Mariah Carey first to score #1 hit in 4 different decades

NEW YORK — Pop diva Mariah Carey has had a long list of hits over the years, but her classic holiday song has helped her make history as the first artist to top the Billboard charts in four separate decades.

"All I Want For Christmas Is You" is number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week dated January 4, 2020, based on sales, radio airplay and streaming data -- its third week atop the rankings.

That means Carey has had a number one single in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

The bubbly, ubiquitous holiday tune was first released in 1994 and gained new fame after its inclusion on the soundtrack for the 2003 film "Love, Actually."

But it only topped the charts for the first time in late 2019, thanks to a change in Billboard's rules as to what can be included on the top songs list.

Carey dropped a new video for it -- which counts towards Hot 100 placement -- and released the song as a stand-alone CD single for the first time.

It is her 19th number one hit, according to Billboard, putting her just one song behind The Beatles' overall record of 20 top songs.

The singer -- who will not confirm whether her age is 49 or 50 because she says "time is not something I acknowledge" -- was low-key about her history-making achievement.

"Yaaaaaaaaay!!! WE. DID. IT," Carey wrote on Twitter, with a stream of champagne and party emojis. 

"But.... what's a decade?"

Agence France-Presse 

After 25 years, Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' tops US charts

NEW YORK -- A quarter-century after releasing her holiday classic that's become one of the season's love-to-hate, hate-to-love cliches, Mariah Carey has finally pushed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" to top the charts for the first time.

"We did it," the diva said Monday in a tweet that featured several emojis, including a face with happy tears.

Many social media users voiced shock that the inescapable pop juggernaut had not already jingled its way to the top.

But when the de-facto Holiday Queen originally released the global hit in 1994 as part of her "Merry Christmas" album, Billboard's rules at the time did not allow it to compete on the Hot 100 chart, because it was not commercially available as a single.

That changed in December 1998, when cuts off an album were welcomed to the US top songs list, bumping Carey's song onto the chart for the first time on January 8, 2000.

The 2003 holiday film "Love Actually" helped keep Carey's bubbly Christmas wish for love in the collective consciousness, as streaming ensured its place in the holiday canon.

The earworm that showcases the pop mainstay's elastic vocal range started appearing the list annually beginning in 2012, when streams were added to Billboard's ranking metrics.

For the song's 25th anniversary this year, Carey promoted it even harder than usual, beginning her social media drive the morning after Halloween.

New video

She also dropped a new video for it -- which counts towards Hot 100 placement -- and released the song as a stand-alone CD single for the first time.

This week the song posted 45 million streams, 27,000 digital sales and 34 million radio plays, according to Billboard.

Carey's climb to the top marks the first time a Christmas track has claimed number one on the Hot 100 in six decades, when "The Chipmunk Song" reigned for four weeks in 1958-1959.

It's Carey's 19th number-one hit, putting her just one song behind The Beatles' overall record of 20 top songs.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is currently Spotify's most-streamed song in the United Kingdom, and is gaining ground in France, whose SNEP top songs chart now has it in 31st place.

The singer -- who will not confirm whether her age is 49 or 50 because she says "time is not something I acknowledge" -- told The New York Times that finally nabbing number one for the holiday standard she wrote "in the womb, darling" was more of a concern to fans than her.

"I don't need something else to validate the existence of this song. I used to pick it apart whenever I listened to it, but at this point, I feel like I'm finally able to enjoy it," she told the paper.

"I just truly love the holidays," she said. "I know it's corny, and I don't care."

Agence France-Presse

Taylor Swift's 'ME!' breaks YouTube record

MANILA – Grammy winner Taylor Swift broke records with the release of her new single titled "ME!" 

Citing a statement from YouTube, an article by Billboard said the music video of “ME!” recorded a total of 65.2 million views within 24 hours since its release on April 26.

This makes Swift the top “solo and female artist with the biggest 24-hour debut on YouTube to-date,” Billboard said.

Reacting to the wonderful news, Swift took to Twitter to express her disbelief over this new record made.

“GUYS!! YOU DID THIS!!!! CANNOT STOP SMILING,” she wrote, adding several heart emojis. “And I’m not trying to be loud but 65.2 million views... ?? and 6+5+2=.............”

"ME!" features Brendon Urie, the lead singer of Panic! at the Disco, who at the video's start is fighting with Swift in a conversation in French.

The video turns upbeat as the music starts. "I promise that you'll never find another like me," Swift sings. "I'm the only one of me. Baby that's the fun of me," she adds.

