Chart Watch: Arcade Fire sprints to No. 1

Arcade Fire lands its third consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as Everything Now debuts in the top spot. The band first hit No. 1 in August 2010 with The Suburbs, which went on to win a Grammy for Album of the Year. It returned to No. 1 in November 2013 with Reflektor.

Arcade Fire is only the second rock group to land three No. 1 albums so far in the 2010s. The first was Linkin Park. Three non-rock groups have also amassed three or more No. 1 albums so far in this decade. The pop-oriented One Direction leads all groups with four No. 1 albums in this decade. Two country groups, Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band, have also had three.

Everything Now is the second rock album to top the Billboard 200 in 2017. Two months ago, Linkin Park topped the tally with One More Light.

Arcade Fire is the only group from Canada to land three No. 1 albums in the history of the Billboard 200.

All three of Arcade Fire’s No. 1 albums in the U.S. also reached No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. Everything Now is the first album by a group to reach No. 1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. since Kings of Leon’s Walls last fall. It’s the first album by a Canadian artist to achieve this double play since Drake’s Views last year.

Top Songs

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” (featuring Justin Bieber) logs its 13th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100. That’s the longest run since Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” (featuring Bruno Mars) spent 14 weeks on top in 2014. These are the two longest-running No. 1 hits so far in this decade.

“Despacito” logs its 11th week at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart. “Despacito” is just the second song in chart history to log 11 or more weeks at No. 1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. It follows Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” (12 weeks in the U.S., 14 weeks in the U.K.)

“Despacito” sold 84K digital copies in the U.S. this week, which puts it on top of Top Digital Songs for the 14th week. That’s the longest run at No. 1 in the history of that chart (which dates to October 2004). It surpasses three songs that logged 13 weeks at No. 1: Flo Rida’s “Low” (featuring T-Pain), “Uptown Funk!” and the Chainsmokers’ “Closer” (featuring Halsey).

You may remember that DJ Khaled’s “I’m the One,” which also features Bieber, interrupted “Despacito’s” reign at No. 1 on Top Digital Songs for one week. Thus, this is the 15th consecutive week that Bieber has been featured on the week’s top-selling digital hit—an unprecedented occurrence.

This is the 13th consecutive week that “Despacito” has been the top digital seller. “Low” is the only other song to rank No. 1 on Top Digital Songs for 13 consecutive weeks.

Though “Despacito” dropped below 100K in weekly sales for the first time in 13 weeks, it’s still comfortably head of the pack. Liam Payne’s “Strip That Down” (featuring Quavo) holds at No. 2 on Top Digital Songs with sales of 50K.

If “Despacito” stays on top of the Hot 100 for one more week, it will tie Los Del Rio’s 1996 smash “Macarena” to become the longest-running No. 1 hit that is sung primarily in another language. If it stays on top for three more weeks, it will tie the 1995-96 Mariah Carey/Boyz II Men collabo “One Sweet Day” as the longest-running No. 1 hit in Hot 100 history.

As you probably know by now, “Despacito” last week became the most-viewed video of all time on YouTube. It surpassed “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, which had only recently taken the title from Psy’s “Gangnam Style.” It took just 203 days for “Despacito” to become the most viewed video in YouTube history. (Incredibly, these figures don’t include the video for the remix which features Bieber.)

DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts” (featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller) holds at No. 2 in its seventh week. The song includes a prominent sample from Santana’s “Maria, Maria” (featuring The Product G&B), which logged 10 weeks at No. 1 in 2000. Will “Wild Thoughts” also reach No. 1? Stay tuned.

French Montana’s “Unforgettable” (featuring Swae Lee) jumps from No. 6 to No. 3 in its 17th week. The song peaked at No. 5.

Bruno Mars’s “That’s What I Like” dips from No. 3 to No. 4 in its 30th week. The song hit No. 1. This is the song’s 24th week in the top five. It’s Mars’ second song to log 24 or more weeks in the top five. “Uptown Funk!” had 25 weeks in the top five. (No other artist has more than one song that remained in the top five for 24 or more weeks.)

Imagine Dragons’s “Believer” holds at No. 5 in its 26th week.

