Chart Watch: The Chainsmokers Tie Ace of Base's Record

The Chainsmokers this week tie Ace of Base’s record for the longest continuous run in the top 10 on the Hot 100 by a group or duo — 48 weeks. At least one song by the Chainsmokers has appeared in the top 10 every week since May 18. Four songs contributed to this streak: “Don’t Let Me Down” (featuring Daya), “Closer” (featuring Halsey), “Paris” and “Something Just Like This,” a collabo with Coldplay.

Ace of Base was in the top 10 for 48 consecutive weeks, from Oct. 16, 1993 through Sept. 10, 1994. Three songs contributed to that streak: “All That She Wants,” “The Sign” and “Don’t Turn Around.”

Unfortunately, Ace of Base didn’t really live up to that early burst of success. They landed just one more top 10 hit, a 1998 remake of Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer.” They made their final appearance on the Hot 100 in November 1998.

Ace of Base’s difficulty in living up to this burst of early success doesn’t mean the Chainsmokers are headed down the same road. But it does show that success is never guaranteed in pop music.

Two solo acts have had even longer continuous runs in the top 10 than these two groups have had. Katy Perry leads the pack with 69 continuous weeks in the top 10 in 2010-11. Drake is in second place, with 51 continuous weeks in 2015-16.

Top Songs

Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” this week becomes the fifth song by an English artist to log 10 or more weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. It follows Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997” (which spent 14 weeks on top in 1997-98), Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” (featuring Bruno Mars, which spent 14 weeks on top in 2015), Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical,” which spent 10 weeks on top in 1981-82 and Adele’s “Hello,” which spent 10 weeks on top in 2015-16. (Newton-John was born in England, though her family moved to Australia when she was six.)

This is the longest run at No. 1 by any song since the Chainsmokers’ “Closer” (featuring Halsey) had 12 weeks on top last year.

“Shape of You” sold 85K copies this week, which enables it to hold at No. 1 on Top Digital Songs for the 10th week. That’s the longest run at No. 1 on that chart since “Closer” had 13 weeks on top. (This could be the song’s last week at No. 1 on the digital chart. It leads runner-up Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like” by less than 6K units.)

“Shape of You” logs its 12th week at No. 1 on The Official U.K. Singles Chart. That’s the longest run since Drake’s “One Dance” (featuring Wizkid and Kyla) logged 15 weeks on top last year. It’s the longest run by a U.K. lead artist since Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around” had 15 weeks on top in 1994. Wet Wet Wet is from Scotland. Sheeran is from England. (I specify “lead artist” because Kyla is from the U.K.)

Sheeran’s 2015 smash “Thinking Out Loud” spent eight straight weeks at No. 2 on the Hot 100, but never reached No. 1. It got stuck behind a monster hit, the aforementioned “Uptown Funk!,” which featured Mars. Turnabout is fair play. This time around, Sheeran has the monster No. 1 hit and Mars is playing second fiddle. Mars’ “That’s What I Like” holds at No. 2 for the third week. Unless it moves up a notch, it will become Mars’ first single to peak at No. 2. (The song holds at No. 1 for the third week on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.)

“Something Just Like This” by the Chainsmokers and Coldplay jumps from No. 7 to No. 3 in its sixth week.

The Weeknd’s “I Feel It Coming” (featuring Daft Punk) jumps from No. 5 to No. 4 in its 19th week.

Lil Yachty lands his second top five hit as KYLE’s “iSpy,” on which he is featured, rebounds from No. 12 to No. 5 in its 14th week. Lil Yachty first cracked the top five as the featured artist on D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli” in November.

Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” (featuring Lil Uzi Vert) drops from No. 4 to No. 6 in its 20th week. The song logged three weeks at No. 1.

The Zayn/Taylor Swift collabo “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)” drops from No. 3 to No. 7 in its 16th week. It peaked at No. 2. This is the song’s 12th consecutive week in the top 10. By contrast, Fifty Shades Darker spent just five weekends in the top 10 at the box-office. “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” is far from the first song to become much bigger than the movie that spawned it.