Swift, 29, had been teasing an announcement for days on social media with pastel images that turned out to be scenes from the new video.

"'ME!' is a song about embracing your individuality and really celebrating it and owning it," Swift said hours earlier during an interview with ABC TV host Robin Roberts on the network's broadcast of the National Football League draft in Nashville.

Swift began her career as a country singer in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 15 before branching out with pop hits such as "Shake It Off" and "Bad Blood."

On Thursday afternoon, Swift surprised hundreds of her fans by joining them at the unveiling of a butterfly wing mural in the Gulch area of Nashville.

"ME!" was written in the center of the mural as a hint to her evening announcement.

The new video and single provided a stark contrast to her last album, 2017's "Reputation," which included songs such as "Look What You Made Me Do" that took aim at people who had attacked her personally and professionally. – with report from Reuters

source: news.abs-cbn.com

5 Seconds of Summer ends Jay-Z, Beyonce No. 1 debut streak

NEW YORK -- Australian pop band 5 Seconds of Summer stunned Beyonce and Jay-Z by opening Sunday at the top of the US album chart, with the couple's surprise collaboration ending the superstars' streak of number one debuts.

5 Seconds of Summer had stepped up promotion of their album "Youngblood" after Jay-Z and Beyonce dropped "Everything Is Love," with the Australians telling fans they were in a close race for number one and encouraging listeners over social media to stream their songs continuously to drive up their totals.

"Youngblood" wound up selling 142,000 copies or the equivalent in downloads and streams in the week through Thursday, edging out "Everything Is Love" which clocked up 123,000 copies, tracking service Nielsen Music said.

5 Seconds of Summer, who emerged in 2011 as YouTube sensations when the then students in Sydney uploaded covers of popular songs, becomes the first Australian act to top the Billboard 200, the benchmark US chart, with three different albums.

Jay-Z and Beyonce, two of the biggest names in US pop culture, put out "Everything Is Love" with no warning on June 16 after a concert in London.

A musical celebration of their marriage, "Everything Is Love" initially came out only on Tidal, the fledgling streaming service led by Jay-Z, but went out widely including on rival Spotify on June 18 -- the fourth day of the counting period for the latest weekly chart.

"Everything Is Love" becomes the first solo studio album by Beyonce not to debut at number one. All of Jay-Z's studio albums have also opened at number one since 1998's "Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life" with the exception of a poorly reviewed 2002 collaborative album with R&B singer R. Kelly.

Beyonce and Jay-Z both opened at number one with their last solo albums, "Lemonade" and "4:44" respectively, despite refusing to stream them on Spotify.

Number three on the latest US album chart is "?" by the controversial rapper XXXTentacion, with interest spiking after he was shot dead on June 18 at age 20.

"?," which sold 94,000 copies in the week, had opened at number one in March. XXXTentacion's success took the music world by surprise with his songs full of references to suicide and the rapper awaiting trial on charges of beating his pregnant former girlfriend.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Poor reviews aside, Justin Timberlake's 'Man of the Woods' is No.1

LOS ANGELES -- Justin Timberlake snagged the No.1 Spot on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart with "Man of the Woods," despite harsh reviews and a Super Bowl halftime show that was deemed underwhelming on social media and by music critics.

"Man of the Woods," Timberlake's first studio album since 2013, sold more than 242,000 units in its first week of release, according to Nielsen Music data released on Monday.

The Billboard 200 chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

"Man of the Woods" marks Timberlake's fourth Billboard No.1 album and was the biggest-selling album in the U.S. since Taylor Swift's "Reputation" in December 2017, Billboard said.

It debuted at No.1 after a February 4 Super Bowl performance consisting mostly of Timberlake's old hits that also featured a controversial segment featuring a huge projection of Prince, who died in 2016.

The former NSYNC singer also took heat on social media for failing to mention, or perform with, Janet Jackson after an infamous 2004 Super Bowl appearance which ended with Timberlake ripping off Jackson's top and accidentally briefly exposing her breast.

Nevertheless, the Super Bowl and halftime show were watched by some 103 million Americans on television. Nielsen Music reported last week that on-demand audio and video streams for all of the songs performed by Timberlake jumped 45 percent on the day after the game, compared to the day before.

Timberlake, best known for pop tracks like "SexyBack" and "Rock Your Body," promoted "Man of the Woods" as a country-inspired album that took him back to his Memphis roots.

But the album had few fans among music reviewers. Esquire called it "disappointing" and "kind of embarrassing," while USA Today said the album "can't pull off its Americana-pop fusion."

