The Only Pink Floyd Single to Hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100

Despite being one of the best-selling bands of all time, Pink Floyd only ever landed a single No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. That song was “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2,” the disco-tinged anti-education anthem from their 1979 album The Wall. It spent four weeks at the top of the chart in early 1980.

The song’s success was something of a fluke for a band that built its reputation on album-oriented rock and sprawling concept pieces. Roger Waters wrote it as a bitter revolt against rigid schooling, and producer Bob Ezrin pushed for the now-iconic gospel choir of real schoolchildren. The track’s minimalist groove and hook got it radio play far beyond the usual prog audience, making it Floyd’s only Hot 100 chart-topper. For comparison, “Money” peaked at No. 13, and “Comfortably Numb” never cracked the top 40.