The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Save Your Tears” bounds from No. 6 to No. 1 for its first week atop the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The track, originally released solely by The Weeknd on his 2020 album After Hours, reigns following the first week of tracking for its remix with Grande.
The song marks the sixth Hot 100 No. 1 each for The Weeknd and Grande (the latter of whom is credited on the track on the chart for the first time, as the new version drew the majority of the title’s overall activity in the tracking week).
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated May 8) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (May 4). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
“Save Your Tears,” released on XO/Republic Records, is the 1,123rd No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 62-year history.
Streams, sales & airplay: Following the April 23 release of its remix with Grande, “Save Your Tears,” all versions combined, drew 30.4 million U.S. streams (up 111%) and sold 18,000 downloads (up 265%) in the week ending April 29, according to MRC Data, as it wins the Hot 100’s top Streaming and Sales Gainer awards. It also attracted 67.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 5%) in the week ending May 2.
The track blasts 19-1 on the Digital Song Sales chart and 17-2 on Streaming Songs and holds at No. 2 on Radio Songs. Grande adds her eighth Digital Song Sales No. 1 and The Weeknd scores his sixth.
The Weeknd’s sixth Hot 100 No. 1: Here’s a recap of The Weeknd’s six Hot 100 No. 1s.
“Can’t Feel My Face,” three weeks at No. 1, beginning Aug. 22, 2015
“The Hills,” six weeks, Oct. 3, 2015
“Starboy,” feat. Daft Punk, one week, Jan. 7, 2017
“Heartless,” one week, Dec. 14, 2019
“Blinding Lights,” four weeks, April 4, 2020
“Save Your Tears,” with Ariana Grande, one week (to-date), May 8, 2021
Albums with three No. 1s: With “Heartless,” “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears” all originally released on The Weeknd’s album After Hours, the set is the first to spin off three Hot 100 No. 1s since Drake’s Scorpion, which yielded the leaders “God’s Plan,” “Nice for What” and “In My Feelings” in 2018.
Released in March 2020, After Hours is the first album released in the ’20s to generate a trio of Hot 100 leaders. Six albums released in the ’10s each produced at least three, including Scorpion. Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, from 2010, became the first, reeling off a record-tying five in 2010-11: “California Gurls,” featuring Snoop Dogg; the title track; “Firework”; “E.T.,” featuring Kanye West; and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”
The other sets released in the ’10s with three Hot 100 No. 1s each: Rihanna’s Loud (“What’s My Name?,” featuring Drake, “Only Girl (In the World)” and “S&M,” featuring Britney Spears, 2010-11); Adele’s 21 (“Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire to the Rain,” 2011-12); Taylor Swift’s 1989 (“Shake It Off,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, 2014-15); and Justin Bieber’s Purpose (“What Do You Mean?,” “Sorry” and “Love Yourself,” 2015-16).
Of the seven albums above, After Hours is the fourth with three or more Hot 100 No. 1s thanks to a remix of a single adding another artist, joining Teenage Dream (“E.T.”), Loud (“S&M”) and 1989 (“Bad Blood”). 21, Purpose and Scorpion each generated three No. 1s credited only to Adele, Bieber and Drake, respectively.
Albums with three No. 1s … in 3 distinct years: Much rarer, After Hours’ three Hot 100 No. 1s have led in three distinct years: “Heartless” in 2019, “Blinding Lights” in 2020 and now “Save Your Tears” in 2021.
Only one other album has achieved the honor: Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. When “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” the seventh single from Jackson’s 1989 set, hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated Jan. 19, 1991, Paul Grein noted its historic nature in that issue’s Chart Beat column: “It makes Rhythm Nation the first album to spawn No. 1 hits in three calendar years. ‘Miss You Much’ topped the chart in 1989 (and) ‘Escapade’ and ‘Black Cat’ scored in 1990.”
Most No. 1s by Canadians: As The Weeknd adds his sixth Hot 100 No. 1, he moves closer to the record for the most among Canadians, whose leaderboard has been overhauled in recent years.
Here is an updated rundown of Canadian artists with the most Hot 100 No. 1s:
8, Drake
7, Justin Bieber
6, The Weeknd
4, Bryan Adams
4, Celine Dion
3, Nelly Furtado
2, Paul Anka
Drake, from Toronto, achieved his first Hot 100 No. 1 in 2010, while Bieber (London, Ontario) and The Weeknd (Toronto), whom Drake, of course, helped introduce, each led for the first time in 2015.
Ariana Grande’s sixth Hot 100 No. 1: Like The Weeknd, Grande notches her sixth Hot 100 leader. Here’s a recap.
