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Paul McCartney is about as at home on the Hot 100 as an artist can be. From the Beatles' record-setting 71 singles on the Hot 100 chart to McCartney's nine post-Beatles No. 1s, his songs are all over the Billboard history books.
Paul McCartney: The Billboard Cover Story
Now, in honor of Sir Paul's 70th birthday (June 18), we've compiled a list the 40 biggest Billboard hits from his nearly 50-year career. The ranking includes not only Wings hits and Macca duets with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, but the Beatles' biggest chart-toppers -- some of which Paul wrote, others that he simply contributed to as part of the great Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo.
This chart of Paul McCartney's 40 biggest Billboard hits is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100. Songs are ranked using an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least.
40
Do You Want To Know A Secret
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1964
Reinforcing the collaborative nature of the Beatles, the first song on this McCartney countdown was based on a fond John Lennon memory and sung by George Harrison. The song, a No. 2 hit on the Hot 100, was inspired by the tune "I'm Wishing" (from Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"), which Lennon's mother Julia sang to him as a child.
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39
Yellow Submarine
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1966
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1966
If you wrote, you sang it -- or so went the philosophy behind the Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo. There are a handful of exceptions to this rule, and "Yellow Submarine" is among them. The Ringo-led tale, which reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart, first appeared as a "Revolver" single in 1966 but later inspired a colorful animated film of the same name.
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38
Penny Lane
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1967
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1967
Later released on the "Magical Mystery Tour" album, "Penny Lane" first arrived as a now-iconic double-sided single with "Strawberry Fields Forever." Capitol released the 45 so that the Beatles' chart hiatus would end at six months -- an eternity for the Fab Four at the time. There is a real Penny Lane in Liverpool, where McCartney and Lennon used to meet in the early days of their songwriting partnership. (Penny Lane street sign thefts, presumably among Beatles fans for whom owning a key souvenir trumps abiding by the law, have long been common).
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37
Got To Get You Into My Life
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 7
Peak Date: 1976
Hot 100 Peak Position: 7
Peak Date: 1976
Six years after the Beatles broke up and 10 years after its initial release, "Got to Get You Into My Life" reached No. 7 on the Hot 100 chart in 1976. How? Best-of Beatles compilation "Rock 'n' Roll Music" was released, and needed a single. Even at that, the brassy track, originally off "Revolver," was not the Beatles' last top-10 single (1995's "Free as a Bird" was).
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36
Goodnight Tonight
Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 5
Peak Date: 1979
Hot 100 Peak Position: 5
Peak Date: 1979
Paul and his band Wings went full-on flamenco for 1979's "Goodnight Tonight," which reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 chart despite only being released as a single at the time. Years later, the intensely funky "Goodnight Tonight" -- with its killer bassline from Paul himself -- made it onto McCartney's "All the Best!" compilation.
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35
Lady Madonna
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 4
Peak Date: 1968
Hot 100 Peak Position: 4
Peak Date: 1968
McCartney utilized his lower register and boogie-woogie piano skills for this 1968 single about a single mother, which he later noted was inspired by Fats Domino. "Lady Madonna" is unlike any other Beatles song, featuring much more brass than the band had ever used, but it still was a hit on the charts, reaching No. 4 on the Hot 100.
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34
Eight Days A Week
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1965
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1965
An example of the Beatles' early bubblegum pop smashes, McCartney has reportedly attributed the song's inspiration to a chauffeur driver that Lennon once encountered. Asked about his schedule, the driver said that he'd been working hard. How hard? "Eight days a week." The single's flipside, "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party," reached No. 39 on the Hot 100 in 1965 and became a Country Songs No. 1 for Rosanne Cash in 1989.
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33
The Long And Winding Road/For You Blue
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1970
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1970
The Beatles' 20th -- and so far final -- No. 1 single on the Hot 100 chart hit the top of the tally on May 23, 1970. The song was remixed by producer Phil Spector previous to its release (adding strings and a choir, among other instrumentation), much to the dismay of Paul McCartney. Two non-Spectorized versions of the song can be heard on the Beatles' "Anthology 3" archival album, and the 2003 "Let It Be... Naked" album. The latter was a look back at the band's original "Let It Be" set, but stripped down, without Spector's added touches. ("The Long and Winding Road" was a double-A-sided single with "For You Blue.")
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32
Paperback Writer
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1966
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1966
This two-minute 1966 single about an aspiring author was unlike nearly all other Beatles hits up to that point because it had nothing to do with love. The upbeat song also heralded a more psychedelic sound for the Fab Four, which fans were fond of: "Paperback Writer" spent two weeks atop the Hot 100 chart.
