Adele‘s “Easy on Me” rules the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for a seventh total week. Plus, SZA‘s “I Hate U” launches at No. 7 on the Hot 100, arriving as her fifth top 10.
Meanwhile, Andy Williams‘ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, up 11-10, joining four other holiday classics jingle-belling in the region: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” at Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6, respectively.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Dec. 18) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 14). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
“Easy on Me,” released Oct. 14 on Columbia Records, drew 85.4 million radio airplay audience impressions (down 1%) and 20.7 million U.S. streams (down 15%) and sold 9,200 downloads (down 12%) in the Dec. 3-9 tracking week, according to MRC Data.
The ballad spends a third week at No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart and drops 4-6 on Digital Song Sales, after two weeks at the summit, and 4-7 on Streaming Songs, after five weeks on top.
The song, Adele’s fifth Hot 100 No. 1, is her third to reign for at least seven weeks, after “Rolling in the Deep” (seven, 2011) and “Hello” (10, 2015-16). Adele is the sixth artist with three or more such No. 1s, joining Drake (five); Mariah Carey, Rihanna (four each); Beyoncé and Boyz II Men (three each).
Adele has entered the elite club as the only act to command the Hot 100 for seven weeks or more with a lead single from three consecutive albums: “Rolling in the Deep” is from 21; “Hello” is from 25; and “Easy on Me” is from 30, which controls the Billboard 200 chart for a third week.
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” pushes 3-2 on the Hot 100, with 32.5 million U.S. streams (up 26%), 24.6 million airplay audience impressions (up 4%) and 6,900 sold (up 20%). It tops Streaming Songs for a 12th total week (and is the only holiday song to have led, dating to the survey’s January 2013 inception); ranks at No. 9 on Digital Song Sales; and jumps 31-24 on Radio Songs.
The carol was first released in 1994 and, as holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ seasonal playlists, hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017 and ascended to No. 1 in both December 2019 (for three weeks) and December 2020 (two).
The song also crowns the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 48th week, of the ranking’s 53 total weeks since the tally began in 2011; it has led for 33 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season, and dominates as the top title on the recently-revealed Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.
Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” originally released in 1958, rises 4-3 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2 in each of the last two holiday seasons, and The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” dips 2-4, after seven weeks at No. 1.
The late Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (from 1964) lifts 7-5 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 4 in the 2019 and 2020 holiday seasons, and the late Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (from 1957) slips 5-6, after climbing to No. 3 also in each of the last two holiday seasons.
SZA’s “I Hate U” soars onto the Hot 100 at No. 7, with 26.7 million streams, 485,000 in radio airplay audience and 4,600 sold.
The song, which was first issued on SoundCloud over the summer and went viral on TikTok ahead of its Dec. 3 wide release, is SZA’s fifth Hot 100 top 10. It follows her featured turn on Maroon 5’s “What Lovers Do” (No. 9 peak, November 2017); “All the Stars,” with Kendrick Lamar (No. 7, March 2018); “Good Days” (No. 9, this February); and her featured role on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” (No. 3, July).
“I Hate U” marks SZA’s second debut in the Hot 100’s top 10 (and first as a lead artist), tying the No. 7 start of “Kiss Me More.”
“I Hate U” likewise launches at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts, both of which use the same multi-metric methodology as the Hot 100. It’s SZA’s first leader on the former and second on the latter, after “The Weekend,” for a week in January 2018.
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow’s “Industry Baby” dips 6-8 on the Hot 100, after a week at No. 1, as it posts a 16th week atop the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart, and Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” backtracks 8-9, after reaching No. 7, on the Hot 100, as it leads the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a 12th week each.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, the late Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” returns to the tier (11-10), with 21.3 million streams (up 11%), 18.6 million in radio reach and 1,700 sold (up 13%). Originally released in 1963, the song hit a No. 5 best last holiday season.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Dec. 18), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 14).