“Thank U Next,” seven weeks at No. 1, beginning Nov. 17, 2018
“7 Rings,” eight weeks, Feb. 2, 2019
“Stuck With U,” with Justin Bieber, one week, May 23, 2020
“Rain on Me,” with Lady Gaga, one week, June 6, 2020
“Positions,” one week, Nov. 7, 2020
“Save Your Tears,” with The Weeknd, one week (to-date), May 8, 2021
(Notably, “Save Your Tears” is Grande’s first Hot 100 No. 1 that didn’t debut in the top spot. She is the only artist with as many as five No. 1 debuts on the chart, as well as the only act whose first five leaders entered at the summit, a streak that, thus, ends this week.)
Just duet: Grande’s latest Hot 100 leader makes her own history, as she becomes the first woman with three No. 1 duets (counting songs by two soloists, both in lead roles, not known for regularly recording together). “Save Your Tears,” with The Weeknd, follows “Rain on Me,” with Lady Gaga, and “Stuck With U,” with Justin Bieber.
Overall, Grande joins the elite company of a Beatle, as only one other act has led the Hot 100 with three co-billed duets with other soloists: Paul McCartney, with “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” with Linda McCartney (1971); “Ebony and Ivory,” with Stevie Wonder (1982); and “Say Say Say,” with Michael Jackson (1983-84).
Plus, with Grande’s three No. 1 duets reigning within a year’s span (May 23, 2020-May 8, 2021), she rewrites the mark for the fastest accumulation of three such leaders.
Max-imum exposure: Max Martin co-wrote and co-produced “Save Your Tears” and the Swedish pop titan earns his 24th Hot 100 No. 1 as a writer and 22nd as a producer. Only McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26) have written more Hot 100 No. 1s, while Martin moves to within one of George Martin (23) for the most among producers.
Before “Tears,” Max Martin last topped the Hot 100 as a writer and producer via The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.” He first led in both roles thanks to Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” on the chart dated Jan. 30, 1999.
20 weeks to No. 1: “Save Your Tears” tops the Hot 100 in its 20th total week on the chart. It wraps the longest ascent to the summit since Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” also hit No. 1 in its 20th frame last August.
“Tears” debuted at No. 41 on the Hot 100 dated April 4, 2020, the week that parent album After Hours opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. After a second week on the Hot 100 the following week, it didn’t return until the list dated Jan. 9, 2021; its original version’s official video premiered Jan. 5.
“Save” “your” “tears”: Saving one more angle for last, “Save Your Tears” is the fourth Hot 100 No. 1 with the word “save” in its title, after The Drifters’ “Save the Last Dance for Me” (1960), Jackson 5’s “The Love You Save” (1970) and Vanessa Williams’ “Save the Best for Last” (1992).
Three other No. 1s also include “tears” in their titles: ? (Question Mark) & the Mysterians’ “96 Tears” (1966), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ “The Tears of a Clown” (1970) and Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer’s “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” (1979). (Honorary “shout”-out to Tears for Fears, who notched two No. 1s in 1985: “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and “Shout.” Meanwhile, Grande has a new highest-charting hit with “tears” in its title: her “No More Tears Left to Cry” reached No. 3 in 2018.)
As for Hot 100 No. 1s with “your” in their titles, “Save Your Tears” is the hefty 30th (counting two with “yourself”). The Platters’ “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” became the first in 1959, while last month Lil Nas X led with “Montero (Call Me by Your Name).”
“Leave the Door Open” by Silk Sonic, the duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, holds at No. 2 on the Hot 100, three weeks after reaching No. 1. It logs a third week at No. 1 on Radio Songs (77 million, up 8%), while leading Hot R&B Songs for a sixth week and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a second frame; both charts use the same methodology as the Hot 100.
Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon, keeps at No. 3 on the Hot 100, five weeks after it debuted at No. 1. The song claims the Hot 100’s top Airplay Gainer nod for a fifth consecutive week (up 21% to 61.5 million).
Polo G’s “Rapstar” drops to No. 4 on the Hot 100 after arriving and spending its first two weeks on the chart at No. 1. It rules Streaming Songs (34.5 million, down 14%) and the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs ranking for a third week each.
Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” featuring DaBaby, holds at its No. 5 Hot 100 high; Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” featuring SZA, reaches a new best rank, rising 8-6; and Lil Nas X’s “Montero” slides 4-7, four weeks after it launched at No. 1.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Masked Wolf’s “Astronaut in the Ocean” slips to No. 8 from its No. 7 best; Cardi B’s “Up” repeats at No. 9, five weeks after reaching No. 1; and Olivia Rodrigo’s former eight-week No. 1 “Drivers License” idles at No. 10.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated May 8), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (May 4).
