Mariah Carey Surpasses Elvis in No. 1 Hits

by Jarrett Martineau | April 2, 2008 at 05:07 pm

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Ain't this sweet? And all it took was a raunchy lil' "Touch My Body" number from Ms. Carey to catapult her past Elvis into the number two spot on Billboard's all-time No.1 hit singles chart.

LOS ANGELES - With her 18th chart-topper "Touch My Body," Mariah Carey has passed Elvis Presley for the most No. 1 singles on the Billboard singles chart, and is now second only to the Beatles. But while the diva was in full celebration mode after learning of her latest milestone, she was also quick to put her accomplishment in perspective.

"I really can never put myself in the category of people who have not only revolutionized music but also changed the world," Carey told The Associated Press on Tuesday via phone from London. "That's a completely different era and time ... I'm just feeling really happy and grateful."

Carey's single is the new No. 1 single on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart: The song also is No. 1 on the trade magazine's digital download chart thanks to a precedent-setting 286,000 downloads in its debut week. She had been tied with Presley with 17 No. 1 singles; the Beatles are the all-time leaders with 20. (Madonna also beat a Presley record this week, surpassing the King for the most top 10 hits with her 37th for her hit "4 Minutes.")

Tom Alderman of The Huffington Post, however, takes issue with the AP's report, citing its failure to provide sufficient context for these statistics. Alderman argues that, unlike the Beatles' and Elvis' hits, which were a result of the sale of physical albums (and vinyl records at that), Carey's success has been largely dependent on changes in technology and distribution within the music industry.

The AP runs a story announcing to the world that Mariah Carey has surpassed Elvis for the most sold No. 1 singles on the Billboard Chart, and is now second only to the Beatles in single sales. Big. And statistically correct. But statistics, like everything, should be viewed in context. [...]

Ms. Carey is appropriately humbled. The AP story says Ms. Carey is gratified not only because of her personal success, but what it meant for women and minorities. "That's a completely different era and time. I'm just feeling really happy and grateful," she said.

She certainly is justified feeling grateful but it's less about women and minorities and more about technology and distribution. It was a completely different era. Elvis and the Beatles sold their music in the mostly vinyl 45 & LP era where customers schlepped through city streets and malls to stores called Tower, Rose and Goody. Tower Records doesn't have stores anymore. Rose is gone and Sam Goody has no New York or Chicago location and its only Southern California outlet is in San Diego, California's second largest city.

Ms. Carey's time is the steroidal, digital download era where music is just a 99 cent click away, in-between meetings at the office. Digital downloads have created a tsunamical change in the music business. It's a given that many more record sales will be eclipsed in the download era. Ms. Carey can be proud she is among the first to demonstrate the power of digital sales. But to imply she's in the Elvis and Beatles sales league is like comparing Barry Bonds to Hank Aaron. Billboard might want to accompany Ms. Carey's success with an asterisk.