Several years ago, I posted an analysis of which artists have the most #1 hits, and spent the most months at #1. Yesterday, we looked at the charts from a different angle, analyzing #1 hits by label. Let’s conclude the series with one more perspective: Which songwriters have had the most #1 hits, and spent the most months at #1?

After several days of research, here are the results.

Number of #1 Hits:

1. 20: Gerald Crabb (Trail Of Tears, The Lamb, The Lion And The King, I Sure Miss You, The Healer, Not Even A Stone, The Walk, I Take Him Back, The Cross, Jesus Will Do What You Can’t, He Came Looking For Me, The Shepherd’s Call, Through The Fire, That’s No Mountain, Don’t You Wanna Go, Please Come Down To Me, Please Forgive Me, Hold Me While I Cry, The Reason That I’m Standing,Thank God For The Preacher, The Debt)
2. 12: Rodney Griffin (I Choose, God Saw a Cross, Above and Beyond, I Know I’m Going There, He Locked the Gates, My Name Is Lazarus, Just One More Soul, He’s Still Waiting By The Well, Never Been, Do You Want to Be Forgiven, What You Took From Me, If You Knew Him)
3. 10: Ronnie Hinson (Two Winning Hands, Mercy Built A Bridge, The Lighthouse, He Pilots My Ship, I’m Just Waiting For My Ride, Notified, I Feel a Little Song Coming On, God’s Gonna Do The Same For You And Me, When He Was On The Cross, Oasis)
4. 8: Joel Lindsey (New Day Dawning, He Made a Change, Reason Enough, I Wish I Could Have Been There, Born to Climb, Celebrate Me Home, Love Came Calling)
5. 7: Dianne Wilkinson (Boundless Love, What We Needed, Tell Me Why, He Said, Peter James and John, King Jesus is Coming, What Salvation’s Done For Me)
   7: Phil Cross (Jesus Built A Bridge, I Am Redeemed, The Key, Yes I Am, When I Get Carried Away, Saved To The Uttermost, Wedding Music)
   7: Wayne Haun (I Wish I Could Have Been There, Born to Climb, Celebrate Me Home, Blue Skies Coming, Love Came Calling, The Debt, Reason Enough)
6. 6: Marcia Henry (Last Night, Nail it to the Cross, A Greater Yes, God Likes to Work, Is Anything Too Hard for God, I’ll Pray For You)
   6: Jeff Steele (I Must Tell Somebody, God Kept His Promise, I Got Up And Went, We Want America Back, Whispered Prayers, Be Not Afraid)
   6: Sandy Knight (I Think I’ll Read it Again, John Saw, The Next Cloud, I’ll Not Turn My Back on Him Now, Hello in Heaven, Somebody Touched the Lord)
   6: Sheryl Farris (A Borrowed Tomb, I’ve Won, The Good News, I Will Trust You Lord, I Keep Praying, Getting Used To The Dark)
7. 5: Joel Hemphill (I’m In This Church; He’s Still Working On Me; Good Things; It Wasn’t Raining When Noah Built The Ark; Thank God I’m Free)
   5: Chris Binion (King Jesus is Coming, Right On Time, He Knows My Name, God’s Bigger Than That, The Answer is Christ) 
8. 4: Carroll McGruder (We Have a Savior, I’m Going Home with Jesus, Saved By Grace, I Lean on You Lord)
   4: Harold Lane (King Jesus, What Sins Are You Talking About, Touring the City, I’m Standing on the Solid Rock)
   4: Jerry Salley (The Broken Ones, I Want to Thank You, John in the Jordan, Between 12 and 33)
   4: Kyla Rowland (One Scarred Hand, I Rest My Case at the Cross, Safe Thus Far, Did I Mention)
   4: Mark Bishop (You Can’t Ask Too Much of My God, Can I Pray For You, I Got Here as Fast as I Could, I’m Listening For the Call)
   4: Sonya Isaacs Yeary (Your Cries Have Awoken the Master, A Miracle Today, Stand Still, From the Depths of My Heart)
   4: Rusty Golden (What Salvation’s Done For Me, I Want to Thank You, John in the Jordan, Between 12 and 33)
9. 3: Aaron Wilburn (What a Beautiful Day, Four Days Late, The Reason That I’m Standing)
   3: Dottie Rambo (Tiny, I’ve Never Been This Homesick Before, Sheltered in the Arms of God)
   3: Kirk Talley (Step Into the Water, Joy on the Other Side of Jordan, Wedding Music)
   3: Larry Petree (God Likes to Work, By Faith I Can Touch Him, Praise God It’s Settled I’m Saved)
   3: LaVerne Tripp (I Know, That Day is Almost Here, After Calvary)
   3: Mike Payne (When He Was On the Cross, Out Of This World, Angels Step Back)
   3: Rebecca Isaacs Bowman (Your Cries Have Awoken the Master, A Miracle Today, Stand Still)
   3: Rick Hendrix (You’ll Never Run Out of the Blood, When There’s No Hope There is Grace, He Chose Me)
   3: Ricky Atkinson (Resting Place, I Have Not Forgotten, Be Not Afraid)
   3: Kenny Hinson (Call Me Gone, God’s Gonna Do the Same For You and Me, Oasis)
   3: Sue C. Smith (Over and Over, On the Banks of the Promised Land, The Debt)
   3: Tim Greene (When I Knelt the Blood Fell, Jesus’ Rocking Chair, In the Twinkling of an Eye)
10. 2: Joseph Habedank (If You Knew Him, That’s All I Need)

