Billboard Hot 100: 12/15/2018

[jenglisbe]

The Holiday 100 is late yet again.

[Gary]

Hot 100 Chart Moves: Mariah Carey's 'Christmas' Hits New High, Andy Williams Goes Top 20 and Gene Autry Debuts

News

By Xander Zellner | December 12, 2018 10:42 AM EST
Mariah Carey



Carey's 1994 carol surges to No. 7 and Autry makes his first Hot 100 appearance.

Holiday music continues to storm the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as nine seasonal songs debut, re-enter or reach new peaks on the latest list (dated Dec. 15).

As previously reported, Mariah Carey leads the pack, as her holiday staple "All I Want for Christmas Is You" leaps from No. 14 to No. 7, hitting a new peak, after it reached the top 10 (No. 9) for the first time last year. The song surges with 30.4 million radio audience impressions (up 11 percent), 28.5 million U.S. streams (up 29 percent), 15,000 downloads sold (up 28 percent) in the tracking week, according to Nielsen Music. With the ascent, Carey achieves her highest rank since "Obsessed" reached No. 7 in 2009.

"Christmas" concurrently leads Billboard's Holiday 100 chart, which ranks the top holiday hits of all eras using the same methodology as the Hot 100, blending streaming, airplay and sales data.

Also as previously noted, Wham!'s "Last Christmas," from 1984, makes its first visit to the Hot 100's top 40, rising 43-34, and the late Dean Martin appears on the chart for the first time in nearly 50 years, as "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" storms in at No. 41.

Late country legend Gene Autry earns his first-ever Hot 100 entry, as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has a very shiny debut at No. 36. Autry (who died at age 91 in 1998) released the track in 1949, nine years before the Hot 100 launched, and it finally debuts, gaining by 40 percent to 18.5 million U.S. streams. (Per chart rules put in place this decade, older songs, like Autry's, Carey's, Wham!'s and Martin's, are eligible to chart on the Hot 100 if showing multi-metric gains and ranking in the top 50.)

Plus, Autry's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Other Christmas Classics leaps 68-49 on the Billboard 200, up 41 percent to 17,000 equivalent album units.

Here is a rundown of all the holiday songs on the Dec. 15-dated Hot 100:

Rank, Title, Artist
No. 7, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Mariah Carey (up from No. 14)
No. 16, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Andy Williams (up from No. 21)
No. 21, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," Brenda Lee (up from No. 23)
No. 22, "A Holly Jolly Christmas," Burl Ives (up from No. 26)
No. 26, "Jingle Bell Rock," Bobby Helms (up from No. 22)
No. 29, "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)," Nat King Cole (up from No. 39)
No. 34, "Last Christmas," Wham! (up from No. 43)
No. 36, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Gene Autry (debut)
No. 41, "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow," Dean Martin (debut)

Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the year" enters the Hot 100's top 20 for the first time, rising 21-16. The track earns Williams (who passed away at age 84 in 2012) his ninth top 20 hit and first since 1971, when "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" reached No. 9. Among his 40 total Hot 100 hits, he earned four top 10s.

Also reaching new peaks: Burl Ives' "A Holly Jolly Christmas," Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" and Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)." Ives and Cole sport their highest Hot 100 ranks since 1962 and 1964, respectively, while Helms continues climbing with his top-charted title.

[rockgolf]

Dec 12, 2018 11:09:31 GMT -5 Gary said:

No. 07, (1994 release - 24 years old) "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Mariah Carey 
No. 16, (1963 - 55 years old) "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Andy Williams 
No. 21, (1962 - 56 years old) "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," Brenda Lee 
No. 22, (1964 - 54 years old) "A Holly Jolly Christmas," Burl Ives 
No. 26, (1957 - 61 years old) "Jingle Bell Rock," Bobby Helms )
No. 29, (1946 - 72 years old) "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)," Nat King Cole 
No. 34, (1984 - 34 years old) "Last Christmas," Wham! 
No. 36, (1949 - 69 years old) "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Gene Autry
No. 41, (1959 - 59 years old) "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow," Dean Martin

Good God! Look how old those songs are!

