Sweet Success: A History of Willy Wonka Music on Billboard Charts

Willy Wonka has charted lots of ear candy on Billboard’s surveys.

For over half a century, songs that stemmed from Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have sweetened Billboard surveys, encompassing three hit films, a Broadway musical and more.

The franchise’s latest entry is Wonka, the movie that chronicles the backstory of how the famed chocolatier’s career began. Its companion album hits the top 10 on Billboard’s Soundtracks chart (dated Jan. 13), leaping from No. 18 to No. 6 with 6,000 equivalent album units, up 46%, Dec. 29-Jan. 4, according to Luminate.

One of the set’s signature songs, “Pure Imagination,” sung by Wonka’s namesake star Timothée Chalamet, hit No. 27 three weeks earlier on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart.

The film’s soundtrack features new songs performed by Chalamet and fellow cast members, including such cuts central to the movie’s storyline as “A Hatful of Dreams,” ballad “For a Moment,” a duet with co-star Calah Lane, “You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This,” and “A World of Your Own.” Many were written by Simon Farnaby, Neil Hannon and Wonka director Paul King, while Joby Talbot wrote the film’s original score.

(“You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This,” notably, debuts, at No. 78, on the Official UK Singles Chart.)

Fellow Wonka stars, including Hugh Grant and Keegan-Michael Key, also perform tracks in the film and on its soundtrack.

Wonka, meanwhile, is off to a scrumdiddlyumptious start at the box office, reigning for a third week domestically after it premiered Dec. 15.

As the new movie adds another chapter of chart (ready, set) action, here’s a look at how Willy Wonka has long been choc-ful of success on Billboard’s charts.