Cee Lo Green’s “F**k You” Hits No. 1 on Pop Songs’ Chart
No soap needed: Cee Lo Green’s “F**k You” makes pop chart history
In the entire eighteen years of Billboard’s Pop Songs’ chart, Cee Lo Green makes history for having the longest ascent to the top spot with his hit single, “F**k You.” The song debuted on the chart in September 25, 2010 and has spent thirty weeks on the chart. It eventually rose to No. 1 .
The previous record holder went toP!nk with her 2006 hit “U + Ur Hand,” which spent twenty-three weeks on the chart and eventually climbed to No. 1 in 2007.
Much credit goes to the high visibility coming from Green’s high-profiled live performance at the Grammys and the four Grammy nominations that predeeced it. Performances on Saturday Night Live and a special rendition from the cast of ‘Glee’ featuring guest Gwyneth Paltrow also helped raised the song’s profile. Afterwards, pop radio picked up the song and simply devoured it.
“F**k You” would eventually spend four weeks peaking at No. 2 on the Hot 100. Last week, it reached No. 1 on Radio Songs. To date, the song has 3.7 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
“The key was that ‘F**k You’ never stopped selling, so we couldn’t just walk away because of a (low) chart number,” Roadrunner Records senior VP/promotion Mike Easterlin told Billboard in February.
Despite the potty-mouth censored version and the decision to pump out a clean version (called “Forget You”), the song has made pop music history. “We’re thankful to radio for being open to giving this song a second chance, as well as to the programmers that stuck with it even after it fell off the chart at the end of last year,” Easterlin adds.
