May 15 is a significant day in Top 40 history for its culture, songs, performances, and considerable industry moments.
Breakthrough Hits and Milestones
May 15 has been a date on which a lot of artists have made career waves:
- 1982: “Ebony and Ivory” by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder hit one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song, promoting racial harmony, remained at the top for seven weeks, becoming one of the year’s biggest hits.
- 2010: Usher’s “OMG” featuring will.i.am reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Usher’s ninth chart-topping single and marking will.i.am’s first as a solo artist.
- 2017: Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first mostly Spanish-language song to top the chart since “Macarena” in 1996.
Cultural Milestones
May 15 has been a key reference point beyond just chart success, in times when music has shaped culture:
- 1990: Snap! released the album World Power, establishing that Eurodance music has become successful in the United States. The rapidly changing music scene and expanding global cultural reach made it an interesting time with the album’s release.
- 2003: Country singer June Carter Cash, wife of Johnny Cash, died in Nashville at the age of 73. A member of the Carter Family, she later went on in her own career and, eventually, had some notoriety again through duets with Johnny Cash as a married couple, representing a legacy in the country music genre.
- 2020: Charli XCX releases her album how i’m feeling now, which was completely written during the COVID-19 lockdown. The record embodies a time and type of case study of an artist who used digital tools to create, share, and profile music during a worldwide crisis.
May 15 is a noteworthy day in Top 40 music for milestone achievements, cultural intersections, and industry movement. Hit songs on the charts, landmark performances, and critical industry shifts featured in Top 40 daily the highlights demonstrate diversity and fluidity of the music world.
