The Chainsmokers & Halsey Lead Hot 100 & Rihanna Returns to Top 10, Fueled by VMAs Gains

After performing “Closer” on the MTV Video Music Awards Aug. 28, The Chainsmokers & Halsey reign again. Plus, VMAs-related gains for Rihanna, who re-enters the top 10 with “Needed Me.”

The Chainsmokers and featured artist Halsey top the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Sept. 17) for a third week with “Closer.” The song makes gains following the acts’ performance of it at the MTV Video Music Awards, broadcast live on the network from Madison Square Garden in New York on Aug. 28.

Also benefitting from the VMAs spotlight: Rihanna, who re-enters the top 10 with “Needed Me.”

Let’s run down the Hot 100’s top 10 and more. The Hot 100 and all charts will post on Billboard’s websites tomorrow, Sept. 7 (one day later than normal, due to the Sept. 5 Labor Day holiday in the U.S.)

“Closer,” released on Disruptor/Columbia Records, and the first No. 1 for both EDM duo The Chainsmokers (Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall) and alt/pop singer-songwriter Halsey, spends a fourth week atop the Digital Songs chart with 208,000 downloads sold (up 45 percent) in the week ending Sept. 1, according to Nielsen Music, after the acts’ performance of it at the VMAs.

“Closer” marks not only a new personal best for both artists for digital song sales in a week (surpassing last week’s sum), but also the first song to sell more than 200,000 downloads in a week in more than three months, since Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” debuted with 379,000 on the May 28 chart. The total is the best by a duo or group in more than year, since One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” launched with 350,000 (Aug. 22, 2015).

“Closer” tops the Streaming Songs chart for a third week, up by 28 percent to 36.8 million U.S. streams. Spotify streams mark the greatest share (44 percent) of the song’s total clicks; its only official video so far is a lyric video (ahead of an expected proper clip). “Closer” also leads the audio subscription services-based On-Demand Songs streaming chart for a fourth week (22.9 million on-demand streams, up 24 percent).

On Radio Songs, “Closer” climbs 15-11 (79 million in airplay audience, up 31 percent). It adds the Hot 100’s top Airplay Gainer award, while winning top Streaming Gainer honors for a third week. “Closer” additionally tops Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a third week.

Major Lazer’s “Cold Water,” featuring Bieber and MO, keeps at its No. 2 Hot 100 peak. It stays at No. 3 on Streaming Songs (where it spent its first three weeks at No. 1) with 19.8 million U.S. streams (down 1 percent). It dips 4-6 on Digital Songs (which it led for a week, upon its debut), with 54,000 sold (down 7 percent), but rises 8-7 on Radio Songs (99 million, up 14 percent).

Notably, for a second week, “Closer” and “Cold Water” rank at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on both the Hot 100 and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs simultaneously. Until last week, the top two on the charts had never before synched up, dating to the latter list’s January 2013 launch.

Twenty One Pilots ascend to a new Hot 100 high with “Heathens” (4-3). The song, from the Suicide Squad: The Album soundtrack, holds at No. 2 on Digital Songs (82,000, essentially even week-over-week) and Streaming Songs (20 million, also largely unchanged from a week ago), while bounding 27-18 on Radio Songs (55 million, up 34 percent). It scores a fourth week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart.

Twenty One Pilots’ other song in the Hot 100’s top 10, “Ride,” from their albumBlurryface, falls from its No. 5 peak to No. 7, but the duo (Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun) continues its control of two radio formats, as, for a second week, “Heathens” tops Alternative Songs and “Ride” rules Pop Songs. Until last week, no act had led the radio airplay tallies simultaneously with different songs.

Between “Heathens” and “Ride” on the Hot 100, Sia’s former four-week No. 1 “Cheap Thrills,” featuring Sean Paul, descends 3-4, while remaining the most-heard song on U.S. radio, inking a fifth week at No. 1 on Radio Songs (148 million, down 5 percent); The Chainsmokers’ second song in the top 10, the No. 3-peaking “Don’t Let Me Down,” featuring Daya, rises 7-5; and Calvin Harris’ “This Is What You Came For,” featuring Rihanna, holds at No. 6 after reaching No. 3.

Back to The Chainsmokers: the act becomes only the fourth duo with simultaneous top five Hot 100 hits, although the second in two weeks, following Twenty One Pilots. As noted last week, when Twenty One Pilots joined the exclusive club, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (2013) and OutKast (2003-04) first achieved the feat.

Shawn Mendes’ “Treat You Better” rises 10-8 on the Hot 100. The track retreats 3-5 on Digital Songs (54,000, down 15 percent; it’s back to its regular $1.29 price tag following a 69-cent sale in the iTunes Store); lifts 10-9 on Radio Songs (90 million, up 10 percent); and holds at No. 16 on Streaming Songs (10.3 million, up 2 percent).

“Better,” Mendes’ second Hot 100 top 10, following last year’s No. 4 hit “Stitches,” is from his second full-length album, Illuminate, due Sept. 23.

Drake’s “One Dance” drops 8-9 on the Hot 100. Still, it posts an 18th week atop Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, extending the longest reign of his 16 No. 1s on the chart. “Dance” has ruled the Songs of the Summer chart each week this season. Will it finish first? Check Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 7) when we reveal the final rankings of the top songs of the summer.

And, as Drake remains in the Hot 100’s top 10, he has now spent 51 consecutive weeks in the bracket, padding his record among solo males. Only Katy Perry has linked a longer run: 69 consecutive weeks in the top 10 in 2010-11. Drake’s nearly year-long streak began on the Oct. 3, 2015, Hot 100, when “Hotline Bling” hiked 16-9. (He has been credited as the lead artist on songs in 40 weeks of his 50-week top 10 stretch.)

Capping the Hot 100’s top 10, Rihanna’s “Needed Me” returns to the region (11-10) after reaching No. 7. It leaps 27-22 on Digital Songs with a 14 percent increase to 30,000 after Rihanna performed the song as part of her four-segment medley of hits (in the third section) at the VMAs; Rihanna was also honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her catalog of hits and the career impact of her videos.

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column and other posts later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 7), when all rankings, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The Hot 100 and other charts will also appear in the next issue of Billboard magazine, on sale Friday (Sept. 9).

Source: billboard.com