Maxwell becomes only the second man to land eight No. 1s in the 29-year history of Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart, as his current single, “Off,” ascends to the summit of the chart dated April 2. The track advances from No. 3 after it registered a 10% improvement in plays to become the most played song on U.S. monitored adult R&B radio stations in the week ending March 27, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data.
Eight No. 1s ties Maxwell with Charlie Wilson for the most among any male act since the list began in 1993. On the overall count, the pair trail only Alicia Keys (12) and Toni Braxton (11).
As “Off” joins the chart-toppers club, here’s a recap at Maxwell’s eight champs:
- “Fortunate,” No. 1 for 18 weeks, beginning May 22, 1999
- “Lifetime,” 15, Sept. 29, 2001
- “Pretty Wings,” 12, July 4, 2009
- “Bad Habits,” nine, Oct. 10, 2009
- “Fistful of Tears,” two, April 17, 2010
- “Fire We Make,” with Alicia Keys, June 22, 2013
- “Lake by the Ocean,” 10, June 18, 2016
- “Off,” one (to date), April 2, 2022
With “Off,” Maxwell also becomes the first man to log No. 1s on Adult R&B Airplay in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Fellow R&B legends Toni Braxton and Mary J. Blige also have achieved the feat, with Braxton inaugurating the group in 2020 and Blige attaining membership in February.
In addition to its Adult R&B Airplay coronation, “Off” holds at No. 22 of the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks by audience listenership across both adult and mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations. There, the single repeats in rank but adds 3% in audience to reach 5.7 million in the week ending March 27. “Off” previously had climbed to No. 20 to clinch Maxwell’s 12th top 10 on the list. The stretch began with his breakout hit, “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder),” which soared to No. 7 in 1996, and includes two No. 1s, “Fortunate” and “Pretty Wings.”
“Off” is expected to appear on Maxwell’s forthcoming album, blacksummers’NIGHT, the third and final installment of his album trilogy. The first chapter, BLACKsummers’night, premiered in 2009, while the follow-up, blackSUMMERS’night, arrived in 2016. Both projects debuted at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with the former ruling for four weeks and the latter on top for two frames.