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31
Please Please Me
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 1964
The Beatles' second single, "Please Please Me," peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 1964, thanks to John Lennon and "the fifth Beatle," producer George Martin. The song's initial release in 1963 failed to make much of an impression on U.S. audiences, but upon the song's re-release nearly a year later -- with "From Me to You" as the B-side -- it fared considerably well on the charts.
30
Ticket To Ride
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1965
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1965
In 1980, John Lennon told "Playboy" that 1965's "Ticket to Ride" was "one of the earliest heavy-metal records." The meaning of the song has long been debated: McCartney claimed it was about riding the British Railway to the town of Ryde, while Lennon said the track referred to the Hamburg prostitutes' cards that indicated clean bills of health, as "ride" was slang for having sex. Critics have speculated that the single from "Help!" is actually about abortion.
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29
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
Paul & Linda McCartney
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1971
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1971
Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is famous for its use of sound effects: a thunderstorm, rain, telephones dialing, chirping birds and more. The 1971 chart-topper was released on "Ram" and reappeared seven years later on Wings' "Greatest," despite not being a Wings single.
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28
Love Me Do
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1964
The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do," rose to No. 1 on the Hot 100 two years after it was recorded, following the band's 1964 "Ed Sullivan Show" performances and the start of Beatlemania. Both this track and the b-side, "P.S. I Love You," were credited Lennon-McCartney but principally written by Paul in the late '50s when he was 16.
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27
Junior's Farm/Sally G
Paul McCartney & Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 1975
Hot 100 Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 1975
Written by Paul and Linda McCartney, "Junior's Farm" was recorded in Nashville in 1974 by Paul McCartney and Wings, continuing the band's success after it's 1973 "Band on the Run" album. McCartney was inspired to compose the country-influenced b-side "Sally G" after visiting a Printers Alley country music club in Nashville. Although a full-color costumed photo was taken for the single, Apple Records saved money by releasing it without a sleeve in the US and UK.
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26
All You Need Is Love
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1967
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1967
Premiered by the Beatles on the global TV broadcast "Our World," which drew a reported 400 million viewers in 26 countries on June 25, 1967, the renowned peace anthem begins with an instrumental portion of the French national anthem. Beatles fans get a bonus at the track's close: a snippet of the chorus to the group's 1964 No. 1 "She Loves You" (which lies ahead on this ranking).
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25
Let 'Em In
Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 1976
Hot 100 Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 1976
McCartney and Wings followed up "Silly Love Songs" with another easy-listening single, "Let 'Em In." The song, off the album "Wings at the Speed of Sound," became a staple on the Hot 100 chart and peaked at No. 3 in 1976. McCartney incorporated the names of family and friends into the track, which channels a subtle military feel via touches of fife-and-drum.
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24
Live And Let Die
Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1973
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1973
While the 1973 single is one of the of the most famous James Bond film theme songs, it never reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart. (The famous British secret spy franchise wouldn't nab its first chart-topper until Duran Duran's "A View To a Kill" in 1985.) Rock band Guns N' Roses would later cover the song for its "Use Your Illusion I" album in 1991, and released it as a single later that same year. It peaked at No. 33 on the Hot 100.
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23
With A Little Luck
Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1978
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1978
"London Town" single "With a Little Luck" was decidedly modern for McCartney and Wings, utilizing synthesizers throughout the 1978 track. Paul shows his emotional maturity on the song, acknowledging that relationships take work - and "a little luck." The single version, which is two and a half minutes shorter than the album cut, reigned on the Hot 100 for two weeks.
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22
Help!
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date: 1965
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date: 1965
From Elvis Presley to today's stars (Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Taylor Swift), acting and singing have long gone hand-in-hand. After the Beatles' first film, "A Hard Day's Night" (whose title cut is still to come on this countdown), the band returned to the big screen with the trippy, Marx brothers-inspired "Help!" Viewers may have been a bit hazy about the movie's plot -- the Beatles battle an evil cult ... -- but the title song was easily accepted, having become their ninth Hot 100 No. 1.
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21
Twist And Shout
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1964
The Beatles certainly weren't the only band to release "Twist and Shout," originally recorded by the Top Notes and covered by likes of the Isley Brothers, the Mamas & the Papas and the Who. But the Fab Four's rambunctious cover remains, arguably, the signature version, as well as a rare cover song for the Beatles. The "Please Please Me" single stayed on the Hot 100 chart for quite some time throughout 1964, peaking at No. 2.
