Adele Says ‘Hello’ to No. 1 Hot 100 Debut; First Song to Sell 1 Million Downloads in a Week
The singer/songwriter's ballad rockets in at the summit with the best weekly U.S. digital sales ever: 1.11 million.
Adele‘s “Hello” blasts onto the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Nov. 14) at No. 1, setting a record for the most U.S. downloads sold in a week: 1.11 million, according to Nielsen Music. It’s the first song ever to sell at least 1 million downloads in a week.
The piano ballad additionally starts atop the Digital Songs and Streaming Songs charts. The single, the 1,048th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 57-year history, dethrones The Weeknd’s “The Hills” after six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.
With so many notable feats for “Hello,” the first single from Adele’s third studio album 25, due Nov. 20 on XL/Columbia Records, let’s look at the most key honors.
A record 1,112,000 downloads sold: “Hello” begins with 1,112,000 downloads sold in the week ending Oct. 29. The song shatters the mark for most downloads sold in a week, previously held by Flo Rida’s “Right Round”: 636,000 (Feb. 28, 2009).
Adele’s ’25’ Is a Lock to Sell 1 Million in Its First Week – How About 2?
24th No. 1 Hot 100 debut: “Hello” is only the 24th song to debut at No. 1 in the Hot 100’s history, and Adele’s first. It’s the first No. 1 bow since … just eight weeks ago, when Justin Bieber likewise notched his first No. 1 opener (and first No. 1), “What Do You Mean” The last woman to debut at No. 1? Taylor Swift, with “Shake It Off,” the lead single from her album 1989 (Sept. 6, 2014).
Adele’s Fourth Hot 100 No. 1: Adele adds her fourth Hot 100 topper, following her first three from prior studio album 21, which has sold 11.2 million copies in the United States: “Rolling in the Deep” (the year-end No. 1 of 2011), “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire to the Rain.”
“Hello” is also Adele’s fourth No. 1 on Digital Songs, following the above three smashes.
Adele’s ‘Hello’ Bows at No. 2 on Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks
61.6 million streams: Released to radio and retail Oct. 23, with its official video unveiled the same day, “Hello” starts with 61.6 million U.S. streams. Only one track has posted a greater weekly total on Streaming Songs (which originated on March 2, 2013): Baauer’s “Harlem Shake,” which peaked with 103 million (powered heavily by user-generated clips featuring the song’s audio) the week that the survey debuted.
Of the first-week streams for “Hello,” the highest portion (58 percent; 35.4 million) is from Vevo on YouTube clicks, followed by Spotify streams (30 percent; 18.7 million). The track is Adele’s first Streaming Songs No. 1.
Adele’s ‘Hello’ Dials-Up U.K. Chart Record
A record 20.4 million on-demand streams: “Hello” zooms onto the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart at No. 1 (marking her first champ on the chart) with 20.4 million on-demand streams. She more than doubles the mark set before this week: Bieber’s “Mean” debuted with 10.1 million (Sept. 19).
73 million in radio audience: “Hello” vaults 45-9 on the Radio Songs chart, up by 146 percent to 73 million all-format audience impressions in its first full week of airplay. It also rockets 26-2 on the Adult Alternative Songs airplay chart, 25-8 on Adult Pop Songs, 20-9 on Adult Contemporary, and 35-19 on Pop Songs. (On Adult Contemporary, it’s the first song, excluding holiday fare, to reach the top 10 in just two weeks since 2002.)
Radio on Adele’s ‘Hello’: ‘She Can Make You Feel What She Feels’
“I was so frightened that no one cared,” Adele told syndicated morning radio host Elvis Duran Oct. 23, hours after “Hello” was released. Her fears were clearly unfounded. “It’s amazing what power, passion and emotion Adele can convey in a single note,” Russ Borris, WFUV New York music director, told Billboard the same day. “She is one of the very few artists that make you feel what she feels in a four-minute song.”
‘Hello’ again, women at No. 1: A woman rules the Hot 100 after 22 straight weeks of men at No. 1 (Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth, OMI, The Weeknd and Bieber), via five titles. “Hello” is the first leader by a female artist since Swift’s “Bad Blood” bounded 53-1 on the June 6 Hot 100.
‘Hello’ again: The Hot 100’s top spot greets its second No. 1 titled “Hello”: Lionel Richie’s different composition of the same name led for two weeks in 1984 (with he and Adele having fun with the coincidence). Three other songs with “Hello” in their titles have introduced themselves to the chart’s summit: “Hello, Dolly!” by Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (1964); “Hello Goodbye” by the Beatles (1967); and “Hello, I Love You” by the Doors (1968).
Click here for details on the rest of the Hot 100’s top 10 and more. And, visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 3), when all rankings, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh, as they do each Tuesday. The Hot 100 and other charts will also appear in the next issue of Billboard magazine, on sale Friday (Nov. 6).
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