Katy Perry's "Firework" topped the 3 million mark in paid downloads last week. The firecracker of a single is Perry's fifth song to reach that plateau, which is more than any other lead artist. Rihanna has also topped the 3 million mark with five songs, but she was the featured artist on two of those songs.
Perry's songs to top the 3 million mark are "Hot N Cold" (which is up to 4,724,000, per Nielsen SoundScan), "California Gurls" (featuring Snoop Dogg) (4,560,000), "I Kissed A Girl" (3,956,000), "Teenage Dream" (3,255,000) and "Firework" (3,162,000).
Rihanna has topped the 3 million mark as a lead artist with "Disturbia" (4,104,000), "Umbrella" (featuring Jay-Z) (3,747,000) and "Don't Stop The Music" (3,125,000). She also hit the mark as a featured artist with Eminem's "Love The Way You Lie" (4,432,000) and T.I.'s "Live Your Life" (4,053,000).
Wiz Khalifa's "Black And Yellow" jumps to #1 on this week's Hot 100, spurred on by exposure at the Super Bowl on Sunday. The song has sold 2,342,000 digital copies. It deposes Bruno Mars' "Grenade," which logged four (non-consecutive) weeks at #1. "Grenade" tops the 3 million mark in paid downloads this week. The song took 19 weeks to reach this plateau. That's faster than Mars' previous hit, "Just The Way You Are," which took 23 weeks to top 3M.
"I Need A Doctor" by Dr. Dre featuring Eminem and Skylar Grey is this week's top-selling digital download. The song enters the Hot 100 at #5. It's Dre's fifth top 10 hit on the Hot 100 as a lead or co-lead artist. It follows "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (from the 1995 movie Friday), "Nuthin' But A "G" Thang" and "Dre Day" (both collabos with Snoop Dogg) and "Crack A Bottle" (a 2009 collabo with Eminem and 50 Cent).
Eminem and Dre have a long history of collaborating. Dre's 2000 hit "Forgot About Dre" featured Eminem. Eminem's 2004 hit "Encore" and the aforementioned "Crack A Bottle" both featured Dre and 50 Cent.
Dre, of course, is a superstar producer in addition to a top artist. He has received three Grammy nominations for Producer of the Year. He won the award 10 years ago.
Skylar Grey, who is featured on "I Need A Doctor," is having a dream week. She is also featured on "Coming Home" by Diddy-Dirty Money, which drops from #12 to #14. Grey is nominated for two Grammys on Sunday's telecast, for co-writing "Love The Way You Lie," the #1 smash by Eminem featuring Rihanna. The song is vying for Song of the Year and Best Rap Song.
Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 songs.
1. Wiz Khalifa, "Black And Yellow." The song jumps from #4 to #1 its 18th week. This is its seventh week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #2 (198K).
2. Bruno Mars, "Grenade." The song dips to #2 after four weeks on top. This is its 19th week on the chart; its 11th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #5 (141K).
3. Katy Perry, "Firework." The former #1 song holds at #3 in its 16th week. This is its 14th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #7 (121K).
4. P!nk, "F**kin' Perfect." The song drops from #2 to #4 in its sixth week. This is its second week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #3 (187K).
5. Dr. Dre featuring Eminem and Skylar Grey, "I Need A Doctor." This new entry is Dre's fifth top 10 hit as a lead or co-lead artist. It's Eminem's second top 10 hit in a supporting role, following Akon's "Smack That." Digital sales rank: #1 (226K).
6. Enrique Iglesias featuring Ludacris & DJ Frank E, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)." The song dips from #5 to #6 in its 11th week. This is its seventh week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #6 (123K).
7. Far*East Movement featuring Ryan Tedder, "Rocketeer." The song jumps from #9 to #7 in its 10th week. This is its second week in the top 10. ("Secrets," Tedder's latest hit with his group OneRepublic, drops from #39 to #44.) Digital sales rank: #8 (117K).
8. Rihanna featuring Drake, "What's My Name?" The former #1 song drops from #6 to #8 in its 16th week. This is its 14th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #28 (62K).
