Katy Perry tops Hot 100, Beyonce Bounds to No 2

(Billboard) – After ascending to the summit last week, “Dark Horse”, Katy Perry’s ninth Hot 100 No 1 (and Juicy J’s first) gains in all metrics. With Perry having performed the track on the Grammy Awards, broadcast on CBS on Jan 26, the song benefits from a full week of post-Grammy buzz, showing sizable gains in sales and streaming. “Horse” tops Digital Songs with a 27% rise to 373,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan (its best weekly sum), and the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart (3.2 million U.S. streams, up 28%, according to Nielsen BDS) for a third week each. It slips 1-3 after a week atop Streaming Songs, but with a 34% gain to 7.5 million. (The song’s momentum in streaming could surge once its video is released; Capitol Records has confirmed that Perry is in the process of filming it.)

On Radio Songs, “Horse” trots 4-3 with 119 million all-format audience impressions, up 18%, according to BDS.

“This No 1 is the most unexpected one I’ve ever had,” Perry told Billboard upon the song’s coronation last week. “‘Dark Horse’ has been a dark horse of a song, since August when the KatyCats voted to release it early on iTunes, before ‘PRISM’ even came out. “I’m so thrilled and grateful to have these moments.”

Katy Perry
Katy Perry

Fellow Grammy performer Beyonce breaks into the Hot 100’s top 10 (13-2) with top Streaming Gainer “Drunk in Love,” which she performed as the gala’s opening song. After a week at No 2, the track returns to No 1 on Streaming Songs (9.4 million, up 74%) for a second frame on top. It vaults 8-2 on On-Demand Songs (2.3 million, up 42%) and enters the Digital Songs top 10 (18-7; 151,000, up 94%). It continues scaling Radio Songs, where it lifts 16-14 (68 million, up 15%).

With the song’s Hot 100 climb, Beyonce scores her 15th top 10 and first since Lady Gaga’s “Telephone,” on which she’s featured, reached No 3 in April 2010. “Drunk” marks Beyonce’s first top 10 as a lead act since “Sweet Dreams” rose to No 10 in November 2009. It’s also her highest-charting song since “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” spent four weeks at No 1 beginning the week of Dec 13, 2008.

With 15 top 10s, Beyonce ties Connie Francis and Olivia Newton-John for seventh-place among women with the most top 10s in the Hot 100’s 55-year history. (She passes P!nk, Donna Summer and Taylor Swift, each with 14.) Among female soloists, Madonna leads with 38 top 10s (the best mark of any act), followed by Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson (27 each), Rihanna (25), Whitney Houston (23) and Aretha Franklin (17).

Jay Z, meanwhile, extends his record for the most Hot 100 top 10s among rappers, as he collects his 21st (with 12 in a lead role; Beyonce has sported lead billing on 13 of her 15 top 10s). Among rappers, Lil Wayne and Ludacris share second place with 18 top 10s each, followed by Eminem (17), Diddy and T-Pain (15 apiece).

“Drunk” is Beyonce and Jay Z’s fourth shared Hot 100 top 10 (and the third with Beyonce as the lead artist). With Jay Z as the lead, “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde” reached No 4 in December 2002. The couple followed with “Crazy in Love” (eight weeks at No 1, 2003) and “Déjà Vu” (No 4, 2006). (With the pair having wed in 2008, “Drunk,” thus, marks the Carters’ first top 10 as husband-and-wife.)

In addition to its Hot 100 accolades, “Drunk” becomes Beyonce’s seventh, and Jay Z’s 10th, No 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (4-1).

While “Drunk” gains by 62% in overall Hot 100 points and “Horse” increases by 26%,” the latter song boasts a comfortable 45% points lead over the former atop the tally.

Pitbull’s former three-week Hot 100 No 1 “Timber,” featuring Ke$ha, falls 2-3, and holds at its No 2 peak to date on Radio Songs (123 million, down 3%), while Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty,” featuring 2 Chainz, jumps 6-4. It pushes 8-5 on Streaming Songs (5.1 million, up 29%) and keeps at No. 2 on Digital Songs (234,000, up 21%). In its second week on Radio Songs, it dashes 26-19 (52 million, up 29%). “Dirty” has been bolstered by its “Celebrities Talkin’ Dirty” trailer video, featuring artists including Robin Thicke, Flo Rida and Ariana Grande, with One Direction also having posted a clip grooving to it.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, OneRepublic’s No 2-peaking “Counting Stars” dips 3-5 (and crowns Radio Songs for a third week; 141 million, down 1%).

Passenger’s “Let Her Go” rebounds to its Hot 100 peak (7-6). It grows 11-5 on Digital Songs (176,000, up 51%) and 9-8 on Streaming Songs (4.9 million, up 25%) after its inclusion in Budweiser’s touching ad (between puppy and horse best friends; no relation to Katy Perry’s “Horse”) that premiered online last week and aired during Fox’s broadcast of the Super Bowl on Sunday (Feb 2; the last day of the sales and streaming tracking week); any US streams for the commercial, however, do not count toward Billboard charts, as the video clip on YouTube is not categorized under the music banner from which streams are reported.

As previously reported, “Go” takes over atop the Adult Pop Songs radio airplay chart this week. It leads Hot Rock Songs for a fourth week.

A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera’s “Say Something” slides to No 7 from its No 4 Hot 100 highpoint, but reaches the Radio Songs top 10 (11-9; 88 million, up 8%). It’s A Great Big World’s first top 10 (and first chart entry) and Aguilera’s ninth. The ballad marks her first Radio Songs top 10 in a lead role since “Beautiful” peaked at No 2 in February 2003.