A whopping 9 milestones this week…it’s going to take me until Christmas to write them all out…
Taylor Swift has not dropped new music for two years, so when she pairs with a very popular ex-One Directioner, you can expect sparks to fly…and they flew. She and Zayn have topped the iTunes chart since the song released, even blocking bandmate Louis Tomlinson’s debut single (which has a heart tugging story). Not surprisingly, radio programmers have also been thirsty for a new Taylor single and the song has rocketed up the charts. “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” debuts at 25th in Pop and 34th on HAC.
Another former X-Factor UK alum achieving a milestone this week is James Arthur. He won the 12th cycle of X-Factor and Simon used him to bash Niall Horan (also from One Direction) for not signing with his label. James may have debuted a single above Niall in the UK, but he’s not as well known on this side of the pond. James’s “Say You Won’t Go” moves into the top 30 on HAC.
Also from the UK, we have Calum Scott. He was on Simon’s other talent show, BGT. “Dancing on My Own” has now achieved top 40 on HAC in the US.
The final entry from the Simon music factory is Camila Cabello. She was grouped together to form Fifth Harmony on X-Factor US and she does the odd solo performance. Her “Bad Things” with Machine Gun Kelly is doing Good Things on the chart and moves into the top 15 this week on Pop. It was already top 15 on Rhythmic.
Simon declared that Carrie Underwood would be the most successful Idon ever and she is. “Dirty Laundry” has moved into the top 5 on Country radio (just like the three previous singles from “Storyteller”).
Simon has nothing to do with Lauren Daigle and she is still a success. An Idol auditioner who has built a solid career in Christian music. Lauren’s “Jingle Bells” goes top 30 on CAC this week.
Simon probably hates the Voice because it stole his “Not Idol” thunder and helped to tank the X-Factor, but Simon has enough to keep himself busy with. From The Voice, we have Jordan Smith taking a swing at “O Holy Night”. Joining him is The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. “O Holy Night” is just one of those songs that reality singers seem to love. I once wrote a post about the seventy gajillion versions of it. Seriously, go to youtube, type “O Holy Night” and then start putting in names. It truly is a lovely song that lets you show off your pipes.
Another song that shows off your pipes? Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. Pentatonix used it to anchor their latest Christmas album and it went top 5 on AC this week.
Speaking of that album, it is third on the BB200 chart this week. The also have their previous Christmas album in the top 10 at 8th. The “Hamilton Mixtape” tops the chart and includes a track by Kelly Clarkson. This album features covers of the Broadway hit and songs inspired by it. The highest the Broadway album ever got was top 3, but it has had steady sales. Also from the reality world, we have Grace VanderWaal who won the latest season of America’s Got Talent. She debuts at 9th. Also debuting are the Rolling Stones with their 37th top 10 album “Blue and Lonesome”. No other artist has more top 10 albums.
1 (NEW) Various (including Kelly Clarkson) “Hamilton Mixtape” 187K, 169K sales
2 (1) The Weeknd “Starboy” 151K (-57%)
3 (2) Pentatonix “A Pentatonix Christmas” 128K (-2%)
4 (NEW) The Rolling Stones “Blue & Lonesome” 123K, 120K sales
5 (NEW) Childish Gambino “Awaken, My Love” 101K, 72K sales
6 (4) Bruno Mars “24K Magic” 58K (-20%)
7 (5) “Moana” Soundtrack 53K (-20%)
8 (7) Pentatonix “That’s Christmas to Me” 53K (+31%)
9 (NEW) Grace VanderWaal “Perfectly Imperfect EP” 52K , 47K in aales
10 (NEW) Kane Brown “Kane Brown” 51K, 45K in sales
Calum Scott:
“Dancing On My Own”: ^36 HAC (41); 39 AC (32)
Camila Cabello
x MGK “Bad Things”: ^13 Pop (17); ^11 RHY (14)
Carrie Underwood:
“Dirty Laundry”: ^5 Country (7)
Chase Rice:
“Everybody We Know Does”: ^44 Country (43)
Danny Gokey:
“Rise”: 13 CAC (14)
Fantasia:
“Sleeping With the One I Love”: 11 UAC (7)
Fifth Harmony:
“That’s My Girl”: 20 Pop (29)
James Arthur:
“Say You Won’t Go”: ^28 HAC (33)
Jordan Smith:
“O Holy Night” f Mormon TC: ^46 AC (-)
“You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch”: 17 AC (14)
Kelly Clarkson:
“It’s Quite Uptown”: ^41 HAC (43)
Kris Allen:
f. on “A Little Bit of Christmas” by John Brickman: 33 AC (33)
La’Porsha Renae:
“Good Woman”: ^16 UAC (17)
Lauren Alaina:
“Road Less Travelled”: ^19 Country (19)
Lauren Daigle:
“Come Alive (Dry Bones)”: 26 CAC (22)
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”: 23 CAC (23)
“Jingle Belles”: ^25 CAC (32)
“What Child is This”: 19 CAC (20)
Niall Horan:
“This Town”: ^15 Pop (165; ^21 HAC (25)
Nick Fradiani:
“All on You”: 39 Pop (33)
One Direction:
“Drag Me Down”: 47 AC (46)
Pentatonix:
“Hallelujah”: ^4 AC (6)
RaeLynn:
“Love Triangle”: ^33 Country (32)
Trent Harmon:
“There’s a Girl”: ^27 Country (28)
Zayn
/Taylor Swift “I Don’t Wanna Life Forever”: ^25 Pop (-), ^34 HAC (-)
Upcoming Adds Listed on AllAccess:
Dec 12: HAC: Zayn/Taylor Swift: “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever”
Dec 13: Pop: Zayn/Taylor Swift: “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever”
Note: Numbers indicate position on the chart while numbers in brackets indicate the position on the chart the previous week. The “^” (aka “a bullet”) indicates that a song gained spins since last week.
This is the daily numbers thread for Monday. Stats collected on Monday Morning.