Kodak Black’s “Tunnel Vision” drops from its No. 6 peak to No. 8 in its sixth week. Deep trivia: While this is the first time an act whose name includes the word “Kodak” has had a top 10 hit, Paul Simon scored in 1973 with a song that shared its title with a Eastman Kodak brand name. “Kodachrome” reached No. 2 in July 1973.

The Chainsmokers’ other current hit, “Paris,” inches up from No. 10 to No. 9 in its 11th week. The song has climbed as high as No. 6.

Drake’s “Passionfruit” drops from No. 8 to No. 10 in its second week. Drake’s other big hit, “Portland” (featuring Quavo and Travis Scott), which debuted at No. 9 last week, drops out of the top 10.

Top Albums

Drake’s More Life tops The Billboard 200 for the second week. Right before Drake debuted, Ed Sheeran’s ÷ spent its first two weeks at No. 1. This marks the first time that back-to-back albums have each spent their first two weeks at No. 1 since late 2010, when Taylor Swift’s Speak Now and Susan Boyle’s The Gift achieved the feat.

÷ holds at No. 2 in its fourth week. It logs its fourth week at No. 1 on The Official U.K. Albums Chart.

Trey Songz lands his fifth consecutive top five album as Tremaine the Album debuts at No. 3. (Tremaine is indeed his first name.) Trey Songz’s previous album, Trigga, bumped Sheeran’s previous album, x, out of the top spot in July 2014.

The soundtrack to the live-action reboot of Disney’s 1991 animated classic Beauty and the Beast holds at No. 4 in its third week, after debuting at No. 3. The album is No. 1 on Top Soundtracks for the third week. This surpasses the showing of the soundtrack from the original Beauty and the Beast,which was the highest-ranking soundtrack on The Billboard 200 for two weeks in early 1992. The reboot, which stars Emma Watson, dips to No. 2 at the box-office after spending its first two weekends on top. The original animated film peaked at No. 2 at the box-office.

Metallica’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct rebounds from No. 19 to No. 5 in its 19th week. The album debuted at No. 1 in December. Its revival in the past four weeks is due to a concert/ticket bundle. The album sold more copies in traditional album sales than any other album this week, but fell behind these four other albums when streaming and digital track sales were factored in. Hardwired experienced a similar fate two weeks ago, when, despite being the best-seller in traditional album sales, it ranked No. 2 on The Billboard 200 behind Sheeran’s album. This is the first time an album has been aced out of a No. 1 ranking twice because of the change in chart methodology in December 2014. This is also the first time that the week’s best-selling album in traditional sales has ranked as low as No. 5 on The Billboard 200.

Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic holds at No. 6 in its 19th week. The album has never ranked lower than No. 7. It logged four weeks at No. 2.

The Moana soundtrack holds at No. 7 in its 19th week. The album peaked at No. 2.

Rick Ross’ Rather You than Me drops from No. 3 to No. 8 in its second week.

Future’s Future dips from No. 8 to No. 9 in its sixth week. The album debuted at No. 1.

The Weeknd’s Starboy dips from No. 9 to No. 10 in its 18th week. The album spent five non-consecutive weeks at No. 1.

Two albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Depeche Mode’s Spirit plummets from No. 5 to No. 94. Migos’ Culture dips from No. 10 to No. 11.

RaeLynn’s WildHorse debuts at No. 20. It enters Top Country Albums at No. 1, displacing Keith Urban’s Ripcord. RaeLynn, who was a contestant on Season 2 of The Voice, is the seventh artist who goes by just one name to reach No. 1 on the country album chart. She follows Wynonna, Larry the Cable Guy, Jewel and three duos—Waylon & Willie, Dan + Shay and Joey + Rory.

Paul McCartney’s 1989 album Flowers in the Dirt re-enters the chart at No. 33. This nearly equals its peak position (No. 21) when it was first released. McCartney co-wrote four of the songs on the album with Elvis Costello, including the hit “My Brave Face.” The album enters Top Catalog Albums at No. 1, displacing Chuck Berry’s 2005 compilation The Definitive Collection.

Coming Attractions: Look for Bob Dylan’s Triplicate, Nelly Furtado’s The Ride and Mastodon’sEmperor of Sand to be next week’s top new entries.