Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

is a chart published by '' Billboard'' ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

(AC) market. In 2011, eight different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

data from radio stations compiled by

Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned ...

. On the first chart of the year, the number one spot was held by Mariah Carey with "

Oh Santa! "Oh Santa!" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her second Christmas album and thirteenth studio album, ''Merry Christmas II You'' (2010). Carey wrote and produced the song in collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and Brya ...

", the song's third consecutive week at number one. It remained at the top of the chart for one further week before being replaced by the band

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

's song "

Hey, Soul Sister "Hey, Soul Sister" is a song by American rock band Train. It was written by lead singer Pat Monahan, Amund Bjørklund, and Espen Lind. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, '' Save Me, San Francisco'' (2009) ...

". Train's song had spent 19 weeks at number one during the previous year, and its return to the top spot took its total of 22 weeks at number one, the second-highest figure at the time for the AC listing behind only

Uncle Kracker Matthew Shafer (born June 6, 1974), also known by his stage name Uncle Kracker, is an American singer and musician. He was previously a turntablist for Kid Rock's backing group Twisted Brown Trucker and since 1999 has recorded as a solo artist. ...

's version of " Drift Away", which spent 28 weeks in the top spot in 2003 and 2004. Two artists held the top spot between them from early February to early November, with the exception of a single week.

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

topped the chart for 20 non-consecutive weeks with " Just the Way You Are" and

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

spent 19 consecutive weeks at number one with "

Rolling in the Deep "Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, '' 21'' (2011). It is the lead single and opening track on the album. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself de ...

". Both songs also topped ''Billboard''s all-genres chart, the Hot 100, as did Katy Perry's "

Firework Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices in ...

", the only song to interrupt Mars and Adele's nine-month domination of the AC number one position. All three songs topped the AC chart several months after peaking on the Hot 100, reflecting a trend for songs to cross over to the slower-moving adult contemporary radio format after their pop success had peaked. "Just the Way You Are"'s 20-week run at number one set a new record for the longest spell atop the AC chart by an artist's debut single, breaking a record previously jointly held by

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre. After signing with Universal Republic ...

and

Daniel Powter Daniel Richard Powter (; born February 25, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his self-penned hit song " Bad Day" (2005), which was top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for five weeks. Biography Early life Powter grew up in Verno ...

. Adele returned to the top spot for a single week in the issue of ''Billboard'' dated December 3 with " Someone like You", making her the only artist to have two AC number ones in 2011, and tying Mars for the highest number of weeks spent at number one by an act during the year. Having begun with a Christmas-themed song by Mariah Carey at number one, 2011 ended with a cover version of another in the top spot, as

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

s recording of Carey's 1994 song " All I Want for Christmas Is You" topped the chart for the last four weeks of the year. The song was part of a long-running trend of Christmas-themed songs topping the AC chart at the end of the year, reflecting the fact that adult contemporary radio stations usually switch to playing exclusively festive songs in December.

Chart history

Mariah Carey Neighborhood Ball in downtown Washington 2009 3-2

References

{{Adult Contemporary Chart 2011 Number-one adult contemporary singles United States Adult Contemporary

Chart history

See also

References