The records that could fall in triple j's Hottest 100 of 2024

The 32nd annual triple j Hottest 100 countdown is upon us. 

Every year brings with it a new batch of music to be added to the archive, a new (or old) winner to be crowned, and a new bunch of ageing listeners complaining that the Hottest 100 was better in their day.

But the legacy of the countdown means there interesting stats and records that accumulate each year. 

Here are some of the big ones to watch this Saturday January 25, 2025, as triple j counts down the best songs of 2024.

Most appearances of all time

G Flip shot up the leaderboard last year with an incredible seven entries, which was a new record (more on that in a moment).

It gave them 21 appearances in the annual countdown over the years (22 if you count them playing percussion in Alex Lahey’s Like A Version of The Black Parade) and took them to fifth on the leaderboard behind only Hilltop Hoods (25), Powderfinger (22), Foo Fighters (22) and Flume (22).

If they’re cover of Taylor Swift’s Cruel Summer gets a guernsey this year, it will put them equal second alongside with the ‘Finger, the Fooeys and Flume - or outright second if we count the Alex Lahey thing… which we totally should.

Oh, and Flume has a song in the voting guide - One More Night with KUČKA - which could move the Sydney producer into clear second place.

It’s unlikely Hilltop Hoods will get knocked off the top of the table this year, but it’s worth keeping an eye on some Hottest 100 stalwarts with a lot of tracks in the voting guide who could make some big moves - Tame Impala (19 appearances over the years), Lime Cordiale (18), Billie Eilish (17), Bring Me The Horizon (15), Rüfüs Du Sol (13), and Kendrick Lamar (13).

Most songs in a year

Few expected G Flip to get seven entries in a year, breaking the record set by Wolfmother in 2005 and equalled by Spacey Jane in 2022.

But could it happen again?

There are a lot of big names in the voting guide with a lot of songs listed, so theoretically G Flip’s record isn’t safe.

In case you’re wondering about the significance of the voting guide, songs that aren’t listed in it rarely place in the countdown (yes, they sometimes do, but "rarely" is the key word there).

Rapper and previous winner Kendrick Lamar has an incredible 14 songs listed in the guide, while Charli XCX (who has only been in the countdown twice previously - her song Boys in 2017, and as a featured artist on Icona Pop’s I Don’t Care, way back in 2012) has 13.

Then there’s Billie Eilish with 10 (counting her Charli XCX collab Guess) and Beyonce with nine tracks.

There are also a heap of acts with eight (Amyl & The Sniffers, fred again, Hockey Dad, Lime Cordiale, Skegss, Sycco), and seven songs listed (beabedoobee, The Buoys, Dice, Gracie Abrams, Northeast House Party, Remi Wolf, Rüfüs Du Sol, South Summit).

Past winners

Flume and Powderfinger are the only acts to win twice, although any time this stat is mentioned we have to point out Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning is a three-time winner thanks to his solo hit Wish You Well.

Flume’s collab with KUČKA could get him into the Triple Crown Lounge with Fanning, but it’s more likely someone will join the Two-Timer’s Club.

So which past winners are listed in this year’s voting guide and are therefore in with a shot for a second win?

The answer is Doja Cat (2023), Glass Animals (2020), Billie Eilish (2019), Ocean Alley (2018), Kendrick Lamar (2017), The Rubens (2015), Macklemore (2012), and Angus & Julia Stone (2010).

By the way, the most previous winners to appear in a single countdown was in 2021, when six champions showed up in the one list - Vance Joy (2013), The Rubens, Kendrick Lamar, Ocean Alley, Billie Eilish and Glass Animals.

Five previous winners appeared in the 2017 and 2022 countdowns.

If we get another two-time winner, then we could start looking at biggest gap between wins - Flume had six years between victories (Powderfinger did theirs back-to-back).

The oldies

The Hottest 100 is a young person’s game, but every so often an elder statesman or stateswoman pops up to remind the young ‘uns what’s what.

Last year, Kylie Minogue dropped in at #48 with Padam Padam, temporarily claiming a record for the oldest woman to appear in the countdown - Australia’s Queen of Pop was 55 at the time, ousting Marianne Faithful from the mantle, who was 51 when she featured on Metallica's The Memory Remains in 1997 (#38).

Minogue’s victory was short-lived - Madonna, 65, swooped in five tracks later to take the crown via her appearance alongside The Weeknd and Playboi Carti on the track Popular (#43).

But that could mean little come January 25 if Dolly Parton’s collab with Beyonce - Tyrant - makes the grade, as Ms Parton turned 79 on January 19.

For the record, the oldest winner of the Hottest 100 is Jeff Phat of The Wiggles, who was 68 when their Tame Impala cover took home the top prize, while the oldest person ever to appear in the countdown was John Lee Hooker, who was either 81 or 76 when he teamed up with Van Morrison on a version of Gloria and reached #100.

Old song, new life

Speaking of Dolly Parton, her track Jolene could manage a rare feat if Beyonce’s cover gets a run on January 25.

It would be only the second time a song has had two covers make the countdown - The White Stripes’ live cover of Jolene reached #10 in 2004.

The only song to achieve this feat to date is Crowded House’s glorious singalong Fall At Your Feet.

Boy and Bear got it into the countdown at #5 in 2010, while Peking Duk & Julia Stone followed suit last year 2023 at #64.

The streak

If Billie Eilish features in the upcoming Hottest 100, she will have appeared in every countdown since 2017.

Eight years in a row would tie her with Peking Duk when it comes to Hottest 100 streaks, but it’s still two years short of the record.

That’s held by Aussie rock icons The Living End, who never missed a year between 1997 and 2006.