After its first three days of availability,
Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" rockets to a record-setting debut on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 radio airplay chart. And thanks to exceptionally strong opening digital sales estimates -- not to mention her eye-grabbing performance of the song at the Grammy Awards last night -- looks likely to storm the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1 when the latter list is released Wednesday. This, of course, would make the song the 1,000th No. 1 single in the Billboard Hot 100's history.
The first single and title track from the star's third studio album, due May 23, storms Mainstream Top 40 at No. 14 with 4,602 plays, according to Nielsen BDS, the highest detections total by a debuting title in the chart's 18-year history. Additionally, sources say that "Born" shifted more than 450,000 downloads its first three days of release since Friday morning.
Its big sales start, plus jaw-dropping radio launch, sets up the song's likely debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100. Not only would a No. 1 start represent just the Hot 100's 19th No. 1 opening, but, as previously reported, it would also mark the survey's 1,000th leader dating to its 1958 inception.
A bow of 450,000 downloads would secure Lady Gaga the biggest debut for a track by a woman, surpassing Britney Spears' bow with "Hold It Against Me" four weeks ago (411,000). If Gaga moves 450,000, it would also mark the fourth-largest debut among all digital tracks -- a remarkable feat, considering the song had less than three full days of sales availability.
The biggest start for a track overall belongs to Flo Rida's "Right Round," which started with 636,000 in February 2009. In second place: the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" (465,000); and, third: Flo Rida's "Low" (460,000).
The opening Mainstream Top 40 plays sum of 4,602 for "Born" (which translates to a first-week audience of 39.3 million) bests the mark established when "Hold It Against Me" arrived with 4,071 spins four weeks ago. (Spears' song debuted after a full seven days of airplay. "Born" sets the format opening-week plays mark after only three days of availability, following the song's arrival at radio early Friday).
By launching at No. 14, "Born" logs the second-highest start in the Mainstream Top 40 list's archives. Only Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover" began at a higher rank, having soared in at No. 12 the week of Aug. 14, 1993. "Hold It Against Me" and Madonna's "Frozen" (March 7, 1998) follow with No. 16 arrivals.
