Every Billboard Music Awards winner for Top Hot 100 Song ever

In case you forgot, Wilson Phillips is a vocal group made up of Carnie and Wendy Wilson (daughters of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson) and Chynna Phillips (daughter of The Mamas & the Papas members John and Michelle Phillips). They released two albums in the early ‘90s, with their first single being the smash-hit “Hold On,” which won the very first Top Hot 100 Song award at the inaugural Billboard Music Awards in 1990.

Although most people probably know Bryan Adams best for “Summer of ‘69,” his most popular song in terms of sales was 1991’s “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” which sold 15 million copies worldwide and won the Billboard Music Award for Top Hot 100 Song that same year. The tune is also one of the best-selling singles of all time, which was probably helped by the fact that it appeared on the soundtrack to the film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” Not bad for a song that was penned by Adams, Michael Kamen, and Robert John “Mutt” Lange in just 45 minutes.

Boyz II Men’s first hit song, “End of the Road,” was also the Top Hot 100 Song of the Year at the 1992 Billboard Music Awards. At the time, it set a new record for longevity, as it stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a whopping 13 weeks (breaking a previous record held by Elvis Presley), and it was also ranked by Billboard as the sixth most successful song of the decade from 1990 to 1999.

Not only did Whitney Houston earn Top Hot 100 Song honors at the 1993 Billboard Music Awards, she nearly swept the entire event. Houston nabbed a shocking 11 Billboard Awards that year, including Top World Artist, Female Artist, World Single, and Billboard 200 Album (for “The Bodyguard Soundtrack”). Additionally, Houston also performed “I Have Nothing” at the event. Talk about an ironic song title!

Ace of Base saw the sign at the 1994 Billboard Music Awards, and it said that they won the Top Hot 100 Song of the Year for their hit “The Sign.” The Swedish pop group’s second American single spent six non-consecutive weeks as No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S., and was ranked No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs for the first 50 years of the chart’s existence. Those are some facts that will really open up your eyes.

TLC earned three honors at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards, but they couldn’t nab Top Hot 100 Song, despite being nominated for both “Waterfalls” and “Creep.” Instead, Coolio won the award for “Gangsta’s Paradise,” which was the biggest hit off his second album of the same name, as well as the “Dangerous Minds” movie soundtrack. The song, which samples parts of Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise,” sold around six million copies worldwide, won two MTV Video Music Awards, and earned Coolio a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance.

Fellow nominees “One Sweet Day” (Mariah Carey/Boyz II Men), “Because You Loved Me” (Celine Dion), and “Nobody Knows” (The Tony Rich Project) were huge hits in 1996, but no song was bigger that year than Los del Rio’s “Macarena” and its associated dance. The track was an international sensation that popped up in countless TV shows and movies, as well as at sporting events, parties, weddings, and basically any other gathering. In fact, it still ranks at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top 10 Songs of All Time, and is one of only seven foreign language songs to hit No. 1 on the chart.

Following the tragic death of Princess Diana on Aug. 31, 1997, Elton John retooled his 1973 song “Candle in the Wind” into a Diana tribute called “Candle in the Wind 1997.” It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Hot 100 Song that year, which is no surprise considering it’s the second highest selling single of all time (behind Bing Crosby's “White Christmas”) according to Guinness World Records. To win the Billboard honor, “Candle in the Wind 1997” had to top another rebooted tribute song - “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy, Faith Evans, and 112 - which was released in memory of The Notorious B.I.G.

The R&B trio Next only existed for about six years, but they sure made it count with three albums (one of which was certified 2x Platinum and another one going Gold), six hit singles, and eight honors at the 1998 Billboard Music Awards. One of those was Top Hot 100 Song of the Year for “Too Close,” which was the second single from the group’s debut album, “Rated Next,” and the most successful song in Next’s brief tenure.

Only a year after the loss of her ex-husband and close friend Sonny Bono in a tragic skiing accident, Cher won her first Billboard Music Award in 1999 for the song “Believe.” The song also earned Cher a Guinness World Record for being the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100 chart. Interestingly, “Believe” was one of the first commercial recordings to use Auto-Tune, which was actually called the “Cher effect” in its early years.

