Bruno Mars backstage on the 68th GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles on February 01, 2026. He didn’t really win any awards that night time, regardless of being nominated for document of the yr and music of the yr.
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Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Bruno Mars pulls off a number of chart feats he is by no means achieved earlier than. Gorillaz, BLACKPINK and Mitski return to the highest 10. And a music popularized by a figure-skating routine makes waves past its preliminary viral second.
TOP STORY
Bruno Mars is without doubt one of the twenty first century’s most embellished pop stars, with 16 Grammy wins and 10 chart-topping singles to his identify. As of this second, in accordance to Spotify’s calculations, he is the most-listened to artist on this planet. Still, there are a couple of milestones he hasn’t reached, partially as a result of he is solely launched 5 albums in his career — and a kind of, An Evening With Silk Sonic, was as half of a aspect challenge with Anderson .Paak.
Until the discharge of The Romantic in late February, Mars hadn’t launched an album beneath his personal identify since 2016. So it should not come as an enormous shock that the brand new document posts his best-ever weekly numbers for streaming and vinyl gross sales — two industries which have expanded significantly within the final decade. But The Romantic‘s chart success this week does embody a pair of true milestones: It’s Mars’ first album to debut at No. 1, and this week marks the primary time he is posted a No. 1 album and a No. 1 single concurrently.
That No. 1 single is “I Just Might,” which debuted at No. 1 two months in the past and slid out of the highest spot after a pair weeks. This week, buoyed by streaming of The Romantic, it is again on prime — and it is joined within the prime 5 by the album’s lead observe, “Risk It All,” which debuts at No. 4. Not surprisingly, all of The Romantic‘s songs land on this week’s Hot 100; there are solely 9 of them, in spite of everything.
Mars hadn’t hit No. 1 on the albums chart since Unorthodox Jukebox in 2013 — giving him a roughly 13-year hole between chart-toppers. That’s nowhere close to a document, provided that Paul McCartney as soon as waited 36 years between No. 1 albums, however nonetheless.
All that mentioned, when it comes to Bruno Mars albums, their success is not outlined by lofty peaks — numerous albums debut at No. 1, solely to fade rapidly into oblivion — a lot as unusual longevity. All three of Mars’ solo data prior to The Romantic land on this week’s Billboard 200, they usually’ve averaged 412 weeks on the chart. That’s almost eight years every.
There’s no means of actually realizing, at this early stage, whether or not The Romantic will match that mark. But, given its strong begin, it simply would possibly.
TOP ALBUMS
Last week, Megan Moroney‘s Cloud 9 led a pack of 4 albums that debuted within the prime 10. This week, it is the one certainly one of that quartet remaining in that area of the chart, and it slips from No. 1 to No. 6; the others slide farther, with Hilary Duff‘s luck… or one thing plummeting from No. 3 all the way in which to No. 191. Chart longevity is difficult, y’all.
This week, another 4 albums debut within the prime 10, led by Bruno Mars at No. 1. The Romantic is probably going to stick round some time, however the others face extra unsure futures, with numbers that tilt closely towards gross sales. (For an album to stick round on the Billboard 200 for a pleasant, long term, you actually want huge streaming numbers.)
At No. 7, the cartoon-avatar’d “band” Gorillaz posts its sixth prime 10 album with The Mountain, bolstered by a great deal of totally different bodily editions on vinyl, cassette, CD and digital obtain. At No. 8, the Okay-pop superstars in BLACKPINK debut with DEADLINE; even aided by 13 totally different CD variations, it lags properly behind its predecessor, BORN PINK, which debuted at No. 1 in 2022. (Read extra about DEADLINE here.) And at No. 10, Mitski posts her second prime 10 album with Nothing’s About to Happen to Me.
All three non-Mars debuts are possible to vacate the highest 10 subsequent week, when first-week gross sales are now not an element and Harry Styles‘ new album comes a-stormin’ onto the charts.
TOP SONGS
Bruno Mars’ success apart, the Hot 100 singles chart is wanting much less vigorous than its album-driven counterpart. But alongside the standard suspects — Ella Langley‘s “Choosin’ Texas” at No. 2, Olivia Dean‘s “Man I Need” at No. 3 and so forth — there’s one prime 10 interloper price noting.
Last week on this house, we took note of a steep chart climb for PinkPantheress‘ “Stateside (feat. Zara Larsson),” which benefited from its placement in a figure-skating routine by U.S. Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu. The music jumped from No. 41 to No. 13 within the rapid aftermath of Liu’s viral efficiency, however when you thought that was a one-time boomlet — the momentary byproduct of a shared cultural expertise — assume once more.
This week, “Stateside” leaps to No. 7, suggesting momentum that extends properly past the Olympics. “Stateside” marks PinkPantheress’ second prime 10 hit — her collaboration with Ice Spice, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” hit No. 3 in 2023 — whereas Larsson cracks the highest 10 for the primary time in her career, after first charting a decade in the past.
Liu deserves a great deal of credit score for serving to the music surge up the charts. But this week’s Hot 100 demonstrates that, as soon as “Stateside” reached an enormous array of latest followers, they clearly favored what they heard.
