The Beatles: All US Number Ones Ranked Worst To Best

16th Number One, 1968 - Written by Paul McCartney

In 1968, John Lennon infamously left his wife, Cynthia, for his mistress, Yoko Ono. Paul took to heart the effect that this had on John's young son, Julian, and came up with the concept for an inspirational new song, with the working title of Hey Jules. Upon deciding that Jude was a better name to use, Paul performed the song with the band, and John presumed it was about him instead - about Paul giving him his blessing to pursue a relationship with Yoko. Hey Jude was devised at a time when tensions were starting to rise amongst the band members, so the dissonance between Paul's intention for this song and John's interpretation of it is a clear reveal of how out of sync they were by then.

With nine weeks at the top, Hey Jude was the group's longest-running number one, and is perhaps their best-known song. In a perfect world, it would stand above all other Beatles number ones; but in that same perfect world, the song wouldn't go on for four long minutes of na-na-nas. Yes, when that sequence first hits, it's majestic and intoxicating, but halfway through it, you're either checking the timer on the track or skipping it altogether.

Fun Fact: This was the first song to debut in the top 10 region of the Hot 100.