Chart Buzz: Adele, Lil Wayne, LMFAO, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Adele soars to top of Billboard Hot 100, Lil Wayne and Red Hot Chili Peppers soars to top of Billboard 200 and LMFAO’s party rock smash becomes 2011’s biggest summer hit
Let’s just go ahead and cut to the chase. 2011 is the year of Adele.
The Brit soul singer is still making history, with her recent splash on the Billboard Hot 100. After performing her ballad “Someone Like You” on the MTV Video Music Awards instead of her No. 1 hit “Rolling In The Deep” which she was nominated for seven awards, fans were eager to download the song even without it being released as a single to radio. No problem. The single soared 19-1, making it the highest No. 1 leap on the chart for a non-single.
Kelly Clarkson’s 2009 hit “My Life Would Suck Without You” soared like a rocket up the Billboard Hot 100, going 97-1, but Clarkson’s song was spurred by its single release to retail and radio. “Someone Like You” soared on the merits of her live performance on the MTV Video Music Awards. According to Billboard, “Someone” was released digitally on Feb. 22, but stayed cool at the bottom surface of the chart as “Rolling In The Deep” soared to extraordinary heights going well into the summer.
“Adele’s all about the music,” Columbia senior VP of sales Steve Kennedy said to Billboard. “She and her manager, Jonathan Dickins, wanted to get across in the VMA performance that the music was more important than anything else. With all the bombastic theatrics going on that night,we felt that her very simple set would completely stand out [against] everything else.”
Adele’s 21 currently sits at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
On the Billboard 2oo, a whole different story is brewing. Lil Wayne‘s triumphant return to No. 1 also comes with one of the biggest sales week of 2011. Analaysts expected the album to sell close to 800,000 copies on its first week but Tha Carter IV, Lil Wayne’s ninth studio album, went beyond their heads, selling an impressive 964,000 copies. The feat also becomes Wayne’s third No. 1 album and becomes the second highest-selling album of 2011 on its first week, trailing behind Gaga’s 1 million-selling monster smash Born This Way. The success can be attributed to a wealth of advantages working in Lil Wayne’s favor. He has a Top Ten pop hit on his hands (“How To Love”), a unstoppable U.S. tour, a live performance on MTV Video Music Awards, and a plethora of guest appearances on everyone else’s projects and big hits, including Kelly Rowland, Chris Brown and Jennifer Lopez. According to Soundscan reports and insider reports, the album sold 362,000 copies on its first week, with 345,000 of those copies being sold at iTunes.
LMFAO‘s summer smash “Party Rock Anthem” may not be No. 1 this week, but it isn’t out of the news yet. The song was named Billboard’s Top Summer Song. This title is recognized after evaluating heavy spins on radio from Memorial Day to Labor Day. And the party rock song seemed to be the perfect drink of choice, with Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything” coming in at No. 2 and Adele’s “Rolling In the Deep” working its way to No. 3.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are back with their funky rock and a brand new album I’m With You. The album also performed well, coming in at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and trailing right behind Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV. Selling 228,926 copies, the highly-anticipated album also shot to No.1 on Billboard’s Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts. The return from the rock band also was welcomed with open arms in a multitude of countries, debuting at No. 1 in the U.K., Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.
On the Billboard Hot 100 (Week of Sept. 17, 2011):
#1 “Someone Like You – Adele
#2 “Moves Like Jagger” – Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
#3 “Pumped Up Kicks” – Foster The People
#4 “Party Rock Anthem” – LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock
#5 “Super Bass” – Nicki Minaj
#5 “Lighters” – Bad Meets Evil feat. Bruno Mars
#6 “You and I” – Lady Gaga
#7 “Lighters” – Bad Meets Evil feat. Bruno Mars
#8 “You Make Me Feel…” – Cobra Starship feat. Sabi
#9 “Give Me Everything” – Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer
#10 “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” – Katy Perry
CHART BUZZ is a bi-monthly series tracing the latest airplay, radio impressions and unit sales numbers governed 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 abbreviated Billboard and iTunes charts at: www.hifimagazine.net/blog/charts
