Morgan Wallen Notches First Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 With βLast Nightβ
The track is the first shared Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs leader by an unaccompanied male artist since Eddie Rabbitt's "I Love a Rainy Night" in 1981.
By Gary Trust
03/13/2023Morgan Wallenβs βLast Nightβ leaps from No. 5 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the country starβs first leader on the list. The song, which hit its prior No. 3 high four weeks ago, and debuted five weeks ago, is from his new 36-track album, One Thing at a Time. Released March 3, the set launches as Wallenβs second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with the largest streaming week ever for a country album, as well as the biggest week by equivalent album units for any album, among all genres, in 2023.
Wallen also claims five of the Hot 100βs top 10 β becoming the first core country act to stake out half the top 10 in a single week, as well as only the sixth act overall ever to achieve the feat. All five songs are from One Thing at a Time, including three in the region for the first time: βThought You Should Know,β up 13-7; βThinkinβ Bout Me,β new at No. 9; and the setβs title track, which charges 51-10. They join βLast Nightβ and βYou Proof,β Wallenβs former top five hit which rebounds 21-8.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated March 18, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (March 14). For all chart news, you can follow
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Hereβs a look at the Hot 100 coronation for βLast Night.β Released on Big Loud / Mercury / Republic Records, the song becomes the 1,147th No. 1 since the chart began in August 1958.
Streams, airplay & sales: βLast Nightβ drew 47.5 million streams (up 59%, good for the Hot 100βs top Streaming Gainer award) and 10.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 81%) and sold 18,000 (up 12%) March 3-9.
The track jumps 3-1 on the all-genre Streaming Songs chart, where, as on the Hot 100, it becomes Wallenβs first leader. It flies 41-29 on the Country Airplay chart and, being promoted to pop radio, climbs 34-32 on Pop Airplay and debuts at No. 40 on Adult Pop Airplay.
Historic Hot 100 & Hot Country Songs No. 1s: As βLast Nightβ leads the Hot Country Songs chart, which uses the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a fifth week, it becomes just the 20th song to have topped both tallies. Itβs the first since Taylor Swiftβs βAll Too Well (Taylorβs Version)β on the charts dated Nov. 27, 2021 β and the first by a solo male unaccompanied by any other acts in over 42 years, since Eddie Rabbittβs βI Love a Rainy Nightβ ruled Hot Country Songs for a week in January 1981 and the Hot 100 for two weeks that February-March.
Songs to Have Hit No. 1 on Both the Hot 100 & Hot Country Songs Charts:
βLast Night,β Morgan Wallen, 2023
βAll Too Well (Taylorβs Version),β Taylor Swift, 2021
βWe Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,β Taylor Swift, 2012
βAmazed,β Lonestar, 1999-2000
βIslands in the Stream,β Kenny Rogers, duet with Dolly Parton, 1983
βI Love a Rainy Night,β Eddie Rabbitt, 1981
β9 to 5,β Dolly Parton, 1981
βLady,β Kenny Rogers, 1980
βSouthern Nights,β Glen Campbell, 1977
βConvoy,β C.W. McCall, 1975-76
βIβm Sorry,β John Denver, 1975
βRhinestone Cowboy,β Glen Campbell, 1975
βThank God Iβm a Country Boy,β John Denver, 1975
βBefore the Next Teardrop Falls,β Freddy Fender, 1975
β(Hey Wonβt You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,β B.J. Thomas, 1975
βThe Most Beautiful Girl,β Charlie Rich, 1973
βHoney,β Bobby Goldsboro, 1968
βBig Bad John,β Jimmy Dean, 1961
βEl Paso,β Marty Robbins, 1959-60
βThe Battle of New Orleans,β Johnny Horton, 1959
Of the 20 songs listed above, 12 were concentrated in 1973-83. Meanwhile, Glen Campbell, John Denver, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and Swift are the only acts with two songs each that have crowned both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts.
Big week for Big Loud, Mercury & Republic: Big Loud Records achieves its first Hot 100 No. 1 with Wallenβs βLast Night.β The Nashville-based label formed in 2011.
Mercury Records tops the Hot 100 for the first time since Taio Cruzβs βBreak Your Heartβ ruled for a week in March 2010. The label, whose history dates to 1945, first led over 64 years ago, with The Plattersβ βSmoke Gets in Your Eyesβ in January 1959.
Republic Records, meanwhile, succeeds itself atop the Hot 100, a week after The Weeknd and Ariana Grandeβs βDie for Youβ surged to No. 1. Republic, which began in 1995, wrapped at No. 1 on the 2022 Hot 100 Labels recap and has earned the distinction in nine of the last 11 years.
