Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron & Zendaya Hit Hot 100 With Songs From ‘The Greatest Showman’
A dose of Hollywood star power infuses the Billboard Hot 100 this week, as Hugh Jackman makes his first visit to the chart.
A dose of Hollywood star power infuses the Billboard Hot 100 this week, as Hugh Jackman makes his first visit to the chart. Plus, Zac Efron charts his first Hot 100 entry since 2008, with both appearing on the list with songs from the hit musical The Greatest Showman, in which they star.
The film, also starring Zendaya and Michelle Williams, among others, has grossed over $76 million since its Dec. 20 release in the U.S. It was inspired by the story of P. T. Barnum’s creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
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Jackman and Efron’s Hot 100 arrivals accompany the Greatest Showman parent soundtrack rising to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The set marks the first chart-topping soundtrack since Fifty Shades Darker on the March 4, 2017-dated ranking, and the first theatrically-released musical film soundtrack to hit No. 1 since Pitch Perfect 2 in May 2015.
In all, four songs from The Greatest Showman debut on the latest Hot 100 (dated Jan. 13):
No. 83, “This Is Me,” Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble
No. 85, “Rewrite the Stars,” Zac Efron & Zendaya
No. 88, “Never Enough,” Loren Allred
No. 95, “The Greatest Show,” Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Zac Efron, Zendaya & The Greatest Showman Ensemble
Notably, “The Greatest Show,” the song that grants Jackman his first individual artist credit on the Hot 100, starts with 4.7 million U.S. streams and 12,000 downloads sold in the week ending Jan. 4, according to Nielsen Music.
Of the four debuts, “Never Enough” drew the most streams in the tracking week (5.7 million), and “This Is Me” sold the most (17,000). The latter composition won for best original song in a motion picture at the 75th Golden Globe Awards Sunday, Jan. 7 (an award given to its writers, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul).
Although Jackman’s name had never before graced a Billboard list, he’s been a frequent chart visitor, even appearing on two additional No. 1 Billboard 200 albums. He lent his voice to the soundtrack to Les Miserables, which spent a week at No. 1 in January 2013, and duetted with Barbra Streisand (on the song “Any Moment Now”) on her album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway, which also spent a week atop the chart in September 2016.
Jackman also joined The Lonely Island’s The Wack Album as featured, with Kristen Wiig, on the song “You’ve Got the Look.” Although the track never charted on any tally, the LP debuted and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 in 2013.
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Efron, meanwhile, makes his first Hot 100 appearances in over nine years. He’d last charted with “Can I Have This Dance,” with Vanessa Hudgens (from High School Musical 3: Senior Year), which notched a No. 98 peak in November 2008.
Before The Greatest Showman, Efron also hit the Hot 100 with songs from the soundtracks to High School Musical (which topped the Billboard 200 for two weeks in 2006); Hairspray (No. 2, 2007); High School Musical 2 (No. 1 for four weeks, 2007); and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (No. 2, 2008).
Efron earned his highest-charting Hot 100 hit with “Breaking Free,” with Andrew Seeley and Hudgens. The song, from the original High School Musical, soared to No. 4 on the chart dated Feb. 11, 2006. His also reached the top 10 with “What Time Is It,” which, credited to the High School Musical 2 Cast, hit No. 6 in 2007.
Zendaya adds her fourth and fifth Hot 100 entries. She posted a No. 40 high in 2014 with “Replay,” from her self-titled debut album.