Keep in mind, this song reached the United States only 18 years after the end of World War II. In reality, it’s a rather sad song looking back at the failure of Japanese protest movements against U.S. Sung by the fresh-faced Kyu Sakamoto, “Sukiyaki” sounds deceptively upbeat, especially when you’re unable to understand the lyrics. The song was wildly popular in Japan with the title “ Ue o Muite Arukō ,” which directly translates to “I Look Up As I Walk.” The name “Sukiyaki” was chosen for the English version for some reason, even though Sukiyaki is the name of a Japanese beef dish that has nothing to do with the song. 1963: “Sukiyaki” by Kyu SakamotoĪs one of the only foreign-language songs on this list performed in a non-European language, “Sukiyaki” is somewhat of an unexpected success. It even won the first-ever Grammy for “Song of the Year,” and it remains the only foreign-language song to have done so. While the song didn’t win Eurovision, it was incredibly successful all around the world, and was on the top of the charts for five (non-consecutive) weeks. Better known as “Volare,” this song won the Sanremo Music Festival and was Italy’s 1958 entry into Eurovision, a massively popular music contest in Europe. The 8 Foreign-Language Songs That Topped The Billboard Hot 100 1958: “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” by Domenico Modugnoĭespite the lack of foreign-language songs on the Billboard Hot 100, this Italian song was the number-one song of the year the very first year the Billboard list was made. S croll to the bottom to listen to our playlist of all the songs, and read on to find out the stories behind them. Despite that, only eight foreign-language songs managed to make it to the top of the list. This gives us over 60 years to work with, and over 1,000 number-one hits. Since mid-1958, Billboard has been the foremost resource for tracking singles in the United States. We wanted to learn more about the history of non-English music in the United States, so we decided to take a look at the songs that made it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Popular hip-hop might still be sung most often in English, yet traces of reggaeton, a genre of music originating in Puerto Rico in the 1990s, can often be heard as well. At the least, Latin music impact is growing in this country.
With 41 million people in the United States speaking Spanish as a native language, it’s reasonable to expect Spanish to have an impact on the music market. The situation just might be changing, however. Switching positions, your chances of finding foreign-language songs on an American radio station is pretty close to zero, with the notable exception of “Despacito.” The lack of non-English music has been pretty constant in the United States. If you go to another country and turn on the radio, you’ll stumble on an English song pretty quickly.
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