Chart Profile...

[From Billboard]

Banner Week: Whitney Houston's "The Star-Spangled Banner" rises 2-1 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, scanning 59,500 units and more than tripling last issue's sales total. Re-released to benefit the uniformed victims of the World Trade Center disaster, "Banner" was shipped to retail as it was produced, leading to staggered arrivals at various accounts and disparate sales tallies over the past two tracking weeks. It is now certified platinum by the Recording Industry Assn. of America. While Houston ties with R. Kelly in third place for the number of charting singles she has had on the SoundScan-based singles sales chart (19), this is only her third chart-topper, following "I Will Always Love You" in 1992 and "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" in 1995. Madonna and Mariah Carey have hit the sales chart 22 times each since its inception in 1991. On The Billboard Hot 100, "Banner" is the Greatest Gainer/Sales winner. It rises 72-13, besting its No. 20 peak in March 1991.

Dawn's Early Light: More than a month after the terrorist attacks on the U.S., Americans continue to demonstrate their patriotism. There's evidence of this on the Hot 100, where Whitney Houston's "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Arista) reaches a new peak position of No. 13. When originally released in 1991, the live recording went as high as No. 20. Houston's rendition of the national anthem, recorded at the 1991 Super Bowl, is only the second version of the song to chart on the Hot 100. The first was a live recording by Jose Feliciano. Recorded at the fifth game of the World Series in 1968, his RCA single peaked at No. 50. Houston's single puts her back in the top 20 portion of the Hot 100 for the first time since the first quarter of 2000, when "My Love Is Your Love" sailed to No. 4. The star-spangled success of "Banner" is due to sales, as the single tops the Hot 100 Singles chart but is nowhere to be found on Hot 100 Airplay.

BILLBOARD, 20 OCTOBER 2001

NEWSFILE: 11 OCTOBER 2001