On the digital Billboard songs chart, which measures online single sales, Timberlake had three songs in the top 20 - "Say Something" featuring Chris Stapleton, "Man of the Woods," and his 2016 hit "Can't Stop the Feeling." Canadian rapper Drake took the top spot with "God's Plan," with more than 55,00 units sold. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Luke Bryan's 'What Makes You Country' debuts at No. 1 on Billboard

LOS ANGELES - Luke Bryan’s “What Makes You Country” album debuted in the top spot this week on the Billboard 200 chart, giving the country singer his fourth No. 1 album.

According to Nielsen Music data released on Monday, Bryan sold more than 107,000 units of the album during a week in which Irish band U2 plummeted from last week’s top spot to 13th place with “Songs Of Experience.”

In a week of few new releases, chart favorites Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran moved up to second and third places, respectively, on the Billboard 200. Swift’s “Reputation,” released in November, added another 99,000 in sales, while British singer Sheeran’s March release “Divide” sold more than 69,000 copies for the week.

The Billboard 200 chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

Sheeran’s love song “Perfect” again dominated the digital songs chart, which measures online single sales, thanks to a newly released collaboration with Beyonce. “Perfect” sold another 97,000 units to keep the No. 1 spot.

Among other new album releases, the “Double or Nothing” collaboration between rappers Big Sean and Metro Boomin debuted at No. 5, while the rap compilation album “Quality Control: Control the Streets, Vol. 1,” featuring various artists, arrived at No. 6.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Motherhood is biggest challenge for 'Woman of the Year' Madonna

NEW YORK - Madonna was presented on Friday with Billboard magazine's Woman of the Year award, but the seven-time Grammy Award winner said one of her biggest challenges was being a good mother.

"The biggest accomplishment I think was finishing my tour, doing my shows every night. And dealing with the challenges of being a mother. That's always the challenge for me. Being a good mother, being an artist, getting through it all," the "Material Girl" singer told reporters on the New York red carpet.

Madonna, 58, who has four children, in March completed her 82-show "Rebel Heart" world tour while embroiled in a legal battle over the custody of her 16 year-old son Rocco with ex-husband Guy Ritchie.

Rocco left Madonna during the tour to live with Ritchie in London. The dispute was settled in September.

The annual Billboard Women in Music awards recognize women who have made significant contributions to the music business and who have inspired other women.

Other honorees on Friday included, pop singer Kesha, country-pop star Shania Twain, jazz singer Andra Day, pop star Meghan Trainor, electro-pop artist Halsey and country singer Maren Morris.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Lady Gaga's 'Joanne' debuts at top of Billboard album chart

LOS ANGELES -- Lady Gaga notched her fourth chart-topping album on Monday as her rock-infused record "Joanne" debuted at the top of the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart, outpacing new entries by Michael Buble, Pentatonix and Leonard Cohen.

"Joanne," the fifth studio album from Lady Gaga, sold 170,000 albums, 135,000 songs and was streamed nearly 26 million times in the past week, totaling 201,000 album units according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan for the week ending Oct. 27.

At No. 2 is Canadian jazz-pop crooner Buble's latest album "Nobody But Me," selling 91,000 album units, while a cappella group Pentatonix's holiday record "A Pentatonix Christmas" debuted at No. 3 with 60,000 album units.

The Billboard 200 album chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

Other new entries on the Billboard 200 chart this week include nu metal rockers Korn at No. 4 with "Serenity," Christian music artist Chris Tomlin at No. 6 with "Never Lose Sight" and progressive rock band Trans-Siberian Orchestra at No. 9 with "Ghosts of Christmas Eve."

Rounding out the top 10 of the chart is 82-year-old Canadian folk artist Cohen's latest album "You Want It Darker," debuting at No. 10 with 25,000 copies.

Last week's chart-topper, Kings of Leon's "WALLS," dropped to No. 20 this week.

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online single sales, The Chainsmokers' catchy pop single "Closer" featuring Halsey continued its hold at No. 1 for a 12th non-consecutive week, selling 84,000 copies.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by James Dalgleish)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Jessica Sanchez honored to sing anthem for Hillary

MANILA – Filipino-American singer Jessica Sanchez is making waves anew after she was tapped to record the song “Stronger Together,” which is the anthem of the Demoratic National Convention (DNC).

Composed by Carole Bayer Sager, Bruce Roberts and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds for US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the song made its debut at the end of the DNC in Philadelphia on July 28.

n an interview with Billboard, Sanchez revealed she didn’t have to think twice about doing the song.

