April 30,2014
We’re counting down the five most popular songs on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending May 3, 2014.
Movement! We get movement in this week’s lineup! Granted, it’s just two songs shifting places, but at this point we'll take what we can get.
We start with Idina Menzel, still mired in fifth place with “Let It Go.” This track carries special meaning for the songwriters. Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez dedicated “Let It Go” to their daughters, Katie and Annie - who both had roles in Frozen. The song took an Academy Award for Best Song - giving Robert Lopez a coveted EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.
Dropping a notch is Katy Perry, who may have a new boyfriend. Katy backs off a slot to fourth place with her former champ “Dark Horse,” featuring Juicy J of the group Three 6 Mafia. On April 24, Katy hit the town in New York City with dance producer Diplo. The following night, she attended a birthday party where Diplo was DJ-ing. They reportedly first got together a couple weeks ago at the Coachella Festival in California.
Rising a slot to third place is Jason Derulo, with “Talk Dirty” featuring 2 Chainz. Jason says his new album was therapy after he nearly died. In 2012, he sustained a neck injury which almost left him paralyzed and could have been fatal. Jason says after cancelling his world tour, he hit the recording studio as therapy. He says having no deadlines enabled him to work himself out of any post-injury depression. The new album - also titled Talk Dirty - arrived on April 15.
John Legend remains in the runner-up slot with “All Of Me.” And he's moving into movies. John's reportedly tapped Cary Fukunaga to direct a big-screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography The Black Count. John, his manager, Troy Carter, and Sony’s Josh Bratman will executive produce the project.
Another week, another championship for Pharrell Williams, as “Happy” holds first place for a ninth go-round. Pharrell says it wasn’t an easy song to write. He wrote it specifically for the animated movie Despicable Me 2. Pharrell told National Public Radio that he created seven to nine different songs to fit its scene, and credits the movie studio with spurring him to do better each time.
Will next week’s lineup hold some surprises? Join us in seven days and we’ll find out together.