Music · Ranked by Billboard

Billboard Hot 100, May 13, 1989, the Top 20 Songs That Week

By

Bob and Kyle

List

20 songs

Video

2:54

Updated

October 31, 2026

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Bon Jovi, Madonna, Paula Abdul, Bette Midler and Guns N' Roses were all in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 for May 13, 1989. Here's that week's top 20, counted down to #1, with every song's moves.

The Billboard Hot 100 for May 13, 1989 is a chart on the way up. 13 of the top 20 songs climbed this week, and every one of them reached its highest spot yet. Only 4 fell, and 3 held still.

Ten of the 20 still had their best week ahead of them. The movies are all over it too. Four of the 20 come from films: Chances Are, Dream A Little Dream, Beaches and Rain Man.

Hot 100 #20 to #16, May 13, 1989, Funky Cold Medina Falls 13

The bottom of the top 20 is where the old hits go out and the new ones come in. Funky Cold Medina by Tone-Loc dropped 13 places, from #4 to #17, the biggest fall in the top 20. She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals slid 9, from #10 to #19. Both already had their moment. She Drives Me Crazy hit #1 on April 15, and Funky Cold Medina peaked at #3 on April 29.

Billboard Hot 100 May 13 1989, #20 to #16

This week	Song	Last week	Peak	Weeks on chart
20	Close My Eyes Forever Lita Ford (Duet With Ozzy Osbourne)	25	20	11
19	She Drives Me Crazy Fine Young Cannibals	10	1	16
18	Everlasting Love Howard Jones	24	18	9
17	Funky Cold Medina Tone-Loc	4	3	11
16	I'll Be Loving You (Forever) New Kids on the Block	22	16	7

The other three songs climbed in from outside the top 20. New Kids on the Block's I'll Be Loving You (Forever) and Howard Jones' Everlasting Love each jumped 6, to #16 and #18. Close My Eyes Forever, Lita Ford's duet with Ozzy Osbourne, is up 5 to #20. None of the three had peaked yet. All three had their best week in June.

Hot 100 #15 to #11, May 13, 1989, Electric Youth Tops Out

Four of the five songs from #15 to #11 had gone as high as they'd go. Electric Youth by Debbie Gibson, a song she wrote herself, jumped 6 places to #11, and May 13 was its all-time peak. The Belle Stars' Iko Iko, from Rain Man, edged up 1 to #14, its peak too. SaFire's Thinking Of You held at #12 and Living Colour's Cult Of Personality held at #13, both parked at their peaks for a second straight week.

Billboard Hot 100 May 13 1989, #15 to #11

This week	Song	Last week	Peak	Weeks on chart
15	Every Little Step Bobby Brown	20	15	8
14	Iko Iko (From "Rain Man") The Belle Stars	15	14	11
13	Cult Of Personality Living Colour	13	13	10
12	Thinking Of You SaFire	12	12	15
11	Electric Youth Debbie Gibson	17	11	7

Every Little Step by Bobby Brown is the one with more to give. It climbed 5 to #15, and its best week was still ahead, on June 10. LA Reid and Babyface wrote and produced it. Thinking Of You, in its 15th week, is the only song in this top 20 with no Spotify link, because the original recording isn't on Spotify.

Hot 100 #10 to #6, May 13, 1989, Three Songs From the Movies

Three songs crashed the top 10 this week, and they came in fast. Patience by Guns N' Roses and Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings, from Beaches, both jumped 9 places, to #9 and #10, tied for the biggest climb in the top 20. Michael Damian's Rock On, from Dream A Little Dream, jumped 6 to #8. None of the three newcomers had peaked yet.

Billboard Hot 100 May 13 1989, #10 to #6

This week	Song	Last week	Peak	Weeks on chart
10	Wind Beneath My Wings (From "Beaches") Bette Midler	19	10	11
9	Patience Guns N' Roses	18	9	6
8	Rock On (From "Dream A Little Dream") Michael Damian	14	8	9
7	Second Chance Thirty Eight Special	6	6	14
6	After All (Love Theme From "Chances Are") Cher & Peter Cetera	7	6	10

Add Cher and Peter Cetera's After All, the love theme from Chances Are, up 1 to #6 in its peak week, and three of these five songs come from movies. Wind Beneath My Wings has made the longest trip of any song here, from a #97 debut on March 4. Patience is the newest, in only its sixth week. The one song going backward is Second Chance by Thirty Eight Special, down 1 to #7 after peaking at #6 on May 6.

