The Kid LAROI has come from a land Down Under to reach the very top of the Billboard Hot 100.
The Australian rapper’s latest single, “Stay,” featuring Justin Bieber, has hit number one after debuting at number four four weeks ago. This is Justin’s eighth number one, but it’s the first one for LAROI. As Billboard notes, this makes him the first Australian-born male solo artist to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 40 years.
The last time that happened was in 1981, when Rick Springfield topped the chart with “Jessie’s Girl.” In fact, “Jessie’s Girl” hit number one the same day MTV launched. Springfield and LAROI are now the only solo males to top the Hot 100. The last Australian-born artist to top the Hot 100 period was Sia, who did it in 2016 with “Cheap Thrills.”
LAROI, who’ll turn 18 on August 17, previously reached the top 10 earlier this year with the Miley Cyrus remix of his hit “Without You,” and as a featured artist on last year’s “Hate the Other Side,” a track by LAROI’s late mentor, Juice WRLD, that also included Marshmello and Polo G.
Meanwhile, Justin is now tied with Drake as the Canadian artist with the most number ones on the Hot 100: they each have eight. The Weeknd is next, with six, followed by Bryan Adams and Celine Dion, both with four.
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