Scotty McCreery ties Clay Aiken's 'American Idol' chart record
Everybody knows that Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are the most successful contestants ever to step onto the American Idol stage, but who’s the top male contender to appear on the show? There are several contenders for that title, but Scotty McCreery definitely belongs on the shortlist. He lands his fifth top 10 album this week, as Seasons Change enters the Billboard 200 at No. 7. Only one other male Idol contender, Clay Aiken, has amassed five top 10 albums.
Aiken hit the top 10 with his first four regular studio albums and a Christmas album. McCreery’s top 10 tally includes his first three regular studio albums, a Christmas album, and an EP, American Idol Season 10 Highlights: Scotty McCreery.
Which male Idol contestants are next in line? Chris Daughtry has had four top 10 albums, all fronting his band, Daughtry. Adam Lambert has had three. Ruben Studdard, David Cook, and Phillip Phillips each have two.
In case you’ve forgotten, McCreery was the Season 10 champ. Aiken was the runner-up in Season 2. Daughtry placed fourth in Season 5. Lambert was the runner-up in Season 8. Studdard was the Season 2 champ. Cook was the Season 7 champ. Phillips was the Season 11 champ.
Seasons Change enters Top Country Albums at No. 1, displacing Kane Brown’s Kane Brown (which spent nine weeks on top). It’s McCreery’s third No. 1 country album, following Clear as Day (which spent six weeks on top in 2011) and See You Tonight (which spent one week on top in 2013). It’s McCreery’s first album for indie label Triple Tigers, as well as his first album in five years.
Top Albums
XXXTentacion lands his first No. 1 album with the quizzically titled ?. His previous album, 17, debuted and peaked at No. 2 in August.The new album includes XXXTentacion’s first top 10 hit, “Sad!,” which leaps to No. 7 on this week’s Hot 100.
Metallica’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct rebounds from No. 42 to No. 2 in its 45th chart week. The album debuted at No. 1 in December 2016. The album was boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption promotion, similar to the one that sent Bon Jovi’s This House Is Not for Sale back to No. 1 three weeks ago.
Hardwired was the week’s best-selling album in traditional album sales, but it lost out to XXXTentacion when streams and digital track sales were factored in. This is the third time that Hardwired has experienced this fate, putting it in a tie with The Greatest Showman soundtrack as the album that was denied the most weeks at No. 1 by the new (since late 2014) chart formula, which takes all three factors into account.
Black Panther: The Album rebounds from No. 4 to No. 3 in its sixth week. The album had spent three weeks on top. The album is No. 1 on Top Soundtracks for the sixth week. Over the weekend, Black Panther passed The Avengers to become the top-grossing superhero film of all time.
Logic’s Bobby Tarantino II mixtape drops from No. 1 to No. 4 in its second week.
Migos’s Culture II rebounds from No. 7 to No. 5 in its eighth week. The album debuted at No. 1.
The Greatest Showman soundtrack holds on at No. 6 in its 15th week. The album is No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart for the 11th consecutive week, which enables it to tie Adele’s 21 for the longest continuous run at No. 1 in the U.K. in the last 30 years. 21 spent its first 11 weeks at No. 1 in 2011 (before being dislodged for a week by Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light). The last album to spend more than 11 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. was Bob Marley & the Wailers’ posthumous collection, Legend, which spent 12 consecutive weeks on top in 1984.
Ed Sheeran’s ÷ inches up from No. 9 to No. 8 in its 55th week. The album spent its first two weeks at No. 1. It has yet to drop out of the top 20.
The Decemberists land their third consecutive top 10 album, as I’ll Be Your Girl debuts at No. 9. Both the Decemberists and McCreery saw their debut frames enhanced by sales from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer.
Post Malone’s Stoney holds at No. 10 in its 67th week. The album peaked at No. 4.
Four albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Lil Yachty’s Lil Boat 2 drops from No. 2 to No. 11. David Byrne’s American Utopia plummets from No. 3 to No. 89. Judas Priest’s Firepower dives from No. 5 to No. 52. Jimi Hendrix’s Both Sides of the Sky drops from No. 8 to No. 51.
Stone Temple Pilots’ seventh studio album, Stone Temple Pilots, debuts at a disappointing No. 24. It’s the band’s first studio album to fall short of the top 10. It’s also the group’s first studio album to feature new lead singer Jeff Gutt and the first without original singer Scott Weiland, who was fired from the band in 2013 and died in 2015.