20
Listen To What The Man Said
Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1975
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1975
From Wings' 1975 "Venus and Mars" album, "Listen to What the Man Said" was recorded by the band in New Orleans, but McCartney was not happy with early versions of the song. After adding Traffic's Dave Mason on guitar and composer Tom Scott on soprano sax, the track was released and rose to No. 1 on the Hot 100.
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19
Yesterday
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (four weeks)
Peak Date: 1965
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (four weeks)
Peak Date: 1965
The story behind "Yesterday" is almost as famous as the heartfelt acoustic track itself: McCartney wrote the song using the words "scrambled eggs" in place of "Yesterday" before he figured out a good fit. The result was a love-lost ballad -- from "Help!" -- that stayed at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for four weeks in 1965.
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18
I Feel Fine
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
Reaching the summit the week of Dec. 5, 1964, the song began the Beatles' longest streak of Hot 100 No. 1s (six). The Bee Gees (1977-79) and, most recently, Katy Perry (2010-11), have since equaled the run, with only Whitney Houston (seven, 1985-88) logging a longer stretch of consecutive chart leaders.
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17
Can't Buy Me Love
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (five weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (five weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
When the Beatles' "Can't My Me Love" ascended to No. 1 on the Hot 100 on April 4, 1964, it marked an incredible achievement in Billboard history: for the first time ever, one act held occupied the entire top five on the chart. "Love" was followed by the band's "Twist and Shout," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me" at Nos. 2-5, respectively. No act since has ever monopolized the top five.
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16
We Can Work It Out
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date: 1966
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date: 1966
One of the most obvious spotlights on how McCartney and Lennon's songwriting styles -- and, ultimately, viewpoints -- combined to create musical masterpieces. McCartney's optimistic refrain, "We can work it out," contrasts with Lennon's contribution, the darker and minor chord-driven, "Life is very short and there's no time," bridge. The Hot 100 No. 1 was backed by b-side "Day Tripper," a No. 5 hit in its own right.
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15
A Hard Day's Night
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
The Beatles' first feature film, a black-and-white comedy starring the band, featured the 1964 single of the same name on the soundtrack. It took only three hours to record the final version of "A Hard Day's Night," which topped both the UK and US charts upon release.
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14
The Girl Is Mine
Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1983
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 1983
The first of two Jackson/McCartney collaborations on this list, "The Girl Is Mine" was the first single from Jackson's mega-blockbuster 1982 album "Thriller." It was released in October 1982 and quickly debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 45, eventually peaking at No. 2. It would preview the pair's "Say Say Say" collabo, which would arrive the following year. But more on that in just a bit...
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13
Band On The Run
Paul McCartney & Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1974
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1974
The title track off McCartney and Wings' beloved album of the same name reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1974, albeit running from the top stop after just a week. As a single, the five-minute "Band On the Run" showed variety for McCartney and Wings: three distinct parts that don't depend on a chorus yet still manage to feel anthemic.
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12
Hello Goodbye
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date: 1967
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date: 1967
This McCartney-penned single off "Magical Mystery Tour" said "Hello" to the Hot 100 summit in late 1967, only to say "Goodbye" after three weeks -- an admirable run for a song that Paul is rumored to have written on a whim while demonstrating his songwriting method to an employee of Beatles manager, Brian Epstein. The upbeat, piano-driven track ends in a full-on hootenanny, showing off Paul's impressive higher register.
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11
Come Together/Something
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1969
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1
Peak Date: 1969
Famously -- at least in Hot 100 chart history -- "Come Together/Something" charted as two separate entities on the tally until the week of Nov. 29, 1969. "Come Together" was the A-side (or primary single) of the 7-inch vinyl single, while "Something" (by George Harrison), was the B-side. The two songs charted individually, both peaking within the top five on the tally. However, on Nov. 29, Billboard changed its rules regarding how double-sided singles could chart, and decided that they could chart together as one entity on the list. That week, "Come Together/Something" shot to No. 1.
10
Let It Be
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1970
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1970
The band's 19th No. 1 on the Hot 100 also helped earn the band an Academy Award for original song score at the 1970 Oscars. The tune was featured in the documentary film "Let It Be," which chronicled the making of the album of the same name. Famously, the movie concludes with the group's final public performance -- atop the roof of the Apple office in London.
