‘Glee’ Beats the Beatles ‘Hot 100’ Record
Hit sitcom ‘Glee’ now sits in third-place for the most consecutive appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 survey; surpassing the Beatles.
On this week’s (Oct. 5) emotional episode of Fox’s ‘Glee,’where Kurt (Chris Colfer) laments over his ailing father now in a coma, Gleeks all over were entreated with spiritual-pop anthems like Simon & Garfunkle’s“Bridge Over Troubled Water” – polished with Aretha’s gospel version and an surprising remake of the Beatles’ hit “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The latter contained a different spin to the song with Kurt singing it as a tribute to his father in the style of Luther Vandross’s “Dance With My Father” and done to a subdued tempo. But it isn’t a surprise that the Fab 4 hit also celebrates a day of awakening for the Glee cast as they break the Beatles’ record of being the third leader with the most appearances among all acts to debut on the Billboard Hot 100; now pushing their number to 75. The survey, launched in August 1958, gauges songs’ popularity, according to Billboard Magazine.
Only Elvis Presley (108) and James Brown (91) command the top leading spots, while the Beatles (71), Ray Charles (74) and Aretha Franklin (73) trail behind.
The reason behind Glee’s unprecedented success stands behind their large amount of accounted digital downloads. Their popular remakes, including Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” and scores of tunes from Madonna (“Like A Prayer”) and Britney Spears (“Toxic”), have become sensational drawing cards at online digital stores like iTunes. 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.”
Glee paying tribute once again to the Beatles with “I Want To Hold Your Hand” will definitely become an importnt footnote in the hit sitcom’s history. It was the first song from the Brit band to overtake the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 (and remaining their for seven weeks) and is the song that officially defined ‘Beatlemania.’