Drake’s Take Care drops from No. 56 to No. 58 in its 264th chart week. The album debuted at No. 1 in December 2011. The album logs its fourth week at No. 1 on Top Catalog Albums.
Coming attractions: Jack White’s third solo album, Boarding House Reach, is on track to debut at No. 1 next week. His first two solo albums achieved that feat. Also due: Toni Braxton’s Sex & Cigarettes, Jordan Davis’s Home State, and George Ezra’s Staying at Tamara’s.
Top Songs
Drake’s “God’s Plan” becomes just the fifth single in chart history to spend its first nine weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. The first four, as you would expect, were all ubiquitous smashes. “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men spent its first 16 weeks on top in 1995-96. Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997″/”Something about the Way You Look Tonight” spent its first 14 weeks on top in 1997. “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 spent its first 11 weeks on top in 1997. Adele’s “Hello” spent its first 10 weeks on top in 2015-16.
“God’s Plan” seems likely to log 10 or more weeks at No. 1. It would be Drake’s second song to do so, following his 2016 smash “One Dance,” which spent 10 weeks on top. Drake is vying to become the second male solo artist with two singles that have logged 10 or more weeks at No. 1. Pharrell Williams was the first, but only combining lead and featured roles. He was featured on Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (12 weeks on top in 2013) and followed up with his own “Happy” (10 weeks in 2014).
“God’s Plan” logs its ninth week at No. 1 on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and The Official U.K. Singles Chart.
“Meant to Be” by Bebe Rehxa and Florida Georgia Line jumps from No. 4 to No. 2 in its 22nd week. In so doing, it surpasses “Cruise” (featuring Nelly) to become Florida Georgia Line’s highest-charting crossover hit to date. Moreover, it’s the highest-charting single by a core country artist since Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” vaulted to No. 1 in September 2012. It’s the highest-charting song by a country group or duo since Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” peaked at No. 2 in March 2010. “We Are Never Ever…” received a Grammy nom for Record of the Year. “Need You Now” won Grammys for both Record and Song of the Year.
“Meant to Be” holds at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs for the 17th consecutive week.
Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” dips from No. 2 to No. 3 in its 30th week. The song logged six weeks at No. 1.
Bruno Mars & Cardi B’s “Finesse” dips from its No. 3 peak to No. 4 in its 12th week.
Post Malone’s “Psycho” (featuring Ty Dolla $ign) holds at No. 5 in its fourth week. The song debuted and peaked at No. 2.
“The Middle” by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey, holds at its No. 6 peak in its eighth week.
XXXTentacion lands his first top 10 hit as “Sad!” vaults from No. 19 to No. 7 in its third week.
Camila Cabello’s “Havana” (featuring Young Thug) dips from No. 7 to No. 8 in its 32nd week. The song reached No. 1.
Comic rapper Lil Dicky lands his first top 10 hit as “Freaky Friday” (featuring Chris Brown) debuts at No. 9. It’s Brown’s 14th top 10 hit—and his first in nearly four years. The song is boosted by a video that borrows the premise of the body-switching movie of the same name. Ed Sheeran, DJ Khaled and Kendall Jenner make cameos in the video.
“Pray for Me” by The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar drops from No. 8 to No. 10 in its seventh week. The song peaked at No. 7.
BlocBoy JB’s “Look Alive” (featuring Drake) and Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “All the Stars” drop out of the top 10 this week.
Lin-Manuel Miranda lands his second No. 1 hit on Top Digital Songs as “Found/Tonight,” a pairing with fellow Broadway star Ben Platt, dethrones Drake’s “God’s Plan,” which spent six weeks on top. “Found/Tonight” sold 61K copies in its first week. Miranda first topped the digital sales chart in October with “Almost like Praying,” featuring Artists for Puerto Rico. Both of Miranda’s No. 1 digital hits have been philanthropic in nature. A portion of proceeds from “Found/Tonight” benefits the March for Our Lives initiative. “Almost like Praying” was recorded in response to Hurricane Maria.
“Found/Tonight” is a mash-up of two songs from the artists’ Tony-Award-winning musicals: Hamilton’s “The Story of Tonight” and Dear Evan Hansen’s “You Will Be Found.”
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