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Bruno Mars Lands Fifth Hot 100 No. 1 With ‘When I Was Your Man’

Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man" advances 2-1 on the Billboard Hot 100, granting the pop singer/songwriter his fifth leading title. It also marks just the second No. 1 in the chart's more than…

Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” advances 2-1 on the Billboard Hot 100, granting the pop singer/songwriter his fifth leading title. It also marks just the second No. 1 in the chart’s more than five-decade history for a song featuring piano and vocals exclusively.

With five No. 1s, Mars ranks behind only Michael Jackson (13); Stevie Wonder (10); Elton John, Paul McCartney, Usher (nine each); George Michael (eight); Phil Collins, Elvis Presley (seven each; Presley’s career predates the Hot 100’s Aug. 4, 1958, launch) for the most toppers among male soloists. Diddy, Ludacris, Prince and Lionel Richie also boast five No. 1s apiece.

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Incredibly, Mars has racked his first five Hot 100 No. 1s faster than any male since Elvis Presley. Mars’ span since first arriving on the chart the week of Feb. 13, 2010, is just three years, two months and one week. Only the late Presley reached five leaders more quickly, over just two years, seven months and three weeks, from the chart’s inception through March 25, 1961.

As if company with the King isn’t enough, Mars also notches just the second No. 1 in the Hot 100’s archives featuring only piano and vocals. Adele first scored such a hit with “Someone Like You,” which reigned for five weeks in late 2011. That ballad showcases Adele on vocals and Dan Wilson on piano. Mars sings and plays piano on “Man,” which is the first ballad since “Someone” to command the Hot 100.

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“Man” moves to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with top Digital Gainer honors, jumping to the top of the Nielsen SoundScan-powered Digital Songs survey (4-1). It soars by 45% to 340,000 downloads sold to become his sixth No. 1 on Digital Songs (and passes 2 million sold to date). The song was sale priced in both the iTunes and Amazon MP3 stores last week for $0.69, down from the standard $1.29 price of most current hits.

“Man” posts a third week atop the Nielsen BDS-based Radio Songs airplay chart (149 million in all-format audience, up 5%) and climbs 5-3 on Streaming Songs with a 7% increase to 4.9 million streams, according to BDS. (As previously reported, “Man” marks Mars’ sixth No. 1 on the mainstream top 40-based Pop Songs airplay chart, the highest total among solo males.)

“Man” dethrones Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop,” featuring Wanz, after six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. The track holds at No. 2 on Streaming Songs (8.7 million, down 12%) and falls 2-4 on Digital Songs (211,000, down 25%) and 3-4 on Radio Songs (100 million, down 8%). It rules Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a 13th week.

“Man” overthrows “Shop” atop the Hot 100 with a 23% gain in overall points, while the latter song slides by 17%.

P!nk’s “Just Give Me a Reason,” featuring fun.’s Nate Ruess, pushes 5-3 on the Hot 100 with top Airplay Gainer kudos for a second straight week. It jumps 13-7 on Radio Songs, becoming her 15th top 10 on the tally, with a 30% gain to 82 million. “Reason” rises 10-6 on Streaming Songs (4 million, up 21%), while retreating to No. 2 on Digital Songs (280,000, down 2%) after reaching No. 1 last week.

Rihanna’s “Stay,” featuring Mikky Ekko, rebounds 6-4 on the Hot 100, highlighted by a 5-3 advance on Radio Songs (111 million, up 19%), while Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie,” featuring Jay-Z, dips 3-5; the latter song holds at No. 2 on Radio Songs with a less than 1% uptick to 124 million. (Follow-up “Mirrors” slips to No. 12 from its No. 11 peak to date on the Hot 100, although it retains its bullet, bounding 56-32 on Radio Songs with an 81% swell to 38 million).

Baauer’s former five-week Hot 100 No. 1 “Harlem Shake” falls 4-6, driven largely by a 31% loss to 9.7 million streams. Still, it leads Streaming Songs for an eighth frame.

While Macklemore & Lewis depart the Hot 100’s top spot, the pair vaults to its second top 10, as “Can’t Hold Us,” featuring Ray Dalton, roars 15-7. The cut charges 9-6 on Digital Songs (186,000, up 37%), 21-15 on Streaming Songs (2.8 million, up 34%) and 39-22 on Radio Songs (45 million, up 54%). (“Hold” holds at No. 24 on Pop Songs, while the twosome’s pro-marriage equality track “Same Love” (featuring Mary Lambert), also from its album “The Heist,” enters Alternative Songs at No. 35.)

Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” blasts back onto the Hot 100, re-entering at No. 8. It surges 42-3 on Digital Songs (248,000; up 372%). The duo benefits from two Academy Country Music Awards wins on Sunday (April 7), broadcast on CBS, as well as its performance of “Cruise” on the show. A new remix of the song with Nelly was also commercially released last week and accounts for 75% (186,000) of the song’s overall sales for the week (while the original version increases by 19% to 62,000).

“Cruise” concurrently returns to No. 1 on Hot Country Songs for a sixth nonconsecutive week. It first crowned the ranking the week of Dec. 22, 2012, while promoted to country radio; it topped Country Airplay for three weeks that month. With the assistance of Nelly, “Cruise” sails 38-31 in its second week on Pop Songs.

“Cruise” had risen as high as No. 16 on the Hot 100 in December until its return this week.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Drake’s “Started From the Bottom” descends 8-9 and Pitbulll’s “Feel This Moment,” featuring Christina Aguilera, backtracks 9-10 (*Updated).

Check Billboard.com tomorrow (April 11), when all rankings, including the Hot 100 and On-Demand Songs in their entirety and Digital Songs and Radio Songs, will be refreshed, as they are each Thursday.