Mariah's the new kid on the block!

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

^There have been a lot of holiday songs since Mariah's but they haven't become classics.

[rockgolf]

They haven't even become hits! Nothing from this century has become a Christmas standard. And yet there are songs from '62, '63 & '64 on the charts.

[jenglisbe]

Dec 12, 2018 13:50:27 GMT -5 rockgolf said:

They haven't even become hits! Nothing from this century has become a Christmas standard. And yet there are songs from '62, '63 & '64 on the charts.

Songs don't become standards overnight. It took "AIWFCIY" a solid decade to gain some footing, and then it became a standard in the last 10-15 years.

[rockgolf]

Then we should be seeing something, ANYTHING from about 1995 to 2005 getting regular hit status. 

I'm not hearing it. I thought Kelly Clarkson might have new Christmas standard, same with Leona Lewis, maybe even Justin Bieber. But they've become the presents everybody brings back for a refund.

[Gary]

Not sure there is a specific formula to become a "standard".

With looser chart rules, holiday songs get more exposure which might explain some of the delay with the Mariah song, otherwise, if a song gets released and is popular and comes back the next holiday and remains popular, it could take sooner than 10-15 years to be a new "standard"

No examples come to mind that I can think of though

[HolidayGuy]

Brenda Lee recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in 1958, so it turned 60 this year.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Dec 12, 2018 14:47:37 GMT -5 Gary said:

Not sure there is a specific formula to become a "standard".

With looser chart rules, holiday songs get more exposure which might explain some of the delay with the Mariah song, otherwise, if a song gets released and is popular and comes back the next holiday and remains popular, it could take sooner than 10-15 years to be a new "standard"

No examples come to mind that I can think of though

Taking a look at the Holiday 100, it seems that the most recent holiday song that could re-enter the Hot 100 this season is Michael Bublé's "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" already at #22 in Hot 100 Recurrents and #16 in the Holiday 100. To note, it already charted for a single week in 2011.

[iHype.]

Dec 12, 2018 14:04:21 GMT -5 rockgolf said:

Then we should be seeing something, ANYTHING from about 1995 to 2005 getting regular hit status. 

I'm not hearing it. I thought Kelly Clarkson might have new Christmas standard, same with Leona Lewis, maybe even Justin Bieber. But they've become the presents everybody brings back for a refund.

Ariana’s Santa Tell Me has already reached #16 on Spotify this year (2014 release).
Bieber’s Mistletoe has already reached #51 on Spotify this year (2011 release).
Kelly’s Underneath the Tree has already reached #73 on Spotify this year. (2013 release)
Brett’s Baby It’s Cold Outside has already reached #82 on Spotify this year. (2016 release)
Sam Smith’s Have Yourself A has already reached #86 on Spotify this year. (2014 release)

All of them could easily get bigger as years go on ala AIWFCIY. All it takes is a performance somewhere, usage in some type of media, etc.

Michael Buble’s Christmas album is debatably becoming the biggest Christmas album ever based on its yearly chart dominance. A release this decade.

So yeah I wouldn’t rule out the current generation of Christmas hits lasting.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

^Over the years, personally I've been hoping that something from Mannheim Steamroller, Trans-Siberian Orchestra or anything from Kenny G's Miracles: The Holiday Album could become a classic. Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) is kind of borderline at this point.

[dovahduck]

Glad to see some Dean Martin charting. :)

[chartfreak]

I thought Kelly's UTT would be a yearly hit, but seems kind of slow at least for now.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

^It was #23 in Hot 100 Recurrents this week. We'll see if it manages to pick up enough momentum to chart at least 1 week this season.

[L.Kennedy]

Panic! at the Disco Joins Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls & Gotye for Rare Airplay Chart Achievement

Panic! at the Disco dances to its first No. 1 on Billboard's Pop Songs airplay chart (dated Dec. 15), as "High Hopes" rises to the top. The Brendon Urie-led act bests its prior peak on the survey, set when its first entry, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," reached No. 2 in August 2006.