Santana had two Top Hot 100 Song nominations (“Smooth” and “Maria Maria”) at the 2000 Billboard Music Awards, but in the end, Faith Hill emerged as the winner for “Breathe.” The song was the first single off the country singer’s fourth album, it spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart. At the time, it was only the second single ever to top the year-end charts despite never spending a week at No. 1.

Anyone remember hearing the deep vocals on Lifehouse’s “Hanging by a Moment” and thinking there’s no way that that blonde kid could be singing it? Us too. However, vocalist Jason Wade and the rest of Lifehouse were the real deal, and they hung on to win the Top Hot 100 Song at the 2001 Billboard Music Awards. The other nominees that year were “All for You” by Janet Jackson, “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys, and “Drops of Jupiter” by Train.

Ashanti took home eight honors at the 2002 Billboard Music Awards, but Top Hot 100 Song went to Nickelback for their first hit single, “How You Remind Me.” Although the song was was named the No. 1 most played song on U.S. radio stations in the 2000s decade (according to Nielsen) and the group would become immensely successful, vocalist Chad Kroeger, his bandmates, and their cheesy generic rock sound would eventually become the butt of countless jokes over the following 15 years. Sorry, guys.

A Top Hot 100 Song award wasn’t given at the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, but it returned the following year. Usher won for “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, which was just one of 11 awards the singer earned that year for himself, his hit songs, and his album “Confessions.” The other nominees in 2004 were Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” and Maroon 5’s “This Love.” Usher also took home three Grammys in 2005 for his work the previous year.

After being denied once before, Mariah Carey finally won the Billboard Music Award for Top Hot 100 Song in 2005 for “We Belong Together.” Although we’re sure she was happy to win, it was just one of five honors earned by Mariah that night, which brought her total number of all-time BMAs to 14. Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone,” Mario’s “Let Me Love You,” and Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” also earned nominations in the category.

The accolade was not given out in 2006, and the entire award show went dormant after that year, before eventually returning in 2011.

Taio Cruz throws his hands up in the air sometimes, and one of those times was probably when he won Top Hot 100 Song at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. Despite being a relative newcomer, Cruz managed to beat Eminem and Rihanna (“Love the Way You Lie”), Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg (“California Gurls”), Usher and Will.i.am (“OMG”), and Bruno Mars (“Just the Way You Are”). Although Cruz won four awards that night, Eminem was still the big winner, as the rap legend took home five.

Adele took home a record-breaking 12 honors at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards, but she failed to win Top Hot 100 Song. That distinction went to the electronic duo LMFAO (who had six wins that night) and their hit “Party Rock Anthem” featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock. Fun fact, in case you didn’t know: LMFAO members Redfoo and SkyBlu are uncle and nephew, respectively, and they are the son and grandson of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jr.

Gotye and Kimbra each won two Grammys for “Somebody That I Used to Know,” and they followed that up with four wins at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Hot 100 Song, Top Radio Song, Top Streaming Song (Audio), and Top Rock Song. However, Taylor Swift was the big winner in 2013, as she took home eight honors at the event.

There was a lot of fierce competition in the Top Hot 100 Song category in 2014. Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” earned a nod, as did Katy Perry’s “Roar,” Lorde’s “Royals,” and Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive.” But the victor ended up being “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell, and with the ubiquity of the song that year, the win wasn’t too much of a surprise. In all, “Blurred Lines” earned its artists four honors at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, but this total was eclipsed by Justin Timberlake’s seven wins.

Taylor Swift won eight Billboard Music Awards in 2015, but Meghan Trainor was the one who took home Top Hot 100 Song for “All About That Bass.” To do so, Trainor also had to overcome fellow nominees Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX, John Legend, and Sam Smith. Of course, Swift was also in the category, but failed to win the award. However, we’re fairly certain she was able to shake it off.

The Weeknd had two songs (“Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills”) in the Top Hot 100 Song category at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, but couldn’t come away with the win. The award instead went to “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth - one of two trophies nabbed by Wiz and Charlie at the event (with the other being Top Rap Song). The Weeknd still fared just fine, however, as he amassed eight honors that night