| 100% | BILLIEJEAN | 10 | Title woman in a 1983 hit single by Michael Jackson: 2 wds. |
| 71% | PEGGYSUE | 8 | Title woman in a 1957 hit single by Buddy Holly: 2 wds. |
| 56% | RHIANNON | 8 | Title woman in a 1976 hit single by Fleetwood Mac |
| 56% | BERNADETTE | 10 | Title woman in a 1967 hit single by the Four Tops |
| 46% | EILEEN | 6 | Title woman in a hit song by Dexys Midnight Runners |
| 45% | SADIE | 5 | Title woman in a 1975 R&B hit by the Spinners |
| 45% | IMBAD | 5 | Repeated Michael Jackson lyric in a 1987 hit: 2 wds. |
| 44% | CRIMINAL | 8 | "Smooth ___," a hit single by Michael Jackson, the music video for which shows him pull the anti-gravity lean in a white suit |
| 43% | LITTLEDORRIT | 12 | Title woman in a Charles Dickens novel who grows up in a debtors' prison: 2 wds. |
| 43% | IMBAD | 5 | Michael Jackson boast, in a 1987 hit song (2 wds.) |
| 41% | AINTITFUN | 9 | Hit single by Paramore that won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2015 (3 wds.) |
| 40% | BILLIEJEAN | 10 | 1983 Michael Jackson song that inspired a moonwalk dance craze: 2 wds. |
| 40% | HEATWAVES | 9 | Single by 29-Across that took 59 weeks to hit #1 in 2022: 2 wds. |
| 40% | NANETTE | 7 | Title woman in a 1925 Broadway hit |
| 40% | MANDY | 5 | Title woman in a 1975 #1 hit |
| 40% | RHONDA | 6 | Title woman in a Beach Boys hit |
| 39% | DELILAH | 7 | Title woman in a 1968 Tom Jones hit |
| 39% | RHONDA | 6 | Title woman in a #1 Beach Boys hit |
| 38% | COSMOKRAMER | 11 | Character played by Michael Richards in a sitcom about "nothing" (2 wds.) |
| 38% | HOLYGRAIL | 9 | Hit single from Jay-Z's 12th album, featuring vocals from Justin Timberlake, which won a Grammy in 2014: 2 wds. |
| 38% | AMARILLO | 8 | Title city in a 1983 George Strait hit |
| 38% | MERCURYBLUES | 12 | Alan Jackson hit song with a 44-Down in its title (2 wds.) |
| 37% | JOANNA | 6 | Title girl in a 1983 Kool & the Gang hit |
| 37% | JOSIE | 5 | Title woman in a 1977 Steely Dan hit who's "the pride of the neighborhood" |
| 37% | TAKEBACK | 8 | With 32-Across, 2013 Justin Timberlake song influenced by Michael Jackson: 2 wds. |
| 37% | CESARCHAVEZ | 11 | Civil rights leader, played by Michael Peña in a 2014 biopic, who received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994: 2 wds |
| 37% | COSMOKRAMER | 11 | Character played by Michael Richards in "Seinfeld", who is 32-Across's neighbor and is often called a "hipster doofus": 2 wds. |
| 36% | THRIFTSHOP | 10 | A 2012 hit by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis which has the line "only got 20 dollars in my pocket": 2 wds |
| 36% | JOANN | 5 | Title girl in a 1958 hit by the Playmates |
| 36% | ELENORE | 7 | Title girl in a 1968 hit by the Turtles |