Here are Prince's 40 biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits.

Rank, Title, Hot 100 Peak Year, Position (Weeks Spent at No. 1)

1, "When Doves Cry," 1984, No. 1 (5)*
2, "Kiss," 1986, No. 1 (2)*
3, "Let's Go Crazy," 1984, No. 1 (2)*
4, "Cream," 1991, No. 1 (2)**
5, "Batdance," 1989, No. 1 (1)
6, "Raspberry Beret," 1985, No. 2*
7, "U Got the Look," 1987, No. 2
8, "Purple Rain," 1984, No. 2*
9, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," 1994, No. 3
10, "Sign 'O' the Times," 1987, No. 3
11, "Little Red Corvette," 1983, No. 6
12, "Diamonds and Pearls," 1992, No. 3**
13, "Thieves in the Temple," 1990, No. 6
14, "Pop Life," 1985, No. 7*
15, "Delirious," 1983, No. 8
16, "I Would Die 4 U," 1985, No. 8*
17, "7," 1993, No. 7**
18, "Alphabet St.," 1988, No. 8
19, "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man," 1988, No. 10
20, "1999," 1983, No. 12
21, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," 1980, No. 11
22, "Partyman," 1989, No. 18
23, "Gett Off," 1991, No. 21**
24, "Mountains," 1986, No. 23*
25, "Take Me With You," 1985, No. 25***
26, "The Arms of Orion," 1989, No. 36****
27, "Money Don't Matter 2 Night," 1992, No. 23**
28, "I Hate U," 1995, No. 12
29, "LetItGo," 1994, No. 31
30, "America," 1985, No. 46*
31. "The Morning Papers," 1993, No. 44**
32. "Anotherloverholenyohead," 1986, No. 63*
33. "Let's Pretend We're Married/Irresistible Bitch," 1984, No. 52*
34. "My Name Is Prince," 1992, No. 36**
35. "Hot Thing," 1988, No. 63
36. "Pink Cashmere," 1993, No. 50
37. "Controversy," 1981, No. 70
38. "Call My Name," 2004, No. 75
39. "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold," 2000, No. 63
40. "New Power Generation," 1990, No. 64

* Prince and the Revolution
** Prince and the N.P.G./The New Power Generation
*** Prince and the Revolution With Apollonia
**** Prince With Sheena Easton

This ranking is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower ranks earning lesser values. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, certain eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.

Source

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/483652/prince-biggest-hits

I'd say they were punishing Prince for not touring behind Sign in the states if ICNTTPOYM barely cracked the top ten, with Hot Thing on the B-side no less. Yet U Got the Look was released prior if I'm not mistaken, and it reached #2. What the fuck happened? The A-side should have topped the charts, one of his catchiest tracks ever.

Wolfie87 said:

TKO said:

mtlfan said:

I'd say they were punishing Prince for not touring behind Sign in the states if ICNTTPOYM barely cracked the top ten, with Hot Thing on the B-side no less. Yet U Got the Look was released prior if I'm not mistaken, and it reached #2. What the fuck happened? The A-side should have topped the charts, one of his catchiest tracks ever.

fun fact: the song that kept "U Got The Look" out of the Number One position was "Lost In Emotion" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam I love both songs.

"Black Sweat" #60

should be on your Top 40

SoulAlive said:

mtlfan said:

I'd say they were punishing Prince for not touring behind Sign in the states if ICNTTPOYM barely cracked the top ten, with Hot Thing on the B-side no less. Yet U Got the Look was released prior if I'm not mistaken, and it reached #2. What the fuck happened? The A-side should have topped the charts, one of his catchiest tracks ever.

fun fact: the song that kept "U Got The Look" out of the Number One position was "Lost In Emotion" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam I love both songs.

Another fun fact: the following week (October 24, 1987), "Lost In Emotion" fell 1-4. "U Got The Look" slipped 2-3 as Madonna's "Causing A Commotion" moved 5-2 and MJ's "Bad" leapt 4-1. With "Bad", "Causing A Commotion", and "U Got The Look" at nos. 1-3, it would mark the only time Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince would occupy the top three together on the Hot 100.

homesquid said:

"Black Sweat" #60

should be on your Top 40

I thought the same thing, but if you look closely at the list, you'll see it isn't always ranked in order of chart position. I'm pretty sure it's ranked according to total sales, so even though "Black Sweat" charted high enough to make the list, it might not have outsold the other songs since it came out in the latter half of the '00s.

mtlfan said:

homesquid said:

"Black Sweat" #60

should be on your Top 40

I thought the same thing, but if you look closely at the list, you'll see it isn't always ranked in order of chart position. I'm pretty sure it's ranked according to total sales, so even though "Black Sweat" charted high enough to make the list, it might not have outsold the other songs since it came out in the latter half of the '00s.

It's based on the song's overall chart performance. "Call My Name" only peaked at #75 but spent 18 weeks on the Hot 100. "Black Sweat" debuted at #60 then fell off the following week. "Call My Name" peaked lower but had an overall much stronger chart run. The same reason "Eye Hate U" is so low despite peaking at #12; it peaked in its 3rd week then plummeted.

Billboard also adjusts these lists to account for different eras, since songs spend significantly longer on the chart now and have since the switch to Soundscan in the early 90s. So despite peaking lower and spending slightly less time on the Hot 100, "Little Red Corvette" ranks above "Diamonds & Pearls".

[Edited 4/23/20 8:15am]

renfield said:

Wolfie87 said:

renfield said:

Another fun fact: the following week (October 24, 1987), "Lost In Emotion" fell 1-4. "U Got The Look" slipped 2-3 as Madonna's "Causing A Commotion" moved 5-2 and MJ's "Bad" leapt 4-1. With "Bad", "Causing A Commotion", and "U Got The Look" at nos. 1-3, it would mark the only time Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince would occupy the top three together on the Hot 100.

Ugh, I now know why I don't listen to 80's pop. Those soundscapes are horrendous. Don't give me that genius shit on both MJ's or Madonna's singles that week. And I'm not even a big fan of U Got The Look!

None of those are even close to the best singles in the respective artists' catalogues, but it's cool the three of them were together at the top of the chart like that.