DJ Khaled’s “I’m the One” (which features Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne) drops from No. 4 to No. 6 in its 14th week. The song hit No. 1.

Charlie Puth lands his highest-charting hit as a lead artist as “Attention” jumps from No. 9 to No. 7 in its 15th week. It surpasses “We Don’t Talk Anymore” (featuring Selena Gomez), which peaked at No. 9.

Shawn Mendes’s “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” holds at No. 8 in its 15th week.

Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” drops from No. 7 to No. 9 in its 30th week. The song logged 12 weeks at No. 1.

Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Back Road” holds at No. 10 in its 27th week. The song has climbed as high as No. 6. The smash tops Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart for a record-extending 26th week.

Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” vaults from No. 28 to No. 14 in its fifth week.

Two newcomers crack the top 40 for the first time. Portugal, The Man’s “Feel It Still” vaults from No. 55 to No. 34 in its seventh week. SZA’s “Love Galore” (featuring Travis Scott) climbs from No. 46 to No. 37 in its eighth week.

Future has the week’s top new entry on the Hot 100 with “You Da Baddest” (featuring Nicki Minaj), which opens at No. 38. It’s the second top 40 hit from Future’s former No. 1 album, HNDRXX. The first also featured a female superstar. “Selfish” (featuring Rihanna) reached No. 37.

Top Albums

Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. rebounds from No. 5 to No. 2 in its 16th week. The album spent its first three weeks at No. 1.

Meek Mill’s Wins & Losses holds at No. 3 in its second week.

DJ Khaled’s Grateful rebounds from No. 9 to No. 4 in its sixth week. The album spent its first two weeks at No. 1.

Jay-Z’s 4:44 rebounds from No. 7 to No. 5 in its fourth week. The album spent its first two weeks at No. 1.

21 Savage’s Issa Album rebounds from No. 12 to No. 6 in its fourth week. The album debuted and peaked at No. 2.

Imagine Dragons’ Evolve rebounds from No. 15 to No. 7 in its sixth week. The album debuted and peaked at No. 2.

Ed Sheeran’s ÷ rebounds from No. 14 to No. 8 in its 22nd week. The album spent its first two weeks at No. 1.

The soundtrack to The Descendants 2, an original movie for The Disney Channel, drops from its No. 6 peak to No. 9 in its second week. The soundtrack for the original The Descendants also spent its first two weeks in the top 10. This week marks the first time in nearly two years that a TV soundtrack has been the week’s highest-charting soundtrack two or more weeks running. This last happened in late 2015 with Empire: Original Soundtrack, Season 2, Volume 1 (which bested all film soundtracks for three weeks.)

Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life dives from No. 1 to No. 10 in its second week.

Both Linkin Park albums that returned to the top 10 last week (in the first full week following the tragic suicide of front-man Chester Bennington) drop out of the top 10 this week. The band’s current album, One More Light, drops from No. 4 to No. 22. The band’s debut album, Hybrid Theory, drops from No. 8 to No. 29. Hybrid Theory is No. 1 on Top Catalog Albums for the second week. You may be surprised to learn that the album never quite reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It logged four weeks at No. 2 from January to March 2002. It spent the first three of those weeks at No. 2 behind Creed’s Weathered. It spent the fourth week at No. 2 behind Jennifer Lopez’s J To Tha L-O! The Remixes.

Two other albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Tyler, the Creator’s Flower Boy drops from No. 2 to No. 12. Romeo Santos’s Golden dives from No. 10 to No. 56.

Chris Stapleton’s Traveller inches up from No. 38 to No. 37 in its 99th week. The album returns to No. 1 on Top Country Albums, displacing Stapleton’s follow-up, From a Room: Volume 1. This is the 29th week on top for Traveller. That’s the longest run for any album since Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now had 31 weeks on top in 2010-11. It’s the longest run for an album by a male solo artist since Tim McGraw’s Not a Moment Too Soon had 29 weeks on top in 1994.

Coming Attractions: Look for Brett Eldredge’s Brett Eldredge to vie with Lamar’s album for No. 1 next week. Also due: Now 63.