50 Life-Saving Billboard Hot 100 Hits You Can Perform CPR To
Countless chart smashes have had the ideal tempo of 100-120 BPM over the years.
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In February, and especially on Valentine’s Day, hearts are on a lot of people’s minds. But while you’re nibbling on heart-shaped chocolates, trading sugary hearts with conversation-starters printed on them or dotting hearts onto your greeting cards for someone special, make sure you’re also taking care of the most important heart of all: the real-life one beating away in your chest right now.
In addition to being home to the Day of Love, the second and shortest month of the year is also National Heart Health Month, meaning that now is the time to read up on your favorite blood-pumping organ and assess whether you’re doing everything you can to keep it healthy. It’s also a good reminder to either learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation — the procedure much more commonly known as CPR — or refresh yourself on how to perform it, so that you can be ready to save someone else’s life if the time ever comes. The American Heart Association has essential video tutorials for administering the technique online, but something Billboard can help you out with specifically is tempo — a crucial element to both music and solid compressions.
According to the AHA, the ideal compression rate for CPR is anywhere between 100 and 120 beats per minute. Conveniently, countless songs also fall into that BPM range, and many of them have been popular enough over the years to grace Billboard‘s charts. That means you’re more likely to be able to remember them at a moment’s notice during high-stakes situations where someone needs help; all you need to do is call 911, get into position, and then give firm compressions to beat of a hit like Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next” or Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” until help arrives. The most commonly recommended tune for CPR might be the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” — which, having reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1970s, is definitely on this list — but any of the hits below will do the trick.
In honor of Heart Health Month, Billboard has rounded up 50 Hot 100 smashes that have the perfect tempos for CPR. Keep reading to find your new go-to life-saving song — plus how high they made it on the chart, as of our 2025 Valentine’s Day publishing — below.
