With a little help from Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé topped the Billboard Hot 100 with their “Perfect Duet” collaboration. In the number one spot is exactly where she belongs, but it’s been awhile since Queen Bey has earned that honor — like a long while. Believe it or not, “Perfect Duet” is Beyoncé’s first No. 1 song in nearly nine years. The last time she earned the top spot on the Billboard 100 was with 2008’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” And while that news may be shocking to hear — seriously, I hope you were sitting down when you read it — it’s not all that surprising when you consider the direction her career has taken in the last decade.
Billboard reported that the success of Sheeran and Beyoncé’s “Perfect Duet”was powered by its first full week of sales. (The song was released Nov. 30, which marked the end of ” album sales and streaming tracking week.”) Between the Beyhive and the Sheerios — two of the more supportive fan groups — it’s no surprise the collab would rake in the big bucks. The track, which originally appeared Beyoncé-less on Sheeran’s latest album Divide, sold 181,000 downloads.
With “Perfect Duet,” Beyoncé has racked up six No. 1’s on the Hot 100 as a solo artist. (She earned another four No. 1’s with Destiny’s Child.) She’s also not the only artist with such a long break between No. 1’s. Both Sean Paul and Christina Aguilera went 10 years before earning another No. 1 on the Hot 100, according to Billboard. Not to mention the fact that Britney Spears also went over nine years between her 1999 hit “…Baby One More Time” and 2008’s “Womanizer.”
But Beyoncé not having a No. 1 in nine years especially stands out since she hasn’t slowed down in those nine years. If anything she’s released some of the most critically acclaimed works of her career. Since “Single Ladies,” she’s released three albums and 40 singles that have made it into the Hot 100 —seven of which have made it into the Top 10, according to Billboard. Her music and her videos have continued to lead the music conversation, if not completely own it. (Hello, who wasn’t talking about the masterpiece that was Lemonade last year?) So, why don’t the charts reflect that?
That’s actually a pretty easy mystery to solve by looking at how she released her last two albums.
