John Legend’s “All of Me” hit #1 in 30th week on chart

All of Me John Legend

Writer(s): John Stephens/ Toby Gad (see lyrics here) Released: August 12, 2013 First Charted: September 21, 2013 Peak: 13 US, 15 RR, 17 BA, 110 AC, 14 A40, 13 RB, 2 UK, 15 CN, 13 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 14.0 US, 2.16 UK, 17.33 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1580.0 video, 2079.05 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “All of Me” took 30 weeks to hit the top of the pop charts, the third-longest climb to the top after Los Del Rio’s “Macarena” and Lonestar’s “Amazed.” A major factor was Legend’s performance of the song at the Grammys in January 2014. As Legend told Billboard, “By all rights, I shouldn’t have gotten that slot to perform by myself…but producer Ken Ehrlich believed in the song and thought it was special enough to deserve its own slot.” SF The song sent him not only to #1 in the U.S., but in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland. Rolling Stone’s Jon Dolan called the song a “mountainous piano crusher” WK and Exclaim!’s Ryan Patrick praised what he called “Legend’s current commercially friendly, sentimental sound.” WK Legend premiered the song in June 2013 on Oprah Winfrey’s prime-time television show Oprah’s Next Chapter. It was the third single from his Love in the Future album. Previous singles “Who Do We Think We Are” and “Made to Love” failed to chart. In fact, Legend’s last song to hit the pop charts had been in 2008 with “Green Light,” one of only two Legend songs to hit the top 40. The other was “Ordinary People” in 2005. In fact, in a ten-year career, Legend had only hit the Hot 100 four times, leading to the suspicion that he’d be a respected name in the music industry, but one who never had a major hit. Legend co-wrote this piano-driven ballad with songwriter Toby Gad (Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy”). She suggested to Legend that he write a song as a dedication to model Chrissy Teigen, his then-fiancee and later wife, in the vein of Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman.” SF As he told BBC News about Teigen, “She’s definitely affected my songwriting.” SF The two met in 2007 on the set of his video for “Stereo” and married in 2013 in September 14. The black-and-white video, shot just days before the couple’s wedding in Italy, features the two making love and finishes with footage from their actual wedding. Legend sang the song to her during the wedding. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for John Legend SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 7/21/2023.

Fergie hit #1 with “Big Girls Don’t Cry”

Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) Fergie

Writer(s): Stacy Ferguson, Toby Gad (see lyrics here) Released: May 22, 2007 First Charted: May 5, 2007 Peak: 11 US, 17 BA, 18 RR, 16 AC, 17 A40, 2 UK, 13 CN, 19 AU, 24 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.6 UK, 6.39 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.8 radio, 596.7 video, 496.67 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Fergie was with the band Wild Orchid for ten years before joining the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas in 2002. The group took off with her as a member – the albums Elephunk (2003) and Monkey Business (2005) moved 8 and 10 million copies worldwide respectively. In 2006, Fergie decided to release her first solo album – The Dutchess. With 9 million in sales worldwide, it matched her group efforts and the album’s five top-five singles gave her even more chart success as a solo act than what the Peas had previously achieved. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was the fourth single from the album and the third to top the Billboard Hot 100. It made her the first female artist since Christina Aguilera in 2000 to have three #1 songs from an album. BB Instead of relying on the hip hop and urban elements of the previous singles, this one was an acoustic-based ballad featuring credits from about thirty instrumentalists, including eighteen violinists and players on viola, celli, bass, drums, and keyboards. WK The song is about breaking up with someone, but reminiscing about what that person was like. Fergie told AOL the song, which she wrote before she joined the Black Eyed Peas, was about independence. SF About.com’s Bill Lamb noted that it represented artistic growth for Fergie and UKMix.org’s Alex MacGregor praised the song as timeless. WK “Big Girls” also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. WK and was Fergie's first No. 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Top 40, Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 charts. BB It was iTunes most-downloaded song in 2007. SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fergie BB Billboard (9/08). “All-Time Hot 100” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 8/6/2023.