9. Pitbull featuring T-Pain, "Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor). The song drops from #7 to #9 in its 19th week. This is its third week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #9 (116K).
10. Britney Spears, "Hold It Against Me." The former #1 song drops from #8 to #10 in its fourth week. It has been in the top 10 the entire time. Digital sales rank: #16 (82K).
Ke$ha's "We R Who We R," which entered the chart at #1 in November, falls from #10 to #12. The song logged 14 weeks in the top 10.
"Look At Me Now" by Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes enters the Hot 100 at #11. It's Brown's highest-charting hit since "Forever" reached #2 in 2008. Digital sales rank: #4 (158K). Billboard's Keith Caulfield notes that this is Brown's biggest weekly sales total for a song since "No Air," his smash duet with Jordin Sparks, shifted 153K copies in April 2008. I have more good news for Brown: His other current hit "Yeah 3X" tops the 1 million mark in paid downloads this week.
Ke$ha's "Blow" vaults from #96 to #66 in its second week back on the chart.
The Glee Cast has three new entries on this week's Hot 100, topped by their version of Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now," which debuts at #72. A medley of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Heads Will Roll" bows at #75. A cover of Destiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills" opens at #79.
"Creep" by the Lonely Island featuring Nicki Minaj enters the Hot 100 at #82. This is the comedy troupe's fourth Hot 100 single. Three of these four hits have featured highly credible R&B or hip-hop stars, which gives the songs authenticity. "I Just Had Sex" featured Akon. "I'm On A Boat" featured T-Pain. ("D*** In A Box," which didn't chart but certainly created a stir, featured Justin Timberlake.) The most successful of these songs, "I'm On A Boat," has sold 1,482,000 copies. "Jizz In My Pants" and "I Just Had Sex" have sold more than 1 million copies combined. When Donald O'Connor sang "Make 'Em Laugh" (in Singin' In The Rain) I'm not sure this is exactly what he had in mind, but I guess times change.
"Price Tag" by Jessie J featuring B.o.B enters the Hot 100 at #88. The song also enters the Official U.K. Chart at #1. This is B.o.B's third #1 hit in the U.K. in the past nine months. It follows "Nothin' On You" (featuring Bruno Mars) and "Airplanes" (featuring Hayley Williams).
Song Scorecard: "Down" by Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne tops the 4 million mark in paid downloads this week. The song topped the Hot 100 in October 2009...Linkin Park's 2007 hit "What I've Done" tops the 3 million mark. The song reached #7 on the Hot 100...The Script's 2010 hit "Breakeven" tops the 2 million mark. The song reached #12 on the Hot 100.
Taylor Swift's current hit, "Back To December," tops the 1 million mark in paid downloads this week. It's Swift's 12th million-seller, which is exactly twice as many as her closest rival among country artists, Carrie Underwood.
Swift's 12 million-selling digital hits, and their sales tallies as of this week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, are "Love Story" (4,904,000), "You Belong With Me" (3,624,000), "Our Song" (2,754,000), "Teardrops Of My Guitar" (2,569,000), "Mine" (1,734,000), "White Horse" (1,584,000), "Today Was A Fairytale" (1,354,000), "Picture To Burn" (1,327,000), "Tim McGraw" (1,312,000), "Should've Said No" (1,191,000), "Fifteen" (1,119,000) and "Back To December" (1,027,000).
Underwood's six million-sellers are "Before He Cheats" (3,158,000), "Jesus, Take The Wheel" (1,783,000), "Cowboy Casanova" (1,583,000), "All-American Girl" (1,327,000), "Undo It" (1,011,000) and "Last Name" (1,003,000).
Rascal Flatts is in third place among country artists, with four million-selling digital hits. The Zac Brown Band, Sugarland, Brad Paisley and Lady Antebellum have each had three. Jason Aldean, Trace Adkins, Johnny Cash and Miranda Lambert have each had two.
Four songs top the 1 million mark in paid downloads this week. I've already told you about "Back To December" and Chris Brown's "Yeah 3X." The other two are Florence + the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over" and "Pursuit Of Happiness" by Kid Cudi featuring MGMT and Ratatat.