Laissez les bon temps roulez! That’s Happy Mardi Gras, Y’all.

It was a big weekend for entertainment in NYC. The NBA All-Star Weekend festivities featured several artists both performing and sitting on the sidelines. There was SNL’s 40th Anniversary Show…and for those lucky enough to be invited to the SNL 40th Anniversary After-Party, there was a great jam session from several of the performers on the big show, including Prince, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Jimmy Fallon and more, backed by The Roots. The cell phone videos that have gone viral prove that a splendid time was had by all. I guess our invitations got lost in the mail. Oh, and it’s freezing and it snowed. Everywhere but in Cali, apparently…

Now to the business of the business: Mark Ronson f/Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” holds down the #1 position on the chart for the fourth week in a row. Riccitelli, JR, Strazza, Daddio and Cooper also have Pitbull f/Ne-Yo’s “Time of Our Lives” climbing up to #7 and Usher f/Juicy J’s “I Don’t Mind” moving Top 20 and picking up KXXM, WIHT and WNKS to add to their list of majors already in. Kelly Clarkson’s “Heartbeat Song” picks up WKTU, WIOQ and WDJX and moves inside the Top 25. Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance” had a huge launch week with 40+ believers on the board.

Epic’s Glassman continues the battle for top of the chart with Meghan Trainor’s “Lips Are Movin”; the single’s already sold over 3.5m copies. Zara Larsson’s “Uncover” is off and running with over 30 stations already on board. This week, they launch Life of Dillon’s “Overload” with SiriusXM Hits 1, WWPW and WDZH and more already on board.

Ella Henderson’s “Ghost” (SYCO/Columbia) is ready to move Top 10, and Columbia’s Leipsner, Borris and Vaughan have been all smiles since her halftime performance at the NBA All Star Game. Radio clearly paid attention to that callout story on labelmate One Direction’s “Night Changes,” as it moves up inside the Top 20 with WBLI, WNCI and WIHT all posting big spin increases last week. Meanwhile, Calvin Harris f/Ellie Goulding’s “Outside” moves Top 15 after seven weeks on the chart; WXSS, KDND and WEZB are all new this week. LunchMoney Lewis’ “Bills” is off to the races with lots of major-market airplay on board out of the box; look for this one to chart soon! Olly Murs f/Travie McCoy’s “Wrapped Up” is also chart-bound, already picking up over 40 stations this week, including KYLD and WIOQ.


Warner Bros.’ Gray, Dyer and Reich have Echosmith’s “Bright” ready to chart with over 70 stations already playing, including Hits 1, WRNW and WRVW. They’ve even got a Top 10 Shazam number in Nashville off their early airplay already.

Def Jam’s Sackheim, Chester, Rothschild and Farag really have things kickin’ into high gear with this week’s launch of Axwell^Ingrosso’s “Something New” with early airplay from Y100, WDZH and WFLC. Oh, and it’s already Top 15 on Shazam in Miami. Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney’s “FourFiveSeconds” (Roc Nation) is ready to move Top 10 with over 71m in audience already, while it sits at #2 on the iTunes and Shazam charts this week. Kanye West f/Paul McCartney’s “Only One” is bubbling just under and a week away from impact. By the way, they already have 40ish adds on the board (and counting) for Iggy Azalea f/Jennifer Hudson’s “Trouble.”

Capitol’s Reese, Rainy, Youngblood and Siciliano are still grinning from Grammy week but wasting no time charting two new singles this week with Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down,” as it explodes on to the chart this week and lands at #39, and Tori Kelly’s “Nobody Love,” which hits #34.

Hollywood’s Finck and Smith are off to the races with Andy Grammer’s “Honey, I’m Good” (S-Curve), which has picked up new airplay from Hits 1, KMXV and WQEN. Did you see the big Shazam gains on this song?


Republic’s CW, Spangler and Russell have their hands full with some huge hits, starting off with Taylor Swift’s “Style” (Big Machine), which is ready to go Top 5 and looks destined for the top of chart. After 21 weeks on the chart, Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries” is still gaining spins and can be heard on every major sporting event at least 10 times a game. Nick Jonas’ “Chains” (Island) moves Top 25, and right behind him is Natalie La Rose f/Jeremih’s “ Somebody” (IMG), which picked up WKSS, KQMV and WNTQ. I think the latter might be the Spring Break song heard all up and down the coast of Florida this year. “Shots, shots, shots!” Check out the newly released video above.

Tove Lo’s “Talking Body” (Island) is on 100+ stations, and KYLD just moved it to power based on their callout. Ariana Grande came screaming onto the chart this week, debuting at #28. She’s had some amazing TV performances over the past couple of weeks; the NBA All Star halftime performance and Jimmy Fallon were both outstanding. Jessie J’s “Masterpiece” moves Top 30, as does Nicki Minaj f/Drake & Lil Wayne’s “Tuffle Butter” (YMCMB). Who is Fancy’s “Goodbye” is impacting now. The project is the latest Scooter Braun/Scott Borchetta signing; early adds include Z100, KJKS, KBKS and 40+ more already in and counting.

MUSIC WE LOVE: Betty Who’s “All of You,” Alesso’s “Cool”