After spending three consecutive weeks at No. 2, Eminem and Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie" finally tops Katy Perry's "California Gurls" [sic] on the Billboard Hot 100, ending it's excruciatingly long six week stay at the summit. This marks Eminem's fourth No. 1 single, and Rihanna's seventh.
"Love The Way You Lie" appeared on charts as soon as Eminem's Recovery album was available for download. After selling 338,000 digital downloads in a week, the song materialized at No. 2. Strong first week sales for this track were to be expected; Eminem fans already proved their loyalty and buying power earlier this year when they sent "Not Afriad" to the penthouse on the strength of downloads alone. Teaming him up with Rihanna, a singer with an amazing batting average on the Hot 100, could only improve the single's showing.
With radio still focused on "Not Afraid", "Way You Lie" was expected to drop the following week as sales cooled. Instead, Slim Shady and Riri stayed put at No. 2. Surprisingly, the song actually gained radio airplay rapidly following its release. It jumped from being the 34th most played song on American radio, to 15th, and then last week, it cracked the top ten, coming in at 7. Consumers also latched onto the song. Last week, "Way You Lie" had its best selling week, shifting 352,000 digital downloads.
Recovery remains the top selling album in the country for a fourth week, and the success of songs like "Not Afraid" and "Love The Way You Lie" are a major reason why. Not only are rap radio programmers and fans listening to and buying these songs, but pop radio is involved too.
Billboard reported that CBS Radio VP/programming and WXRK program director Dom Theodore admits to having "no issues playing both songs, given the audience demand."
"'Love the Way You Lie' will easily be a No. 1 record. It's a very powerful song and is showing early research traction," Theodore said last week.
KIIS APD/MD Julie Pilat says that, "when 'Not Afraid' came out, it seemed, at first, like a 'street single.' As soon as it started to cross over to pop radio, Eminem dropped ('Recovery') and people discovered 'Love the Way You Lie.'
"I think that if anyone had doubts that Eminem was back while 'Not Afraid' was climbing the chart, 'Love the Way You Lie' closed the deal. Plus, Rihanna's voice on the hook is hypnotic. There's a ton of depth to this artist and album. Listeners want as much as they can get."
I haven't been this excited for a No. 1 single for a long time. Well done Eminem and Rihanna.
1. "Love The Way You Lie" - Eminem feat. Rihanna
2. "California Gurls" - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
3. "Airplanes" - B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams
4. "Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
5. "OMG" - Usher feat. Will.i.am
6. "Cooler Than Me" - Mike Posner
7. "Billionaire" - Travis McCoy feat. Bruno Mars
8. "I Like It" - Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull
9. "Find Your Love" - Drake
10. "Ridin' Solo" - Jason Derulo
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