A man in a white t-shirt, jeans and a hat, playing a guitar and signing into a microphone
Jason Mraz spent 16 weeks at number one with "I'm Yours".

Adult Contemporary is a chart published by Billboard ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. In 2009, seven different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

At the start of the year, the number one position was held by Faith Hill with her song "A Baby Changes Everything", retaining its position from the final chart of 2008.[1] It held the top spot for a single week in 2009 before being replaced by David Cook's song "The Time of My Life". Cook's song, his "coronation single" after winning the previous year's season of American Idol,[2][3] had spent 11 weeks in the top spot in 2008 and thus finished with a total of 15 weeks at number one.[4] Following Cook's run at number one, British band Coldplay topped the chart for a single week with "Viva La Vida", which won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards held on February 8.[5]

From mid-February on, only four songs topped the chart, spending 46 weeks between them at number one. In the issue of Billboard dated February 14, Jason Mraz's song "I'm Yours" reached number one, beginning a run of 16 consecutive weeks in the top spot, the longest of the year. The song built airplay gradually across various radio formats, and finally topped the AC chart a full year after its initial release in February 2008.[6][7][8] Despite holding the top spot for four months, "I'm Yours" remains Mraz's only song to reach number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.[9] In June, teenage country music singer Taylor Swift replaced Mraz in the top spot with "Love Story", her first AC number one.[10] The song was released in two different versions to country and pop radio, a pattern repeated later in the year with her single "You Belong with Me", which also topped the AC chart.[11] Following Swift's six-week run at number one, another teenage vocalist took the top spot as Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" began a run of 15 consecutive weeks atop the chart. Taken from the soundtrack of Hannah Montana: The Movie, in which she starred,[12] "The Climb" was Cyrus' only song to reach number one on the Adult Contemporary chart until "Flowers" in 2023.[13] Cyrus' run at number one ended in the issue of Billboard dated October 31, when Swift returned to the top spot with "You Belong with Me", making her the only artist to achieve two AC number ones in 2009. Swift's song held the number one position for the remainder of the year.

Chart history

American singer David Cook spent four weeks at number one with his song "The Time of My Life".
A blonde woman singing into a microphone
Faith Hill claimed the first number one on the chart in 2009 with "A Baby Changes Everything".
A blonde woman wearing a black dress with her hair to one side
Taylor Swift topped the chart twice in 2009 with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me".
A young woman with long brown hair singing
Miley Cyrus had a lengthy run at number one with "The Climb", from the soundtrack of her film Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Key
† Indicates best-performing AC song of 2009[14]


Issue date Title Artist(s) Ref.
January 3 "A Baby Changes Everything" Faith Hill [1]
January 10 "The Time of My Life" David Cook [15]
January 17 [16]
January 24 [17]
January 31 [18]
February 7 "Viva la Vida" Coldplay [19]
February 14 "I'm Yours" † Jason Mraz [20]
February 21 [21]
February 28 [22]
March 7 [23]
March 14 [24]
March 21 [25]
March 28 [26]
April 4 [27]
April 11 [28]
April 18 [29]
April 25 [30]
May 2 [31]
May 9 [32]
May 16 [33]
May 23 [34]
May 30 [35]
June 6 "Love Story" Taylor Swift [36]
June 13 [37]
June 20 [38]
June 27 [39]
July 4 [40]
July 11 [41]
July 18 "The Climb" Miley Cyrus [42]
July 25 [43]
August 1 [44]
August 8 [45]
August 15 [46]
August 22 [47]
August 29 [48]
September 5 [49]
September 12 [50]
September 19 [51]
September 26 [52]
October 3 [53]
October 10 [54]
October 17 [55]
October 24 [56]
October 31 "You Belong with Me" Taylor Swift [57]
November 7 [58]
November 14 [59]
November 21 [60]
November 28 [61]
December 5 [62]
December 12 [63]
December 19 [64]
December 26 [65]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Adult Contemporary - Week of January 3, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. January 3, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  2. ^ ""Rocker" Cook wins American Idol". ITN. May 22, 2008. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
  3. ^ Mansfield, Brian (June 4, 2009). "How the American Idol coronation singles stack up, part 1". USA Today. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  4. ^ "David Cook Chart History - Adult Contemporary Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  5. ^ "Grammy Awards 2009: The full list of winners". The Daily Telegraph. February 9, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  6. ^ Collis, Clark (January 9, 2009). "Anatomy of a hit: I'm Yours". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  7. ^ Tunis, Walter (April 29, 2009). "Jason Mraz is in a happy place". PopMatters. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  8. ^ Molanphy, Chris (June 29, 2013). "The Slow Hit Movement: Year-Old Songs On The Pop Charts". NPR. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  9. ^ "Jason Mraz Chart History - Adult Contemporary Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  10. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History - Adult Contemporary Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  11. ^ Harris, Keith (September 9, 2014). "Trace Taylor Swift's Country-to-Pop Transformation in 5 Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  12. ^ Stockdale, Charles; Andrews, Colman (March 15, 2019). "Playlist: The most popular country songs in Hot 100 history". USA Today. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  13. ^ "Miley Cyrus Chart History - Adult Contemporary Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  14. ^ "Billboard Adult Contemporary Year End, 2009". Retrieved September 12, 2020.
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  28. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of April 11, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. April 11, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
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  42. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of July 18, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. July 18, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  43. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of July 25, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. July 25, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  44. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of August 1, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. August 1, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  45. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of August 8, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. August 8, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  46. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of August 15, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. August 15, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  47. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of August 22, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. August 22, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  48. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of August 29, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. August 29, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  49. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of September 5, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. September 5, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  50. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of September 12, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. September 12, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  51. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of September 19, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. September 19, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  52. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of September 26, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. September 26, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
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  54. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of October 10, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. October 10, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  55. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of October 17, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. October 17, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  56. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of October 24, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. October 24, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  57. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of October 31, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. October 31, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  58. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of November 7, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. November 7, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  59. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of November 14, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. November 14, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
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  62. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of December 5, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 5, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  63. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of December 12, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 12, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
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  65. ^ "Adult Contemporary - Week of December 26, 2009". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 26, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
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