CULTURE

Ariana Grande Just Matched a Billboard Chart Record Only Ever Achieved by the Beatles

She's all over the Billboard charts.

Feb. 19, 2019

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Barely a week after winning her first Grammy, Ariana Grande is celebrating yet another major career milestone. On Tuesday, Billboard announced that Grande’s songs “7 Rings,” “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored,” and “Thank U, Next,” all off her new album, also named Thank U, Next, hold the top three spots, in that order, on its Hot 100 chart.

Grande’s history-making achievement marks only the second time that a musical act has ruled the top three spots in the Hot 100 chart’s 60-year history. First to do it were the Beatles, whose “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” and “Please Please Me” took over the list in the spring of 1964, not long after the Hot 100’s 1958 inception; they held on to those positions—albeit with different songs—for a total of five weeks. That makes Grande the first solo artist to set the record, a feat that even she seemed amazed by.

After expressing some confusion about others’ tweets about the achievement, Grande expressed her profuse gratitude and continued bewilderment in several posts of her own. “i laughed when i saw this bc i thought y’all edited it,” she captioned a photo of the Billboard chart. “thank u from the bottom of my heart. for so many reasons. first time since the beatles huh (and first time for a solo artist?). that’s wild. i thought this was a joke when i saw it i’m not kidding. i love u. so much. always have n will. thank u for everything. i cant believe this is real fr. thanks for making history w ya girl today. and for making me feel loved. bye crying.”

Although her music is certainly deserving of the honor on its own, Grande has her fans to thank for giving “Break Up With Your Girlfriend” an extra push into the number-two slot. Earlier this month, after she simultaneously released her new album and the music video for the dance-y track, her fans launched a campaign to “boycott” her previous single “7 Rings” to make room for “Break Up With Your Girlfriend” to debut at the top spot. Though it didn’t exactly work the way they planned, the tongue-in-cheek boycott likely played a role in clustering Grande’s tracks together at the very top of the Hot 100, securing what may be an even more prestigious feat than yet another number-one debut.

Not long after the Beatles claimed the top three spots on the Hot 100, in April 1964, they held the top five positions when “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Twist and Shout” joined the other three singles at the top of the charts. It’s only a matter of time before Grande (and her fans) say “thank u, next” to John, Paul, George, and Ringo and match that record too.