Drake beats The Beatles’ record on most top five hits with ‘Stayin’ Alive’
Drizzy’s take on the Bee Gees classic knocked his record number to 30
Drake has now beaten The Beatles’ long-running record of top five hits.
Ironically, the singer surpassed the pop icons with a cover of the Bee Gees’ 1977 classic ‘Stayin’ Alive’, which this week debuted at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.
The hit track marked Drizzy’s 30th top five hits, beating The Beatles’ record of 29. The legendary four-piece made their 29th top five in 1996 with ‘Real Love’.
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“DJ Khaled’s ‘Staying Alive’, featuring Drake & Lil Baby, debuted at No. 5 on this week’s #Hot100. It has earned Drake his 30th career top 5 hit, passing The Beatles for the most of all time,” reads a tweet from Billboard.
Billboard also revealed that Drake is the first artist in history to earn 100 top 20 hits on its Hot 100.
In 2019, the singer-cum-rapper sang the verse: “I got more slaps than The Beatles” in Meek Mill’s ‘Going Bad’. The same year, the rapper also got a tattoo depicting himself walking along the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing alongside The Beatles.
Despite his references to the famous foursome, Drake has yet to surpass The Beatles’ number of UK No. 1’s, currently holding just six under his belt compared to the band’s 17.
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In 1964, The Beatles also held all top five positions in the charts for a period of time. The band also achieved most of their top five places in just five years, in comparison to Drake’s 14.
Last year, Drake credited both John Lennon and Paul McCartney on his sixth studio album, ‘Certified Lover Boy’. The long-awaited record nodded to The Beatles members on ‘Champagne Poetry’, which reworked the band’s 1965 ‘Michelle’.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter