Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 12/12/2012 at 4:42 PM News

The Popdust Files: Billboard, bruno mars, charts, locked out of heaven

Here’s a list of some artists who have only had four #1 singles to date for their career: The Beach Boys, the Temptations, Eminem, Blondie, Bon Jovi, Cher, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Rod Stewart, The Jackson 5, Kanye West. Pretty good crew, no? Bruno Mars can now count himself among the ranks of those four-timers, doing so in under three years, between his guest appearance on B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ on You” (his first #1 with his first-ever appearance on record) and this week, when his Unorthodox Jukebox lead single “Locked Out of Heaven” takes over from Rihanna’s “Diamonds” on top of the Hot 100.

The quartet of chart-toppers (“Nothin’,” “Locked Out,” “Grenade” and “Just the Way You Are”) in just 30-something months is the quickest any male artist has gotten to four number ones in a long time—since the mid-’60s, when Bobby Vinton did so with “Mr. Lonely,” “Blue Velvet,” “Roses are Red (My Love)” and “There! I’ve Said It Again.” Pretty good for a self-made guy that’s mostly succeeded entirely on his own terms, without being part of any bigger scene or sound or anything. It’ll be interesting to see how many more Bruno can rack up before all is said and done.

Rest of the chart is pretty boring, but it’s funny to see that Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” is entering the Top 40 for the first time this week, nearly 20 years after its release. The fact that it didn’t have an official single release prevented it from charting back then, and rules against songs charting as repertory tracks prevented it from doing so since, but recent rule changes allowing old songs to re-chart mean that holiday sales and airplay of the song have it entering the chart at #38 this week.

Considering there’s no reason for the song to specifically re-chart this holiday season aside from it being probably the most beloved Christmas pop song of maybe ever, it seems like it’s pretty likely Carey’s song will re-chart every December from now until the end of time. Seems fair to us.

[Billboard]