Obviously, people mock Adult Contemporary radio. It's called "vanilla" and bland. Tedious. Monotonic. Strictly for the elevator

Billboard begs to differ: AC is absolutely captivating. And, to celebrate the chart's 50th anniversary, they've ranked its 50 biggest stars.

Aside from being one of the most successful formats in the histories of recorded music and commercial radio, their AC chart is home to hall of famers, big-betters and hard rockers. Home to soulful sweethearts and songwriting superstars. AC isn't a place songs go to die. As radio folks, songwriters and fans well know - AC is the place where stars go to live forever.

Elton tops the list published by Billboard as Mellow Gold. He is Billboard's all-time AC chart king. Elton holds the records for most AC No. 1s (16), top 10s (38) and chart entries (68), dating to his grand entrance with "Your Song" in 1970. Having recently hosted "Saturday Night Live" and scored his highest-charting Billboard 200 album (the No. 3 "The Union," with Leon Russell) since 1976, clearly the musical and cultural icon is still standing strong.

Here's the Top 10 of Mellow Gold:

1) Elton John
2) Neil Diamond
3) Barbara Streisand
4) Barry Manilow
5) Kenny Rogers
6) Chicago
7) Billy Joel
8) Carpenters
9) Lionel Ritchie
10) Anne Murray

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