Forever No. 1

Forever No. 1 is a Billboard series that pays special tribute to the recently deceased artists who achieved the highest honor our charts have to offer — a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single — by taking an extended look back at the chart-topping songs that made them part of this exclusive club. Here, we honor the late Olivia Newton-John, who died this week at age 73, with Joe Lynch, Billboard’s executive digital director, east coast, celebrating the fact that flops can beget bops, as was the case with 1980’s Xanadu and its hit single “Magic,” her fourth No. 1. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news At the outset of Xanadu, the Olivia Newton-John-starring musical that followed Grease by two years, we see the one-time Sandy Olsson in a role that’s ne...

Forever No. 1 is a Billboard series that pays special tribute to the recently deceased artists who achieved the highest honor our charts have to offer — a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single — by taking an extended look back at the chart-topping songs that made them part of this exclusive club. Here, we honor the late Meat Loaf with a look at his first and only Hot 100 No. 1, the over-the-top 1993 epic ‘I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).’ Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Meat Loaf should’ve ruled the ’80s. His breakthrough album Bat Out of Hell had been one of the great success stories of the late ’70s, a fully formed debut that married prog-rock pomp with E Street Band urgency and operatic stakes, carried by the actor/singer’s larger-th...