CHART BUZZ: Susan Boyle, Rihanna, Far*East Movement, The Beatles

Posted November 25, 2010 by J Matthew Cobb in News

Susan Boyle continues her reign on the album charts, while Rihanna, Ke$ha and Far East Movement make impressive ascensions with new singles. Plus, the Fab Four’s arrival on iTunes gives them a 2010 resurgence

Rihanna is on a roll. After setting a record with the most No. 1 hits in the 18-year history of the Billboard Pop Songs’ radio airplay chart, Rihanna continued her domination with yet another Hot 100 success. “Only Girl (In the World)” went to #1, while her new album Loud soared to #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums’ chart. “What’s My Name?,” featuring Drake, previously claimed the #1 spot. Already in 2010, Rihanna has already had four No. 1 hits (“Rude Boy,” “Love the Way You Lie (as a featured guest with Eminem),” “Only Girl (In the World)” and “What’s My Name?”). So the next time someone asks you why Ri Ri opened the AMAs, tell them she’s a 2010 four-peat champion.

Far*East Movement is pacing back and forth from #1 and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, since new singles from Rihanna and Ke$ha hit radio. But the unwavering success continues to follow the Cali.-based electro/hip-hop quartet. “Like a G6” went to #1 on the week of Nov. 6 and was knocked to No. 2 after Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R” made its hot shot debut to #1. The song has since then reclaimed the #1 spot, after “Only Girl (In The World)” built traction back up the charts.

Just in time for the holidays, Susan Boyle is once again proving to be the untouchable force commanding the charts with her genre-defying popera style with her newest album release, The Gift, taking the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. After debuting the album at #1, she managed to stay in first place last week even with two big album releases premiering on the chart from Rihanna and Kid Rock. Trailing Boyle was “America’s Got Talent” 10-year old star Jackie Evancho with her debut EP-with-DVD O Holy Night; selling a comfortable 239,000 units. Rihanna’s Loud came in at #3 (207,000). Josh Groban’s Rick Rubin-produced Illuminations came in at #4 (191,000) while Kid Rock’s country-pop album Born Free landed at #5, selling 189,000 units.

The week of Black Friday promises to shake up the charts in a very strong way as retailers campaign with marked-down prices and specials on new releases and 2010’s essentials. Amazon.com started their $3.99 markdowns on new digital album releases from Ne-Yo, Nicki Minaj and Kanye West, while 2010 favorites from John Legend & the Roots, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Vampire Weekend and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are also getting major sale price slashes. The price cuts will play a major part in how the charts shape up next week.

The Beatles are also enjoying a great set of weeks since the digital versions of their studio albums preimered at the popular digital store Apple iTunes. Apple Inc. said digital downloads of Beatles songs and albums rank among the top sellers on its iTunes online media store. The 1969 recording of Abbey Road, for instance, is the ninth- most downloaded album on iTunes, according to a ranking posted at Apple’s website. “Here Comes the Sun” is the band’s biggest-selling track, ranking No. 56 on the iTunes chart. The company doesn’t provide download figures, but experts at Reuters and MTV believe that the buying power of both the UK and US sales generated millions and believe the Fab Four have sold over 2 million songs and 450,000 albums in its first week on iTunes.

CHART BUZZ is a bi-monthly series tracing the latest airplay, radio impressions and unit sales numbers goverened by Billboard and measured by Nielsen Soundscan. For more chart information and additional chart data, go to www.billboard.com or www.billboard.biz. Visit our abbrievated Billboard and iTunes charts at: www.hifimagazine.net/blog/charts