Ask Billboard: Ariana Grande & Beyoncé's Matching Hot 100 Math & Other Chart Feats for the Ages

Ask questions about Advertising sign charts, as well as general music collections, in askbb@billboard.com. Include your first and last name, and your city, state, and country if you are outside the United States.

Or, message @gthot20.

Let's open the latest mailbag.

Identical “Positions” chart

Hi Gary,

Isn't it interesting that while we're at it Eternal sunshine/pre-Cowboy Carter period, Ariana Grande and Beyoncé have the exact same number of No. 1s, top 10s and total entries on the Billboard Hot 100 (as of chart dated March 23)?

Better,

Pablo Nelson
Oakland, California.

Hi Pablo,

Amusing observation that the two superstars are bullish on their career Hot 100 stats, reflecting each's continued chart success.

(Deja Vuto quote Beyoncé.)

Meanwhile, both Grande and Beyoncé have siblings who have hit it off Advertising sign's charts, and each has family members from different generations who have hit the charts – and made history in terms of their ages.

First, Frankie Grande, Ariana's brother, and Solange, Beyoncé's sister, have each made inquiries.

Additionally, Grande's grandmother Nonna, 98, this week became the oldest living artist to ever reach the Hot 100. Conversely, Beyoncé and Jay-Z's daughter Blue Ivy Carter became the youngest artist to ever charged to Advertising sign chart when Jay-Z's “Glory,” featuring a few minutes of “BIC,” debuted on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in 2012.

Among other coincidences, Grande and Beyoncé have each scored Hot 100 hits consisting of numbers and no words: Grande with “34 + 35” and Beyoncé with “1+1” and “7/11.”

Further, and rightly so, given her numerous accomplishments, Beyoncé sent “Run the World (Girls)” onto the Hot 100 in 2011. In 2019, Grande charted with 2 Chainz's “Rule the World.”

(To make things more playful, both Grande and Beyoncé entered the Hot 100 with songs named after games. Grande entered the chart with “Monopoly” in 2019, while Beyoncé had a blast with “Family Feud.” the survey reported in 2017.)

As for another Hot 100 chart-topping achievement for Beyoncé, ahead of Grande's latest crown, and the focus of other acts with impressive longevity…

No. 1, in the top 40

Hi Gary,

Beyoncé led the Hot 100 for two weeks starting on the chart on March 2 with “Texas Hold'Em,” at age 42. A week later, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) hit No. 1 with his collaborative hit “Carnival,” at age 46.

In the youth-focused music industry, it's rare for artists to rule the Hot 100 in their 40s or later. Advertising sign has previously covered some of the few to achieve the feat, including legends such as Louis Armstrong, Cher, Eminem, Aretha Franklin, Madonna and Paul McCartney.

Has a 40-and-over artist ever replaced another at No. 1 on the Hot 100 before this week?

(That's excluding the recent holiday season, when Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee both eclipsed the top of the Hot 100 twice, with “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree,” respectively. And two are over 40 now, but were well under that age when these songs were originally released.)

Thanks,

Jesse Rifkin
Washington

Thanks, Jesse.

Beyoncé and Ye – and Ty Dolla $ign – mark just the third set of soloists over 40 (again, not counting the above holiday hits, since they were recorded) to lead the Hot 100 back-to-back .

Here's a look at all three such cases.

Ye, Ty Dolla $ign and Beyoncé thus mark the first group of three solo artists over 40 to top the Hot 100 back-to-back.

With age comes invaluable experience and perspective. Revealing the cover of her new LP, Cowboy Carter, on Instagram on March 19, Beyoncé shared, “This album has been over five years in the making. It's great to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives to educating our musical history.

“I feel honored to be the first black woman to have a number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she added. “This would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. I hope that years from now, mentioning an artist's race as it relates to the release of music will be irrelevant.”

Bubbling Under the Hot 100 (and Bubbling Under the Bubbling Under Chart)

Hi Gary,

I've noticed some current songs that haven't made the Hot 100 yet – or even the Hot 100 Bubbling Under chart. Some are activated American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest and SiriusXM's Hits 1 Countdown to the weekendas I keep a close eye on these charts.

Between them:

I hope to see them on the Hot 100 too!

Thanks,

Robert Wien

Thank you, Robert.

Two of those songs are currently on the Hot 100's Bubbling Under chart, which ranks the top 25 songs not yet on the all-genre multimetric Hot 100: “Not My Fault,” at No. 19 (after reaching at No. 2), and “Make You Mine,” at No. 24 (after hitting No. 9). Additionally, “Kissing Strangers” climbed to No. 5 in February.

According to your musical tastes, all seven songs above have hit Advertising signof the Pop Airplay chart or invaded Top 40 radio, upon which the chart is based. “Not My Fault” rises to No. 16 on the latest chart, followed by “Not the 1975” (No. 25), “Kissing Strangers” (No. 32) and “Make You Mine,” a debut on No. 36. “Yes I'm a Mess” peaked at No. 24 in January, while “Pick Up the Phone” and “Paradise” – the latter recently released (March 15) on Justin Timberlake's album Everything I thought it was – they build support.

Says Larry Blackford, who discovered Knox on Instagram, noting the opening line on “Not the 1975,” “With lyrics like 'Vodka soda and baggy jeans/ Using none of that art degree,' how could [radio] don't you love it?'