Hot 100 Chart Moves: Nat King Cole’s ‘Christmas Song’ Is a Top 40 Hit at Last
The iconic recording, first a Hot 100 hit in 1960, re-enters at No. 38. Plus, flights for twenty one pilots, the Chainsmokers, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello & James Bay.
As previously reported, Adele‘s “Hello” scores a ninth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Jan. 9), while making further gains with follow-up “When We Were Young” (55-54). Plus, Mariah Carey’s 1994 holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hits a new peak, dashing 18-11, and Selena Gomez surges into the top 40 (62-39) with “Hands to Myself” following the premiere of the song’s official video.
Adele’s ‘Hello’ Leads Hot 100 for Ninth Week
Who else deserves a hand for notable Hot 100 chart moves?
Twenty One Pilots, “Stressed Out”
The track flies 19-13 on the Hot 100 and becomes the act’s first No. 1 on Hot Rock Songs. It blasts into the top 10 on Digital Songs (15-4; 82,000 downloads sold, up 77 percent, in the week ending Dec. 24, according to Nielsen Music) and rises 16-14 on Radio Songs (55 million in all-format audience, up 10 percent) and 28-26 on Streaming Songs (6.6 million U.S. streams, up 13 percent). As it leads the Alternative Songs airplay chart for an eighth week, it’s also crossing over, rising 16-14 on Pop Songs and 23-20 as the Greatest Gainer on Adult Pop Songs.
The Chainsmokers, “Roses” (featuring ROZES)
The song blossoms 26-20, marking the duo’s second top 20 Hot 100 hit: “#SELFIE” reached No. 16 in April 2014. Even more: on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, “Roses” rises 2-1 to become the pair’s second No. 1, after “#SELFIE.” “Roses” roars 19-8 on Digital Songs (59,000, up 46 percent) and 30-24 on Radio Songs (39 million, up 4 percent); on Streaming Songs, it slips 32-33 but with a 6 percent gain to 5.7 million.
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello, “I Know What You Did Last Summer”
The duet from Mendes and Fifth Harmony’s Cabello reaches the Hot 100’s top 40 (46-33). Sales lead the way, as the collab bounds 48-28 on Digital Songs (39,000, up 80 percent). It also enters Streaming Songs at No. 50 (4.4 million, up 13 percent).
Mendes, who remains in the Hot 100’s top 10 with the No. 4-peaking “Stitches,” makes his third visit to the top 40, while Cabello reaches the region for the first time apart from 5H, with whom she’s tallied two top 40 hits.
Nat King Cole, “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)”
More than 55 years after its first Hot 100 appearance, Cole’s chestnut reaches the top 40, re-entering at No. 38. The carol (up 4-3 on the Holiday 100 chart) re-enters Streaming Songs at No. 35 (5.4 million, up 45 percent) and Radio Songs at No. 40 (31 million, up 15 percent), while also leaping by 64 percent to 9,000 sold.
Cole’s evergreen carol had hit a high of No. 45 on the Hot 100 two years ago after being absent from the chart since 1962; it had first climbed to No. 65 in 1962 (after first charting in 1960). As with Carey’s “Christmas,” older songs are eligible for the Hot 100 if ranking in the top 50 and showing noteworthy continued gains.
Similarly, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” rises 38-30 on the Hot 100, a week after charting in the top 40 for the first time since 1961, and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” re-enters at No. 47. Helms’ hit ranks on the survey for the first time 1962; it peaked at No. 35 in 1959 (four months after the Hot 100’s launch).
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James Bay, “Let It Go”
The singer/songwriter makes his first Hot 100 appearance at No. 98. The ballad bows with a fairly even split of points for sales, airplay and streams, fueled most heavily by its 66 percent increase to 18,000 sold. Helping build buzz, Bay is nominated for three Grammy Awards, including best new artist. Radio is also in the mix, as the track rises 16-14 on Adult Pop Songs.
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