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Ariana Grande’s ‘Thank U, Next’ Returns to No. 1 On Hot 100 With Biggest Streaming Week Ever For a Woman
The song surges after its video premiere. Plus, Meek Mill earns his first top 10 and Drake adds his 33rd with ‘Going Bad’ while Mariah Carey’s ‘Christmas’ dashes to No. 7, a new high.
Ariana Grande‘s “Thank U, Next” tops the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 15), returning for a fourth week at No. 1 following the Nov. 30 arrival of its retro-2000s-themed official video.
The song reigns in large part due to its 93.8 million U.S. streams in the week ending Dec. 6, according to Nielsen Music, the biggest weekly total ever for a song by a female artist. It passes the 84.5 million that Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” logged in its first week (as reflected on charts dated Sept. 16, 2017).
“Next” debuted atop the Nov. 17-dated Hot 100 and spent its first three weeks at No. 1 before falling to No. 2 a week ago.
Plus, Meek Mill earns his first Hot 100 top 10, as “Going Bad” blasts in at No. 6. For featured artist Drake, the track is his 33rd top 10, extending his record for the most among solo males.
Meanwhile, Mariah Carey‘s 1994 holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” jingles 14-7 for a new Hot 100 high. The song hit the top 10 for the first time last holiday season, reaching No. 9.
Let’s run down the top 10 of the newest Hot 100, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 11).
Record streams: Grande’s “Next,” released on Republic Records, rebounds to the Hot 100’s summit with a 121 percent gain to 93.8 million U.S. streams in the week ending Dec. 6, encompassing the first full tracking week for its official video. On the Streaming Songs chart, the song reigns for a fifth week.
“Next,” whose official clip broke 24-hour views records on YouTube and Vevo following its arrival, boasts the best streaming week ever for a song by a woman and the seventh-biggest sum overall:
Total Weekly U.S. Streams, Title, Artist, Chart Date
116.1 million, “In My Feelings,” Drake, July 28, 2018
106.2 million, “In My Feelings,” Drake, Aug. 4, 2018
103.1 million, “Harlem Shake,” Baauer, March 2, 2013
101.7 million, “God’s Plan,” Drake, March 3, 2018
97.6 million, “Harlem Shake,” Baauer, March 9, 2013
95.4 million, “In My Feelings,” Drake, Aug. 11, 2018
93.8 million, “Thank U, Next,” Ariana Grande, Dec. 15, 2018
92.8 million, “God’s Plan,” Drake, March 10, 2018
92.7 million, “In My Feelings,” Drake, Aug. 18, 2018
84.5 million, “Look What You Made Me Do,” Taylor Swift, Sept. 16, 2017
“Next” jumps 5-2 on the Digital Song Sales chart with a 146 percent burst to 43,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 6. On Radio Songs, it zooms 23-11 (57 million audience impressions, up 44 percent).
“Next” sweeps the Hot 100’s Greatest Gainer awards for all metrics (streaming, sales and airplay). It’s the first song to claim all three titles at No. 1 since Drake’s “In My Feelings,” which tripled up atop the charts dated July 21 and 28, powered heavily at the time by the “In My Feelings” viral challenge. Before that, Drake’s own “God’s Plan” took all three trophies at No. 1 (on March 3) following the arrival of its official video.
“Hello” to a four-week No. 1 by a female: “Next” is the first four-week Hot 100 No. 1 by a female artist in a lead role in over two years, since Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” (featuring Sean Paul), which led for four weeks in August 2016. Earlier that year (beginning March 5), Rihanna’s “Work” (featuring Drake) dominated for nine frames.
“Next” is the longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1 by a woman with no accompanying artists since Adele’s “Hello,” which ruled for 10 weeks starting Nov. 14, 2015.
“Next” controls the Hot 100 with nearly a 2-to-1 points lead over Travis Scott‘s “Sicko Mode,” which last week became his first No. 1 on the chart. The latter track dips to No. 2, although it gains in all metrics, holding at No. 2 on Streaming Songs (43.3 million, up 16 percent); backtracking 2-3 on Digital Song Sales (25,000, up 5 percent); and bulleting at No. 8 on Radio Songs (65.7 million, up 1 percent).
The track, on which prominent guest vocalist Drake does not officially receive an artist billing, leads the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a seventh week each.
Halsey‘s “Without Me” hits a new Hot 100 peak, pushing 4-3. It paces Digital Song Sales for a third week (50,000, up 75 percent) and rises 6-4 on Streaming Songs (32.7 million, up 29 percent) and 9-6 on Radio Songs (71.7 million, up 10 percent).
Marshmello and Bastille‘s “Happier” retreats to No. 4 after reaching its No. 3 Hot 100 high, as it tops Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for a 12th week, and Panic! at the Disco‘s “High Hopes” holds at its No. 5 Hot 100 peak, while ruling Hot Rock Songsfor a sixth week. Panic posts its first No. 1 on the Pop Songs airplay chart with “Hopes” (2-1); the act had hit a previous No. 2 Pop Songs high with “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” in 2006.
Meek Mill notches his first Hot 100 top 10, as “Going Bad,” featuring Drake, bows at No. 6. The track is from the former’s new album Championships, the rapper’s first full-length since his April release from prison. “Bad” begins at No. 3 on Streaming Songs (36 million U.S. streams) and No. 6 on Digital Song Sales (17,000).
Among his prior 29 Hot 100 entries, dating to his 2011 debut, Meek Mill had previously peaked as high as No. 21, with “All Eyes on You,” featuring Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj, in 2015. His only other top 40 hit until this week: “R.I.C.O.,” featuring Drake, also in 2015.
As for Drake, he collects his 33rd Hot 100 top 10, extending his record for the most among solo males. Among all acts, only Madonna (38) and The Beatles (34) have more. Below Drake are Rihanna (31 top 10s), Michael Jackson (30) and Carey and Stevie Wonder (28 each).
Drake also extends his record for the most Hot 100 top 10s in a single year to 13. In October, when he posted his 12th top 10 of 2018, Bad Bunny’s “MIA,” on which he’s featured, Drake bested The Beatles for the yearly mark.
Speaking of Carey’s 28 top 10s…
…”All I Want for Christmas Is You” dashes 14-7 on the Hot 100 for a new high, topping its prior No. 9 best reached a year ago when it entered the top 10 for the first time. The song tops the Holiday 100 chart (for a 32nd of 37 total weeks since the chart launched in 2011) and is the top seasonal hit in all metrics; it keeps at No. 8 on Streaming Songs (28.5 million, up 29 percent) and No. 9 on Digital Song Sales (15,000, up 28 percent) and ascends 41-32 on Radio Songs (30.4 million, up 11 percent).
Kodak Black‘s No. 2-peaking “Zeze,” featuring Scott and Offset, retreats 7-8 on the Hot 100 and Lil Baby and Gunna‘s “Drip Too Hard” drops 8-9, after peaking at No. 4.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Maroon 5‘s former seven-week No. 1 “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B, falls 9-10. The song logs a 27th week in the top 10, becoming just the 10th single in the chart’s 60-year history to reach that marker. Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” holds the record with 33 weeks in the top 10 in 2017.
Find out more Hot 100 news on Billboard.com this week, and, for all chart news, you can listen (and subscribe) to Billboard‘s Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast and follow @billboard and @billboardcharts. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 11), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The next issue of Billboard magazine is on sale Friday (Dec. 14).
Source: billboard.com