The Highest-Charting Hot 100 Hit on Every Beyonce Album

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Happy Birthday, Queen Bey!

Since making the leap from Destiny’s Child standout to solo superstar, Beyoncé has changed popular music, expanded the possibilities of a modern musical artist — and scored a ton of indispensable hit singles along the way.

While Beyonce’s albums have ranged from radio-ready pop collections to eye-popping visual endeavors to exploratory sonic curations, she has often provided fans the type of fodder ripe for the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In honor of the superstar’s birthday today (Sept. 4), check out the highest-charting Hot 100 hit from all of Beyonce’s solo studio albums — from her 2003 debut to 2019’s The Lion King: The Gift, which recently returned to the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart — below.


Dangerously In Love (2003):
“Crazy in Love” feat. Jay-Z & “Baby Boy” feat. Sean Paul, No. 1 peaks

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After watching what she had accomplished as a member of Destiny’s Child, few were betting against Beyoncé’s solo success when she fully arrived with 2003 debut Dangerously in Love… but if there were any doubters left, the first two singles certainly demonstrated what she could do as a commercial force. “Crazy In Love,” her team-up with then-boyfriend Jay-Z, became an enduring smash, and Beyonce followed it up by tapping emerging Jamaican star Sean Paul for “Baby Boy.” As a result, Dangerously in Love included multiple No. 1 Hot 100 singles — remarkably, the only Beyoncé solo album thus far with that distinction.

B’Day (2006):
“Irreplaceable,” No. 1 peak

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Beyoncé’s follow-up to Dangerously in Love couldn’t have asked for a stronger lead track: “Déjà Vu,” a re-teaming with Jay-Z after the phenomenal success of “Crazy In Love,” naturally became another huge hit for the pair, making its way to No. 4 on the Hot 100.

However, “Irreplaceable” later one-upped it during the B’Day campaign: the self-affirming breakup track, marked by its “to the left, to the left” direction toward an ex, followed “Crazy in Love” as both a No. 1 single and as a record of the year Grammy nominee for Queen Bey. (“Check on It,” a Slim Thug-featuring No. 1 from the soundtrack to the Steve Martin-starring remake of The Pink Panther, was later added to the set as a bonus track.)

I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008):
“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” No. 1 peak

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Beyonce’s third solo album features arguably her most diverse array of top 10 hits: the moving ballad “If I Were a Boy” kicked off the new era by reaching No. 3 on the Hot 100, while the life-affirming pop of “Halo” electronic rhythms of “Sweet Dreams” also made their mark on top 40 radio. Yet it was “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” that fittingly climbed the highest, as one of the most beloved singles in Beyoncé’s discography, an undying club staple and a video of the year recipient at the MTV Video Music Awards.

4 (2011):
“Best Thing I Never Had,” No. 16 peak

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While Beyoncé’s 2011 album 4 was her first solo full-length to not include a top 10 hit, the free-ranging LP did include three top 40 hits, including the boisterous lead single “Run the World (Girls)” (No. 29) and the vivacious “Love on Top” (No. 20). The highest-charting single from the album was perhaps its most understated: “Best Thing I Never Had,” an ode to good karma that was co-produced by Babyface, reached No. 16 on the Hot 100.

Beyoncé (2013):
“Drunk in Love” feat. Jay-Z, No. 2 peak

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The term “pulling a Beyoncé” originated with her self-titled opus, which she surprise-released in December 2013 and upended the music industry’s tried-and-true rollout strategy in the process. While Beyoncé — also a visual album, with videos for each track — stands as one of the most acclaimed full-lengths of her career, “Drunk in Love” also returned Beyoncé and Jay-Z to pop radio, reaching No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart and winning Grammys for best R&B song and best R&B performance.

Lemonade (2016):
“Formation,” No. 10 peak

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Like Beyoncé before it, Lemonade received an unorthodox rollout, as the second visual album was accompanied by an HBO film of the same name upon its April 2016 unveiling. Unlike Beyoncé, however, Lemonade was preceded by a proper single — the combustible, trap-inspired “Formation,” which was released one day before Super Bowl 50, and then performed by Beyoncé during its halftime show alongside Coldplay and Bruno Mars. While the song was Lemonade’s only top 10 hit, “Sorry” and “Hold Up” peaked at Nos. 11 and 13, respectively.

The Lion King: The Gift (2019):
“Brown Skin Girl,” feat. Saint Jhn, Wizkid and Blue Ivy Carter, No. 76 peak

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Since the release of 2016’s Lemonade, Beyoncé has remained a steady presence near the top of the Hot 100: she’s scored No. 1 hits with reworked versions of Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” and reached No. 3 on a remix of J Balvin and Willy William’s global smash “Mi Gente.”

And along with projects like her legendary Coachella headlining set, the Homecoming live album that chronicled that performance and her 2018 joint album with Jay-Z as The Carters, Queen Bey also created The Lion King: The Gift, a soundtrack album to coincide with the 2019 remake of The Lion King and then her 2020 visual project Black Is King. Its highest-charting hit, the heartfelt “Brown Skin Girl,” features Wizkid, Saint Jhn and Beyonce’s own daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.

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