Examining George Strait's reign at the top

The king of broken hearts may not know he's a king, but the king of country music can have no doubt. With 59 number-one singles, George Strait has sent more songs to the top of the charts than any other country artist in history. He's towards the top of the list in all genres and only 11 artists have sold more albums. Just how remarkable is that feat? Consider the numbers in comparison with other artists.

But first, just how hard is topping the charts once? It took Little Big Town 14 years to score their first chart topper last year with Platoon.

George was the first artist to have a top 10 single for three consecutive decades. Hunter Hayes, the youngest male artist to ever top the country charts by himself with Wanted at 21, was a full decade away from being born when he started that streak.

Tim McGraw, who has a career most other artists would love to have, has 21 number-one hits. His buddy and longtime touring partner Kenny Chesney has 22. Tim's wife, Faith Hill, has eight. Jake Owen, who toured with Tim and Kenny last summer, adds one to the total, meaning the entire tour had 42 number-one singles between three acts, 50 if you add Tim's wife to the mix.

Reba McEntire has been making music for more than five decades. At her current rate of an average of eight number-ones a decade, she'll need two more decades and a couple more years to catch George. Unfortunately for her, he's retiring from touring, not making music.

Brad Paisley scored five number-ones with his album "5th Gear." He'd only need 11 more albums at that rate to catch George. He's charted 11 other singles at the top, and had a record run of 10 straight number-ones, giving him the best chance to catch George some day.

Since 1991, no female country artist has hit number one more times than Carrie Underwood. Though she's only been making music since winning American Idol in 2005, she's topped the charts a dozen times since then.

Shania Twain has had seven and managed to produce the best-selling studio album by a female artist in any genre and the best-selling country album ever. Martina McBride has five and Miranda Lambert has two.

If there's strength in numbers, groups and duos should be able to compete with George Strait. Alabama has 33 top singles, Brooks and Dunn have 20, Lady Antebellum is off to a strong start with four, and Sugarland has five. That's 62, which almost ties the 10 artists with the King.

The Judd's had 14, the Zac Brown Band has nine, Rascal Flatts has 12, the Dixie Chicks had six, and Lonestar had nine. Thompson Square has one. Montgomery Gentry has five, Big and Rich have one and Diamond Rio had five, including Meet in the Middle, which made the group the first group to go number one with their debut single. Those 10 acts have a combine 62 number one singles, or three more than George does by himself.

Keith Urban has 14, Blake Shelton has 13 (including the current number one song, "Sure be Cool if you did"), Jason Aldean has nine, Garry Allan has four, and Dierks Bentley has 10. Together, that's 9 less than George.

Alan Jackson has 35 number ones and Toby Keith has 19, putting the two superstars within five of George, or roughly Taylor Swift's haul thus far in her career.

Gorge Strait's "Give it all we got Tonight" is currently at 16, or 15 spots away from his 60th number one. After giving it all he's got for the past 32 years, there's no reason to think he's going to stop anytime soon.