NEED TO KNOW
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Michael Jackson's "Chicago" debuted at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming his 52nd solo hit to chart.
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The song's resurgence in popularity was driven by TikTok and increased interest in streaming services following the success of the biopic Michael.
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«"Chicago" is Jackson's second-highest-charting song on the current Hot 100 chart, behind only "Billie Jean," which sits at No. 19.
Michael Jackson officially became the first and only artist to have a song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in every decade since the 1970s.
With the new song's arrival in the 2020s, Jackson has achieved new Hot 100 chart successes spanning six decades: 11 songs in the '70s, 20 in the '80s, 12 in the '90s, four in the 2000s, four in the 2010s, and now one in the 2020s.
His final chart appearance came with "Chicago," which debuted at No. 30 on the June 6 chart. Originally released on a posthumous album, Xscape 2014, nearly five years after the King of Pop's death in 2009, the song joins other singles Xscape, such as "Love Never Felt So Good" featuring Justin Timberlake, which peaked at No. 9, and "Slave to the Rhythm" at No. 45, as Hot 100 hits from the project.
Michael Jackson performs during the "Bad" tour in March 1988. Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Produced by Timbaland and JRoc and written by Cory Rooney, "Chicago" became Jackson's 52nd Hot 100 hit as a solo artist since "Got to Be There" in 1972. It is his first entry on the chart since Drake's "Don't Matter to Me," featuring Jackson, was released in 2018. The song became Jackson's 30th top 10 hit of his career, 13 of which have reached number one.
According to Luminate, the track garnered 10.7 million official on-demand streams in the US between May 22 and 28, up 30% from the previous week. According to the chart's rules, Billboard , older songs can enter the Hot 100 if they rank in the top 50 and show significant growth in consumption.
Michael Jackson in Chicago in April 1988. Photo: Paul Natkin/WireImage
"Chicago" entered the Hot 100 chart largely thanks to a surge in streaming popularity fueled by increased interest in Jackson's work after the biopic Michael Jackson became a box office hit. Notably, "Chicago" was never one of Jackson's biggest hits when it was originally released and isn't featured in the film. Instead, the song found new life thanks to social media, particularly TikTok, where it was introduced to a new generation of listeners.
The song currently has 388 million streams worldwide. According to Billboard , its popularity has been steadily growing: from 3.8 million plays on May 9 to 5.4 million on May 16, 6.9 million on May 23, and 8.3 million on May 30. On May 9 alone, the number of plays increased by 83% compared to the previous week.
Michael Jackson performs during halftime of Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena, California, in 1993. Photo: George Rose/Getty.
On the latest Hot 100 chart, "Chicago" is Jackson's second-highest-charting song, behind only "Billie Jean" (No. 19). It also comes in ahead of "Human Nature" (No. 31) and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (No. 43).
Earlier, on May 23, Jackson reached another major milestone on the Hot 100 chart when he had six songs simultaneously chart: "Billie Jean," "Human Nature," "Beat It," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Dirty Diana," and "Rock with You." All six songs reached the top 10 during their initial chart tenures, with five of them reaching number one.
Read the original article on People.