As of August 17, 2013, there are two hits that made the Top 40 that are still in the top 5 biggest hits of all time: Wake Me Up! by Avicii and Happy by Pharrell Williams.

Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, TI and Pharrell Williams entered the Top 40 on 13 April 2013 at number 8 and then stayed at number one for eleven weeks. The last of those eleven weeks was on 29 June 2013. Then Wake Me Up! by Avicii entered at number 8. The Swedish DJ then dethroned Blurred Lines, then led the Top 40 for eleven weeks. Stromae was at number 2 behind Wake Me Up! with his hit Papaoutai for six weeks.

Next up, the world’s future best DJ Martin Garrix makes his breakthrough with Animals and it’s the Top 40 where Happy by Pharrell Williams makes his first Top 40 appearance. It certainly won’t be the last… this and more in the Top 40 Classics on August 17, 2013!

1 (1) WAKE ME UP! – Avicii

Wake Me Up! peaked at No. 1 for seven weeks, something Avicii’s ABBA compatriots had never managed. Dr. Alban topped the Top 40 for seven weeks in 1992 with It’s My Life and Gudrun Jankis’ Orchestra managed to rule the Top 40 for one more week with Let Kiss in 1965. Tim Bergling, as Avicii was actually known, would talk about Dr. Alban and Gudrun Jankis’ rise to No. 1 in the Top 40, which remains a record for a Swedish artist to this day. Wake Me Up! is also the biggest hit by a Swedish artist and the fourth biggest hit of all time.

3 (4) ANIMALS – Martin Garrix

As of today, June 16, 2018 is the last day that Martin Garrix has not made the Top 40. The Amstelveen DJ phenomenon began in 2013, when Martijn Garritse (his real name) debuted with Animals at the age of 17. Garrix soon made history, as Animals became the 1000th DanceSmash on Radio 538. The song became a huge hit and reached number three in the Top 40. Martin Garrix’s breakthrough was not limited to the Netherlands, as Animals reached number one in the UK and even reached number 21 on the American Billboard Hot 100!

13 (18) SAME LOVE – Macklemore x Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis introduced themselves with their hit debut Thrift Shop (#1 in early 2013) as a hip-hop duo who tackled a variety of topics in their music. But Same Love was the best of them. Macklemore had been troubled by homophobia in hip-hop music for some time and Same Love has become an anthem for the LGBT+ community. The chorus is sung by lesbian singer Mary Lambert. After the success of Thrift Shop (#1) and Can’t Hold Us (#4), Same Love was a little less successful, reaching its highest number of thirteen.

18 (–) CONGRATULATIONS – Pharrell Williams

August 17, 2013 was the day Pharrell Williams entered the Top 40 for the first time with Happy. The last day was… July 19, 2014! For almost a full calendar year, the R&B singer managed to cheer up the audience with a simple song that was no less effective with Bayern Munich in the Champions League against FC Barcelona. Happy spent 49 weeks in the Top 40, breaking the record set by Corry En De Rekels from 1970 (41 weeks in the Top 40 with Huilen Is Voor Jou Te Laat). not only became the longest-charting Top 40 hit, but also the biggest hit of all time.

30 (30) THAT I MISS YOU – Maaike Ouboter

Maaike Ouboter made a big impression on the talent show Singer-Songwriter of the Year with her self-penned song Dat Ik Je Mis. It debuted at number 7 and reached number two a week later. On the Top 40 Classic the song seemed to be on its way out, but two weeks later Ouboter climbed from #27 to #11. The reason was sad, however, because on August 12, 2013, Prince Friso died after a year and a half in a coma following a skiing accident. Ouboter was given the honorable task of singing Dat Ik Je Mis at Prince Friso’s funeral.

(08-15-2020)