Billie Eilish Joins Morissette & Sinead O’Connor As Only Women with Multiple Alternative Song Chart #1s

One of the fastest growing pop stars of the year, Billie Eilish, has now joined the elite group of women who have had multiple #1 songs on Billboard’s Alternative Song Chart. Eilish reached this just this week, as her track “Bad Guy” tops the chart in its most recent iteration. While, “Bad Guy” is topping the alternative chart currently, it is also spending its 8th week at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs list. This is Eilish’s second alternative #1 of the year following her song “Bury a Friend” back in May. The singer is also the youngest women to achieve this, being only 17 years old. The two other women who have achieved multiple chart toppers in this category are Alanis Morissette and Sinead O’Connor, both of whom accomplished this back in the 1990s. 

The Billboard Alternative Songs Chart tracks the most popular alternative and modern tracks of the week based on radio play. The list looks at which songs are being played the most in radio stations across the country in order to determine its ranking, which is why the list differs from many of Billboard’s other charts that incorporate streaming as well. 

Prior to this week, it had been over 20 years since a female singer had multiple chart toppers on the list, with Morissette becoming the second woman of the three in 1995. The first female performer to have multiple #1 songs on the chart was Sinead O’Connor, who achieved this with her track “The Emperor’s New Clothes” back in in 1990. O’Connor had first led the chart earlier that year with the song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Morissette went on to beat O’Connor’s record with her songs “You Oughta Know” and “Hand In My Pocket” both topping the chart in 1995 and her track “Ironic” following the next year. To this day, Morissette is still the only female performer to have three #1 songs on this chart. With Eilish’s meteoric rise to fame over the past few years, however, the singer might be poised to take the crown over the course of her career.

Nick Foulk: I am a third year UCSD student pursuing a double major in History and Political Science. I am also passionate about all types of hip-hop, indie, and folk music. I began writing music journalism in 2018 and am excited to see where it takes me.
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