Mark Ronson‘s “Uptown Funk!,” featuring Bruno Mars, leads the Billboard Hot 100for a 12th week, while Flo Rida‘s “G.D.F.R.” enters the top 10, marking the Sunshine State rapper’s first top 10 in more than two years
As we do each Wednesday, let’s run down all the songs riding up and down the top 10 of the sales/airplay/streaming-based Hot 100.
“Funk!,” released on RCA Records, becomes just the 15th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s five-and-a-half-decade history to rule for at least 12 weeks. It also ties for the longest reign of the 2010s: Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines,” featuring T.I.and Pharrell, also logged a 12-week command beginning in June 2013.
The Longest-Leading Hot 100 No. 1s
“Funk” inks a 12th week atop the Digital Songs chart with 187,000 downloads sold (down 1 percent) in the week ending March 22, according to Nielsen Music. It’s now within one week of tying the record for the most time spent atop Digital Songs: the T-Pain-assisted “Low” by Flo Rida (more on his new top 10 coming up …) led for a record 13 weeks in 2007-08.
“Funk” leads the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart (4.6 million U.S. streams, down 6 percent) for an 11th week and Streaming Songs (19.1 million, up 13 percent) for a 10th, adding top Streaming Gainer honors on the Hot 100. Helping fuel its burst in streams: a clip that YouTuber Carson Dean created(featuring the song’s audio), in which he dances, and gets in a good cardio workout, on a treadmill. It drew 2.2 million U.S. clicks in the chart’s tracking week.
On Radio Songs, “Funk” reigns for a ninth week with 173 million in all-format audience (down 3 percent).
Ask Billboard: Will ‘Uptown Funk!’ Be the Hot 100’s No. 1 Song of 2015?
Ronson and Mars’ smash, therefore, leads the Hot 100 and its three main component charts (Digital Songs, Radio Songs and Streaming Songs) simultaneously for a record-extending eighth week (nonconsecutively).
Twelve weeks into its Hot 100 reign, “Funk” even widens its lead at No. 1, as it’s up by 3 percent in overall activity, while Maroon 5‘s “Sugar,” at its No. 2 peak for a second week, dips by 4 percent. “Sugar” holds at No. 2 on Digital Songs (156,000, down 13 percent) and No. 4 on both Radio Songs (129 million, up 5 percent) and Streaming Songs (9.8 million, down 1 percent).
Ed Sheeran‘s “Thinking Out Loud” stays at No. 3 on the Hot 100 after peaking at No. 2 for eight weeks. The ballad remains at No. 2 on Radio Songs (138 million, down 6 percent), where it’s peaked for six weeks. (It has a ways to go before potentially spending the most weeks peaking at No. 2 on Radio Songs, if, in fact, it doesn’t rise another notch: Nickelback‘s “How You Remind Me” peaked at No. 2 on the airplay ranking for 11 weeks in 2001-02.)
“Loud” descends 2-3 on Streaming Songs (9.9 million, down 9 percent) and rebounds 5-4 on Digital Songs (127,000, down 7 percent).
Ellie Goulding‘s “Love Me Like You Do” holds at No. 4 on the Hot 100 after reaching No. 3. The Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack hit edges 4-3 on Digital Songs (132,000, down 14 percent), bumps 6-5 on Radio Songs (110 million, up 14 percent) and slips 3-5 on Streaming Songs (8.3 million, down 22 percent).
Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney‘s “FourFiveSeconds” is stationary at No. 5 on the Hot 100 after climbing to No. 4. It lifts 6-5 on Digital Songs (113,000, down 9 percent) and 8-7 on Radio Songs (78 million, down 3 percent) and keeps at No. 7 on Streaming Songs (6.8 million, down 10 percent). The superstar trio’s single spends a seventh week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
The Hot 100’s top seven songs, in fact, remain in place. The Weeknd‘s “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” holds at its No. 6 high and claims the top Airplay Gainer nod, bounding 15-9 in just its fourth week on Radio Songs (70 million, up 44 percent). Taylor Swift’s “Style” ranks at No. 7 on the Hot 100 for a second week after reaching No. 6.
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Fetty Wap ‘s debut hit “Trap Queen” surges 10-8 on the Hot 100, leapfrogging Pitbull and Ne-Yo‘s “Time of Our Lives,” which holds at its No. 9 peak. “Queen” also dethrones “Time” on the Hot Rap Songs chart.
Closing out the Hot 100’s top tier, FloRida returns to the top 10 with “G.D.F.R.,” featuring Sage the Gemini and Lookas (13-10). The track pushes 8-7 on Digital Songs (101,000, up 9 percent, passing 1 million in downloads sold to-date), 23-13 on Streaming Songs (5.2 million, up 4 percent) and 40-26 in its second week on Radio Songs (39 million, up 23 percent).
While the track’s featured acts each enjoy their first trip to the Hot 100’s top 10, Flo Rida posts his 10th top 10. It’s his first since “I Cry,” which peaked at No. 6 in December 2012. He becomes the 15th rapper in Hot 100 history to tally at least 10 top 10s; Jay Z leads the category with 21.
“G.D.F.R.” is short for “Going Down for Real.” But, “I mean, it’s a lot a lot of words,” Flo Rida told Billboard with a laugh earlier this year. “We just wanted something that would be eye-catching and different when it came to iTunes and promo, when you just see it. We [also] wanted it to remind you of graffiti, where people would be like, ‘What’s that?’ ”
Visit Billboard.com tomorrow (March 26), when all rankings, including the Hot 100 in its entirety and Digital Songs, Radio Songs and Streaming Songs, will refresh, as they do each Thursday. The Hot 100 will also appear in the next issue of Billboard magazine, on sale on Friday, March 27.