ARETHA FRANKLIN ... she had one of the most striking and impressive voices of the 20th century. An American icon, called 'Queen Of Soul'. Between 1967 and 1987 Aretha was ten times on the Global Chart. On August 16, she passed away, aged 76... Goodbye, Aretha!

USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Carrie Underwood makes country history
Thuesday, September 25, 2018
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Carrie Underwood lands her 4th No.1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as Cry Pretty starts atop the list. The set, which was released on Sept.14 via Capitol Nashville, bows with

266,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 20 according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 251,000 were in traditional album sales. With the arrival at No. 1, Underwood makes country history: she's the first woman to bring four country albums to the top of the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Of Cry Pretty’s 266,000 units, most were in album sales: 251,000, as noted above. The remainder was comprised of SEA units (11,000) and TEA units (4,000). First Woman to Take Four Country Albums to No. 1 on Billboard 200: Underwood is the first woman to hit the top of the Billboard 200 chart with four country albums: Cry Pretty, Blown Away (2012), Play On (2009) and Carnival Ride (2007). Cry Pretty’s launch of 266,000 units is the biggest for any country album since Aug. 29, 2015, when Luke Bryan’s Kill the Lights bowed at No. 1 with 345,000 units earned. Cry Pretty logs the biggest overall week for a country album by a woman since the charts began

ranking albums by equivalent album units in late 2014. Underwood supported the album’s first-week with interviews and performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Sept. 13) and The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Sept. 19) as well as an interview on CBS’ Sunday Morning (Sept. 16). Cry Pretty’s sizable first-week was supported by sales generated from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer, as well as sturdy sales via sellers like Target, Walmart, the iTunes Store and so forth. At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Eminem’s former No. 1 Kamikaze is steady with 103,000 units (down 24 percent). 6LACK arrives at No. 3 with his second album, East Atlanta Love Letter. It notches the singer-rapper his first top 10 effort and highest charting set yet and bows with 77,000 units (20,000 in traditional album sales). The streaming-powered set (which garnered 56,000 SEA units, equaling 72.7 million on-demand audio streams for its tracks). 6LACK’s first release, FREE 6LACK, debuted at No. 68 on the Dec. 10, 2016-dated chart with 10,000 units, and eventually peaked at No. 34 on the May 13, 2017-dated list (14,000 units -- the set’s largest week). Drake’s Scorpion steps 5-4 with 68,000 units (down 5 percent), Travis Scott’s Astroworld climbs 7-5 with 62,000 units (down 6 percent) and Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys ascends 8-6 with 47,000 units (down 2 percent). Ariana Grande’s Sweetener rebounds 10-7 with 38,000 units (down 13 percent), Paul McCartney’s Egypt Station slides 1-8 in its second week with 37,000 units (down 76 percent) and Nicki Minaj’s Queen rises 11-9 with 36,000 units (down 12 percent). Juice WRLD’s Goodbye & Good Riddance closes out the new top 10, stepping 12-10 with just over 36,000 units (down 3 percent). A pop song rules for the first time since January, ending a record 34-week streak of rap No. 1s. Maroon 5's "Girls Like You," featuring Cardi B, ascends to No. 1, after six weeks waiting at No. 2, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Sept. 29). Maroon 5 dethrones the 6 God, as Drake's "In My Feelings," which led the list for 10 weeks, drops to No. 2. Notably, "Girls" is the first pop song to top the Hot 100 since January, ending a record 34-week streak of rap No. 1s. Meanwhile, two tracks enter the Hot 100's top 10: Eminem's "Killshot" soars onto the chart at No. 3, arriving as the rapper's milestone 20th top 10, and 5 Seconds of Summer's "Youngblood" lifts 11-10, becoming the band's first top 10. "Girls," released on 222/Interscope Records and driven in part (especially early on in its chart run) by the buzz of its female star-studded video, becomes the 1,078th No. 1 in the Hot 100's 60-year history. The track tops the Radio Songs chart for a ninth week (127.6 million in audience in the week ending Sept. 23, up 2 percent, according to Nielsen Music). "Girls" dips 3-4 on Digital Song Sales (21,000 downloads sold, down 3 percent, in the week ending Sept. 20), after leading for six weeks, the band's longest rule on the list, and slides 7-10 on Streaming Songs (25.4 million U.S. streams, down 3 percent, in the week ending Sept. 20), where it reached No. 5. As for Cardi B, already the only female rapper with two Hot 100 No. 1s, she extends her record, as "Girls" becomes her third. Her debut smash "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)" led for three weeks beginning Oct. 7, 2017, and "I Like It," with Bad Bunny and J Balvin paced the July 7 chart. Rap's streak wraps up: "Girls" ends the record run of 34 consecutive weeks that rap songs had ruled the Hot 100. The streak began on Feb. 3 with Drake's "God's Plan" (for 11 weeks) and continued with his "Nice for What" (eight); Childish Gambino's "This Is America" (two); Post Malone's "Psycho," featuring Ty Dolla $ign (one); XXXTentacion's "Sad!" (one); Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin's "I Like It" (one); and Drake's "Feelings" (10). "Girls" (down 3 percent in overall activity) narrowly defeats Drake's "Feelings" (down 9 percent) atop the Hot 100, as the latter descends 3-5 on Streaming Songs (39 million, down 2 percent), 5-6 on Digital Song Sales (19,000, down 14 percent) and 5-8 on Radio Songs (67.3 million, down 20 percent). Eminem's Machine Gun Kelly diss track "Killshot" blasts onto the Hot 100 at No. 3. It starts as his 10th No. 1 on Digital Song Sales (38,000), and first since "The Monster," featuring Rihanna, in 2013, as he ties Drake for the most leaders among males; overall, they trail only Taylor Swift (15), Rihanna (14) and Katy Perry (11). The song soars onto Streaming Songs at No. 2 with 51.3 million U.S. streams. Eminem earns his 20th Hot 100 top 10, and third in a row in a three-week span, after "Lucky You" and "The Ringer" bowed at Nos. 6 and 8, respectively, on the Sept. 15-dated chart. He's the 19th act to tally at least 20 top 10s; among rappers, Eminem ties Lil Wayne for the third-best top 10 total, trailing only Drake (31) and JAY-Z (21).  COMPLETE CHARTS