1950 in music


This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1950.

Specific locations

These singles reached the top of Billboard magazine's charts in 1950.
First weekNumber of weeksTitleArtist
January 7, 19501"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"Gene Autry, 7,000,000 sold by 1969
January 14, 19504"I Can Dream, Can't I?"The Andrews Sisters
February 11, 19501"Rag Mop"The Ames Brothers
February 18, 19504"Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy"Red Foley
March 18, 19504"Music! Music! Music!"Teresa Brewer
April 15, 19502"If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake"Eileen Barton
April 29, 195011"The Third Man Theme"Anton Karas, 4,000,000 sold
July 15, 19505"Mona Lisa"Nat King Cole
August 19, 195013"Goodnight, Irene"Gordon Jenkins & The Weavers, 2,000,000 sold
November 18, 19502"Harbor Lights"Sammy Kaye
December 2, 19504"The Thing"Phil Harris
December 30, 19509"The Tennessee Waltz"Patti Page

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest
in the limited set of charts available for 1950.
#ArtistTitleYearCountryChart entries
1Nat King ColeMona Lisa1950USUS 1940s 1 – Jun 1950, US 1 for 5 weeks Jul 1950, Oscar in 1950, US BB 2 of 1950, POP 2 of 1950, DDD 4 of 1950, Italy 48 of 1951, RIAA 109, Acclaimed 1292
2Patti PageTennessee Waltz1950USUS 1940s 1 – Nov 1950, US 1 for 9 weeks Dec 1950, US BB 4 of 1950, 6,000,000 sold by 1967
3Phil HarrisThe Thing1950USUS 1940s 1 – Nov 1950, US 1 for 4 weeks Dec 1950, Peel list 1 of 1950, US BB 12 of 1950, POP 12 of 1950
4Red FoleyChattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy1950USUS 1940s 1 – Jan 1950, US 1 for 4 weeks Feb 1950, DDD 17 of 1950, US BB 18 of 1950, POP 25 of 1950
5Teresa BrewerMusic! Music! Music!1950USUS 1940s 1 – Feb 1950, US 1 for 4 weeks Mar 1950, US BB 3 of 1950, POP 3 of 1950

Top hit records

Top R&B hits on record

  • "Double Crossing Blues" – ''Johnny Otis with Little Esther & The Robins''

    Published popular music

  • "Adelaide's Lament" words and music: Frank Loesser
  • "African Bolero" m. John Serry Sr.
  • "American Beauty Rose" w.m. Hal David, Redd Evans & Arthur Altman
  • "Be My Love" w. Sammy Cahn m. Nicholas Brodszky
  • "The Best Thing For You" w.m. Irving Berlin
  • "Blind Date" w.m. Sid Robin
  • "A Bushel And A Peck" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "Candy And Cake" w.m. Bob Merrill
  • "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" w.m. Harry Stone & Jack Stapp
  • "Choo'n Gum" w. Mann Curtis m. Vic Mizzy
  • "Cold, Cold Heart" w.m. Hank Williams
  • "The Cry of the Wild Goose" w.m. Terry Gilkyson
  • "Dearie" w.m. Bob Hilliard & David Mann
  • "Domino" w. Don Raye Jacques Plante m. Louis Ferrari
  • "Freight Train" w. Paul James & Fred Williams m. trad arr. Elizabeth Cotton
  • "The French Can-Can Polka" w. Jimmy Kennedy m. Jacques Offenbach
  • "From This Moment On" w.m. Cole Porter
  • "Frosty the Snowman" w.m. Steve Nelson & Jack Rollins
  • "Fugue For Tinhorns" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "Get Out Those Old Records" w.m. Carmen Lombardo & John Jacob Loeb
  • "Gone Fishin'" w.m. Nick Kenny & Charles Kenny
  • "Guys and Dolls" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "Home Cookin"' w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
  • "Hoop-Dee-Doo" w. Frank Loesser m. Milton De Lugg
  • "The Hostess With The Mostes' On The Ball" w.m. Irving Berlin. Introduced by Ethel Merman in the musical Call Me Madam
  • "I Almost Lost My Mind" w.m. Ivory Joe Hunter
  • "I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" w.m. Edward Pola & George Wyle
  • "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" w.m. Mack David
  • "I Leave My Heart in an English Garden" w.m. Harry Parr-Davies and Christopher Hassall from the musical Dear Miss Phoebe
  • "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" w.m. Alan Livingston, Billy May & Warren Foster
  • "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake" w.m. Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill & Clem Watts
  • "If I Were A Bell" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "I'll Know" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "I'll Never Be Free" w.m. Bennie Benjamin & George David Weiss
  • "I'm Movin' On" w.m. Hank Snow
  • "It Is No Secret" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
  • "It's A Lovely Day Today" w.m. Irving Berlin
  • "I've Never Been In Love Before" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "Ivory Rag" Lou Busch, Jack Elliott
  • "Little White Duck" w.m. Walt Barrows & Bernard Zaritsky
  • "The Loveliest Night of the Year" w. Paul Francis Webster m. Juventino P. Rosas
  • "Luck Be a Lady" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "Lucky Lucky Lucky Me" Berle, Arnold
  • "Marry The Man Today" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "Marrying For Love" w.m. Irving Berlin
  • "More I Cannot Wish You" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "My Heart Cries For You" w.m. Carl Sigman & Percy Faith
  • "My Time Of Day" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "No Other Love" adaptation from Chopin's Étude No. 3 in E major, Op. 10. w.m. Bob Russell & Paul Weston
  • "The Old Piano Roll Blues" w.m. Cy Coben
  • "The Oldest Established" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "Orange Colored Sky" w.m. Milton De Lugg & William Stein
  • "Patricia" w.m. Benny Davis
  • " I'm the One Who Loves You" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
  • "The Roving Kind" adapt. w.m. Jessie Cavanaugh & Arnold Stanton
  • "Sam's Song" w. Jack Elliott m. Lew Quadling
  • "Shot Gun Boogie" w.m. Tennessee Ernie Ford
  • "Silver Bells" w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans. Introduced by Bob Hope in the 1951 Musical film The Lemon Drop Kid.
  • "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat" w.m. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Stubby Kaye in the musical Guys and Dolls.
  • "Sixty Minute Man" w.m. Billy Ward & Rose Marks
  • "Sleigh Ride" w. Mitchell Parish m. Leroy Anderson
  • "Sue Me" w.m. Frank Loesser
  • "The Syncopated Clock" w. Mitchell Parish m. Leroy Anderson
  • "Take Back Your Mink" w.m. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Vivian Blaine in the musical Guys and Dolls.
  • "The Thing" w.m. Charles R. Grean
  • "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" adapt. trad Hebrew w. Mitchell Parish m. Issachar Miron & Julius Grossman
  • "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry" w.m. Bob Merrill & Terry Shand
  • "You're Just In Love" w.m. Irving Berlin