Ariana Grande Tops Billboard Hot 100 for Sixth Week, Andy Williams Makes 'Wonderful' Record Return to Top 10
12/24/2018 by Gary Trust Grande's "Thank U, Next" holds at No. 1, while "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" brings Williams back to the top 10.
Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next" rules the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 29) for a sixth week.
Meanwhile, late legend Andy Williams returns to the Hot 100's top 10 after a record-breaking 47 years, eight months and three weeks, as "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" rises from No. 13 to No. 10, becoming the his first top 10 since 1971. Williams recorded the classic holiday song, which reaches the Hot 100's top 10 for the first time, in 1963.
Let's run down the top 10 of the newest Hot 100, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 25).
Grande's "Next," released on Republic Records, and which debuted atop the Nov. 17-dated Hot 100, becoming her first No. 1 on the chart, notches a seventh week atop the Streaming Songs tally, with 43.5 million U.S. streams, down 14 percent, in the week ending Dec. 20, according to Nielsen Music. (It drew 93.8 million clicks in the week ending Dec. 6, the largest streaming week for a song by a woman, following the Nov. 30 premiere of its official video.) It dips 2-4 on the Digital Song Sales chart (which it led for two weeks), down 8 percent to 23,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 20. On Radio Songs, it holds at No. 5 with 86.4 million audience impressions, up 12 percent, in the week ending Dec. 23, good for the Hot 100's top Airplay Gainer award for a fourth consecutive week.
Halsey's "Without Me" spends a second week at its No. 2 Hot 100 high. It leads Digital Song Sales for a fifth week (37,000, essentially even week-over-week); repeats at No. 4 on Radio Songs (88.3 million, up 7 percent); and drops 3-8 on Streaming Songs (31.9 million, down 1 percent).
The gap narrows between the Hot 100's top two titles, as "Next" decreases by 7 percent in overall activity and "Without Me" gains by 2 percent.
Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode," which led the Dec. 8-dated Hot 100, keeps at No. 3, while topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a ninth week each.
Post Malone and Swae Lee's "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" reaches the Hot 100's top five, surging 7-4, after the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse premiered in theaters Dec. 14 and scored a box office-topping first weekend. Meanwhile, the song's parent soundtrack debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. "Sunflower" sprouts 6-3 on Digital Song Sales (28,000, up 69 percent); 13-4 on Streaming Songs (34.1 million, up 42 percent); and 15-14 on Radio Songs (46.4 million, up 2 percent), as it snares top Sales and Streaming Gainer honors.
Post Malone adds his fourth top five Hot 100 hit and Swae Lee adds his second (following his featured turn on French Montana's No. 3-peaking "Unforgettable" in summer 2017); plus, as half of Rae Sremmurd, Swae Lee spent seven weeks at No. 1 in 2016-17 with the duo's "Black Beatles," featuring Gucci Mane.
Marshmello and Bastille's "Happier" dips 4-5 on the Hot 100 after reaching its No. 3 peak, as it tops Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for a 14th week, and Panic! at the Disco's "High Hopes" likewise slips a spot, to No. 6 from its No. 5 Hot 100 peak. "Hopes" rules Hot Rock Songs for an eighth week and Radio Songs for a fifth frame (125.5 million, down 1 percent).
Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" backtracks to No. 7 on the Hot 100 after reaching a new No. 6 peak a week ago, becoming the highest-charting holiday season-themed hit in 60 years. It remains at No. 1 on the Holiday 100 (for a 34th week of the chart's 39 weeks of existence, since its 2011 launch) and hits a new high on Streaming Songs (6-3; 34.7 million, up 24 percent). Despite its one-position drop on the Hot 100, "Christmas" gains by 21 percent in overall activity, the second-greatest increase in the top 10, after "Sunflower" (up 35 percent).
Kodak Black's No. 2-peaking "ZEZE," featuring Travis Scott and Offset, lifts 9-8 on the Hot 100, as parent album Dying to Live launches as Black's first Billboard 200 No. 1. "ZEZE" swaps spots with Lil Baby and Gunna's "Drip Too Hard" (8-9), which reached No. 4.
Rounding out the Hot 100's top 10, Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," recorded and first released in 1963, dashes 13-10, reaching the top 10 at last. It rises 8-7 on Streaming Songs (33.3 million, up 6 percent) and 50-46 on Radio Songs (26.4 million, up 5 percent), while sporting 4,000 sold (down 6 percent).
Here's a look at some of the most notable achievements for Williams and the classic carol.
