Male Artists Mount a Comeback on Hot 100
After being shut out of the top five on the Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks last year, male solo artists are mounting a comeback. Male solo artists hold down the top three spots for the first time in nine months. “Uptown Funk!” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars logs its fourth week at #1. Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” holds at #2 for the second week. Hozier’s “Take Me to Church,” which peaked at #2, rebounds from #4 to #3.
This is the first time that male solo artists have held down the top three spots since April, when Pharrell Williams’s “Happy,” John Legend’s “All of Me,” and “Talk Dirty” by Jason Derulo featuring 2 Chainz held the top three spots.
"Uptown Funk!" is Mars’s fourth hit to spend four or more weeks at #1. It follows "Just the Way You Are," "Grenade," and "Locked out of Heaven," which spent six weeks on top. Will "Uptown Funk!" surpass "Heaven" to become Mars’s longest-running #1? Stay tuned.
In addition, “Uptown Funk!” moves up to #1 on Radio Songs, displacing Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” which topped that chart for six straight weeks.
"Uptown Funk!" logs its fifth week at #1 on Hot Digital Songs. That’s the longest run at #1 for a collabo since "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry featuring Juicy J had five weeks on top in early 2014. "Uptown Funk!" sold 341K copies this week, bringing its 11-week sales total to 2,838,000.
"Uptown Funk!" logs its sixth week at #1 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart. That’s the longest run at #1 in the U.K. since "We Found Love" by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris had six weeks on top in 2011. Ronson also enters the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart at #1. Ronson is the first artist to top both U.K. charts in the same week since Miley Cyrus scored in October 2013 with her album Bangerz and her single "Wrecking Ball."
"Take Me to Church" tops the 3 million mark in digital sales this week. It’s #1 on Hot Rock Songs for the 15th week. That’s the longest run at #1 by any song since Lorde’s "Royals" logged 19 weeks at #1 in 2013-‘14. "Royals" won a Grammy as Song of the Year. "Take Me to Church" is nominated for that same award this year.
Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” which logged seven weeks at #1, dips from #3 to #4 in its 13th week. Swift’s previous hit, “Shake It Off,” which logged four weeks at #1, holds at #5 for the second week in its 23rd week.
Maroon 5’s “Sugar” jumps from #8 to #6 in its second week. This enables it to already tie the peak position of “Maps,” the lead single from Maroon 5’s current album, V. “Animals,” the follow-up single, peaked at #3.
Meghan Trainor’s “Lips Are Movin,” which has climbed as high as #4, dips from #6 to #7 in its 14th week. The song vaults from #50 to #2 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart. Trainor’s “All About That Bass” drops out of the top 10 this week, ending a 25 week-run in the top 10.
Sam Smith’s “I’m Not the Only One,” which has climbed as high as #5, dips from #7 to #8 in its 21st week.
Nick Jonas’s “Jealous” holds at #9 for the second week in its 20th week.
Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries” jumps from #12 to #10 in its 20th week. It’s the band’s fourth top 10 hit; its first in eight years. The group’s previous top 10 hits were “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” (#8 in September 2005), “Dance, Dance” (#9 in January 2006) and “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s an Arms Race” (#2 in February 2007). The group’s sixth studio album, American Beauty/American Psycho, enters the Billboard 200 at #1 this week.
"Centuries" samples Suzanne Vega’s "Tom’s Diner." That song first appeared on Vega’s sophomore album, Solitude Standing, in April 1987. More than 3-1/2 years later (in December 1990), it cracked the top five on the Hot 100 through a remixed version by D.N.A. featuring Vega.
To My Readers: I’ll have a second blog drawn from the Hot 100 later. Look for entries from “FourFiveSeconds” by Rihanna & Kanye West & Paul McCartney, “Worth It” by Fifth Harmony featuring Kid Ink, Trey Songz’s “Slow Motion,” and “Truffle Butter” by Nicki Minaj featuring Drake & Lil Wayne.