"It was so last minute. I went in the studio, they mixed it that night and they sent it out the next day," she said. "It's crazy to me, because I didn't think it was going to happen that quick."


"I’m really honored to be a part of it again," said the 20-year-old singer who also performed at the DNC in September 2012 for US President Barack Obama.

Honored to do this song for @HillaryClinton and the #DNC https://t.co/Q9lTQH8IqJ

— Jessica Sanchez (@JessicaESanchez) July 27, 2016

The "American Idol" runner-up also takes pride that the song has such a powerful message.

"With everything that is going on in the world right now, it's important for all of us to come together and stay strong," she said. "The message is great and it's great for the campaign. This is the time for us to play our part and go out and vote and be stronger."

Following the song’s debut, Sanchez said she is set to re-record the track “and make it a lot more clean.”

Sanchez first rose to fame after finishing as the runner-up in the 11th season of “American Idol.”

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Beyonce's 'Lemonade' tops Billboard, Prince reigns on album chart

R&B star Beyonce stormed to the top of the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart with her surprise visual concept album "Lemonade," while late singer Prince's music dominated the chart as fans continued to remember his legacy through his music.

"Lemonade," the sixth solo album by Beyonce, sold 485,000 albums, more than 900,000 songs and was streamed 115 million times, totaling 653,000 units according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Beyonce debuted "Lemonade" as an hour-long film made up of music videos on cable network HBO last week, and initially made it available exclusively on premium streaming service Tidal, before releasing it to other online retailers.

The album garnered headlines for lyrics that suggested Beyonce's husband, rapper Jay Z, may have had an extramarital affair. The songs transition from suspicion and anger to hurt and finally forgiveness and reconciliation.

The album also contains the single "Formation," a power anthem to race and feminism.

Five of Prince's albums stayed in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart this week, led by 2001's compilation "The Very Best of Prince" at No. 2 with 391,000 units sold.

Sales of Prince's music, which he kept off numerous streaming platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, have soared after the singer's sudden death on April 22 at his Minnesota estate.

On Billboard's Digital Songs chart, which measures online song sales, Prince's "Purple Rain" led seven of the late singer's songs in the top ten of the chart with 282,000 copies sold.

Beyonce's "Formation" came in at No. 3 and "Hold Up" came in at No. 9.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Adele closes out 2015 with sixth week atop US Billboard chart

British singer Adele closed out 2015 with a sixth consecutive week atop the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart on Monday, as her album "25" cemented its status as the biggest-selling record of the year.

Adele's "25" sold 363,000 units in the final week of 2015, bringing her total US sales tally to 7.4 million, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online song sales, Adele's ballad "Hello" held steady at No. 1 with 327,000 copies sold in the last week of the year.

No new releases cracked into the top 10 of the Billboard 200 list for the week. Justin Bieber's "Purpose" remained steady at No. 2, while alt-hip hop band Twenty One Pilots's "Blurryface" climbed to No. 3 from No. 11.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Peter Cooney)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Adele's '25' becomes largest selling album in over a decade

Adele continues to reign the charts, thanks to the selling success of her comeback album "25."

The British singer's album "25" is on its fourth week at the top of the Billboard 200 chart.

The album has sold nearly 6 million copies since it was released late November. With this, Billboard said "25" is now the largest selling album of any calendar year since 2004.

As for the rest of the Billboard 200 list, Justin Bieber's newest album "Purpose" is on the second spot, followed by the Christmas album by a capella group Pentatonix and One Direction's latest album release before the boyband heads to an indefinite hiatus.

-ANC's Market Edge, December 22, 2015

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Selena Gomez says suffered from lupus, underwent chemotherapy

Pop singer and actress has revealed in an interview that she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus, which led to her canceling the end of her tour in 2013, but that the disease is now in remission. "I was diagnosed with lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy," Gomez, 23, told Billboard magazine. "That’s what my break was really about. I could’ve had a stroke," she said.

Gomez canceled concerts in Russia and Australia saying at the time that she needed "to spend some time on myself."

The move, followed by a stint at an Arizona rehabilitation facility, generated tabloid rumors of struggles with pills, alcohol, or even difficulties over her breakup with pop star Justin Bieber, which Gomez told Billboard angered her.

"I wanted so badly to say, 'You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy," she told the magazine in its new issue which was out on Thursday.

"But I was angry I even felt the need to say that. It's awful walking into a restaurant and having the whole room look at you, knowing what they’re saying. I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again."

