Ariana Grande’s ‘7 Rings’ Spends Second Week Atop Billboard Hot 100, J. Cole’s ‘Middle Child’ Charges to Top Five

Cole reaches his highest career Hot 100 rank, rocketing 26-4.

Ariana Grande‘s “7 Rings” tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week, leading the list dated Feb. 9, after debuting at No. 1 a week earlier. The song launched as Grande’s second Hot 100 No. 1, and second to start at the summit, following “Thank U, Next,” which debuted atop the chart in November and led for seven total weeks.

Meanwhile, J. Cole collects a new career-best placement on the Hot 100, as his “Middle Child” soars from its No. 26 debut a week ago to No. 4, following its first full week of availability.

Let’s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Feb. 5).

“Rings,” released on Republic Records, spends a second week as both the week’s most-streamed and top-selling song, despite second-week declines. Conversely, the song surges in airplay.

“Rings” rules the Streaming Songs chart for a second frame, with 63.2 million U.S. streams, down 26 percent, in the week ending Jan. 31, according to Nielsen Music. A week earlier, following the Jan. 18 premiere of the song and its official video, “Rings” drew 85.3 million, the second-biggest streaming week for a song by a female artist, after Grande’s own “Next” (93.8 million, Dec. 15).

“Rings” also tops the Digital Song Sales chart for a second week, with 39,000 downloads sold, down 59 percent, in the week ending Jan. 31.

On Radio Songs, “Rings” roars 39-19, up 53 percent to 41.9 million audience impressions in the week ending Feb. 3. On the Pop Songs airplay chart, “Rings” reaches the top 10 (21-10) in just its third week, marking the fastest flight to the tier since Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” did so in its record-tying second frame in September 2017. Grande tops her previous quickest climb to the Pop Songs top 10: five weeks each for “Problem,” featuring Iggy Azalea, in 2014 and “Next” in November-December.

“Rings” is the radio follow-up to “Next,” and follows the track “Imagine,” which debuted and peaked at No. 24 on the Hot 100 (Dec. 29). All three songs are from Grande’s forthcoming album, Thank U, Next, the follow-up to Sweetener, which bowed as her third Billboard 200 No. 1 in September.

Ooh, “child”: Cole’s new hit becomes the highest-charting single in the Hot 100’s 60-year history with the word “middle” in its title. It passes two No. 5-peaking songs titled “The Middle”: by Jimmy Eat World (2002) and Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey (2018).

Plus, Cole’s “Child” is the eighth song to reach the Hot 100’s top five with “child” (or a variation of the word) in its title. Three hit No. 1: “Love Child” by Diana Ross & The Supremes (1968); “Hot Child in the City” by Nick Gilder (1978); and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses (1988). The other such top five hits: the double-sided single “Superstar”/”Bless the Beasts and Children” by the Carpenters (No. 2, 1971); “When the Children Cry” by White Lion (which reached its No. 3 high exactly 30 years ago today, on Feb. 4, 1989); “Mother and Child Reunion” by Paul Simon (No. 4, 1972); and the double-sided “Scream”/”Childhood” by Michael and Janet Jackson (No. 5, 1995).

Rounding out the newest Hot 100’s top five, Travis Scott‘s “Sicko Mode” is steady at No. 5 after spending one week at No. 1. Grande’s “Next” falls 4-6 and Panic! at the Disco‘s “High Hopes” dips 6-7 after reaching No. 4. “Hopes” tops Hot Rock Songsfor a 14th week and Radio Songs for an 11th frame (117.9 million, down 4 percent).

Marshmello and Bastille‘s “Happier” retreats 7-8 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 3, as it leads Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for a 20th week, becoming the sixth song to reach the milestone since the latter list launched in January 2013; Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s “The Middle” leads with 33 weeks at No. 1 last year.

(Now with six Super Bowl wins, could “7 Rings” serve as the New England Patriots’ motivational song next season? Actually, “Thank U, Next,” could too.)

Halsey‘s “Without Me” keeps at No. 2 on the Hot 100 after tallying two weeks on top and Post Malone and Swae Lee‘s “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” holds at No. 3 after a week at the summit, as it leads the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a fifth week each.

J. Cole vaults 26-4 on the Hot 100 with “Middle Child,” notching a new career-best rank. Following its Jan. 23 release, the track blasts 17-2 on Streaming Songs (54.4 million) and 12-5 on Digital Song Sales (24,000). It also drew 8.4 million in radio reach in the tracking week.

In the song, Cole shouts-out other prominent rappers, including 21 Savage, JAY-Z and Kodak Black.

Highlights for the ascent of “Child” include:

Cole’s best Hot 100 rank: Cole tallies his highest-charting, and fifth total, Hot 100 top 10, as well as his first top five hit. He first reached the top 10 when “Deja Vu” debuted and peaked at No. 7 on Dec. 31, 2016, and added his next three all on May 5, 2018, when “ATM,” “Kevin’s Heart” and “KOD” debuted (and peaked) at Nos. 6, 8 and 10, respectively, as his most recent album, KOD, opened as his fifth Billboard 200 No. 1.

That week, Cole set a Hot 100 record, becoming the first artist to debut as many as three songs in the top 10 simultaneously. Drake eclipsed the mark two months later, when he launched four songs from his album Scorpion in the top 10.

Post Malone’s “Wow.” descends to No. 9 from its No. 8 Hot 100 high, and Super Bowl LIII halftime show performers Maroon 5 slip 9-10 with their former seven-week No. 1 “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B. “Girls” logs a 32nd week in the top 10, tying for the second-longest top 10 run in the chart’s archives:

Most weeks in Hot 100’s top 10
33, “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran, 2017
32, “Girls Like You,” Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B, 2018-19
32, “Closer,” The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey, 2016-17
32, “How Do I Live,” LeAnn Rimes, 1997-98

The spotlight of Maroon 5’s performance at the Super Bowl should spark gains for “Girls” in the current streaming and sales tracking week (Feb. 1-7), further helping its chances to tie Sheeran’s record 33-week stay in the Hot 100’s top 10 with “Shape of You” 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 (Feb. 5), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The next issue of Billboard magazine is on sale Friday (Feb. 8).

Source: billboard.com