Every week, Scoreboard brings The Knockturnal readers the 411 on who is moving up and down the charts in the U.S., with an artist feature and a check-in on the international Scoreboard.
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated August 6, 2016
See the full chart at http://www.billboard.com/charts/artist-100
| Billboard Artist Top 10 | Name | Billboard 200 Album Rank | Billboard Hot 100 Singles | Highest Charting Single |
| 1 | Drake | 1 | 10 | 2: One Dance |
| 2 | Twenty One Pilots | 3 | 3 | 6: Ride |
| 3 | Rihanna | 4 | 5 | 3: This Is What You Came For |
| 4 | Justin Bieber | 22 | 2 | 37: Love Yourself |
| 5 | Adele | 7 | 1 | 10: Send My Love (To Your New Lover) |
| 6 | Beyoncé | 8 | 1 | 31: Sorry |
| 7 | Sia | 11 | 1 | 1: Cheap Thrills |
| 8 | Meghan Trainor | 15 | 2 | 14: Me Too |
| 9 | Katy Perry | − | 1 | 11: Rise |
| 10 | NEEDTO BREATHE | 2 | − |
On this week’s Scoreboard Drake maintains the #1 spot on the Artist 100, though it is a tough week for “One Dance,” which falls off of the #1 spot both on the Hot 100 (after 10 weeks) and on the British Singles Chart (after 15 weeks). Over in Britain, the new #1 is sure to blaze up the Hot 100 on next week’s Scoreboard given the star power of Major Lazer, MØ, and Justin Bieber getting together for “Cold Water,” a subdued acoustic collaboration that is a bit of a surprise following last year’s high energy hits “Lean On” and “What Do You Mean.” With such an anticipated release, first week at #1 is not surprising, the question is how long will Major Lazer and company stay on top.
Elsewhere on the Scoreboard is an appearance by South Carolina Christian rock band NEEDTOBREATHE, who come in at #10 on the Artist 100 and at #2 on the Billboard 200 with their new album H A R D L O V E. THEY TAKE YOU TO CHURCH WITH THE CAPS LOCK. Another new entry on the Artist Top 10 comes from Katy Perry, whose last charted single “This Is How We Do” dropped off the Hot 100 19 months ago. @katyperry is back not with a new album, but with a single for the upcoming Rio Summer Olympics called “Rise” that debuts at #11 on the Hot 100. If it sounds familiar, that is likely because it returns to the same themes of struggle and resilience as her 2014 Hot 100 #1 “Roar,” and just so you can compare the two easily, @katyperry performed the songs back to back at the Democratic National Convention this week. With the Olympics kicking off next week, “Rise” will surely do what its title orders on the charts.
Not at the Super Bowl
Artist Spotlight / International Scoreboard: Sia
Last week the Scoreboard highlighted the impressive climb of Sia‘s “Cheap Thrills” (ft. Sean Paul) to #3 on the Hot 100 and this week the hit ascends to #1 in its 23rd week on the chart, giving Sia her first #1 as a performer and putting Sean Paul back at #1 for the first time since 2006’s “Temperature.” Both Sia Furler and Sean Paul Henriques are music veterans (at 40 and 43 years of age) and Billboard provided an interesting nugget in the fact that “Cheap Thrills” is the first male-female collaboration of two artists over 40 to hit #1 on the Hot 100 since Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes went to #1 with Dirty Dancing’s “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” back in 1987. It has been a while since Dirty Dancing first came out, so Sia, originally from Adelaide, South Australia, has earned the Artist Spotlight and the International Scoreboard feature this week.
Sia’s road to #1 has not been typical. Although she came from a musical family in Adelaide and counted Colin Hay of ’80s Aussie stars Men At Work as an uncle, her early career in Australia was uneventful as a singer for acid jazz band Crisp. Sia then picked up momentum when she moved to London and provided vocals for triphop group Zero 7. By 2005, she had released three solo albums and moved to New York City, helped by the momentum of “Breathe Me,” a single off her third album that was used in the finale of HBO show Six Feet Under. Despite releasing two more solo albums, mainstream fame eluded Sia, but she found greater success as a songwriter and decided to retire from singing and stay full-time behind the scenes. Then David Guetta happened.
“Titanium” was intended for Alicia Keys, but Guetta used Sia’s original distinctive, crackling, and triumphant vocal on the single release and it became a global smash, going to #7 on the Hot 100. It even made it to Pitch Perfect. The “Titanium” formula was quickly recycled in Flo Rida collaboration “Wild Ones,” which became another huge global hit, reaching #5 on the Hot 100. Sia could no longer avoid the spotlight. But she did. By wearing a wig that hid her face and staging elaborate dance routines around her at concerts and in music videos, Sia established her own version of celebrity in which her voice and music are front and center, but not her face. In an interview with actress and Sia performance dancer Kristen Wiig, Sia told Wiig that “music is for your ears, not your eyes, right? But film is for your eyes, and I would like to give you something. I want you to be entertained. I want you to get the full package. I’d just rather it not center around whether or not I have cellulite.” With her new album This Is Acting, Sia continues to hide her face while giving fans elaborate music videos and thrilling Coachella performances.
Now that Sia is on the throne the question is where does she go from here? Scoreboard hopes that @siathisisacting continues taking her version of Artpop to the next level. Her U.S. tour starts September 23rd, get your tickets because this is acting!
This is Artpop
