Chart Watch: Shawn Mendes Dominates With 'Illuminate'
Shawn Mendes this week becomes just the second male solo artist to land two or more #1 albums on the Billboard 200 while still in his teens. The first was Justin Bieber. Mendes, 18, enters the chart at #1 with his sophomore album, Illuminate. He first topped the chart in April 2015 with his debut, Handwritten. Bieber amassed five #1 albums while still in his teens. (Both Mendes and Bieber were born in the Canadian province of Ontario.)
Four other male solo artists landed one (but only one) #1 album while still in their teens. Little Stevie Wonder (as he was then known) was 13 when he topped the chart with Little Stevie Wonder/The 12 Year Old Genius in 1963. The late Ricky Nelson was 17 when he scored with Ricky in 1958. American Idol champ Scotty McCreery was 18 when he scored with as Day in 2011. Bobby Brown was 19 when he topped the chart with Don’t Be Cruel in 1989.
Both of Mendes’s albums have spawned top 10 singles on the Hot 100. “Stitches,” from Handwritten, reached #4. “Treat You Better,” from Illuminate, holds at #6 this week.
Drake’s Views dips from #1 to #2 in its 22nd week on the Billboard 200. This gives Canadian artists command of both of the top two positions on that chart for the first time since December 2011, when Michael Bublé’s Christmas rose to #1 and Nickelback’s Here and Now debuted at #2.
Top Songs
The Chainsmokers’ “Closer” (featuring Halsey) tops the Hot 100 for the seventh straight week. That’s the longest run at #1 by any duo so far in this decade. It tops LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” (featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock) and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s “Thrift Shop” (featuring Wanz), both of which logged six weeks at #1.
What were the longest-running #1 hits by duos in previous decades? Glad you asked.
For the ’50s, it was Les Paul and Mary Ford’s “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You),” which logged 11 weeks at #1 in 1953. For the ’60s, it was Zager & Evans’s “In the Year 2525” (six weeks in 1969). For the ’70s, it was Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (six weeks in 1970). For the ’80s, it was Daryl Hall & John Oates’s “Maneater” (four weeks in 1982-83). For the ’90s, it was Los Del Rio’s “Macarena” (14 weeks in 1996). For the ’00s, it was Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” (nine weeks in 2003-04).
(The Fine Print: I’m not counting collaborations of two solo artists who normally record separately. I’m also looking only at lead artists. A little-known duo, the Product G&B, was featured on Santana’s “Maria Maria,” which logged 10 weeks at #1 in 2000.)
“Closer” also heads Top Digital Songs for the eighth week (with sales of 137K this week).
twenty one pilots’ “Heathens” holds at #2 in its 15th week.
The Weeknd’s “Starboy” (featuring Daft Punk) vaults from #40 to #3 in its second week. It’s the Weeknd’s fifth top 10 hit; Daft Punk’s second. Both artists are collaboration veterans. The Weeknd’s first visit to the top 10 was as the featured artist on Ariana Grande’s “Love Me Harder.” Daft Punk’s previous top 10 hit was “Get Lucky” (with Pharrell Williams). “Starboy” is the first single (and title track) from the Weeknd’s third studio album, which is due Nov. 25. The song also moves up to #1 on Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, displacing D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli” (featuring Lil Yachty). It’s the Weeknd’s fourth #1 R&B hit; Daft Punk’s first.
Major Lazer’s “Cold Water” (featuring Justin Bieber and MØ) dips from #3 to #4 its 10th week.
DJ Snake’s “Let Me Love You” (also featuring Bieber) dips from #4 to #5 in its eighth week.
As noted above, Shawn Mendes’s “Treat You Better” holds at #6 in its 17th week.
Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” (featuring Sean Paul) drops from #5 to #7 in its 33rd week.
D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli” (featuring Lil Yachty) holds at #8 in its 16th week.
The Chainsmokers’ previous hit, “Don’t Let Me Down” (featuring Daya), drops from #7 to #9 in its 33rd week.
Calvin Harris’s “This Is What You Came For” (featuring Rihanna) holds at #10 in its 22nd week.
