Undisputed R&B legends unite for the new champ on Billboard‘s Adult R&B Airplay chart, as Ronald Isley, Beyoncé and The Isley Brothers collaboration “Make Me Say It Again Girl” climbs to No. 1 on the list dated Oct. 1. The track rises from No. 3 after a 12% gain in plays made it the most played song on monitored adult R&B stations in the United States during the week ending September 25, according to Luminate.
“Girl” returns the Isley Brothers to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay for the first time in more than two decades since “Contagious” reigned for two weeks in 2001. They also led the list, which began in 1993, once again, with another two-week champion, “Tears”, in 1997.
For Ronald Isley as a solo act, “Girl” marks the R&B veteran’s second lead on Adult R&B Airplay. He previously reigned for a week through a featured turn on Patti LaBelle’s “Gotta Go Solo” in 2005.
The Isley Brothers, whose first Billboard Chart appearance came in 1959, currently consists of Ronald and Ernie Isley, although the lineup has changed several times since its first iteration. After breaking up in the late 1980s, the band reformed in 1991 as The Isley Brothers with Ronald Isley.
Beyoncé, meanwhile, collects her third Adult R&B Airplay chart just weeks after her last visit to the top. The superstar’s “Break My Soul” recorded a pair of weeks in charge in August-September, a decade after his No. 1 debut, “Love on Top,” in 2012. On the latest chart, “Soul” slips back 10- 14 after 11 weeks in the top 10.
“Girl” also goes to the Adult R&B Airplay top in just its seventh week on the chart and completes the fastest flight to No. 1 since Wizkid’s “Essence,” featuring Tems, also needed seven weeks. to get to the top last year. Over the past decade (October 2012 – October 2022), only six songs have reached No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay in seven weeks or less:
Song title, artist, weeks to reach #1, date to reach #1
- “Recently”, Anita Baker, age seven, October 6, 2012
- “No Sleep”, Janet with J. Cole, age seven, August 22, 2005
- “Thick of It”, Mary J. Blige, age four, November 12, 2016
- “Leave the Door Open”, Silk Sonic, Four, April 3, 2021
- “Essence”, Wizkid with Tems, Sept, Oct 16, 2021
- “Make Me Say It Again Girl,” Ronald Isley, Beyoncé & The Isley Brothers, age seven, October 1, 2022
“Make Me Say It Again Girl,” which reworks the Isley Brothers’ 1975 song “Make Me Say It Again Girl Pts 1 & 2,” adds another hit to a band whose Billboard account opened in the 1950s. The Isley Brothers released their first Billboard Hot 100 entry, “Shout – Part 1” in 1959, and followed with 39 more Hot 100 hits, through 2003. On the Hot R&B/Hip list -Hop Songs, Legends have landed 71 career hits, with 27 of them reaching the top 10 and six reaching No. 1.