50 years ago: Janis Joplin charted with “Piece of My Heart”

Piece of My Heart Big Brother & the Holding Company

Writer(s): Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 31, 1968 Peak: 12 US, 14 CB, 14 HR, 1 CL, 9 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.03 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 53.6 video, 154.6 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee bio, Janis Joplin is described as “the greatest white urban blues and soul singer of her generation.” RH In 1968, she was still forging that voice, having come off a triumphant performance at the Monterey Pop Festival the summer before. Her San Francisco-based group, Big Brother & the Holding Company, charted soon after with their self-titled debut, but it stalled at #60. Their second album, Cheap Thrills, fared better, spending a whopping eight weeks atop the charts. The same week the album launched its chart run, Janis & Co. hit the Billboard Hot 100 with their maiden entry, “Piece of My Heart.” The song peaked at #12, but reached iconic status. It has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and is featured on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of “The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.” The song was written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns. Erma Franklin, the sister of Rock Hall inductee Aretha Franklin, recorded the song in 1967 and took it to the top ten in the R&B charts. Big Brother & the Holding Company’s rendition a year later has become the definitive version, but it has been notably covered by others, including Dusty Springfield, Sammy Hagar, Faith Hill, and as a duet between Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone. Joplin embarked on a solo journey after Cheap Thrills, but her days were numbered. A heroin overdose cut her life short at 27 years old on October 4, 1970. 1971’s Pearl and “Me and Bobby McGee” were posthumous #1 hits. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Big Brother & the Holding Company RH Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (inductee bio) Related Links: First posted 8/31/2011; last updated 7/24/2022.

Top 50 Songs of 2016

Dave’s Music Database: Top 50 Songs of 2016

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%: The Chainsmokers with Halsey “Closer” Drake with WizKid & Kyla “One Dance” Justin Timberlake “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” Sia with Sean Paul “Cheap Thrills” Rihanna with Drake “Work” Bruno Mars “That’s What I Like” (2016) The Weeknd with Daft Punk “Starboy” DMDB Top 2%: Pinkfong! “Baby Shark” Twenty One Pilots “Heathens” Rae Sremmurd with Gucci Mane “Black Beatles” The Chainsmokers with Daya “Don’t Let Me Down” Beyoncé “Formation” Calvin Harris & Rihanna “This Is What You Came For” DMDB Top 5%: James Arthur “Say You Won’t Let Go” Bruno Mars “24K Magic” Shawn Mendes “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” Shawn Mendes “Treat You Better” Zayn “Pillow Talk” Fifth Harmony with Ty Dolla $ign “Work from Home” Post Malone with Quavo “Congratulations” Migos with Lil Uzi Vert “Bad and Boujee” Major Lazer with Justin Bieber & MØ “Cold Water” DJ Snake with Justin Bieber “Let Me Love You” Ariana Grande with Nicki Minaj “Side to Side” Clean Bandit with Sean Paul & Anne-Marie “Rockabye” Bruno Mars with Cardi B “Finesse” Florida Georgia Line “H.O.L.Y” Zayn with Taylor Swift “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” Maroon 5 with Kendrick Lamar “Don’t Wanna Know” Lizzo “Good As Hell” Rihanna “Needed Me” The Lumineers “Ophelia” Charlie Puth with Selena Gomez “We Don’t Talk Anymore” The Weeknd with Daft Punk “I Feel It Coming” Rag ‘n’ Bone Man “Human” Saint JHN with Imanbek “Roses” Leonard Cohen “You Want It Darker” D.R.A.M. with Lil Yachty “Broccoli” Childish Gambino “Redbone” Gnash with Olivia O’Brien “I Hate U, I Love U” Keith Urban “Blue Ain’t Your Color” (2016) Dwayne Johnson “You’re Welcome” Ariana Grande “Into You” Alice Merton “No Roots” Little Big Town “Better Man” Post Malone “I Fall Apart” Drake with Rihanna “Too Good” Rihanna “Love on the Brain” Future with the Weeknd “Low Life” Hailee Stenfield with Grey & Zedd “Starving” 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.

Sia hit #1 with “Cheap Thrills”

Cheap Thrills Sia with Sean Paul

Writer(s): Sia Furler, Greg Kurstin, Sean Paul Henriques (see lyrics here) Released: February 11, 2016 First Charted: March 5, 2016 Peak: 14 US, 18 BA, 16 RR, 2 AC, 17 A40, 2 UK, 14 CN, 6 AU, 21 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.76 UK, 11.1 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2032.0 video, 1623.43 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Australian singer Sia had been around as a performer for years and toyed with the idea of switching gears and just being a songwriter. She initially wrote “Cheap Thrills” with Rihanna in mind since the Barbados singer had already found chart-topping success with the Sia-penned “Diamonds.” However, Rihanna’s people wanted something more soulful and turned it down. Sia realized it “sounded a little bit too Brit-pop for her” but thought there was “something really uplifting about it that put me in a good mood.” SF Shen ended up recording it herself for her seventh album, This Is Acting. A remix of the song featuring reggae artist Sean Paul was released as the album’s second single. When Sia approached Paul, he listened to the song and thought, “What a big sound, nice hook and melody she had put down. I’m a huge fan of her voice. She spans generations.” SF The “synthpop and dancehall song” WK went all the way to #1 on the BillboardHot 100. It was her first chart-topper as a performer and Paul’s fourth trip to the pinnacle. “Cheap Thrills” was also a #1 in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Slovenia and a top 10 in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. WK It became the all-time best-selling song in Italy. WK It was the most “Shazamed” of the year, meaning more people used the music identification app Shazam to identify this song in 2016 than any other song. SF The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos called the song a “bouncy party anthem” and NME’s Nick Levine said “there’s no denying this is another superior slab of on-trend ear candy from one of pop’s finest songwriters.” WK Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Sia DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Sean Paul SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 7/24/2023.