On This Day in 1990, the Singing Daughters of Brian Wilson Hit No. 1—Exactly 25 Years After the Beach Boys Did the Same

On this day (June 9) in 1990, Wilson Phillips was at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their debut single, “Hold On.” While the song only held the top spot for a single week, it became the No. 1 song of the year. Interestingly, Carnie and Wendy Wilson’s dad, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, was at the top of the Hot 100 exactly 25 years before with “Help Me, Rhonda.”

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Wilson Phillips released “Hold On” as the lead single from their self-titled debut album in February 1990. It reached the top of the Hot 100 on June 9 of that year. It also went to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and became a top 10 hit in multiple European countries.

More than two decades earlier, the Beach Boys released “Help Me, Rhonda” as a single from their album Summer Days (And Summer Nights) in April 1965. It started a two-week run at the top of the Hot 100 on May 29. As a result, it was still at the top of the chart on June 9.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1965, the Beach Boys Topped the Chart With Their First Single To Feature Al Jardine’s Lead Vocals]

The Wilson Phillips Hit Is Deeper Than It Appears

Chynna Phillips co-wrote “Hold On” with Carnie Wilson and producer Glen Ballard. The upbeat song delivers encouragement for those who are going through hard times. Lines like Things’ll go your way if you hold on for one more day deliver some hope. At the same time, lines like No one can change your life except for you urge the listener to take responsibility for bettering their situation.

According to Songfacts, Phillips wrote the song for herself. She was battling alcohol and substance abuse at the time and was looking for a way out. “I thought to myself, ‘Well, AA tells me just hold on. Just one day at a time,” she said of the song’s origins. “I thought, Okay, if I can just hold on for one more day, then I can do this.’”

Phillips took her own advice and has been sober for more than two decades.

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