The song
is the first mostly Spanish-language No. 1 since
"Macarena" in 1996 &
makes Bieber the first artist ever to earn new No. 1s in back-to-back weeks.
Luis
Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito," featuring Justin Bieber, crowns
the Billboard Hot 100 chart
(dated May 27), rising 3-1. Among highlights for the new leader, it's the first mostly
Spanish-language Hot 100 No. 1 in more than 20 years
and it makes Bieber the first artist ever to notch new No. 1s in consecutive weeks. A week ago (on the May 20 chart), Bieber bowed at No. 1 as featured (with three other acts) on DJ Khaled's
"I'm the One" (which this week dips to No. 3).
Fonsi
and Daddy Yankee each earn their first Hot 100 No. 1 and
Bieber banks his fifth with "Despacito" (released on Universal Music
Latino / Raymond Braun / SchoolBoy / Def Jam / UMLE / Republic Records).
As we do
every Monday, let's run down the top 10 of the
Hot 100, which blends sales, airplay and
streaming data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, May 16.
In fact,
let's take the many notable achievements for "Despacito" at No. 1 on the Hot 100
one-by-one.
No. 1 in streams & sales: "Despacito" scores its
first week at No. 1 on the
Streaming Songs chart with 54.3
million U.S. streams, up 14 percent,
in the week ending May 11,
according to Nielsen Music. It also leads the Digital Song Sales chart,
rebounding 2-1 for a second week on top, with 104,000 downloads sold, up 4 percent, in the week ending May 11; the remix with Bieber, released April 17, accounts for 73 percent
of the song's sales in the tracking week. On Radio Songs, "Despacito"
darts 18-11 with 57 million in all-format airplay audience, up 17 percent, in the week ending May 14.
Bieber
earns his ninth Digital Song Sales No. 1 and
fourth Streaming Songs No. 1, while
Fonsi and Daddy Yankee rule each chart for the first time.
Latin
leader: Translating to "slowly" in English, "Despacito"
(the 1,065th total No. 1 in the history of the Hot 100, which began on Aug. 4, 1958) is the first Hot 100 No. 1 sung
mostly in Spanish since Los Del Rio's "Macarena," which, fueled by
its Bayside Boys mix, dominated for 14 weeks in
1996. It also went on to become the
biggest song of all of 1996 on
that year's year-end Hot 100. (The
first 40 seconds of the Bieber mix of
"Despacito" finds him singing in English, along with a quick snippet
by Fonsi in English later in the song.)
"'Macarena' Reaches Numero
Uno'," Fred Bronson beamed in the Aug. 3, 1996,
Billboard Chart Beat column, the week that "Macarena" hit the Hot 100's summit. The song became the first leader sung primarily
in Spanish since 1987, when Los Lobos' remake of Ritchie
Valens' "La Bamba" became the first, and only, all-Spanish-language
No. 1 (for three weeks beginning Aug. 29, 1987).
A key
similarity between the last two mostly Spanish-language Hot 100 No. 1s (and
unlike "La Bamba"): Both "Macarena" and
"Despacito" surged to new heights following the arrival of more
mainstream remixes that added lyrics sung in English. The Bayside Boys mix
transformed "Macarena" into a more pop-friendly dance song, after it
had first hit No. 45 in fall 1995 in its original form. (The Bayside Boys' makeover was
actually released in August 1995 but
didn't fully catch on until dance/pop radio station WKTU New York added it in
May 1996, jumpstarting its explosion).
Meanwhile, "Despacito" had reached an almost identical No. 44 before the release of the Bieber-assisted version.
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Hot Latin Songs leader:
"Despacito" tops the Hot Latin Songs chart for a 15th week. While it's
Bieber's first No. 1
on the genre chart, it's Fonsi's seventh and Daddy Yankee's fifth. And, with 15 weeks on top, the track is
tied for the 10th-longest
No. 1 run in
the chart's 30-year
history.
As for Bieber on the Hot 100 …
Bieber's historic
back-to-back No. 1s:
Bieber becomes the first artist ever to tally new No. 1s on the Hot 100 in back-to-back weeks:
"I'm the One" debuted at No. 1 on the May 20-dated chart (a week ago) and now "Despacito"
dethrones it on the May 27 survey. The previous fastest accumulation of new No. 1s? Oh, only by The Beatles:
On March 21, 1964, amid the frenzy of
early Beatlemania, "She Loves You" hit No. 1; two weeks later, on the
April 4-dated
chart, "Can't Buy Me Love" supplanted it. So, by adding new No. 1s in back-to-back weeks,
Bieber bests the Beatles by a week for the quickest collection of new Hot 100 leaders.
Bieber was already among
the mere 12 acts
that have replaced themselves at No. 1 on the Hot 100, as his "Love Yourself" directly succeeded
"Sorry" on Feb. 13, 2016. Now, he's one of only three acts to earn two sets of
consecutive leaders. His mentor Usher replaced himself at No. 1 twice in 2004, when "Burn"
took over for "Yeah!" (featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris) and then when
(after a No. 1 by
Fantasia, "I Believe," interrupted the reign of "Burn")
"Confessions Part II" replaced "Burn."
The other act to have
replaced itself with more than one pair of Hot 100 No. 1s: The Beatles again, who
remain the only act to ring up three No. 1s in a row at the expense of all competition: their
debut U.S. smash "I Want to Hold Your Hand" led directly before
"She Loves You" and "Can't Buy Me Love."
Eight straight:
"Despacito" marks the eighth consecutive Hot 100 No. 1 exclusively by male
artists. That's the longest streak in 29 years, since male artists linked 13 in a row in 1988. The all-time record? 17 in a row in 1961. (Click here for all
details.)
The most turnover at the
top in 27 years:
"Despacito" topping the May 27-dated Hot 100 also marks the fourth new No. 1 in as many weeks, following
the coronations of Kendrick Lamar's "Humble." (May 6), Bruno Mars' "That's
What I Like" (May 13) and
Khaled's "I'm the One" (May 20). Incredibly, that's the quickest turn-around of new No.
1s on the
chart since late 1990 (notably,
before electronically-measured Nielsen Music data began fueling the chart in
November 1991,
making for generally longer No. 1 reigns than before, when the chart had been fed by
ranked reports from radio stations and retailers).
The current streak is the
longest since seven Hot 100 No. 1s stepped up to the top in successive weeks nearly 27 years ago: "(Can't
Live Without Your) Love and Affection," Nelson (Sept. 29, 1990); "Close to
You," Maxi Priest (Oct. 6); "Praying for Time," George Michael (Oct. 13); "I Don't Have the
Heart," James Ingram (Oct. 20); "Black Cat," Janet Jackson (Oct. 27); "Ice Ice
Baby," Vanilla Ice (Nov. 3); and "Love Takes Time," Mariah Carey (Nov. 10, to begin a three-week reign).
