Week Ending June 3, 2012. Songs: 22 By 24

Rihanna

lands her 22nd top 10 hit as "Where Have You Been" jumps from #11 to #9 in its seventh week on the Hot 100. Only four female solo artists have amassed more top 10 hits in the history of the Hot 100 (which dates to 1958). Madonna leads the pack with 38, followed by Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson (27 each) and Whitney Houston (23).

But Rihanna is just 24, far younger than these other women were when they landed their 22nd top 10 hits.

Jackson was 29 in June 1995 when she landed her 22nd, "Scream" (a collabo with her brother Michael Jackson). Carey was 31 in August 2001 when she scored with "Loverboy" (from her ill-fated movie Glitter). Madonna was 32 in March 1991 when she hit with "Rescue Me." And Houston was 36 (a dozen years older than Rihanna is now) in October 1999 when she connected with "My Love Is Your Love."

"Where Have You Been" has the throbbing beat and full-throated vocal that characterized many Donna Summer hits of the 1970s and 1980s. That's meant as a compliment to Rihanna, who is a worthy successor to the great Summer.

"Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra this week pulls ahead of "We Are Young" by fun. featuring Janelle Monae to become the best-selling song so far in 2012. "Somebody…" has sold 4,757,000 copies so far this year. "We Are Young" has sold 4,733,000. If those totals sound big for just six months of sales, they are. Never before in digital history has a song sold so many copies in a six-month period as these two have this year. The old record for the heftiest sales in a six-month period was set a year ago by "E.T." by Katy Perry featuring Kanye West, which sold 4,120,000 copies in the first six months of the year.

To find the last song that sold this many copies in six months or less you have to go back to the pre-digital era, when Elton John's "Candle In The Wind 1997" sold 8,111,000 copies in the last 14 weeks of 1997. That, of course, was a special case. Elton re-recorded his 1973 ballad in the wake of Princess Diana's death on Aug. 31 of that year. All artist and composer royalties and record company profits were donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

Setting a six-month sales record is great, but "Somebody…" and "We Are Young" both seem headed for bigger things. Both are likely to top Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" for the greatest digital sales in a calendar year. Adele's smash sold 5,813,000 copies in all of 2011. At the rate it's going, Gotye's smash will top that tally in about five weeks. That would/will make it the best-selling song in a calendar year (in any configuration) since "Candle In The Wind 1997."

"Somebody…" tops the Hot 100 for the eighth straight week. That's the longest run at #1 since "We Found Love" by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris logged 10 weeks on top in late 2011 and early 2012. It's the longest run at #1 for a male-led collabo since "Low" by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain had 10 weeks on top in early 2008.

Carly Rae Jepsen's

"Call Me Maybe" holds at #2 for the third straight week. It will probably move up to #1 next week. In addition, next week it will pull ahead of Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" to become the year's best-selling song by an unassisted female solo artist.

Four of the top 10 hits for the year-to-date are by unassisted female solo artists (the aforementioned two, plus Nicki Minaj's "Starships" and Adele's "Set Fire To The Rain. Yet only one is by an unassisted male solo artist: Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend." Did people really ever call women the "weaker sex"?

"Payphone" by Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa holds at #3 for the sixth time in the past seven weeks. (It was #2 the remaining week.) The song tops the 2 million mark in U.S. sales in its seventh week of release. This is by far the group's fastest breaking hit. "Moves Like Jagger (featuring Christina Aguilera) took 14 weeks last year to hit 2 million. 2007's "Makes Me Wonder" and 2004's "She Will Be Loved" took even longer. Here are these songs' current sales tallies: "Moves Like Jagger" (5,144,000), "Makes Me Wonder" (2,748,000) and "She Will Be Loved" (2,493,000).

Nicki Minaj's "Starships" holds at #5 for the third week. This is its 16th week in the top 10, which surpasses her 2011 smash, "Super Bass."

Justin Bieber

has two songs in the top 20 this week. "Boyfriend" rebounds from #9 to #8 in its 10th week. "Die In Your Arms" debuts at #17. Digital sales rank: #4 (185K). Both songs are from his upcoming album Believe. I believe it's going to debut at #1.

Two other teen faves in the current top 10 are on the march with their follow-up songs. One Direction's "One Thing" jumps from #73 to #61 in its 10th week. The Wanted's "Chasing The Sun" debuts at #93.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 songs.

The Top Five: "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra holds at #1 for the eighth week in its 22nd week on the chart. This is its 14th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #3 (247K)… Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" holds at #2 for the third week in its 15th week on the chart. This is its 10th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #1 (284K)… "Payphone" by Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa holds at #3 for the third week in its seventh week on the chart. It has been in the top three the entire time. Digital sales rank: #2 (257K)… "We Are Young" by fun. featuring Janelle Monae holds at #4 for the third week in its 24th week on the chart. This is the 17th week in the top 10 for the former #1 song. Digital sales rank: #8 (137K)… Nicki Minaj's "Starships" holds at #5 for the third week in its 16th week on the chart. It has been in the top 10 the entire time. Digital sales rank: #9 (135K).