Longest break between Hot 100 top 10s: Williams, who died in 2012 at age 84, adds a fourth top 10 to his Hot 100 history and first since April 1971, when "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" reached No. 9.
Ending a record gap of 47 years, eight months and three weeks, Williams blasts past the mark for the longest wait between time in the Hot 100's top 10, previously held by the late Dobie Gray, who went 30 years, two months and a week between his own "Drift Away" in 1973 and Uncle Kracker's remake of the song, featuring Gray, in 2003.
Among acts as lead artists on both bookending hits, Williams passes Paul McCartney, who spanned 29 years and two weeks between "Spies Like Us" in 1986 and "FourFiveSeconds," with Rihanna and Kanye West, in 2015.
Longest span of Hot 100 top 10s: Williams expands his span of top 10 Hot 100 hits to a record 59 years, two months and two weeks. He first appeared in the top 10 on the chart dated Oct. 12, 1959, with "Lonely Street," just over a year after the Hot 100's Aug. 4, 1958, inception. (He has now tallied top 10s in the 1950s, '60s, '70s and 2010s).
Williams bests McCartney, whose solo top 10s span 44 years and two weeks, from "Another Day"/"Oh Woman Oh Why" in 1971 to "FourFiveSeconds" in 2015. (And that's not including McCartney's iconic hits with The Beatles, who first appeared in the top 10 on Jan. 25, 1964, with "I Want to Hold Your Hand.")
From Anka & Avalon to Ari: Looking back at Williams' first week in the Hot 100's top 10 (also at No. 10), on Oct. 12, 1959, Bobby Darin's classic "Mack the Knife" led the list. Williams' latest week in the region finds him back at the same rank looking up at Grande's "Thank U, Next." "Mack" became the 20th No. 1 in the Hot 100's history; "Next" is the 1,079th.
To compare, the artists currently in the top 10 with Williams: Grande, Halsey, Scott, Marshmello, Bastille, Post Malone, Swae Lee, Panic! at the Disco, Carey, Kodak Black, Offset, Lil Baby and Gunna.
And, the artists in the top 10 with Williams in his first week in the top 10: Darin, Paul Anka, The Fleetwoods, Santo & Johnny, The Everly Brothers, Sandy Nelson, The Coasters, The Browns and Frankie Avalon.
Below "Mack the Knife" on Oct. 12, 1959, Anka ranked at No. 2 with "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" and The Fleetwoods held No. 3 with "Mr. Blue."
Sixth holiday top 10 on the Hot 100: Williams' "Wonderful" becomes only the sixth yuletide hit ever to reach the Hot 100's top 10, and the second in a year after Carey's "Christmas" (which first reached the region last holiday season), with the advent of streaming helping both songs.
Highest-Charting Holiday Songs in the Hot 100's History
No. 1 peak, four weeks, beginning Dec. 22, 1958, "The Chipmunk Song," by David Seville & The Chipmunks
No. 6, Dec. 22, 2018, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Mariah Carey
No. 7, Jan. 8, 2000, "Auld Lang Syne," Kenny G
No. 7, Jan. 6, 1990, "This One's for the Children," New Kids on the Block&
No. 9, Feb. 21, 1981, "Same Old Lang Syne," Dan Fogelberg
No. 10, Dec. 29, 2018, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Andy Williams
"Wonderful" first appeared on the Hot 100 just two holiday seasons ago (Jan. 7, 2017). As for holiday songs and their eligibility, or lack thereof, for the Hot 100 over the years, chart historian Joel Whitburn notes in his book Christmas in the Charts: "From 1963 through 1972, and from 1983 through 1985 [with minimal exceptions], Billboard published a seasonal Christmas Singles chart and did not chart Christmas singles on the Hot 100." Per current Hot 100 rules, in place in recent years, older songs, including seasonal titles, can rank in the top 50 if experiencing significant multi-metric gains, and multiple holiday standards re-enter or debut each season.
The Skipper, too: "Wonderful" was written by Edward Pola and George Wyle, the latter of whom also co-wrote the theme song to the classic '60s sitcom Gilligan's Island, "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island." He co-penned the latter with Sherwood Schwartz, who created Gilligan's Island and fellow beloved sitcom The Brady Bunch (and co-wrote the Brady theme, with Frank De Vol.)
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 (Dec. 25), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.
A streaming number just 1.4m less than the holiday monster that is "All I Want For Christmas..." is mighty impressive. I did see that article on how Amazon and Alexa have boosted holiday--song streaming as of late.