On This Day in 1988, This Former Beatle Got to No. 1 Nearly 24 Years After the Fab Four Scored Their First No. 1

When it comes to The Beatles, a topic that often comes up in conversation is which of them had the best solo career following their breakup. Now, that is, of course, a subjective answer. However, we can all likely agree on the fact that all four of them had their own success in their respective lanes. With that in mind, we are reminding you of an accolade George Harrison scored on this day, January 16, 1988, 24 years after The Beatles scored their first-ever hit on the United States’ Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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Following The Beatles’ breakup in 1970, George Harrison went on to arguably have the best career of the four of them, and it’s all because of his second solo album, All Things Must Pass. Following the 1970 November release of this album, it reached its peak at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for seven weeks. Additionally, the album hosted the No. 1 hit single, “My Sweet Lord”, as well as the top 10 hit, “What Is Life”.

This was not the beginning of the end for Harrison’s solo career. Rather, it was just the beginning, because on this day, January 16, 1988, Harrison was back on top of the Hot 100 24 years after The Beatles scored their first No. 1 on the chart.

The Fairly Full-Circle Moment for George Harrison

On February 1, 1964, The Beatles scored their first-ever Hot 100 hit with “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. In 1964 alone, The Beatles went on to score five more No. 1 hits. In the history of the Billboard Hot 100, it is certainly one of the most dominant performances. The other five singles were “She Loves You”, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “Love Me Do”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, and “I Feel Fine”.

For the next six years, The Beatles would go on to dominate the music industry. However, after their time was up, George Harrison would go on to make his own lane in the business. Before reaching No. 1 with “Got My Mind Set on You” on this day in 1988, Harrison scored No. 1 hits on the charts with “My Sweet Lord” and “Give Me Love – (Give Me Peace On Earth)”. Both those singles were only three years apart, thus showing that even more than 10 years after his solo peak, Harrison could still stun the masses.

Released in October 1987, “Got My Mind Set On You” debuted on the Hot 100 shortly after. Months later, on this day, the single reached the peak position of No. 1. Subsequently, it held the top spot for one week.

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