By Hunter Schwarz
Kelly Clarkson set a new record for the biggest jump to number one in U.S. chart history this week as her single “My Life Would Suck Without You” leapt from No. 97 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
With 280,000 digital downloads reported by Neilson Soundscan, the song became her first chart topping single since “A Moment Like This” in 2002. This also marks the second time Clarkson has set the record for biggest jump to No. 1.
Benefiting from the media exposure surrounding her “American Idol” victory, “A Moment Like This” sold enough CD singles to move from No. 52 to No. 1 in a single week, breaking the Beatle’s 38-year-old record. Since then, the record has been broken five times, most recently by Britney Spears’ “Womanizer,” which moved to the top slot from No. 96 last October.
Such large movements in the charts have become more commonplace since Feb. 2005 when Billboard began including digital downloads to calculate the most popular songs in the country. Prior to the change, the Hot 100 was determined by radio airplay making such dramatic jumps to the top slot impossible.
