Solitary Man

SOLITARY MAN: The debut of "Solitaire" (RCA) on the Adult Contemporary chart gives Clay Aiken his sixth entry in less than a year. It's been 11 months since Aiken made his first AC appearance with "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Since January 2003, no other artist has placed more than four songs on the AC tally. Celine Dion, Michael Buble and Rod Stewart have all had four AC chart entries since then.

This is not the first tine "Solitaire" has charted. The Neil Sedaka/Phil Cody song was a No. 1 AC hit for the Carpenters in 1975. As an artist, Sedaka was last on the AC chart in 1984 with "Rhythm of the Rain," which reached No. 37.

Aiken's highest position on the AC chart to date is the No. 8 peak of "Invisible" the week of Jan. 3. That same week, he had his second highest-ranked hit, when "The First Noel" went to No. 9.

Here is a summary of Aiken's six AC hits so far:

"Bridge Over Troubled Water," No. 29
"This Is the Night," No. 13
"Invisible," No. 8
"The First Noel," No. 9
"Silver Bells," No. 16 (Clay Aiken & Kimberley Locke)
"Solitaire," No. 27 to date

The "American Idol" franchise continues to turn contestants into chartmakers. While Aiken was the runner-up on the second season of the popular franchise, third-place Kimberley Locke debuts at No. 16 on The Billboard 200 with her first album, "One Love" (Curb).

'MEANT' TO BE: "American Idol" isn't the only television talent series making chart news this week. "Nashville Star" second season winner Brad Cotter makes his debut on Hot Country Singles & Tracks with "I Meant To" (Epic). The song opens at No. 42, the highest entrance for a new artist's first single since Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems airplay information began being used to compile this chart on Jan. 20, 1990.

The previous record-holder was "Nashville Star" first season winner Buddy Jewell, whose "Help Pour Out the Rain (Lacey's Song)" debuted at No. 44 exactly one year ago this week.

'SON' RISES: It's the third time around on Hot Country Singles & Tracks for a popular Nashville copyright. Sherrie Austin debuts at No. 59 with "Son of a Preacher Man" (Broken Bow). Peggy Little and Bobbi Lace both charted previously with the song, best known as a pop hit for the late Dusty Springfield. Little's cover went to No. 40 in 1969, the same year Springfield took the song to No. 10 on the Hot 100. Lace's remake stalled at No. 95 in 1989.

"Son of a Preacher Man" was on the Hot Dance Music Club Play chart in 1997 when Soul S.K. took it to No. 10.

NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESSION: Usher replaces himself at the top of the Hot 100 as his "Burn" (LaFace) ends the 12-week reign of "Yeah!" Usher is the eighth artist to succeed himself in pole position on this chart, following Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Boyz II Men, P. Diddy, Ja Rule, Nelly and OutKast.

"Burn" is only the fourth song to advance to No. 1 in 2004. OutKast had the first, "The Way You Move," which knocked out their own "Hey Ya!," the final No. 1 of 2003. Then Twista featuring Kanye West & Jamie Foxx took over with "Slow Jamz."

As of this week, "Yeah!" is the only No. 1 song of 2004 to spend more than one week at the summit. "The Way You Move" and "Slow Jamz" both had one solitary week at No. 1, and "Burn" is in its first week. "Burn" is also the first No. 1 by a lone male artist since Clay Aiken ruled the survey with "This Is the Night" in June-July 2003.

Wanna Leave?

More News
Homepage