Madonna-2-15-12Just 10 days have passed since Madonna's Super Bowl performance, but it seems long ago. We've since absorbed the shock of Whitney Houston's death and the impact of Adele's coronation at the Grammys. "Give Me All Your Luvin'," which Madonna performed with guests Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. in her half-time show, jumps from #13 to #10 in its second week on the Hot 100. This is Madonna's first top 10 hit since "4 Minutes" (featuring Justin Timberlake) ended an 11-week run in June 2008.
This nearly four-year gap between top 10 hits is the longest dry spell of Madonna's career. Her previous longest gap between top 10 hits came between her James Bond theme "Die Another Day," which peaked at #8 in November 2002, and her dance hit "Hung Up," which peaked at #7 in December 2005.
"Give Me All Your Luvin'" is Madonna's 38th top 10 hit. This extends her lead as the artist with the most top 10 hits in the rock era, which began in 1955. Elvis Presley is in second place, with 36 top 10 hits. (Little-known fact: Elvis died on Madonna's 19th birthday: Aug. 16, 1977.) The Beatles are in third place with 34 top 10 hits.
While Madonna's last two top 10 hits have been collabos, she had no duet partners on her first 36 top 10 hits.
Madonna landed her first top 10 hit, "Borderline," nearly 28 years ago, in June 1984.
"Give Me All Your Luvin'" includes a reference to "Lucky Star," which in October 1984 became Madonna's first top five hit on the Hot 100. Many other artists have referred to previous hits in their work. The Beatles' 1967 hit "All You Need Is Love" references their 1964 smash "She Loves You." Sting's 1985 hit "Love Is The Seventh Wave" references The Police's 1983 classic "Every Breath You Take."
Two Madonna classics are listed on Hot Digital Songs in the first full week after her Super Bowl performance. Her 1989 smash "Like A Prayer" zooms from #112 to #38. Her 1990 smash "Vogue" re-enters at #160. "Prayer" has sold 690K digital copies. "Vogue" has sold 450K.
In addition, the Glee rendition of Madonna's 1987 hit "La Isla Bonita" enters the Hot 100 at #99.
Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" tops the Hot 100 for the second week in a row. Clarkson's two previous #1 hits ("A Moment Like This" and "My Life Would Suck Without You") also had two weeks on top. "Stronger" tops the 1 million mark in digital sales this week.
Adele's former #1 hit "Set Fire To The Rain" holds at #2 for the second week. Both of her previous #1 hits rebound in the wake of her Grammy sweep. "Someone Like You" jumps from #22 to #11 in its 32nd week. "Rolling In The Deep" leaps from #44 to #17 in its 58th week. All three songs are listed in the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs. "Set Fire To The Rain" drops from #2 to #4 (187K), "Someone Like You" rebounds from #23 to #9 (128K) and "Rolling In The Deep" rebounds from #39 to #10 (126K). This marks the first time that a lead artist has had three songs in the top 10 on this chart since Michael Jackson's songs exploded in the weeks after his death in June 2009. In the week after his death, he had six of the top 10.
"We Are Young" by fun. featuring Janelle Monae vaults from #41 to #3 in its eighth week on the Hot 100. The song sold 296K copies this week, which is the largest one-week total by any song so far in 2012. The song was featured in a Chevrolet commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. The song was also spotlighted on Glee on Dec. 6. The Glee version has sold 326K copies in 10 weeks.
LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It" rebounds from #9 to #4 in the first full week after the group's cameo appearance with Madonna at the Super Bowl. The Glee version of the song (featuring Ricky Martin) debuts at #81. That's inspired casting because Martin was sexy (and he knew it) when he became an overnight pop star on the Grammys in February 1999 with a hip-shaking performance of "La Copa De La Vida (The Cup Of Life)."
LMFAO's previous hit, "Party Rock Anthem" (featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock) this week becomes the first song in digital history to sell 6 million copies in its first year of release. The song tops that plateau in its 48th week, faster than any of the seven previous songs to sell that many digital copies. The old record was held by Adele's "Rolling In The Deep," which topped the 6 million mark in its 54th week.
Whitney Houston's 1992 smash "I Will Always Love You" re-enters the Hot 100 at #7, based on just one full day's worth of explosive sales and airplay following Houston's death on Saturday. The re-entry is the result of a Billboard policy change. None of Michael Jackson's songs re-entered the Hot 100 in the wake of his death.
Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard's director of charts, explains: "As the digital age has progressed, with the immediacy it provides, the line has blurred between the relevancy of new and older recordings, which are for the most part equally accessible from one's home computer. Going forward, we feel that it is the proper move to allow older titles posting enough activity to return to the Hot 100 if ranking in the chart's upper half."
I like this change in that I like the chart to be as real as possible. If a song belongs in the top 10 based on sales and airplay, why omit it because of a rule? It's unfortunate that Jackson's songs (and albums, for that matter) didn't get their due on Billboard's flagship charts after his death.
Incidentally, it's remarkable for a single to return to the top 10 nearly two decades after it was first a hit, but it's not unprecedented. Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" returned to the top 10 in 1986 (when it was featured in the Rob Reiner movie of the same name), more than 25 years after it had been a top 10 hit.
Two other Houston hits also re-enter the Hot 100. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" re-opens at #35. "Greatest Love Of All" re-appears at #41. These were among 22 Houston hits that showed up this week on the top 200 Hot Digital Songs chart.
