song written by Peter Cetera, David Foster and Cetera's wife at the time, Diane Nini, and recorded by Cetera shortly after he left the band Chicago to pursue a solo career. The song was Cetera's first hit single and was included on his 1986 album,... " |
Peter Cetera Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera is an American singer, songwriter, bassist and producer best known for being an original member of the rock band Chicago, before launching a successful solo career... |
| August 9 | "Glory of Love" | Peter Cetera |
| August 16 | "Papa Don't Preach Papa Don't Preach "Papa Don't Preach" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The song was written by Brian Elliot with additional lyrics by Madonna, and produced by Stephen Bray and Madonna for her third studio album True Blue, released in June 1986... " |
Madonna |
| August 23 | "Papa Don't Preach" | Madonna |
| August 30 | "Higher Love Higher Love "Higher Love" is a 1986 number-one hit song by Steve Winwood. It was the first single released from his fourth solo LP, Back in the High Life. It was written by Winwood and Will Jennings, and produced by Russ Titelman and Winwood... " |
Steve Winwood Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz... |
| September 6 | "Higher Love" | Steve Winwood |
| September 13 | "Dancing on the Ceiling Dancing on the Ceiling (Lionel Richie song) "Dancing on the Ceiling" is a song written by Mike Frenchik, Lionel Richie and Carlos Rios and performed by Richie on his 1986 album Dancing on the Ceiling.... " |
Lionel Richie |
| September 20 | "Stuck with You Stuck with You "Stuck with You" is the title of a hit single by Huey Lewis and the News, written by guitarist Chris Hayes and lead singer Huey Lewis, from 1986. It was the first single from the band's fourth album, Fore!. The song spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 from September 20, 1986,... " |
Huey Lewis and the News Huey Lewis and the News Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts... |
| September 27 | "Stuck with You" | Huey Lewis and the News |
| October 4 | "Stuck with You" | Huey Lewis and the News |
| October 11 | "When I Think of You When I Think of You "When I Think of You" is the third single from Janet Jackson's third studio album, Control . Written by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and produced by Jam and Lewis, the song is about a person who finds relief and fun in a lover... " |
Janet Jackson Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years... |
| October 18 | "When I Think of You" | Janet Jackson |
| October 25 | "True Colors True Colors (song) "True Colors" is a song written by songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, additional lyrics by Cyndi Lauper. It was both the title track and the first single released from Cyndi Lauper's second album. It was the only original song on the album that Lauper did not help write... " |
Cyndi Lauper Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album... |
| November 1 | "True Colors" | Cyndi Lauper |
| November 8 | "Amanda" | Boston Boston (band) Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists... |
| November 15 | "Amanda" | Boston |
| November 22 | "Amanda" | Boston |
| November 29 | "Human" | The Human League The Human League The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant... |
| December 6 | "The Way It Is" | Bruce Hornsby and the Range Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and... |
| December 13 | "The Way It Is" | Bruce Hornsby and the Range |
| December 20 | "Walk Like an Egyptian Walk Like an Egyptian "Walk Like an Egyptian" is a number-one hit from the album Different Light by The Bangles in 1986.-Origin:Liam Sternberg wrote the song after seeing people on a ferry walking awkwardly to keep their balance, which reminded him of figures in Ancient Egyptian reliefs. The opening lyrics state, "All... " |
The Bangles The Bangles The Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :... |
| December 27 | "Walk Like an Egyptian" | The Bangles |