Gomez gained fame as a Disney Channel actress in her teens on "The Wizards of Waverly Place," before launching a music career with hits such as "Love You Like A Love Song."

"It's so disappointing that I’ve become a tabloid story. It took away everything I loved about this business," she added.

Gomez, whose new album "Revival" debuts on Friday, said she is staying healthy now through "diet, routine and medication," as well as by surrounding herself with supportive friends.

Some 1.5 million Americans suffer from lupus, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. The disease mainly strikes females between the ages of 15 and 44 years old.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Alan Crosby)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

One Direction makes Billboard history, knocks Swift from No. 1

British boy band One Direction became the only group to score four consecutive No. 1 debuts on the US Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, ousting Taylor Swift from her chart-topping reign.

One Direction's latest album, "Four", sold 387,000 copies in its first week, according to figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

It follows the band's three previous albums, 2011's "Up All Night," 2012's "Take Me Home" and 2013's "Midnight Memories," all of which opened at No. 1 on the Billboard chart.

Sales of "Four" may have been boosted after One Direction won three times at Sunday's televised American Music Awards, including the night's top place for artist of the year. The group also performed new song "Night Changes" at the ceremony.

The band also made history on music streaming platform Spotify by scoring the most first-week streams after "Four" was streamed 11.6 million times in the United States and 30 million times worldwide. The news comes after Swift made a highly publicized move to take her music catalog off the popular service.

Swift's "1989" dropped to No. 2 this week with 214,000 sales. The album became the biggest debut of the year after opening with 1.3 million copies, and held the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart for three consecutive weeks.

"1989" has sold more than 2.2 million copies, the second-biggest selling album of 2014, behind only Disney's "Frozen" soundtrack with 3.6 million copies.

Other new entries in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart this week include Canadian rockers Nickelback at No. 4 with "No Fixed Address" and metal group In This Moment at No. 8 with "Black Widow."

For the week ended Nov. 23, Billboard said a total of 5.5 million albums were sold, up 4 percent from the comparable week in 2013. Year-to-date sales rounded out at 215 million, down 12 percent from the same period last year.

This is the last week Nielsen SoundScan will compile the Billboard 200 album chart from sales figures alone. From next week, the album chart will reflect online streaming and digital track sales to accurately reflect which records were most in demand.

(Editing by Eric Kelsey and Andre Grenon)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Taylor Swift's '1989' tops US Billboard album chart again

Taylor Swift's "1989" topped the US Billboard 200 album chart for the third consecutive week on Wednesday.

The most pop-oriented turn from the onetime country singer sold 312,000 copies last week, according to figures compiled by NielsenSoundscan. "1989" is the second album of the year, behind the soundtrack to Disney's animated film "Frozen," to spend at least three weeks atop the chart.

Swift's album has so far sold 2 million copies. It is the second-best selling album of 2014 after the "Frozen" soundtrack, which has sold 3.25 million copies.

The singer this week also became the first woman to replace herself atop Billboard's Hot 100 song chart as Swift's "Blank Space" bumped her song "Shake It Off" from No. 1, Billboard said.

Swift, 24, bested a slew of new releases on the album chart, including rock group Foo Fighters' "Sonic Highways," which was at No. 2 with 190,000 copies sold.

Rock band Pink Floyd's "Endless River" was third with 170,000 copies, while country singer Garth Brooks' first album in 13 years, "Man Against Machine," was fourth with 130,000 in sales.

At No. 5 was "Cadillactica," the latest album from US rapper Big K.R.I.T., which sold 44,000 copies. Pop-rock singer Nick Jonas, formerly of teen rock band the Jonas Brothers, was No. 6 with 37,000 in sales.

Album sales for the week ending Nov. 16 were 5.4 million, flat compared with the same week last year, according to Billboard. Year-to-date album sales total 209.5 million, a 13 percent decline compared with the same period last year.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Frozen' keeps icy grip on top spot of Billboard album sales chart

A pair of animated singing princesses kept the top spot on the weekly Billboard 200 chart of best-selling albums on Wednesday, ahead of Grammy-winning artists, as a new sing-along version of Disney's "Frozen" propelled sales of the soundtrack album.

"Frozen" sold 94,000 copies last week according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, marking a fourth non-consecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard 200. The film, a tale of two Scandinavian princess sisters forced to save their kingdom from an everlasting winter, also raked in $9.3 million at the box office last weekend with its new sing-along version.

It is the first film soundtrack to spend four weeks at the top of the album chart in a decade, Billboard said. The last album to do the same was the "Bad Boys II" soundtrack in August 2003, spending four consecutive weeks at No. 1.