Months spent at #1:

1. 31: Gerald Crabb
2. 30: Ronnie Hinson
3. 21: Harold Lane
4. 17: Phil Cross
5. 15: Aaron Wilburn
   15: Joel Hemphill
   15: John Stallings (one song)
   15: LaVerne Tripp 
   15: Rodney Griffin
6. 14: Kirk Talley
7. 13: Mike Payne
   13: Sandy Knight
8. 11: Jeff Steele
9. 9: Dianne Wilkinson
10. 8: Greg Day and Chuck Day
    8: Joel Lindsey
    8: Mark Farrow (one song)
    8: Kenny Hinson
    8: Sheryl Farris
    8: Tim Greene
    8: Tracy Dartt (one song)
11. 7: Marcia Henry
    7: Sonya Isaacs Yeary
    7: Wayne Haun
12. 6: Dallas Holm (one song)
    6: R.E. Winsett (one song)
13. 5: Dottie Rambo
14. 4: Carroll McGruder
    4: Chris Binion
    4: Kyla Rowland
    4: Larry Petree
    4: Rusty Golden
15. 3: Rebecca Isaacs Bowman 
    3: Rick Hendrix
    3: Ricky Atkinson
    3: Sue C. Smith
16. 2: Joseph Habedank

Some of the songs are co-writes. I only included songwriters with three or more #1 hits (with exceptions on the second list for songwriters with 1 or 2 who had a song stay 5 or more months at #1). For my convenience updating this list in the future, I also made an exception for Joseph Habedank. He is having such a strong run of radio singles right now that I suspect he won’t stay at two for long.

(Note for future reference: List last updated 5/1/2012, with June 2012 chart)

Several years ago, I posted an analysis of which artists have the most #1 hits, and spent the most months at #1. (A complete list of Singing News #1 hits is here.)

Today, let’s look at the charts from an entirely different angle. Which record companies have had the most #1 hits, and spent the most months at #1? After several days of research, here are the results.

Number of #1 Hits:

1. 63: Crossroads (37 for Horizon, 23 for Sonlite, 1 for Vine, 1 for Parable, 1 non-imprint)
2. 44: Daywind
3. 28: Benson (16 for Heartwarming, 12 for RiverSong) (2 songs in 1970-71 shared)
4. 25: Canaan (3 songs in 1970-71 shared)
5. 18: EMI (9 Spring House, 9 Spring Hill)
6. 12: United Independent Artists
7. 11: MorningStar
8. 7: Family Music Group
9. 7: Homeland
10. 5: Calvary
11. 3: ACA
12. 3: Cross and Crown
13. 3: Mansion

Number of Months spent at #1:

1. 102: Canaan (15 months in 1970-71 shared)
2. 93: Benson (60 for Heartwarming, 33 for RiverSong) (17 months in 1970-71 shared)
3. 82: Crossroads (47 for Horizon, 32 for Sonlite, 1 for Vine, 1 for Parable, 1 non-imprint)
4. 59: Daywind
5. 30: MorningStar
6. 26: EMI (14 Spring Hill, 12 Spring House)
7. 15: United Independent Artists
8. 15: Skylite (all from its one #1 hit, the Blackwood Brothers’ “Learning to Lean”)
9. 12: Calvary
10. 12: Homeland
11. 11: Family Music Group
12. 6: ACA
13. 4: Cross and Crown
14. 3: Mansion

With one exception, I only included record companies that had three or more #1 hits. That one exception was Skylite; though it only had one #1 hit, that one hit was the longest-running in chart history!

(Note for future reference: List last updated 5/1/2012, with June 2012 chart)

The Ball Brothers announced about a week ago that bass singer Josh Ball was leaving the group. They have now announced his replacement, Chad McCloskey, and posted this video:

Two items of particular interest: (1) It looks like Cody McVey’s hair is now red. (2) In this song, at least, Daniel Ball is singing bass. He has been the group’s lead singer up to this point. SouthernGospelBlog.com is contacting him for further comment.

UPDATE: From Daniel Ball:

I just sang bass on that particular song and Chad was singing lead.  We hired Chad because of his versatility.  He sang bass on most of the songs his first weekend, but as you can hear from the clip, he has a great range.  We won’t keep him in the basement all the time. =)  We’ll utilize each guy on harmonies depending on who is carrying the melody on each song.  Our goal is to continue and expand on the blends and harmonies that make us different from other quartets.  We’re four vocalist and a pianist.

This list aims to be inclusive of Daywind, Crossroads, Horizon/Crossroads, Sonlite/Crossroads, Vine/Crossroads, Gaither Music Group/EMI CMG, Stow Town/Provident/Integrity, New Haven/Provident/Integrity, Song Garden, Homeland, The Mansion Entertainment, and major independent group releases where known.

May 2012

• 5/15: Love Won, The Talleys (Horizon / Crossroads)
• 5/15: Decade, Hissong (Vine / Crossroads)
• 5/17: An Acapella Collection, Sisters (Daywind)
• 5/22: Back Home Again, Oak Ridge Boys (Gaither Music / EMI CMG)
• 5/29: Celebrate Me Home DVD, The Perrys (Daywind)
• 5/30: Faithful, 2nd Generation (independent)

June 2012

Is this list missing anything significant, especially among major independent releases? Let us know in the comments!