Billboard Explains: Alicia Keys’ Fire on the Charts

She may have a hit song titled “Like You’ll Never See Me Again,” but the Billboard charts have been enjoying visits from Alicia Keys for 23 years and counting.

The 15-time Grammy-winner made her Billboard chart debut in 2001 with “Fallin’,” a jazz-inflected R&B classic that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Fallin’” would soon give way to three more Hot 100 chart-toppers for Keys, including 2004’s “My Boo” (with Usher), 2007’s “No One” and 2009’s “Empire State of Mind” (with Jay-Z). In addition to those No. 1 hits, Keys has earned five other top 10 hits, including 2004’s “If I Ain’t Got You” (No. 4) and 2002’s “Gangsta Lovin’” (with Eve).

On the Billboard 200, Keys has racked up five No. 1 titles: 2001’s Songs in A Minor (three weeks), 2003’s The Diary of Alicia Keys (two weeks), 2005’s Unplugged (one week), 2007’s As I Am (four weeks) and 2012’s Girl on Fire (one week). She also reached the chart’s top 10 with 2010’s The Element of Freedom (No. 2), 2016’s HERE (No. 2) and 2020’s Alicia (No. 4).

Named Billboard‘s No. 1 R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the 2000s, Keys has also scored a slew of records on those genre charts. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, she boasts 15 top 10 hits, eight of which have reached the chart’s summit. Those eight chart-toppers have spent 54 cumulative weeks atop the ranking, placing Keys as the woman with the third-most time spent atop the chart behind Aretha Franklin (65 weeks) and Rihanna (56 weeks). The “Un-Thinkable” singer also has the most No. 1 hits in Adult R&B Airplay history, with 14 chart-toppers, including 12-week No. 1 hit “Diary” (with Tony! Toni! Tone!).

Check out the full Billboard Explains video on Alicia Keys’ Billboard chart success.

After that video, catch up on more Billboard Explains videos and learn about Peso Pluma and the Mexican music boom, the role record labels play, origins of hip-hop, how Beyoncé arrived at Renaissance, the evolution of girl groups, BBMAs, NFTs, SXSW, the magic of boy bands, American Music Awards, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Hot 100 chart, how R&B/hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S., how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, nonbinary awareness in music, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement, rise of K-pop in the U.S., why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom of hit all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs, how the Super Bowl halftime show is booked and more.