'Glee' passes Elvis for a Billboard record
The cast of the hit FOX television comedy GLEE is pictured here. On the bottom row from the left, are Kevin McHale, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, Jenna Ushkowitz, Dianna Agron, Lea Michele and Jane Lynch. From the left of the middle row are Jessalyn Gilsig, Jayma Mays, Matthew Morrison and Cory Monteith; and in the top row from the left, Heather Morris, Chris Colfer and Amber Riley. Credit: Patrick Ecclesine/FOX/
Despite having first graced the Billboard Hot 100 song chart as recently as June 2009, the cast of the smash Fox TV series "Glee" has rewritten the record for most charted songs by an act in the list's 52-year archives.
With six debuts on the Hot 100 released Thursday on Billboard.com, the "Glee" cast has placed 113 songs on the chart, besting Elvis Presley's 108 chart entries logged between the survey's inception in 1958 and 2003.
(The King of Rock and Roll's career predates the Hot 100's launch; Presley scaled numerous Hot 100 predecessor song charts beginning in 1956).
Following the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning series' premiere May 19, 2009, the "Glee" ensemble arrived on the Hot 100 with its highest-charted title to-date (No. 4), a cover of Journey's 1981 rock classic "Don't Stop Believin'," the week of June 6, 2009.
The act has been able to fast-track its way to Hot 100 history thanks to 20th Century Fox and Columbia Records releasing multiple songs digitally after each new "Glee" episode.
A remake of Katy Perry's recent Hot 100 No. 1 "Firework" represents the "Glee" cast's highest debuting title this week (No. 34). The song premiered on the Feb. 8 episode, "Silly Love Longs."