While Panic's 12-year, six-month and two-week span between its first week on Pop Songs and its first No. 1 was lengthy, it's not a record: Coldplay completed a 16-year and two-month odyssey from its debut hit, "Yellow," in March 2001 to its first leader, "Something Just Like This," with The Chainsmokers, in May 2017.

While Panic's 12-year, six-month and two-week span between its first week on Pop Songs and its first No. 1 was lengthy, it's not a record: Coldplay completed a 16-year and two-month odyssey from its debut hit, "Yellow," in March 2001 to its first leader, "Something Just Like This," with The Chainsmokers, in May 2017.

In third place, Enrique Iglesias crowned Pop Songs for the first time in March 2011 with "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)," featuring Ludacris and DJ Frank E, after Iglesias had first appeared on the chart in July 1999, ending a wait of 11 years and eight months.

Meanwhile, "Hopes" leads Alternative Songs for a fifth week and Adult Pop Songs for a second week. The song is just the fourth to top those two airplay charts and Pop Songs simultaneously, dating to the March 1996 inception of Adult Pop Songs in Billboard's pages in March 1996. (Pop Songs began in October 1992 and Alternative Songs, in September 1988.)

Gotye had last earned such a triple crown, leading the three lists dated June 23, 2012, with "Somebody That I Used to Know," featuring Kimbra. Before that, Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" topped the tree tallies at the same time for four weeks in March 2005, and Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" first achieved the feat on Aug. 1, 1998.

"Hopes" rules the all-format Radio Songs chart for a third week, up 7 percent to 113.8 audience impressions in the week ending Dec. 9, according to Nielsen Music. On the all-genre, streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Billboard Hot 100, "Hopes" holds at No. 5, the band's best career rank, having topped the No. 7 peak of "Sins."

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8490035/panic-at-the-disco-high-hopes-no-1-pop-songs-chart

[thirddegree50123]

I wish Rob Thomas's "A New York Christmas" would become a standard. I've always loved that song and he's performed it during the NBC tree lighting ceremony so it's gotten good exposure.

[#LisaRinna]

What kind of juju are they doing to the Holiday 100 this week? MESS.

[Choco]

I find it weird that Santa Tell Me got to #16 on Spotify yet it's only #28 on the Holiday 100. With her hype I would have guessed it was an easy re-entry on the Hot 100.

[fhas]

Dec 12, 2018 19:22:38 GMT -5 L.Kennedy said:

Panic! at the Disco Joins Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls & Gotye for Rare Airplay Chart Achievement

"Hopes" rules the all-format Radio Songs chart for a third week, up 7 percent to 113.8 audience impressions in the week ending Dec. 9

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8490035/panic-at-the-disco-high-hopes-no-1-pop-songs-chart

Ugh... this is the airplay from last week (Hot 100 date: Dec. 8).

[jenglisbe]

Dec 12, 2018 14:04:21 GMT -5 rockgolf said:

Then we should be seeing something, ANYTHING from about 1995 to 2005 getting regular hit status. 

I'm not hearing it. I thought Kelly Clarkson might have new Christmas standard, same with Leona Lewis, maybe even Justin Bieber. But they've become the presents everybody brings back for a refund.

What do you consider "regular hit status" though? There are holiday songs from the past 20 years that are in the top half of the Holiday 100 and above legit classics like Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" and Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)."

We shouldn't use "AIWFCIY" as the barometer because it's literally the biggest Christmas song now. But something like "Grown-Up Christmas List" is an original holiday song from the 90s that has been covered by a lot of artists and is pretty well-known in a general sense. I consider that song a modern holiday classic, even if it isn't anywhere near the level of "AIWFCIY."

Dec 13, 2018 11:12:33 GMT -5 Choco said:

I find it weird that Santa Tell Me got to #16 on Spotify yet it's only #28 on the Holiday 100. With her hype I would have guessed it was an easy re-entry on the Hot 100.

Spotify is just 1 streaming service of many, obviously, and "STM" isn't overly strong in downloads and certainly isn't in airplay. You have to look at the whole picture.