Billboard Hot 100 Analysis, 9/8/2007

1. Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie

Yay!!! After 4 weeks poised at #2, Fergie finally climbs to the top spot, earning her third #1 Hot 100 hit. "Big Girls Don't Cry" is arguably her biggest, most accessible hit single, having already spent 8 weeks at #1 on the top 40 airplay chart. The single is also #1 this week on the Billboard Adult top 40 and recently hit #2 in the UK, making it her biggest hit in Britain. Additionally, it has hit #1 in countries like Canada, Brazil, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, making it her biggest hit internationally. Held back by "Hey There Delilah" and "Beautiful Girls," Fergie took her time hitting #1 with this single; "London Bridge" hit #1 in its third week, "Glamorous" hit #1 in its 9th week, but "Big Girls Don't Cry" took a leisurely 19 weeks to reach #1.

With this single, The Dutchess becomes the first album from a female artist to land three #1 hits since Christina Aguilera's 1999 debut did it with "Genie in a Bottle," "What a Girl Wants," and "Come on Over Baby." I can think of only four female artist's albums that managed four #1s: Whitney Houston's Whitney, Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814, and Mariah Carey's eponymous debut. No female artist has ever had five #1s from one album, in fact that only act that ever has is Michael Jackson with Bad.

2. Crank That - Soulja Boy

I don't anything about this song, but thank god it didn't keep Fergie from getting her #1. I just listened to the iTunes sample; sounds awful.

3. Stronger - Kanye West

"Stronger" climbs another two spots to #3. It's his biggest hit since his 2005 chart-topper, "Gold Digger." Kanye's third album, Graduation, is due September 11, the same week as 50 Cent's third album, Curtis. Despite not being a hip-hop fan, I actually really like this song, which liberally samples from Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger."

11. Rock Star - Nickelback

Nickelback is on the cusp of having their third top 10 hit from their latest album, All the Right Reasons, following #2 hit "Photograph" and #8 "Far Away." Along with top 20 hits "Savin' Me" and "If Everyone Cared," their latest album, having scored five top 40 hits, has far surpassed its other two major albums in its ability to generate hits, both of which each only had one top 40 hit: "How You Remind Me" from Silver Side Up and "Someday" from The Long Road.

16. Who Knew - Pink

2006 has been a renaissance year for Pink's Fourth album I'm Not Dead. Who'd have known the album's title would foretell its singles' performance. First single "Stupid Girls" hit #15 last year, but its follow-up, "Who Knew," petered out at a measly #95, marking the project as all but dead in the US while it continued to rack up hits abroad. Then came slow-burning "U+Ur Hand," which became Pink's 7th top 10 hit--and the album's biggest single--earlier this year, breathing new life into her career, and sending the re-release of "Who Knew" up the chart the way it deserved.

31. You Are the Music in Me - Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens

34. Gotta Go My Own Way - Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens

So the High School Musical 2 soundtrack's tracks didn't invade the Hot 100 the way its predecessor's soundtrack did, but it still scored three Hot 100 hits, including these two duets by its stars. The album's first single, "What Time is It?" initially hit #6 five weeks ago, but falls out of the top 40 this week. Zac Efron is just outside the top 40 at #46 with "Bet on It."