"I Will Always Love You," which was certified for sales of 4 million physical singles in January 1993, is Houston's first digital million-seller. Her next four biggest digital hits (not just this week, but counting their entire runs) are: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (583K), "Greatest Love Of All" (371K), "How Will I Know" (300K) and "I Have Nothing (287K).
I wrote a Chart Watch Extra about Houston's posthumous album and song activity. If you missed it, here's a link.
Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 songs.
1. Kelly Clarkson, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)." The song holds at #1 for the second week in its eighth week on the chart. This is its fourth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #2 (260K).
2. Adele, "Set Fire To The Rain." The former #1 song holds at #2 its 24rd week on the chart. This is its eighth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #4 (187K).
3. fun. featuring Janelle Monae, "We Are Young." The song vaults from #41 to #3 in its eighth week. This is the first top 10 hit for both acts. Digital sales rank: #1 (296K).
4. LMFAO, "Sexy And I Know It." The former #1 song rebounds from #7 to #4 in its 24th week on the chart. This is its 21st week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #5 (170K).
5. Flo Rida, "Good Feeling." The song drops from #3 to #5 in its 20th week on the chart. This is its 15th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #13 (111K).
6. Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris, "We Found Love." The former #1 song drops from #4 to #6 in its 21st week on the chart. This is its 20th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #17 (89K).
7. Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You." The former #1 song re-enters at #7. This is its 17th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #3 (195K).
8. David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj, "Turn Me On." The song drops from #5 to #8 in its 11th week on the chart. This is its fifth week in the top 10. The song tops the 1 million mark in digital sales this week. Digital sales rank: #8 (139K).
9. Tyga, "Rack City." The song drops from #7 to #9 in its 12th week on the chart. This is its fourth week in the top 10. The song tops the 1 million mark in digital sales this week. Digital sales rank: #7 (139K).
10. Madonna featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., "Give Me All Your Luvin." The song jumps from #13 to #10 in its second week. This is the 38th top 10 hit for Madonna, the sixth for Minaj and the second for M.I.A. Digital sales rank: #6 (165K).
Three songs drop out of the top 10 this week. Jessie J's "Domino" drops from #6 to #14. "Young, Wild & Free" by Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa featuring Bruno Mars drops from #8 to #12. Bruno Mars' "It Will Rain" drops from #10 to #13.
"The Motto" by Drake featuring Lil Wayne drops from #16 (its peak to date) to #19 in its 13th week. The song jumps to #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart this week. It's Drake's ninth #1 R&B hit; Lil Wayne's eighth. It's the third #1 they've had in common. Their 2011 collabo "She Will" topped the chart for four weeks. Both were also featured (along with Rick Ross) on DJ Khaled's "I'm On One," which was on top for 11 weeks last year.
The Wanted's "Glad You Came" jumps from #30 to #25 in its fifth week…"Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra jumps from #27 to #26 in its sixth week. The song also jumps to #1 in the U.K. this week…Coldplay's "Paradise" jumps from #36 to #29 in its 22nd week. The song has climbed as high as #15…Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" jumps from #38 to #31 in its 17th week...The Band Perry's "All Your Life" drops from #37 to #40 in its 23rd week. The song is #1 on Hot Country Songs for the second week.
Train's "Drive By" jumps from #55 to #43 in its fifth week…Dierks Bentley's "Home" jumps from #58 to #44 in its 14th week…"Ima Boss" by Meek Mill featuring Rick Ross debuts at #51…"Wild Ones" by Flo Rida featuring Sia jumps from #77 to #57 (matching its highest ranking to date) in its sixth week.
LMFAO's "Sorry For Party Rocking" jumps from #79 to #62 in its third week…Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up" jumps from #81 to #71 in its sixth week…The song has climbed as high as #8…"No Church In The Wild" by Jay-Z/Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean jumps from #96 to #72 in its fourth week. The pair's "Otis" won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance. "Ni**as In Paris" will be eligible next year.
"Princess Of China" by Coldplay featuring Rihanna re-enters at #75…Lindsey Pavao's "Say Aah" bows at #80…Foster The People's "Don't Stop ( Color On The Walls)" jumps from #98 to #86 in its fifth week…Kip Moore's "Somethin' 'Bout A Truck" debuts at #89. The song, which has the same lyric idea as Glen Campbell's 1981 hit "I Love My Truck," is in the top 30 on Hot Country Songs…Calvin Harris' "Feel So Close" bows at #90. Harris wrote and produced Rihanna's "We Found Love," on which he had a featured credit.
Journey's 1981 hit "Don't Stop Believin'" this week becomes the first song from the 1980s to sell 5 million digital copies. In fact, it's the first song released prior to 2007 to sell 5 million digital copies. (Two 2007 releases have sold 5 million: "Apologize" by Timbaland featuring One Republic, which was released in April of that year, and "Low" by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, which was released that October.) Wanna know the second biggest digital seller from the 1980s? It's Michael Jackson's "Thriller," with sales of 2,971,000.
Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" tops the 3 million mark in digital sales this week. It's Perry's seventh 3-million-seller, a total topped only by Rihanna, with eight. But Rihanna's total includes two "featured" credits. Perry was either solo or in the lead on all seven of her hits. More good news for Perry: "The One That Got Away" tops the 2 million mark this week.
Two more songs (in addition to those already cited) topped the 1 million mark in digital sales this week: "International Love" by Pitbull featuring Chris Brown and "I Like It Like That" by Hot Chelle Rae featuring New Boyz.
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