‘Grenade’ Moves to Pole Position


CHART SPOTLIGHT. Bruno Mars is only one of six male artists whose first two solo singles manage to reach the pole position on the Billboard Hot 100 as “Grenade” finally ascends to the top. The track is taken off Mars’s debut set Doo-Woops & Hooligans and follows “Just the Way You Are.”  Produced by the production team The Smeezingtons, the track recently topped the Australian singles chart. It was, however, knocked off the top by X Factor judge’s Guy Sebastian whose duet with Eve – “Who’s That Girl– this week.

The other five artists who accomplished Bruno Mars feat are

1. Andy Gibb – managed to top the Hot 100 with three entries, “I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” “(Love Is) Thicker than Water,” and “Shadow Dancing” (1977).

2. Lionel Richie – “Endless Love” (duet w/ Diana Ross), “Truly” (1981).

3. Peter Cetera – “Glory of Love” and “The Next Time I Fall” (w/ Amy Grant) (1986).

4. Rick Astley – “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Together Forever” (1988).

5. Diddy –  “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” (w/ Mase) and “I’ll be Missing You” (w/ Faith Evans & 112) (1997)

As Billboard’s Gary Trusts points out and WelcheMusic totally agrees on, all artists but Rick Astley and Diddy had careers before the solo hits. Richie had a successful career with The Commodores, Cetera broke through with Chicago and Gibb was a familiar face of The Bee Gees. And Bruno Mars – he already topped the Billboard Hot 100 with B.o.B’s “Nothin’ On You” and reached No.4 with Travie McCoy (“Billionaire”). Diddy peaked at No.14 with “No Time” as a guest rapper on Lil Kim’s hit prior to his first chart topper. The track appeared on her album HardCore.

Back to the Hot 100 – Katy Perry’s “Firework” falls 1-2, while Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R” rebounds 5-3. Taylor Swift’s Speak Now remains atop the Billboard 200, trailed by Susan Boyle’s The Gift and The Glee Cast’s Christmas compilation.

Lionel Richie to Tour Australia

Lionel Richie is to tour Australia next year and is scheduled to perform at several winery events in March 2011. It’s also confirmed that the singer will appear on A Day on the Green Concerts in Victoria, NSW and South Australia – the event’s 10 year anniversary.

The tour will be supported by the X Factor judge Guy Sebastian. The Adelaide group Lowrider will open the shows. Née Lionel Brockman Riche in 1949, the American singer-songwriter and record producer has sold more than 100m records.

To date, Lionel Richie has achieved five US No.1 singles. The last one being “Say You, Say Me” from 1985.

Dion, P!nk, Kanye Sing “We Are the World” 2010

Only a week after Simon Cowell’s feat to assemble Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart and Leona Lewis in the same room, comes the anniversary of “We Are the World.” Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie had already plans on making a re-record the track to commemorate the 25th anniversary in benefit for Haiti. Swedish producer RedOne has produced the track alongside Wyclef Jean and legendary Quincy Jones.

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The new version was recorded on Feb.1 this year and luckily many of the artists were already in L.A. to attend the Grammy awards.  More than 75 musicians participated and the song was recorded at the same place as in 1985. The 2010 line-up is a walk of fame. Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion sing alongside Vince Vaughn and Jeff Bridges. Newcomers Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber contributes as well as the hip-hop stars Kanye West, Akon, Drake and Cudie.

The new video premiered during NBC’s coverage of the Opening Cermony of the WinterOlympics last night and the video has been directed by Paul Haggis of Crash and Million Dollar Baby fame.

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