Hot 100 #5 to #2, May 13, 1989, Like A Prayer Gives Up #1

Madonna's Like A Prayer, #1 the week before, drops to #2. Like A Prayer first hit #1 on April 22, and it's the only song in the top 20 certified double Platinum by the RIAA. It also had the hottest start of the 20, debuting at #38 on March 18. No other song here debuted higher than #59.

Billboard Hot 100 May 13 1989, #5 to #2

This week	Song	Last week	Peak	Weeks on chart
5	Soldier Of Love Donny Osmond	8	5	8
4	Forever Your Girl Paula Abdul	5	4	10
3	Real Love Jody Watley	3	3	9
2	Like A Prayer Madonna	1	1	9

Behind it, three songs are lined up with more to come. Real Love by Jody Watley held at #3, Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl moved up 1 to #4 and Donny Osmond's Soldier Of Love jumped 3 to #5. All three still had their best week ahead of them, and for Real Love and Forever Your Girl it was only a week away, on May 20.

The #1 Song on May 13, 1989, Bon Jovi's I'll Be There For You

1. I'll Be There For You

Bon Jovi

Last week

2

Peak

1

Weeks on chart

11

I'll Be There For You by Bon Jovi moved up from #2 to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 13, 1989, its first week at the top. It debuted at #82 on March 4, one of five songs in this top 20 that first charted that week, and got to #1 in its 11th week. The credits list J. Bon Jovi and R. Sambora as writers and B. Fairbairn as producer, and it's on the album New Jersey, which Spotify dates to September 13, 1988.

The case against it is sitting at #2. Madonna's Like A Prayer got to #1 first, on April 22, debuted 44 places higher (#38 against #82) and is the only double Platinum record in the top 20. Bon Jovi has the week, and Madonna has the numbers. Pick a side.

How the Billboard Hot 100 for May 13, 1989 Is Ranked

The positions, last week, peak and weeks on the chart all come from the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 13, 1989. These are its top 20 songs, in Billboard's order, and the songwriter, producer and label credits come from billboard.com too. Peak is the highest spot a song had reached as of that week, which is why Funky Cold Medina shows a #3 peak while sitting at #17.

Each song links to its recording on Spotify, matched by title and artist, and we pick the original studio recording where there's a choice. Spotify only has Michael Damian's 2009 re-recording of Rock On, so that's where its link goes. Cult Of Personality links to Living Colour's 2023 remaster, and SaFire's Thinking Of You has no link because the original isn't on Spotify.

Billboard Hot 100 May 13, 1989 Video Chapters

1. 0:00 #20 to #16
2. 0:40 #15 to #11
3. 1:18 #10 to #6
4. 1:55 #5 to #2
5. 2:25 The #1 Song

Questions About the Billboard Hot 100 for May 13, 1989

What was the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 13, 1989?

I'll Be There For You by Bon Jovi was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 13, 1989, up from #2 in its 11th week on the chart. It was the song's first week at #1.

What song climbed the most in the Billboard top 20 on May 13, 1989?

Patience by Guns N' Roses and Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler both climbed 9 places on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 13, 1989, to #9 and #10. Funky Cold Medina by Tone-Loc fell furthest, from #4 to #17.

Where was Like A Prayer on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 13, 1989?

Madonna's Like A Prayer was #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 13, 1989, down from #1 the week before. Like A Prayer first hit #1 on April 22, 1989.

Which songs from movies were in the Billboard top 20 on May 13, 1989?

Four songs from movies were in the Billboard Hot 100 top 20 on May 13, 1989. After All by Cher and Peter Cetera (Chances Are) was #6, Rock On by Michael Damian (Dream A Little Dream) was #8, Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler (Beaches) was #10 and Iko Iko by The Belle Stars (Rain Man) was #14.

Sources

• Billboard Hot 100, week of May 13, 1989
• Billboard Hot 100

Cover art © the artists and their labels, shown to identify each song.