"Frozen" continued to hold off the official "2014 Grammy Nominees" album, which held steady at No. 2 with sales of 87,000 copies. The Grammy awards on January 26 did boost sales of its performers, as albums from Lorde, Beyonce, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry and Daft Punk all featured in the top 10 this week.

Perry's single "Dark Horse," which she performed on the Grammy stage with rapper Juicy J, held the top spot on the Digital Songs chart this week, with 373,000 downloads.

Bruno Mars, who won a Grammy and also performed at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, watched by a record-breaking 115.3 million viewers, saw his album "Unorthodox Jukebox" climb from No. 18 to No. 7 this week.

Only two new albums debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 this week. Heavy metal group Of Mice & Men's latest album "Restoring Force" came in at No. 4 while Christian rock band Casting Crowns landed at No. 6 with its latest record "Thrive."

For the week ending February 2, overall album sales notched 4.6 million units, down 12 percent from the comparable week in 2013, Billboard said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Adele breaks Whitney Houston's chart record

The late Whitney Houston was unable to oust Adele from the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the British singer's "21" replaced "The Bodyguard" as the longest running No. 1 album by a woman.

Boosted by her six Grammy awards and performance comeback, Adele's "21" saw its biggest sales week yet in 52 weeks on the U.S. chart, selling 730,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.

That gave Adele her 21st week at the top spot, beating the record held by Houston with her 1992 "Bodyguard" album. "21" which features hits like "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" has now sold more than 18 million copies worldwide since its release in February 2011, Adele's Columbia Record label said.

The 23 year-old singer and songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album, "19," which sold 87,000 copies.

Houston's songs also saw a huge sales rise following her death in a Beverly Hills hotel on February 11 and a touching tribute by Jennifer Hudson at the Grammy awards on February 12.

Seven of Houston's albums re-entered the Billboard chart this week, led by "Whitney: The Greatest Hits" compilation at No. 2, selling 175,000 copies. Her self-titled album sold 17,000 to take the 37th spot.

Houston's "I Will Always Love You" single took the No. 2 spot in the Billboard Digital Songs Chart.

GRAMMY BOOST

The Billboard 200 album chart reflected a Grammy-influenced boost for other artists.

Pop singer Bruno Mars, who was nominated for six Grammys but went home empty-handed, still saw his album "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" notch the No. 8 position, boosted by his retro-inspired uptempo performance of "Runaway Baby" at the Los Angeles awards show.

His album was followed by Grammy's best country album winners Lady Antebellum's "Own The Night" at No. 9 and newcomers The Civil Wars, who picked up two Grammy awards, rounded out the top 10 with "Barton Hollow."

Country singer Jason Aldean, Rihanna, British band Coldplay and country group The Band Perry all saw their albums climb the top 20.

Katy Perry, who stormed back defiantly in her first big public performance at the Grammys after husband Russell Brand filed for divorce in December, saw her new single "Part of Me" notch the top spot on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, with 411,000 downloads.

Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and "Set Fire to the Rain" took No. 3 and No. 4 on the Digital Songs chart respectively.

source: interaksyon.com

Jay Park Enters Billboard Chart

MANILA, Philippines – Jay Park's new album has entered two Billboard charts on the day he made his comeback on Korean TV.

On the latest Billboard charts for the week ending Feb. 25, Jay Park’s “New Breed” album, which was released first online on Feb. 7, debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s World Albums and No. 16 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Album charts.

Billboard noted that the album made the biggest jump on the World Albums chart for the week.

Last year, Jay Park released his first Korean mini-album “Take A Deeper Look,” which debuted at No. 3 on Billboard’s World Albums chart and No. 26 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.

In addition, “New Breed” also copped the No. 1 slot on Gaon Chart, Korea’s version of Billboard chart. The album is No. 1 on Gaon’s physical albums chart.

When the album was released, it zoomed to No. 1 on iTunes R&B/Soul Albums charts in the US, Canada and Australia, No. 2 in Japan and No. 5 in France.

Overall, it grabbed the 27th spot on the iTunes Top 100 Albums chart.

Also on Feb. 16, Jay Park returned to TV and started promoting the title track “Know Your Name” on Mnet “M! Countdown.” He will be on KBS “Music Bank” today.

Besides promoting the album, Jay Park will hold his first independent concert called “Jay Park: New Breed Live in Seoul” on March 3 at Seoul Olympic Park’s Olympic Hall.

source: mb.com.ph