«Rings,» released on Republic Records, arrives as the 1,083rd No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 60-year history, and launches as the week’s most-streamed and top-selling song.
Following the Jan. 18 premiere of the song and its official video, «Rings» debuts at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart with 85.3 million U.S. streams in the week ending Jan. 24, according to Nielsen Music. The sum marks the second-biggest streaming week ever for a song by a female artist, after Grande’s own «Next,» which drew 93.8 million, as reflected on the chart dated Dec. 15, following the premiere of its official video. (Drake’s «In My Feelings» holds the overall record: 116.1 million; July 28.) Grande earns her second Streaming Songs No. 1, after «Next.»
«Rings» also roars in at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, with 96,000 downloads sold in the week ending Jan. 24. Grande adds her fifth No. 1 on the survey. The total is the best for a song in six months, since Drake’s «Feelings» sold 104,000 (Aug. 4), and the best for a female artist since Grande’s «No Tears Left to Cry» (100,000; May 5). («Next» hit a weekly high of 81,000 in its debut week.)
«Rings» additionally arrives at No. 39 on Radio Songs, with 27.5 million audience impressions in its first full tracking week (ending Jan. 27).
The song is the radio follow-up to «Next,» and follows the track «Imagine,» which debuted and peaked at No. 24 on the Hot 100 (Dec. 29). All three songs are from Grande’s forthcoming album, Thank U, Next, the follow-up to Sweetener, which bowed as her third Billboard 200 No. 1 in September.
Let’s ring up more facts about Grande’s new No. 1:
Grande entrance: «Rings» is the 33rd single to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100, while Grande becomes just the fifth artist with multiple No. 1 starts, joining Mariah Carey, the leader with three, Justin Bieber, Drake and Britney Spears (two each).
In the Hot 100’s history, Grande is the first artist whose first two No. 1s have both debuted at the pinnacle.
(Before «Next» and «Rings,» no female artist had entered atop the Hot 100 since Adele with «Hello» in November 2015; seven songs then started at No. 1 until «Next.»)
Back at 1: Grande collects her second Hot 100 No. 1 just two months and two weeks after «Next» opened on top. That’s the quickest accumulation of leaders for an artist (in a lead role) since Justin Bieber’s «Love Yourself» hit No. 1 only three weeks after «Sorry» first reached No. 1 in early 2016. Among women, Grande lands the fastest succession of new No. 1s since Rihanna’s «What’s My Name?,» featuring Drake, hit the top spot on Nov. 20, 2010, and «Only Girl (In the World)» followed just two weeks later (Dec. 4).
‘Sound of’ No. 1: «Rings» channels the melody of The Sound of Music‘s «My Favorite Things,» and sports writing credits for the classic song’s iconic composers, the late Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Along with Sound, the pair created beloved Broadway musicals including The King and I, Oklahoma! and South Pacific.
One version of «My Favorite Things» has charted on the Hot 100: by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, a No. 45 hit in January 1969.
‘7’ @ 1: The numeral 7 appears in a Hot 100 No. 1 for the second time, after (technically) Elton John’s «Candle in the Wind 1997″/»Something About the Way You Look Tonight» (14 weeks at No. 1, 1997-98). As for songs featuring «7» with no accompanying numbers in their titles, Grande’s one-ups the previous top-peaking such hit, Lukas Graham’s «7 Years,» which reached No. 2 in April 2016.
Notably, «7» by Prince and The New Power Generation peaked at (where else?) No. 7 in 1993.
Lords of the ‘Ring’s: Plus, Grande tallies the fourth Hot 100 No. 1 with «ring» in its title. It follows Beyoncé’s «Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)» (four weeks at No. 1, 2008-09); Anita Ward’s «Ring My Bell» (two, 1979); and Gary Lewis and The Playboys’ «This Diamond Ring» (two, 1965).
(Research assistance on the above stats from readers Jake Rivera and Pablo Nelson, the latter of whom adds that Prince’s «7» hit No. 61 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, which, like its No. 7 Hot 100 peak, is also fitting, «because 6+1 = 7.»)
«Rings» dethrones Halsey’s «Without Me» after two nonconsecutive weeks atop the Hot 100. The song drops to No. 2 on the Hot 100, although it takes over at No. 1 on the Pop Songs radio airplay chart. It keeps at No. 2 on Radio Songs (109.7 million, up 3 percent) and slides 2-3 on both Streaming Songs (41.5 million, down 12 percent) and Digital Song Sales (29,000, down 30 percent).
Post Malone and Swae Lee’s «Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)» slips 2-3 on the Hot 100, after leading the Jan. 19-dated chart. The duet spends a fourth week at No. 1 on both Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs.
Grande’s «Next» rebounds 5-4 on the Hot 100 and Travis Scott’s «Sicko Mode,» which led the Hot 100 dated Dec. 8, falls 3-5. Notably, the entire top five songs on the Hot 100 have all hit No. 1, marking the first such sweep in the bracket (of then-present or past No. 1s) since July 1, 2017.
Panic! at the Disco’s «High Hopes» retreats to No. 6 from its No. 4 Hot 100 peak, as it tops Hot Rock Songs for a 13th week and Radio Songs for a 10th frame (122.9 million, down 3 percent).
This article was originally writing by Billboard.com
