www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6821667/adele-hello-hot-100-ninth-weekAdele's 'Hello' Leads Hot 100 for Ninth Week12/28/2015 by Gary Trust
The smash continues at the summit, where it's ranked since its debut. Plus, Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself" rises to a new high of No. 3.
Adele's "Hello" tops the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Jan. 9) for a ninth week, continuing her longest command atop the chart. It has spent all of its weeks at No. 1, after debuting atop the Nov. 14 tally.
As we do every Monday, let's run down the Hot 100's top 10 and beyond. Highlights of the airplay/sales/streaming-based Hot 100 post on Billboard.com each Monday, with all charts updated each Tuesday.
With a ninth week atop the Hot 100 for "Hello," released on XL/Columbia Records, Adele extends her longest No. 1 stay: last week, the song bested the reign of her first leader, "Rolling in the Deep," which ruled for seven weeks in 2011. Additionally, "Hello" is the longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1 by a solo female since Lorde's "Royals," which crowned the chart for nine weeks in October-December 2013.
"Hello" rebounds for a sixth total week atop Digital Songs (tying "Deep" for Adele's longest run atop the chart), gaining by 13 percent to 174,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 24, according to Nielsen Music. (Sales of most songs rose in the tracking week, thanks to holiday shopping.) It also rules Radio Songs for a seventh week (rewriting her longest rule, passing the six-week commands of "Deep" and 2012's "Set Fire to the Rain") with 160 million all-format audience impressions (down 6 percent). On Streaming Songs, "Hello" holds to No. 2 (after logging seven weeks at No. 1) with 21.1 million U.S. streams, down 2 percent.
It's notable that "Hello" has spent its first nine weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. That's the fourth-longest stretch that a No. 1-debuting song has stayed at the summit. Here's a look at the hits to link the most consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 from their debuts at No. 1:
16 weeks, "One Sweet Day," Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, 1995-96<
14 weeks, "Candle in the Wind" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight," Elton John, 1997-98
11 weeks, "I'll Be Missing You," Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112, 1997
9 weeks, "Hello," Adele, 2015
Meanwhile, second 25 single "When We Were Young" nudges 55-54 on the Hot 100, led by its 12 percent increase to 39,000 sold. It also climbs 20-18 on the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart and 32-25 on Pop Songs and debuts at No. 24 on Adult Contemporary.
Beneath "Hello" on the Hot 100, Justin Bieber's "Sorry" holds at its No. 2 peak after debuting at the rank (below "Hello") eight weeks ago. "Sorry" stays at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart (24.4 million, up 3 percent) and leads the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart for a sixth week (10 million on-demand streams, down 4 percent). "Sorry" is stationary at No. 2 on Radio Songs (139 million, down 2 percent) and No. 3 on Digital Songs (138,000, up 32 percent).
Bieber additionally ranks at No. 3 on the Hot 100 as "Love Yourself" rises a spot to hit a new high. The ballad claims the top Digital and Airplay Gainer awards, roaring 4-2 on Digital Songs (152,000, up 62 percent), 5-3 on Streaming Songs (16.3 million, up 10 percent) and 33-19 on Radio Songs (44 million, up 26 percent).
Bieber again places three songs on the Hot 100's top five, as "What Do You Mean?" remains at No. 5 (after debuting as his first No. 1 on the Sept. 19 chart). All three singles are from his album Purpose, which bowed atop the Billboard 200 five weeks ago. As he did the past two weeks and five weeks ago, Bieber boasts three concurrent songs in the Hot 100's top five, a feat that only two other acts have earned: the Beatles, who charted at least three songs in the top five for eight weeks in 1964 (including the entire top five on April 4, 1964), and 50 Cent (two weeks in 2005). Bieber and the Beatles are the only acts to achieve the honor as a lead artist on all three songs, as well as for at least four weeks each.
Could "Sorry" dethrone "Hello" on next week's Hot 100? While it's too soon to tell, this week's race was closer than last week's, with "Hello" decreasing by less than 1 percent in overall activity on this week's chart and "Sorry" gaining by 7 percent.
Also in the Hot 100's top five, Drake's "Hotline Bling" descends 3-4 after reaching No. 2. It logs a ninth week at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and rules Hot Rap Songs for a 14th week.
Selena Gomez's "Same Old Love" holds at its best Hot 100 rank (No. 6), while new Revival single "Hands to Myself" bounds into the top 40 (62-39). Following the premiere of the official video for "Hands" Dec. 21 (exclusively on Apple Music), the track vaults 46-18 on Digital Songs (47,000, up 95 percent) and enters Streaming Songs at No. 37 (5 million, up 43 percent, with the greatest portion of its streaming points [46 percent] from Spotify).
Alessia Cara's debut hit "Here" pushes to a new Hot 100 high (8-7); Shawn Mendes' "Stitches" rebounds 9-8 after peaking at No. 4; and The Weeknd's former six-week No. 1 "The Hills" drops 7-9, although it continues his iron man streak: he has now ranked in the top 10 with at least one song for 45 consecutive weeks, marking the fourth-longest stretch of consecutive frames in the top 10, and the best such run by a solo male. Here's an updated look at the acts to spend the most weeks in-a-row in the top 10 in the Hot 100's 57-year history:
69 weeks, Katy Perry, 2010-11
48 weeks, Ace of Base, 1993-94
46 weeks, Rihanna, 2010-11
45 weeks, The Weeknd, 2015
And, as covered recently in the "Ask Billboard" reader mailbag, Canadians, thanks to Bieber, Drake, Cara, Mendes and The Weeknd, continue to control the Hot 100, contributing seven songs in the top 10 for a sixth straight week.
Rounding out the Hot 100's top 10, Meghan Trainor's "Like I'm Gonna Lose You," featuring John Legend, keeps at No. 10 after reaching No. 8.
Among action outside the Hot 100's top 10, Drake and Future's "Jumpman" rises 13-12, returning to its peak; twenty one pilots' "Stressed Out" flies 19-13 and takes over atop Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart; and The Chainsmokers' "Roses," featuring ROZES, blooms 26-20, marking the duo's second top 20 Hot 100 hit, following "#SELFIE," which reached No. 16 in April 2014.
Find out more noteworthy news throughout the chart in the weekly "Hot 100 Chart Moves" column to post later this week. And, visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 29), when all rankings, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh, as they do each Tuesday.