Victorious βVoiceβ vocalist: Wallen notches the first Hot 100 No. 1 for a contestant from NBCβs The Voice, which has run for 23 seasons, dating to its April 2011 premiere. (Its latest season began March 6.) He competed in the seriesβ sixth season, in 2014, and was eliminated in playoff rounds. βI didnβt feel like I was the best I could have been,β Wallen told Billboard in reflection of his run on the show. (He first hit Billboardβs charts in November 2016, by then signed to Big Loud.) βSo, I practiced harder and really tried to make my voice second nature.β
Wallen with 5 of top 10: Wallen stockpiles half the Hot 100βs top 10, with βLast Nightβ at No. 1 followed by βThought You Should Knowβ (13-7); βYou Proofβ (21-8, after hitting No. 5 last October); βThinkinβ Bout Meβ (No. 9 debut); and βOne Thing at a Time,β the new LPβs title cut (51-10).
Wallen ups his career count of Hot 100 top 10s from five to eight, thanks to βThoughtβ (33.4 million in radio airplay audience; 20.5 million streams, up 56%), βThinkinβ β (20.7 million streams, 7,700 sold in its first week) and βThingβ (21.4 million streams, up 156%; 6.7 million in airplay audience, up 87%). βThoughtβ led the Country Airplay chart for three weeks beginning in February, becoming Wallenβs eighth and most recent No. 1, while βThingβ is now being promoted to country radio and soars 36-25 on Country Airplay.
βProofβ drew 21.8 million streams (up 58%) and 20 million in airplay audience in the tracking week. The song topped Country Airplay for a record 10 weeks in October-January.
Wallen becomes the first core country act to log at least half the Hot 100βs top 10 in a single week, and only the sixth act overall to achieve the feat. (Drake has posted three such weeks and The Beatles, who inaugurated the exclusive club in 1964, two.)
Acts With 5 or More of Hot 100βs Top 10 in a Single Week:
10, Taylor Swift, Nov. 5, 2022
9, Drake, Sept. 18, 2021
8, Drake, Nov. 19, 2022
7, 21 Savage, Nov. 19, 2022
7, Drake, July 14, 2018
5, Juice WRLD, July 25, 2020
5, Morgan Wallen, March 18, 2023
5, The Beatles, April 11, 1964
5, The Beatles, April 4, 1964
Save the βlastβ for best: Occasionally, βlastβ shall be first on the Hot 100. Wallenβs βLast Nightβ is just the fifth song with βlastβ in its title to lead the list. Hereβs a recap:
βLast Night,β Morgan Wallen, one week to-date, March 18, 2023
βLast Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),β Katy Perry, two weeks, beginning Aug. 27, 2011
βSave the Best for Last,β Vanessa Williams, five weeks, beginning March 21, 1992
βLast Train to Clarksville,β The Monkees, one week, Nov. 5, 1966
βSave the Last Dance for Me,β The Drifters, No. 1 for three weeks, beginning Oct. 17, 1960
We love reign-y βnightβs: βLast Nightβ also marks the first βnightβ-titled Hot 100 No. 1 since Maroon 5βs βOne More Night,β which led for nine weeks in 2012. Wallen scores the 30th such No. 1 (including variations βnights,β βmidnightβ and βtonightβ in song titles).
As for the five songs in the latest Hot 100βs top 10 not by Wallen, Miley Cyrusβ βFlowersβ leads them at No. 2, where it holds after spending its first six weeks on the chart at No. 1. It commands the Radio Songs chart for a fourth week, up 4% to 105.8 million in audience, the highest weekly total since The Weekndβs βBlinding Lightsβ drew 114.6 million (May 23, 2020).
SZAβs βKill Billβ keeps at No. 3 on the Hot 100 after seven weeks at its No. 2 high. It tops Billboardβs multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts for a 12th week each.
The Weeknd and Grandeβs βDie for Youβ drops to No. 4 on the Hot 100 from No. 1, with 79.5 million in radio reach (down 2%), 28.2 million streams (down 13%) and 2,600 sold (down 81%); PinkPantheress and Ice Spiceβs βBoyβs a Liar, Pt. 2β slips 4-5, after hitting No. 3, as it takes top Airplay Gainer honors (20.7 million in audience, up 72%); and Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savageβs βCreepinβ β is steady at No. 6, after reaching No. 3.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow
billboard and
billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated March 18), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (March 14).
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