05/13/2019

Doris Day’s Biggest Billboard Chart Hits: ‘Que Sera Sera’ & More

Doris Day was one of the most versatile and multi-faceted superstars of the 1940s, '50s and '60s, appearing in dozens of films and musicals and cracking Billboard's music charts.

Doris Day was one of the most versatile and multi-faceted superstars of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, appearing in dozens of films and musicals and cracking Billboard‘s music charts.

The singer/actress, who died Monday morning (May 13) at age 97, tallied five entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after logging a robust history on charts prior to the ranking’s debut on Aug. 4, 1958. (Before the Hot 100’s inception, Billboard presented presented separate pop singles charts based on metrics including store sales, radio airplay and jukebox play.)

Day initially made seven trips to the top 10 of Billboard charts in 1945-46 as vocalist with the Les Brown and His Orchestra. Two songs hit No. 1: “Sentimental Journey,” a nine-week best-selling leader, and “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time,” a seven-week sales and jukebox topper. The act’s other top 10s featuring Day’s vocals: ” ‘Tain’t Me,” “Till the End of Time,” “You Won’t Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart),” “I Got the Sun in the Morning” and “The Whole World Is Singing My Song.”

Combining hits credited specifically to Day before and after the Hot 100’s launch, she earned 13 top 10s, beginning in 1948, among 36 total entries. She first showed as a credited artist on a Billboard songs chart on May 29, 1948, with “Love Somebody,” a five-week No. 1 in disc jockey play.

On the inaugural Hot 100 chart in 1958, Day appeared at No. 19 with “Everybody Loves a Lover.” The track peaked two weeks later at No. 14. She later charted on the Hot 100 with “Tunnel of Love,” “Love Me in the Daytime,” “Anyway the Wind Blows” and “Lover Come Back,” through 1962.

Born Doris Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922, she began her career as a big band singer in 1939. She later took to the screen, with roles in classic films Romance on the High Seas, Calamity Jane and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, among others. She also starred in her own sitcom on CBS, The Doris Day Show, from 1968 through 1973.

Day won seven Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

In honor of the late legend, here’s a look at Day’s credited 12 top 10 Billboard chart hits (all of which appeared on pre-Hot 100 rankings), in chronological order:

Title, Peak Position, Peak Year

“Love Somebody,“ No. 1 (five weeks), 1948