Bruno and Taylor Top the Charts

On the second to last week of the year, two artists who have spent their fair share atop the charts over the past few years reigned supreme yet again. Taylor Swift held onto the top of the Billboard Albums Chart with Red for a fifth non-consecutive week at the summit while Bruno Mars held at # 1 on the Hot 100 Singles Chart for a second week with “Locked Out of Heaven”. However, Bruno was locked out of that #1 album spot by Swift as his sophomore album Unorthodox Jukebox debuted in the runner up spot with a bigger than expected with 192,000 units sold…. Also landing a top ten debut was rapper The Game at # 6 with Jesus Piece. Take a look at the full top ten below and head to Billboard here for more info on all the albums charts.

Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Red- Taylor Swift (last week~ 1)
2. Unorthodox Jukebox- Bruno Mars (debut)
3. Christmas Michael Buble (lw~ 5)
4. Take Me Home- One Direction (lw~ 4)
5. Merry Christmas Baby- Rod Stewart (lw~ 3)
6. Jesus Piece- The Game (debut)
7. The World from the Side of the Moon- Phillip Phillips (lw~ 9)
8. Cheers It’s Christmas- Blake Shelton (lw~8)
9. Girl on Fire- Alicia Keys (lw~ 7)
10. On this Winter’s Night- Lady Antebellum (lw~ 11)

Back on the Hot 100 Singles Chart, Mars’ “Heaven” extends its lead over Rihanna’ s “Diamonds” and a hard-charging “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers. Taylor Swift also makes her presence known with her second top ten from Red, “I Know You Were Trouble” which hits # 10 this week. And yes, it’s a dub-step song. Seriously, she ain’t country with this album people… For more on all the singles charts, head to Billboard and enjoy the new top ten below.

Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “Locked Out of Heaven”- Bruno Mars (lw~ 1)
2. “Diamonds”- Rihanna (lw~ 2)
3. “Ho Hey”- The Lumineers (lw~ 4)
4. “Die Young”- Ke$ha (lw~ 3)
5. “One More Night”- Maroon 5 (lw~ 5)
6. “I Cry”- Flo Rida (lw~ 6)
7. “Beauty and a Beat”-Justin Bieber w/ Nicki Minaj (lw~ 9)
8. “Home”- Phillip Phillips (lw~7)
9. “Some Nights”- fun. (lw~8)
10. “I Knew You Were Trouble”- Taylor Swift (lw~ 15)

And here’s a taste of more music from Bruno Mars. Listen to “When I Was Your Man”, one of my favorites, from his new album Unorthodox Jukebox.

The Game, Barbra, Maroon 5 and Xtina make big “Moves” on the Charts

She hasn’t done it since 2001 and he is the first to do it in history… Just what am I talking about? If I said she is Christina Aguilera and he is Adam Levine from Maroon 5 would you have a better clue? Now, now get your heads out of the gutter. I’m talking about the fact that Xtina grabs her first # 1 single on Billboard’s Hot 100 since “Lady Marmalade” (performed alongside Pink, Mya, Missy Elliott and Lil Kim) ten years ago with her collaboration with Maroon 5 on “Moves Like Jagger”. It’s the first chart topper on the Hot 100 for the band since “Makes Me Wonder” in 2007…. So, just what exactly is Levine doing that’s so special? Well, he becomes the first singer to land a # 1 song as a member of a band during the same week as a featured solo artist with the song “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes featuring The Voice coach rising to # 10. Congrats to them both. With all that said, Katy Perry tumbles from the top to # 5 and Foster the People flies up to # 3. It should be a big race for the top next week between Maroon & Xtina, Foster the People and two flying high singles by Lady Gaga (“You and I”) and Adele (“Someone Like You”) that will have massive sales increases after the MTV Video Music Awards…. In the meantime head to www.billboard.com for more on the singles chart and check out the new top ten below.

Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten Singles:
1. “Moves Like Jagger”- Maroon 5 w/Christina Aguilera (last week~ 4)
2. “Party Rock Anthem”- LMFAO (lw~ 2)
3. “Pumped Up Kicks”- Foster the People (lw~ 7)
4. “Lighters”- Bad Meets Evil w/Bruno Mars (lw~ 6)
5. “Last Friday Night”- Katy Perry (lw~ 1)
6. “Super Bass”- Nicki Minaj (lw~ 5)
7. “How to Love”- Lil Wayne (lw~8)
8. “Good Life”- OneRepublic (lw~ 9)
9. “Give Me Everything Tonight”- Pitbull w/NeYo, Nayer & Afrojack (lw~ 11)
10. “Stereo Hearts”- Gym Class Heroes w/Adam Levine (lw~ 15)

And here’s Gym Class Heroes teaming up with Adam Levine in the video for “Stereo Hearts”

Heading over to the album charts, rapper The Game nabs his third chart topper with R.E.D. pushing Jay Z & Kanye West down to the runner-up position… And nabbing her 31st top ten album, Barbra Streisand debuts at # 4 with What Matters Most. She’s had more top ten albums than any woman in history and is third among all artists behind Frank Sinatra (33) and The Rolling Stones (36). Wow. Check out the new top ten below.

Billboard 200 Top Ten Albums
1. R.E.D.- The Game (debut)
2. Watch the Throne- Jay Z & Kanye West (last week~ 2)
3. 21- Adele (lw~ 2)
4. What Matters Most- Barbra Streisand (debut)
5. Now 39 Compilation- Various Artists (lw~ 3)
6. Hell on Heels- Pistol Annies (debut)
7. Tailgates & Tanlines- Luke Bryan (lw~ 4)
8. Muppets: The Green Album- Various Artists (debut)
9. My Kinda Party- Jason Aldean (lw~ 5)
10. Chief- Eric Church (lw~ 7)