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9
Get Back
The Beatles with Billy Preston
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (five weeks)
Peak Date: 1969
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (five weeks)
Peak Date: 1969
Certainly one of the Beatles' most lyrically controversial No. 1 Hot 100 singles, "Get Back" features the lyric "Sweet Loretta Martina thought she was a woman, but she was another man." The rollicking tune, which features famed session musician (and artist in his own right) Billy Preston on keyboards, sailed to No. 1 on May 24, 1969.
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8
She Loves You
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (two weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
With its "yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain, the song harkens back to the Beatles' early era when simple, hooky pop/rock was their norm. While the band eventually segued to a steadier diet of ballads and psychedelic fare, fans apparently still have more than a soft spot for this nugget: in 2009, the Official Charts Co. named "She Loves You" the Beatles' best-selling song in the U.K., having passed "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
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7
Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)
Paul McCartney & Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date:1980
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (three weeks)
Peak Date:1980
McCartney embraced disco and new wave in his own small way with 1980's "Coming Up," just as the former was phasing out and the latter becoming in vogue in pop music. Radio stations picked up, specifically, on the more straight-forward live from Glasgow version of this single from "McCartney II."
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6
My Love
Paul McCartney & Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (four weeks)
Peak Date: 1973
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (four weeks)
Peak Date: 1973
It's no mystery that Paul McCartney is a sensitive fella with a penchant for penning love songs. Besides "Maybe I'm Amazed" (which didn't make this list), his sultry 1973 single "My Love" takes the cake for his most touching track during his post- Beatles career. Fans agreed, and made the song -- off McCartney and Wings' "Red Rose Speedway" -- No. 1 on the Hot 100 for four weeks.
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5
Ebony And Ivory
Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (seven weeks)
Peak Date: 1982
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (seven weeks)
Peak Date: 1982
As a soloist, Wonder had topped the Hot 100 with six songs between 1963 and 1977, with his debut hit "Fingertips - Pt 2" and "Sir Duke" each reigning for as many as three weeks. With McCartney as his duet partner, the song brought Wonder his longest stay atop the chart (seven weeks). Ironically, despite the song's message of coexisting "side by side," McCartney and Wonder shot their parts of its video separately.
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4
I Want To Hold Your Hand
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (seven weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (seven weeks)
Peak Date: 1964
The song that started Beatlemania. As Lennon told "Playboy" magazine in 1980 about the song that the Fab Four performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, "We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were playing on the piano at the same time. We had, 'Oh you-u-u/ got that something ...' And, Paul hits this chord and I turn to him and say, 'That's it! Do that again!' In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that -- both playing into each other's noses." Reinforcing the song's evergreen appeal, the "Glee" cast sent a ballad version of it to No. 36 in 2010.
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3
Say Say Say
Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (six weeks)
Peak Date: 1983
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (six weeks)
Peak Date: 1983
"Say Say Say" was the first single from Paul McCartney's "Pipes of Peace" album, but not his first duet with Michael Jackson. Earlier in 1983, the duo stalled at No. 2 for three weeks with their first charting collaboration, "The Girl Is Mine" - the lead single from Jackson's "Thriller" album. Out of the duo's two charting hits, "Say Say Say" was the only one that sported a music video. The colorful clip features Jackson and McCartney as conmen and was directed by Bob Giraldi. (The latter also helmed Jackson's "Beat It" and Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield.")
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2
Silly Love Songs
Wings
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (five weeks)
Peak Date: 1976
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (five weeks)
Peak Date: 1976
The second-highest ranked McCartney tune on this all-time list is his biggest No. 1 hit with Wings, "Silly Love Songs." The single, released in 1976, spent five weeks atop the Hot 100 and was the third chart-topper for McCartney's post-Beatles band. The group reached No. 1 with "My Love," "Coming Up," "Band on the Run," "Listen to What the Man Said" and "With a Little Luck."
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1
Hey Jude
The Beatles
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (nine weeks)
Peak Date: 1968
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 (nine weeks)
Peak Date: 1968
The Beatles' "Hey Jude" reigns as McCartney's biggest No. 1 Hot 100 hit in history. The single spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the chart -- the most of any McCartney song (with or without the Beatles or Wings) and is likely the icon's most famous ballad. The first single released by the Beatles on their own Apple Records label, "Hey Jude" was written in 1968 by Paul McCartney to comfort John Lennon's son Julian on the divorce of his parents. "Hey Jude" entered the Hot 100 Sept. 14, 1968, at No. 10 and rose to No. 1 two weeks later.
will ALWAYS think of 
like a "ACT OF GOD"! N another realm. 
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Thanks for all the great music, Sir Paul! 
