The Year in Chart Feats, From A(riana) to Z(ayn)

A look at some of 2016’s most notable numbers, from 1 (Direction) to 9:57 (the length of David Bowie’s “Blackstar,” a record for a Hot 100 hit) & more.

Every year brings new superlatives to Billboard‘s charts, and 2016 was no different.

Here is a look at 10 chart records rewritten over the past year.

(Meanwhile, click here for all of Billboard‘s 2016 year-end charts.)

• 7 – Record consecutive studio albums by Rihanna to yield a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, from 2006’s A Girl Like You (“SOS”) through 2016’s Anti (“Work,” featuring Drake).

• 30 – Total acts who teamed as Artists of Then, Now & Forever for “Forever Country,” the medley celebrating 50 years of the Country Music Association Awards. The charity single became the first title by a non-solo act to debut at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs.

• 3 – When the title cut from her third studio set Dangerous Woman launched at No. 10 on the Hot 100 in April, Ariana Grande became the first artist in the chart’s 58-year history to debut in the top 10 with the lead single from each of her first three albums. “The Way” (featuring Mac Miller) and “Problem” (featuring Iggy Azalea) each previously launched in the region, ushering in 2013’s Yours Truly and 2014’s My Everything, respectively.

• 1 – From One Direction to an historic No. 1 on his own, Zayn, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, became the only male U.K. soloist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with a first album, when Mind of Mine started atop the April 16 list.

• 4 – Taylor Momsen-led quartet The Pretty Reckless became the first act to send its first four entries to No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart (which began in 1981), when “Take Me Down” rose 2-1 in November.

• 27 – Enrique Iglesias‘ record total of No. 1s on Hot Latin Songs. He padded his mark with “Duele El Corazon” (featuring Wisin), which led for 14 weeks beginning in May.

• 5 – Luke Bryan became the first artist to bank five No. 1s from two albums apiece on Country Airplay thanks to “Move,” the fifth leader from Kill the Lights. He first accomplished the feat with Crash My Party, which generated five No. 1s in 2013-15.

• 38 – Rae Sremmurd‘s “Black Beatles” (featuring Gucci Mane) made history ahead of its coronation on the Hot 100: when it rose 41-38, it passed The Carefrees’ “We Love You Beatles,” a No. 39 hit in 1964, as the highest-charting Beatles-inspired song (by another act) to namecheck the Fab Four in a song title.

• 71 – Characters (including spaces) in The 1975‘s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200, I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, the most ever for a leading title on the tally.

• 9:57 – Similarly, late legend David Bowie charted the longest Hot 100 hit — by running time — with the No. 78-peaking “Blackstar,” the just-shy-of-10-minutes-long title cut from his final studio album.

Source: billboard.com