The Whitburn Project is an informal group that collects data about all songs in the Billboard chart, and has amassed a huge amount of information from 1890 onwards. The data is a little inconsistent (due to the nature of mass collaboration) and isn’t 100% complete, but it still allows for some interesting analysis.
Here we present the most successful songwriters of all time and per decade (from the 60s onwards), according to this data. Note that inconsistencies may result in some songwriters having their data split across multiple spellings of their name, e.g. Timbaland may appear as both Tim Mosley and T.V. Mosley in the 2000s chart.
Source Data
Song Writer | Writing Credits |
1890-2008 | |
Babyface | 94 |
Gerry Goffin | 96 |
Eddie Holland Jr. | 97 |
Carole
King |
99 |
Brian Holland | 102 |
Lamont Dozier | 105 |
Burt Bacharach | 105 |
Hal David | 111 |
John Lennon | 127 |
Paul McCartney | 141 |
1960s | |
William “Smokey” Robinson | 61 |
Carole King | 67 |
Eddie Holland Jr. | 73 |
Lamont Dozier | 74 |
Brian Holland | 74 |
Burt Bacharach | 76 |
Gerry Goffin | 76 |
Hal David | 79 |
John Lennon | 86 |
Paul McCartney | 86 |
1970s | |
Brian Holland | 28 |
Neil Diamond | 28 |
Robin Gibb | 28 |
James Brown | 31 |
Lamont Dozier | 31 |
Carole King | 32 |
Norman Whitfield | 34 |
John Lennon | 38 |
Barry Gibb | 39 |
Kenny Gamble | 47 |
Leon Huff | 48 |
Paul McCartney | 52 |
1980s | |
B.Springsteen | 14 |
B.Taupin | 15 |
H.Knight | 15 |
J.Vallance | 15 |
D.Child | 17 |
Babyface | 18 |
D.Warren | 19 |
*Prince Symbol* | 20 |
D.Foster | 22 |
J.Harris III | 26 |
T.Lewis | 27 |
1990s | |
Madonna | 21 |
L.A.Reid | 21 |
R.Kelly | 21 |
D.Simmons | 25 |
T.Riley | 26 |
*Prince Symbol* | 26 |
J.Harris III | 45 |
T.Lewis | 45 |
D.Warren | 47 |
Babyface | 69 |
2000s | |
A.Thiam | 17 |
Jermaine Dupri | 17 |
Marshall Mathers | 17 |
S.Smith | 19 |
T.E.Hermansen | 19 |
J.Dupri | 20 |
T.V.Mosley | 25 |
S.Garrett | 26 |
Tim Mosley | 28 |
Pharrell Williams | 28 |
Chad Hugo | 35 |
R. Kelly | 37 |
Timbaland doubles up! Tim Mosley and T.V. Mosley are the same guy!
er, whoops, just read the charts not the analysis. sorry.
@Emmet No worries! It’s a valid issue; unfortunately we just used very basic methods for aggregating the data into individuals (exact matches of their name). If you put his stats together, he certainly wipes the floor with any other songwriter of the 2000s – in terms of quantity, not quality 🙂
Fascinating stuff: and unless there are some hidden in the initials, looks like Carole King and Madonna are the only 2 women. Makes you appreciate Carole King’s achievement I think.
D. Warren is Diane, writer of hits for Celine Dion & Meatloaf (I think) among others. Not to be confused with Dianne Warren, writer of short story collections Bad Luck Dog and Reckless Moon. I think had a novel out recently too.
Also curious that Huff has more creds than Gamble!
Where is Mariah Carey on this list? Shes had 18 no.1s and 27 top tens and she wrote most of them