(June 26, 2025) – In recent weeks, we’ve lost several musical giants — Brian Wilson, Sly Stone, Lou Christie, Mick Ralphs, and Bobby Sherman — each of whom helped define an era, all of them living to see their 81st or 82nd birthdays. Among them, Wilson, Stone and Christie recorded No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with only Christie doing so as a solo artist.
That got DJROBBLOG wondering: who are the oldest living solo artists who have hit No. 1 on the Hot 100? While there are many chart-topping acts still around today who have celebrated their 80th birthdays — Diana Ross, Neil Sedaka, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Carole King, Patti LaBelle, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton, Tommy Roe, and too many more to mention — the answer reveals a small but mighty group of icons — all born in the 1930s — whose voices ruled the charts.
Remarkably, only five solo singers over the age of 90 are still with us and once topped the Hot 100. Two more are knocking at the door, both approaching their 90th birthdays before year’s end. None of them scored a No. 1 after 1979, but each left an unforgettable stamp on music history.
Here they are — the seven oldest living solo Hot 100 chart-toppers, in order of age:
🎤 Petula Clark – 92 years, 7 months
British songstress Petula Clark — the only British and the only female artist on this list — became an international sensation with her 1965 smash “Downtown,” a peppy ode to escaping the doldrums of everyday life. The Tony Hatch-produced hit made her the first UK female singer to top the U.S. charts in the rock era. While she topped the charts again with 1966’s “My Love,” “Downtown” remains her signature tune — and an enduring classic we love to this day.
Related: I Saw This British Legend in Concert… and She Still Had It (At 85)!
🎶 Pat Boone – 91 years, 3 weeks
A clean-cut crooner and pop mainstay of the late ‘50s, Boone hit No. 1 on Billboard’s predecessors to the Hot 100 with several songs including “Ain’t That a Shame” (a cover of Fats Domino’s original) and “April Love.” His sole Hot 100 No. 1 came with 1960’s “Moody River.” Though his hits were often sanitized versions of Black artists’ originals, Boone’s role in pop’s crossover history during the early rock-and-roll years is undeniable.
🎤 Frankie Valli – 91 years, 1 month
Though best known as the falsetto-leading frontman of The Four Seasons, Valli claimed solo No. 1 glory in 1975 with “My Eyes Adored You” and again in 1978 with that summer’s soundtrack title classic “Grease.” Both proved that, even as disco ruled, old-school crooners could still make waves — or in the case of the latter tune, make butts wiggle.
Related: Frankie Valli in concert—at 85 (2019)!
🎺 Herb Alpert – 90 years, 3 months
The trumpet legend who dominated album charts in the mid-to-late 1960s shocked the world in 1968 with “This Guy’s In Love With You,” a vocal ballad penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David that topped the singles charts — a rare feat for an instrumentalist turned singer. Alpert, co-founder of A&M Records, surprised us again in 1979 when, after a decade-long drought, he returned to the charts and to No. 1 with the soft-disco instrumental thumper “Rise,” this time with trumpet front and center.
🎙️ Bobby Vinton – 90 years, 2 months
Known as “The Polish Prince,” Vinton topped the Hot 100 in 1962 with the tender ballad “Roses Are Red (My Love),” kicking off a run of sentimental hits that made him a staple of AM radio. His clean-cut appeal helped him bridge generational tastes in the early ‘60s. He would achieve three more No. 1 hits with “Blue Velvet,” “There! I’ve Said It Again,” and “Mr. Lonely” — all between 1963-64.
🎼 Johnny Mathis – 89 years, 9 months
Though mostly associated with enduring classics like “Chances Are” and “Misty,” Mathis earned his one Hot 100 No. 1 in 1978 — alongside Deniece Williams — with the smooth duet “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.” The pairing proved to be a late-career chart coup for one of pop’s most velvet-voiced singers. Mathis, who will turn 90 in September, only recently retired from performing live, citing health reasons.
💣 Barry McGuire – 89 years, 8 months
With just one major hit to his name, McGuire made it count. His 1965 protest anthem “Eve of Destruction” captured the angst of a generation during the Vietnam era and earned him the top spot on the Hot 100 — a fiery flashpoint in folk-rock history. Given all the current talk of nuclear war — or at least the threat of it — dominating today’s headlines, a revisiting of the 60-year-old “Eve of Destruction” couldn’t be more timely.
🏅 Honorable Mention: Ruby Nash (of Ruby & the Romantics) – 91 years, 1 week
Though not a solo artist, Ruby Nash deserves a mention here as the namesake lead singer of the Romantics, a group that rose to No. 1 in 1963 with the dreamy “Our Day Will Come.” It’s worth recalling that one of the above nonagenarians — Frankie Valli — recorded a disco-fied cover of “Our Day” in 1975. It’s also worth noting Ruby’s historic presence as one of the first Black female lead singers to reach No. 1 in the pre-Motown ‘60s.
📝 Final Note:
The passage of time inevitably takes our icons, but this living list reminds us of the importance of celebrating those who are still with us. The enduring impact of their artistry — whether or not the artists are still here — is what sustains us. Long after their hits stopped climbing the charts, their music continues to touch hearts — proving that once you’re No. 1, you always are.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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