The Second Five: One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" rebounds from #7 to #6 in its 16th week on the chart. This is its 10th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #10 (129K)… "Wild Ones" by Flo Rida featuring Sia dips from #6 to #7 in its 22nd week on the chart. This is its 12th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #11 (121K)… Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" rebounds from #9 to #8 its 10th week on the chart. It has been in the top 10 the entire time. Digital sales rank: #7 (138K)…Rihanna's "Where Have You Been" jumps from #11 to #9 in its seventh week on the chart. This is Rihanna's 22nd top 10 hit. Digital sales rank: #6 (144K)…The Wanted's "Glad You Came" drops from #8 to #10 in its 21st week on the chart. This is its 15th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #22 (78K).

Phillip Phillips' "Home" drops from #10 to #41 in its second week. Cause for alarm? Not really. But it is a sign of how pop radio takes a wait-and-see approach with American Idol winners. Just winning the title isn't enough for most major-market pop stations to give the record a chance.

Pitbull's

"Back In Time" jumps from #14 to #11 in its ninth week. It has now equaled the #11 peak of the classic record it samples, Mickey & Sylvia's 1957 hit "Love Is Strange." Will it top it next week? Stay tuned. Digital sales rank: #5 (147K)…Ellie Goulding's "Lights" jumps from #17 to #14 in its 24th week….Luke Bryan's "Drunk On You" jumps from #22 to #16 in its 14th week. This is Bryan's highest-charting pop hit to date. It tops "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)" and "I Don't Want This Night To End," both of which peaked at #22.

Katy Perry's

"Wide Awake" vaults from #35 to #19 in its second week. It's vying to become Perry's 11th top 10 hit (and, oddly enough, her second on the theme of being awake. "Waking Up In Vegas" hit #9 in 2009.)

Eric Church's "Springsteen" dips from #19 to #20 in its 14th week. The song tops the 1 million in digital sales this week. One country song that has an artist's name as its title has sold even more digital copies. That's Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw" (1,405,000). The country song in third place: Heidi Newfield's "Johnny & June," an ode to Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, which has sold 731K copies.

"Titanium" by David Guetta featuring Sia jumps from #25 to #21 in its eighth week. It's vying to become Guetta's fifth top 10 hit. "Titanium" sounds like the name of a new award by the Recording Industry Assn. of America, after Gold, Platinum and Diamond.…Carrie Underwood's "Good Girl" holds at #27 in its 15th week. The song has climbed as high as #18. The song jumps to #1 on this week's Hot Country Songs chart. It's Underwood's 12th #1 country hit...Neon Trees' "Everybody Talks" jumps from #40 to #32 in its 12th week.

Usher's "Climax" dips from #32 to #33 in its 15th week. The song has climbed as high as #17. The song is #1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for the eighth week. That's the longest run at #1 since "I'm On One" by DJ Khaled featuring Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne logged 11 weeks on top last year...Demi Lovato's "Give Your Heart A Break" jumps from #43 to #34 in its ninth week.

"The Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes featuring Ryan Tedder jumps from #61 to #45 in its third week. Gym Class Heroes has some edge, which works to the advantage of pop guys like Tedder and Adam Levine (who sang the group's previous smash "Stereo Hearts"). The rub makes it interesting…Wiz Khalifa's "Work Hard, Play Hard" jumps from #54 to #46 in its sixth week…Kenny Chesney's "Come Over" jumps from #65 to #55 in its third week… Dierks Bentley's "5-1-5-0" jumps from #66 to #56 in its fourth week…Trey Songz's "Heart Attack" jumps from #71 to #60 in its ninth week…Love And Theft's "Angel Eyes" jumps from #91 to #81 in its third week.

"I'm All Yours" by Jay Sean featuring Pitbull debuts at #85. It's from Sean's upcoming fourth studio album, Worth It All…John Mayer's "Shadow Days" re-enters the chart at #86. It has already reached #42. Mayer's Born And Raised has been #1 on The Billboard 200 for the last two weeks…"Lemme See" by Usher featuring Rick Ross re-enters the chart at #94. It's from his Looking 4 Myself album, which is due June 12…Keith Urban's "For You" bows at #97. It's from Act Of Valor: The Album, the soundtrack to a Navy SEALs-themed movie which came out in February (and was released on DVD this week).

Two songs that feature Bruno Mars top the 3 million mark this week, bringing Mars' collection of 3 million-sellers up to six. He tops the 3 million mark with his first hit, B.o.B's "Nothin' On You" and one of his most recent, "Young, Wild & Free" by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa. Mars' other 3 million sellers are: "Just The Way You Are" (5,199,000), "Grenade" (5,167,000), Travie McCoy's "Billionaire" (3,218,000) and "The Lazy Song" (3,184,000)). The sublime "Nothin' On You" and the hooky "Grenade" received Grammy nominations for Record of the Year.