‘Uptown Funk’ Headed To 15th Week At Number 1? Wiz Khalifa Poses Stiff Challenge


Uptown Funk has spent a record 14 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But there’s a challenger to the throne. Wiz Khalifa’s soundtrack single for Fast and Furious 7, “See You Again” featuring Charlie Puth, is gaining traction. The song could surge from its number 10 spot to number 1 next week, Billboard.com reports.

The Billboard Hot 100 will be revealed on April 15, next Wednesday. It tracks a song’s sales, radio airplay, and streaming data.

If “Uptown Funk” makes it to 15 weeks at the top of the chart, it will be one week closer to beating the all-time record of weeks spent at number 1. Between 1995 and 1996, Mariah Carey’s “One Sweet Day” featuring Boyz II Men spent 16 weeks at number 1. No other single has accomplished or surpassed this feat since.

But Wiz Khalifa’s, “See You Again” is snapping at its heels on its way to the top. The song is set to sell more than 400,000 downloads this week. The popularity of Fast and Furious 7 is definitely fueling its meteoric rise. The seventh film in the Fast and Furious franchise has surged past $500 million in ticket sales in the week since it was released.

Also fuelling sales is the official video for the song, a four-minute tear-jerker that pays homage to the late Paul Walker, who starred in each of the Fast and Furious movies before he died. The Hot 100 charts also counts views on YouTube and adds it to the songs streaming numbers.

Only 6 other songs have stayed at the top of the Billboard chart as long as “Uptown Funk.” According to Official Charts, these songs are Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” (1992), Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You” (1994), Los Del Rio’s “Macarena” (1996), Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” (1997), Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” (2005), and Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” (2009).

This makes “Uptown Funk” the only song to achieve this type of chart dominance in the 2010s. The song, a fun soul-funk romp helmed by producer Mark Ronson and featuring Bruno Mars. debuted in 2014. Since then, it’s been streamed over 125 million times on Spotify, according to Music Business Worldwide. It’s also taken over radio, iTunes, and YouTube. “Uptown Funk” is so big that it’s earning Ronson and Co. over $100,000 per week. The song has spawned a string of parodies, and even First Lady Michelle Obama is a fan.

She celebrated five years of her Let’s Move campaign by doing a choreographed number to “Uptown Funk” on The Ellen Degeneres Show and later at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

[Photo courtesy Vimeo.com]

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