Charlie Puth’s “We Don’t Talk Anymore” (featuring Selena Gomez) drops out of the top 10 this week.
Gnash’s “I Hate You, I Love You” (featuring Olivia O’Brien) jumps from #19 to #13 in its 24th week. A Prince song titled “I Hate U” reached #12 in 1995. Three songs titled “I Love You” have made the top 20 over the years (by a group called People in 1968, Climax Blues Band in 1981, and Faith Evans in 2002).
Kiiara’s “Gold” jumps from #16 to #15 in its 19th week. John Stewart (formerly of the Kingston Trio) had a #5 hit with a different song by the same title in August 1979.
Niall Horan’s first solo single, “This Town,” is the week’s top new entry at #63. As a member of One Direction, Horan landed six top 10 hits between 2012-15. The new single, a gentle ballad, is similar in tone to 1D’s “Perfect,” which reached #10. Horan is the first current member of that boy band to land a solo hit. Former member Zayn debuted at #1 in February with “Pillowtalk.” “This Town” starts with just one day each of sales and streaming data and four days of airplay data. Expect it to soar next week, following its first full week of tracking.
Top Albums
The Suicide Squad soundtrack holds at #3 in its eighth week. It’s #1 on Top Soundtracks for the eighth week.
Luke Bryan’s Farm Tour: Here’s to the Farmer EP debuts at #4. It’s Bryan’s ninth top 10 album or EP. That tally includes four regular studio albums, one full-length compilation album and four EPs. Farm Tour enters Top Country Albums at #1, displacing Aaron Lewis’s Sinner.
Bruce Springsteen lands his 19th top 10 album as Chapter and Verse debuts at #5. The compilation is a companion to Springsteen’s new autobiography, Born to Run. Springsteen’s Born to Run album was, of course, his commercial breakthrough. It reached #3 in October 1975. The career-spanning Chapter and Verse includes 18 songs, five of which were previously unreleased. (Note the compilation’s literary title.)
Travis Scott’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight inches up from #7 to #6 in its fourth week. The album debuted at #1.
twenty one pilots’ Blurryface inches up from #8 to #7 in its 72nd week. The album debuted at #1 in May 2015.
Jason Aldean’s They Don’t Know drops from #6 to #8 in its third week. The album debuted at #1.
Rihanna’s ANTI rebounds from #12 to #9 in its 36th week. The album spent two weeks at #1 earlier this year.
Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman inches up from #11 to #10 in its 19th week. The album debuted and peaked at #2 in May.
Usher’s Hard II Love drops from #5 to #20 in its second week. That’s a disappointment for Usher, whose last six full-length studio albums each spent three or more weeks in the top 10. Four other albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Mac Miller’s The Divine Feminine dives from #2 to #30. Aaron Lewis’s Sinner tumbles from #4 to #43. Casting Crowns’ The Very Next Thing plummets from #9 to #56. Florida Georgia Line’s Dig Your Roots dips from #10 to #11.
My Chemical Romance’s 2006 album The Black Parade rebounds from #143 to #14 in its 83rd chart week. The resurgence is due to the release of a deluxe 10th anniversary reissue, with bonus tracks. The Black Parade enters Top Catalog Albums at #1, displacing Metallica’s 1991 blockbuster, Metallica.
Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel co-starred in Wicked on Broadway as frenemies Glinda and Elphaba back in 2003-’04. Both were nominated for the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical; Menzel took home the award. Both women released new albums last week. Menzel did better again. Her album, Idina., debuts at #29, seven points ahead of Chenoweth’s The Art of Elegance. (If the title of Chenoweth’s album sounds vaguely familiar, you may be thinking of Tony Bennett’s The Art of Excellence, a chart album in 1986.)
Passenger’s Young as the Morning Old as the Sea debuts at #70. The album is off to a much faster start in Passenger’s native England, where it enters the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart at #1, ahead of both Springsteen’s Chapter and Verse at #2 and Mendes’s Illuminate at #3.
Look for Bon Iver’s third album, 22, A Million, to debut at or near #1 next week. Also expect debuts in the top 10 by Solange’s A Seat at the Table and Van Morrison’s Keep Me Singing.
