Kid Laroi hit #1 with “Stay”

Stay The Kid Laroi with Justin Bieber

Writer(s): Charlton Howard, Justin Bieber, Magnus Høiberg, Charlie Puth, Omer Fedi, Blake Slatkin, Michael Mule, Isaac De Boni, Subhaan Rahmaan (see lyrics here) Released: July 9, 2021 First Charted: July 24, 2021 Peak: 17 US, 110 BA, 16 ST, 2 AC, 16 A40, 2 UK, 112 CN, 117 AU, 16 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 11.0 US, 1.8 UK, 17.66 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1219.92 video, 3296.98 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Australian singer/songwriter and rapper Kid Laroi was born Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard in 2003. His first album, the mixtape Fuck Love, was released in 2020 when he was just 16 years old. A deluxe edition, known as Fuck Love (Savage) was released later that year and added seven more songs. One of the songs was “Without You,” his ninth chart entry in Australia and first #1. It also reached the top 10 in the United States. In 2021, yet another version (Fuck Love 3: Lover You) was released and added seven more songs. The blockbuster, career-making song from that release was “Stay,” a collaboration with Justin Bieber, with whom he’d previously worked on the song “Unstable” from Beiber’s Justice album. “Stay” reached #1 in more than 20 countries, including Australia and the United States. Its 17 weeks at #1 in Australia made for the second-longest run in the chart’s history. It was Bieber’s eighth chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100 and Kid Laroi’s first. He was only the second Australian solo male artist (after Rick Springfield) top top the chart. Upon its release, Billboard appropriately said the song “sounds like it should push [Laroi] to a new level” of stardom. WK In addition to seven weeks at #1, the song spent a record non-consecutive 14 weeks at #2 and 23 weeks in the top three. It also became the first song in Billboard Hot 100 history to spend its first 40 weeks consecutively in the top 10. WK It was the most listened to song on Apple Music in 2022. SF Stereogum’s Chris DeVille described the fast-paced, snyth-pop song as “maniacally catchy.” WK It grew out of time with producers Charlie Puth and others about a year before its release. Puth came up with the song’s keyboard riff SF that “serves as the song’s spine and eventually becomes the chorus melody.” WK The lyrics explore a troubled relationship where the singer is at fault and begs his partner to stay with him, despite his broken promises. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Kid Laroi SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/11/2023; last updated 10/12/2024.

The Top 50 Songs of 2015

Dave’s Music Database: Top 50 Songs of 2015

These are the top 50 songs of the year based on their overall performance in Dave’s Music Database, which is determined by combining chart data, sales figures, streaming, video views, and aggregates from year-end lists. Check out “Top Songs and Albums of the Year” lists here. DMDB Top 1%: Adele “Hello” Wiz Khalifa with Charlie Puth “See You Again” The Weeknd “Can’t Feel My Face” Justin Bieber “Love Yourself” Justin Bieber “Sorry” The Weeknd “The Hills” Drake “Hotline Bling” Justin Bieber “What Do You Mean?” Lukas Graham “7 Years” Twenty One Pilots “Stressed Out” Silentó “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” DMDB Top 2%: Major Lazer with DJ Snake & MØ “Lean On” Ellie Goulding “Love Me Like You Do” Shawn Mendes “Stitches” Desiigner “Panda” Thomas Rhett “Die a Happy Man” Twenty One Pilots “Ride” DMDB Top 5%: Mike Posner “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” Disturbed “The Sound of Silence” X Ambassadors “Renegades” Jason Derulo “Want to Want Me” Little Big Town “Girl Crush” Rihanna with Kanye West & Paul McCartney “Four Five Seconds” Alan Walker “Faded” Coldplay with Beyoncé “Hymn for the Weekend” Chris Stapleton “Tennessee Whiskey” Rachel Platten “Fight Song” DNCE “Cake by the Ocean” Alessia Cara “Scars to Your Beautiful” Flo Rida “My House” Alessia Cara “Here” David Bowie “Lazarus” Adele “Send My Love to Your New Lover” The Chainsmokers with Rozes “Roses” Skrillex with Diplo & Justin Bieber “Where Are Ü Now” Kendrick Lamar “Alright” Coldplay “Adventure of a Lifetime” Calvin Harris & Disciples “How Deep Is Your Love” Beck “Dreams” G-Eazy with Bebe Rexha “Me, Myself & I” Charlie Puth & Meghan Trainor “Marvin Gaye” Selena Gomez with A$AP Rocky “Good for You” Mumford & Sons “Believe” David Bowie “Blackstar” Adele “When We Were Young” Andy Grammar “Honey I’m Good” Meghan Trainor & John Legend “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” Post Malone “White Iverson” Kendrick Lamar “King Kunta” Sam Hunt “Take Your Time” Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Top Songs and Albums by Year lists Dave’s Music Database: Songs of the Year lists First posted 12/26/2021; last updated 1/17/2023.

“See You Again” spent 12th week at #1

See You Again Wiz Khalifa with Charlie Puth

Writer(s): Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charlie Puth, Cameron Thomaz (see lyrics here) Released: March 10, 2015 First Charted: March 28, 2015 Peak: 112 US, 14 RR, 16 BA, 17 DG, 18 ST, 13 AC, 2 A40, 114 RB, 12 UK, 18 CN, 16 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 11.0 US, 1.48 UK, 20.90 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 5933.73 video, 1825.59 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Fast and Furious movie franchise, starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, focused on fast cars and racing. In a sad twist of fate, Walker died in a car accident in 2013. For the seventh movie in the franchise, producers wanted a song to serve as a goodbye to Walker. Charlie Puth, who’d penned “Slow Motion” by Trey Songz, answered the call for demos, imagining a final text from Diesel to Walker saying, “I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.” SF Puth was paired with Justin Franks, i.e. DJ Frank E, by his publishing company. WK The two shared a common bond which inspired the song – both lost friends to motorcycle accidents. Puth’s friend, Vail Cerullo, was a fellow student at Berklee College of Music and predicted Puth would write a #1 song. SF One account suggests Puth was surprised to find out his vocal would be used in the song, SF but he told The Talk TV show that he refused to contribute the song unless he sang the hook. WK His vocal wasn’t the only one on the song, however. Wiz Khalifa was also commissed to add rap verses, which he crafted around the subject of family. WK The song started at the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100, but picked up steam quickly, setting a record with its five-week ascent to the top for the fastest climb from #100 to #1. Only ten songs accomplished that feat; one of them was Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow.” SF The song’s twelve weeks atop the chart tied Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” as the longest run at #1 for a rap song. SF It was the biggest-selling song in the world in 2015. WK “See You Again” broke the record for Spotify’s most-streamed track in a single day with 4.26 million streams on April 17, 2015. SF In July 2017, it became the all-time most-watched music video on YouTube, surpassing the 2.8 billion views of PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” SF Its reign wasn’t long; the next month it was passed by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito.” SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Wiz Khalifa DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Charlie Puth SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 3/31/2024.