As previously reported, The Weeknd crowns the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Aug. 22), rising 2-1, notching the surging R&B/pop star his first leader on the list. “It’s so hard to imagine that we’ve come this far, but it seems all the hard work has paid off,” the Hot 100 Music Festival headliner mused to Billboard exclusively.
Who else makes notable moves on the Hot 100 this week?
Skrillex & Diplo, “Where Are U Now,” with Justin Bieber
The former No. 8-peaking collab holds at No. 12 on the Hot 100 and makes a key climb on Radio Songs: 12-10, with 76 million in audience (up 5 percent), according to Nielsen Music. It’s Bieber’s third top 10 on the all-format airplay tally, following “As Long as You Love Me” (No. 2, 2012) and “Beauty and a Beat” (No. 4, 2013). Both Bieber and Skrillex will perform at Billboard’s inaugural Hot 100 Fest.
Drake, “Back to Back”
Drake roars onto the Hot 100 with four tracks, led by “Back to Back” at No. 21 (122,000 first-week downloads sold). With the bows, he adds an impressive honor: he ties late R&B icon James Brown for the fourth-most entries, 91 each, in the Hot 100’s 57-year history.
Here’s an updated count of the acts with the most Hot 100 hits all-time:
207, Glee Cast
126, Lil Wayne
108, Elvis Presley
91, James Brown
91, Drake
83, Jay Z
74, Ray Charles
73, Aretha Franklin
72, Chris Brown
71, the Beatles
Notably, Brown was the lead act on all 91 of his Hot 100 visits; Drake has been lead on 48 and featured on 43 of his 91, a reflection of hip-hop’s trademark abundance of featured billings. Worth noting: Presley’s 1956 arrival predated the Hot 100’s 1958 launch by two years.
Charlie Puth, “Marvin Gaye,” featuring Meghan Trainor
Some news to hopefully help cheer up Meghan Trainor after vocal issues forced her to cancel the remainder of her MTrain Tour, on which Puth was opening: the pair’s flirty single continues climbing the Hot 100, pushing 36-28. It gains in all three Hot 100 metrics, reaching the Digital Songs top 10 (18-10; 70,000 sold, up 34 percent) and entering Streaming Songs at No. 45 (3.7 million U.S. streams, up 15 percent) and Radio Songs at No. 49 (25 million, up 19 percent).
Meanwhile, Trainor rises with her other tandem track on the Hot 100: “Like I’m Gonna Lose You,” featuring John Legend, lifts 68-65.
R. City, “Locked Away,” feat. Adam Levine
The track zooms into the Hot 100’s top 40 (60-35), powered most heavily by its 39-18 vault on Digital Songs. It gains by 70 percent to 51,000 sold.
Levine logs his fourth top 40 Hot 100 placement apart from Maroon 5, with whom he’s notched 16 such songs as the group’s frontman. He’s risen highest as a soloist as featured on Gym Class Heroes’ “Stereo Hearts” (No. 4, 2011).
Alessia Cara, “Here”
Brampton, Ontario, native Cara, 19, makes her Hot 100 debut at No. 95 with her ethereal loner anthem. She performed the song July 29 on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, helping spur its 26 percent gain to 17,000 sold.
