NEW YORK (Billboard) – And you thought her entrance at the Grammy Awards was attention-getting.
Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” made music history on Wednesday by going straight to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 song chart to become the 1,000th top song in the list’s 52-year history.
“It is a tremendous honour,” Gaga tells Billboard of the milestone. “To be the 1000th No. 1 on Billboard… I would be silly not to say this is the greatest honour of my career.
“I am so humbled and so honoured and overwhelmed by the reception to ‘Born This Way,’“ Gaga adds. “(It) has been so life changing for me as an artist, and between Billboard and the international number ones and the radio numbers… I couldn’t be more blessed to have the fans that I have.”
Fittingly for such a milestone, the first single and title track from Lady Gaga’s third album, due May 23, arrives in record-breaking fashion.
On Radio Songs, the Hot 100’s airplay component chart, “Born This Way” begins at No. 6 with a first-week audience of 78.5 million. That’s the highest bow and largest opening airplay figure for a song since the tally began incorporating all radio formats in December 1998.
The arrival of “Born This Way” beat the previous debut record on Radio Songs, set when Janet Jackson’s “All for You” soared in at No. 9 with 70 million in 2001.
With opening-week digital sales of 448,000, “Born This Way” likewise breaks barriers with the largest debut sum for a female artist. Britney Spears established the prior mark four weeks ago upon, the arrival of “Hold It Against Me” (411,000).
The opening of “Born” marks the third-largest debut among all digital tracks. Flo Rida’s “Right Round” started with 636,000 in February 2009 and the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” with 465,000 two months later.
Notably, “Born This Way” rewrites airplay and digital history after just five days of availability at radio and three days at online retailers.
The song is also just the 19th title to debut at No. 1 in the Hot 100’s history.
The 1,000th Hot 100 No. 1 is Lady Gaga’s third chart leader, following her first two singles: “Just Dance,” featuring Colby O’Donis (the 968th No. 1), and “Poker Face” (972), both in 2009.
The Hot 100 currently ranks titles by employing a formula measuring radio airplay, as tabulated by Nielsen BDS; sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan; and, streaming activity data.
The weekly survey launched in the pages of Billboard magazine in the issue dated August 4, 1958, with Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool” reigning over the inaugural listing.
Among notable historic No. 1s, the Beatles’ first of their record 20 toppers, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (the 104th No. 1), reached the pinnacle the week of February 1, 1964.
Mariah Carey tallied her first No. 1 August 4, 1990 (the chart’s 32nd anniversary), with “Vision of Love,” her first of 18 No. 1s, the most among women. Her “One Sweet Day,” with Boyz II Men, logged the chart’s longest reign, 16 weeks, in 1995-96.
Michael Jackson, the leader among solo males with 13 No. 1s, first reigned as a solo artist on the Hot 100 of October 14, 1972, with “Ben.”
With the chart’s 1,000 No. 1s spread over 2,743 weeks, the average leader has spent 2.74 weeks at the top spot.
