Editing Songwriter (section)

== Sole writing ==
[[File:Lionel Richie 2019.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lionel Richie]] is the first songwriter to write eight [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] number-one songs entirely by himself.]]
In solitary songwriting or sole writing, only one person is responsible in creating the entire music and lyrics of a song. According to ''Billboard'', 44% of the songs that reached number one on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart during the 1970s were written by just one songwriter. The percentage declined to 42% in the 1980s, 24% in the 1990s, 6% in the 2000s, and 4% in the 2010s.<ref name="auto">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9473792/songwriters-hot-100-number-one-songs-by-themselves/|title=These 18 Songwriters Have Written More No. 1 Hits by Themselves Than Any Other Songwriters in Hot 100 History|magazine=Billboard}}</ref>

[[Lionel Richie]] and [[Diane Warren]] are the only songwriters with at least 8 number-one singles written solely by themselves.<ref name="auto"/> A very few artists solely wrote, produced, and performed a Hot 100 number-one song such as [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] ("[[When Doves Cry]]"), [[Debbie Gibson]] ("[[Foolish Beat]]" and "[[Lost in Your Eyes]]"), [[Lauryn Hill]] ("[[Doo Wop (That Thing)]]"), [[Alicia Keys]] ("[[Fallin' (Alicia Keys song)|Fallin']]"), and [[Pharrell Williams]] ("[[Happy (Pharrell Williams song)|Happy]]").<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Trust |first=Gary |date=2022-06-09 |title=Kate Bush Solely Wrote, Produced & Performs 'Running Up That Hill': How Rare Is That for a Hot 100 Top 10? |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/kate-bush-hot-100-sole-writer-producer-performer-hits-1235083731/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref>