Just in time for John Lennon’s 70th birthday on Saturday…one of the Beatles’ Billboard records gets broken by Glee.
From Billboard Magazine
With six debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Oct. 16, to be released Thursday (Oct. 7), the cast of Fox’s “Glee” will pass the Beatles for most appearances among non-solo acts in the chart’s 52-year history.
The “Glee” cast will up their sum to 75 Hot 100 chart entries, surpassing the Beatles’ 71 charted titles. The series’ actor/singers bow with five covers of Britney Spears songs, as well as Paramore’s “The Only Exception, ” as performed on last week’s (Sept. 28) episode.
The cast’s update of Spears’ “Toxic” will arrive as the Hot 100’s highest debut (No. 16), having sold 109, 000 downloads in its first week of availability, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The song will also bow on the Digital Songs survey at No. 9. Collectively, the six tracks sold 406, 000 downloads
Also, according to Billboard:
The “Glee” cast has sold 11.5 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its remake of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’, ” from the series’ pilot episode, is its best-seller (992, 000 downloads). The song has tallied the highest Hot 100 peak (No. 4) and spent the most weeks (seven) of any “Glee” cast charted title.
The show churns out 4-7 songs a week, each making an appearance on the Hot 100, but they are typically off the charts in a week. Only 14 of the “Glee” cast’s recordings through last week have spent more than one week on the Hot 100, according to Billboard.
The “Glee” cast has sold 2.8 million albums, with three sets having topped the Billboard 200 album chart: “Glee: the Music, the Power of Madonna (EP), ” “Glee: the Music, Volume 3: Showstoppers” and “Glee: the Music, Journey to Regionals.”
Man, I don’t know. As much as I love Glee the show, I have never downloaded a Glee song. I just can’t get down with karaoke covers on my iPod (same goes with Idol tunes for me, generally).
FYI: Here’s Billboard’s recap of the acts with the most appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 through the chart dated Oct. 16. It’s a matter of time before Glee is at the top of the chart:
108, Elvis Presley
91, James Brown
75, “Glee” Cast
74, Ray Charles
73, Aretha Franklin
71, the Beatles
67, Elton John
64, Lil Wayne
63, Stevie Wonder
61, Jay-Z
