Will the K-Pop megahit take the lead? We’ll soon see.
HUNTR/X in ‘KPop Demon Hunters’
Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters has slayed on Billboard’s Top Soundtracks chart, having led the list for 54 weeks – just eight weeks shy of the record. This chart was introduced a little more than 25 years ago – on June 30, 2001 – which means it doesn’t include blockbuster soundtracks of previous eras, including West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Doctor Zhivago, Saturday Night Fever and Purple Rain. Actually, it does include one – The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s 1965 TV soundtrack, A Charlie Brown Christmas – but only because of its chart success since 2001.
KPop Demon Hunters has been No. 1 for all but four of its 58 weeks on Top Soundtracks, having yielded for one week each to Wicked: For Good, the holiday perennial A Charlie Brown Christmas, Charli xcx’s Wuthering Heights and the soundtrack to this year’s most-talked about TV miniseries, Heated Rivalry.
With KPop Demon Hunters likely to set a new record for the most weeks at No. 1 on Top Soundtracks, we thought it would be a good time to look at the 12 soundtracks that have led the chart for 25 weeks or more. The list includes two TV soundtracks and 10 film soundtracks. Notably, the five soundtracks with the most weeks at No. 1 are all from animated films.
Here are the 12 soundtracks that have logged the most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Soundtracks chart since the chart was introduced on June 30, 2001. The number in each header is the number of weeks the album has spent at No. 1. They are listed in ascending order.
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Twisters: The Album, 25
Date Reached No. 1: Aug. 3, 2024
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 7
Singles: “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” (Luke Combs)
Notes: This soundtrack made No. 3 on Top Country Albums.Combs’ recording of “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” reached No. 3 on Hot Country Songs and No. 13 on the Hot 100.
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High School Musical, 26
Date Reached No. 1: Feb. 11, 2006
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 1 (two weeks)
Singles: “Breaking Free” (Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens), “Get’cha Head in the Game” (Zac Efron), “We’re All in This Together” (Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu & Monique Coleman)
Notes: This Disney TV program received six Primetime Emmy nominations and won two – outstanding children’s program and outstanding choreography. The soundtrack to the sequel, High School Musical 2, led the Top Soundtracks chart for 17 weeks.
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Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born, 26
Date Reached No. 1: Oct. 20, 2018
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 1 (four weeks)
Singles: “Shallow” (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper), “Always Remember Us This Way” (Lady Gaga), “I’ll Never Love Again” (Lady Gaga)
Notes: The Hot 100-topping “Shallow” won the Oscar for best original song. Gaga received a second Oscar nod for best actress. The film’s music also scored big at the Grammys. The soundtrack won best compilation soundtrack for visual media. “Shallow” and “I’ll Never Love Again” won back-to-back awards for best song written for visual media – an unprecedented feat.
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The Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas, 31
Date Reached No. 1: Nov. 30, 2013
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 6
Singles: “Christmas Time Is Here (vocal)”
Notes: This album was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007 and the National Recording Registry in 2011. The 1965 TV special received a Primetime Emmy in 1966 for outstanding children’s program. Surprisingly, Guaraldi’s music for the special didn’t receive any Grammy nominations at the time. The composer’s only Grammy nod was best original jazz composition for “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.”
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Barbie: The Album, 33
Date Reached No. 1: Aug. 5, 2023
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 2
Singles: “Dance the Night” (Dua Lipa), “Angel” (PinkPantheress), “Barbie World” (Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice with Aqua), “Speed Drive” (Charli xcx), “What Was I Made For?” (Billie Eilish), “Choose Your Fighter” (Ava Max)
Notes: “What Was I Made For?” brought Billie Eilish and Finneas their second Oscar for best original song. “I’m Just Ken” (written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt) was also nominated in that category. The soundtrack won a Grammy for best compilation soundtrack for visual media. “What Was I Made For?” brought Eilish and Finneas their second Grammy in the category of best song written for visual media, and, even more impressively, their second in the category of song of the year.
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O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 34
Date Reached No. 1: Aug. 11, 2001
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 1 (two weeks)
Singles: “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” (The Soggy Bottom Boys)
Notes: The O Brother soundtrack headed Top Country Albums for 35 weeks, longer than any other soundtrack in the history of the chart (which originated in 1964). It won Grammys for album of the year and best compilation soundtrack for visual media. (It was the first of a record three wins in the latter category for producer T Bone Burnett, who went on to win for Walk the Line and Crazy Heart.) O Brother also won album of the year at both the CMA Awards and the ACM Awards.
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The Greatest Showman, 34
Date Reached No. 1: Jan. 6, 2018
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 1 (two weeks)
Singles: “This Is Me” (Keala Settle), “Rewrite the Stars” (Zac Efron and Zendaya)
Notes: “This Is Me” brought songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul their third Oscar nomination for best original song. They won the previous year for “City of Stars” from La La Land and were also nominated that same year for another song from that film, “Audition (The Fools Who Dream).” The Greatest Showman won a Grammy as best compilation soundtrack for visual media. Showman and O Brother, Where Art Thou? are tied as the soundtracks from live-action films with the longest runs at No. 1.
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Encanto, 41
Date Reached No. 1: Jan. 8, 2022
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 1 (nine weeks)
Singles: “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (Adassa, Stephanie Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Rhenzy Feliz, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero & cast of Encanto)
Notes: “Dos Oruguitas” brought composer Lin-Manuel Miranda his second Oscar nod for best original song. What would have happened if his camp had entered the more popular “Bruno” – which topped the Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks – instead? We’ll never know. “Bruno” won a Grammy for best song written for visual media. The soundtrack won best compilation soundtrack for visual media. The film won a second Oscar for best animated feature film.
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Frozen, 44
Date Reached No. 1: Dec. 14, 2013
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 1 (13 weeks)
Singles: “Let It Go” (Demi Lovato), “Let It Go” (Idina Menzel)
Notes: “Let It Go,” which made the top five on the Hot 100 for Menzel, brought Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez their first Oscar for best original song. The film won a second Oscar for best animated feature film. The soundtrack won a Grammy for best compilation soundtrack for visual media, while “Let It Go” won best song written for visual media.
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Frozen II, 51
Date Reached No. 1: Dec. 7, 2019
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 1 (one week)
Singles: “Into the Unknown” (Idina Menzel & Aurora), “Into the Unknown” (Panic! At The Disco)
Notes: “Into the Unknown” brought Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez their third Oscar nod for best original song.
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KPop Demon Hunters, 54
Date Reached No. 1: July 5, 2025
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 1 (two weeks)
Singles: “Takedown” (Twice), “Golden” (HUNTR/X), “How It’s Done” (HUNTR/X)
Notes: “Golden,” which topped the Hot 100 for eight nonconsecutive weeks, won an Oscar for best original song. It was the first song with seven writers to win, which means the winners must somehow share one trophy. (The Academy has a strict rule that it will award no more than four trophies in the category. If a song has more than four writers, they must share one.) The film won a second Oscar for best animated feature film. “Golden” also won a Grammy for best song written for visual media.
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Moana, 62
Date Reached No. 1: Dec. 24, 2016
Top Billboard 200 ranking: No. 2
Singles: “How Far I’ll Go” (Alessia Cara), “You’re Welcome” (Dwayne Johnson), “You’re Welcome” (Jordan Fisher)
Notes: “How Far I’ll Go” brought composer Lin-Manuel Miranda his first Oscar nomination for best original song. The film was also nominated for best animated feature film. Miranda also won a Grammy for best song for visual media for “How Far I’ll Go” – his first Grammy for non-Broadway work.
