As previously reported, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” featuring T.I. + Pharrell, spends a fifth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Anna Kendrick’s “Cups (Pitch Perfect’s When I’m Gone)” reaches the top 10. Who else makes notable moves on the Hot 100 and other song charts this week?
— Neil Diamond: As the country had a (Yankee doodle) dandy time celebrating independence over the July 4 holiday weekend, consumers made holiday-appropriate songs their soundtrack. Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” is the top-selling such title (23,000 downloads sold, up 532%) for the Nielsen SoundScan tracking week ending on July 7, followed by Diamond’s new “Freedom Song (They’ll Never Take Us Down)” (22,000 in its first week). Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” ranks third (18,000, up 72%).
— Maroon 5: After never sending more than two songs from an album into the Hot 100 Airplay top 10, the band’s Overexposed has now yielded four such hits. “Love Somebody” bounds 12-9 with an 18% gain to 75 million impressions, according to Nielsen BDS. The song follows the Overexposed Hot 100 Airplay top 10s “Payphone” (featuring Wiz Khalifa) (No. 1, six weeks), “One More Night” (No. 1, eight weeks) and “Daylight” (No. 3). On the Hot 100, “Love” lifts 18-15.
— Lorde: First featured in Billboard’s “Bubbling Under” column only a month ago, the 16-year-old New Zealander scores her first Hot 100 hit, as “Royals” debuts at No. 90. It concurrently reaches the top 10 on Hot Rock Songs (12-10), Rock Digital Songs (11-8; 27,000 downloads sold, up 12%) and Triple A (11-8).
— Sheryl Crow: As “Easy” reaches a new peak on Hot Country Songs (29-27), Crow tallies her first Hot 100 entry (at No. 99) in more than three years. The song previews her first album for Warner Nashville, Feels Like Home, due Sept. 10.
— Krewella: The trio reached the Hot 100 with its breakthrough hit “Alive” (which rose to No. 32 in May; it climbed to No. 5 on Dance/Electronic Songs and No. 9 on Mainstream Top 40) almost eight months after its Play Hard EP debuted on Dance/Electronic Albums. In contrast, its new stand-alone single “Live for the Night” bows on the Hot 100 with first-week sales of 39,000 (and roars onto Dance/Electronic Songs at No. 14).
— Skillet: The Christian rock band returns to Hot Rock Songs at No. 47 with “Sick of It.” The song first spent a week on the chart (No. 22; April 27) upon its release as a digital single. Having since been promoted as the lead radio track from Rise (No. 2 on Top Rock Albums), it re-enters thanks in part to its continued build on Active Rock, where it bullets at No. 13 in its 12th week. “We just stir it up … in the skillet,” lead singer John Cooper says of the band’s musical recipe. “People love that joke …,” he adds (mocking his own humor… )
— Taylor Swift: Following the July 3 music video premiere for “Red,” the title track from Taylor Swift’s fourth studio album swipes the Streaming Gainer nod and leaps 43-31 on Hot Country Songs. The song is also receiving a warm welcome from country radio, as it flies 34-29 on Country Airplay and adds Greatest Gainer stripes (7.7 million audience impressions, up 5%).
Now in its 20th week on Hot Country Songs, “Red” first blasted onto the list at No. 2 the week of Oct 20, 2012 (and at No. 1 on Country Digital Songs with 312,000 downloads sold), as a preview track to the set that would launch at No. 1 on Top Country Albums three weeks later.
The Red album has spent 37 weeks on Top Country Albums (including seven at No. 1) and sold 3.7 million so far.
— Florida Georgia Line: As the duo prepares for its first headlining tour this fall, Florida Georgia Line dominates Hot Country Songs for a 19th cumulative week with “Cruise,” marking the most weeks at No. 1 since Leroy Van Dyke’s “Walk on By” ruled for 19 in 1961-62.
— Nicki Minaj: The rapper debuts two cuts on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, upping her count of top 40 hits on the chart to 25. Minaj is featured on Ciara’s “I’m Out” (new at No. 16) and Nelly’s “Get Like Me” (also featuring Pharrell), which opens at No. 36. Minaj remains in fifth place for the most top 40 hits by a solo female in the chart’s Nielsen-era (December 1992-present), but inches closer to the fourth-place holder, Missy Elliott (27). Mary J. Blige leads all women with 45 top 40 hits on the list in that span.
Additional reporting by Wade Jessen and Rauly Ramirez
