Justin Timberlake’s New Single Debuts At No. 1, Dethroning Drake

Timing is a crucial component of No. 1 hits. Drake knows that well: for several weeks last October, he languished in the No. 2 spot behind the Weeknd. In November, "Hotline Bling" finally vaulted over "The Hills," but it was too late—that week, new singles from Adele ("Hello") and Justin Bieber ("Sorry") both leapfrogged Drake.

Last week, the rapper achieved his long-coveted No. 1 hit with "One Dance," but the triumph was short-lived: Billboard reports that Justin Timberlake's new single, "Can't Stop The Feeling" (featured on the soundtrack to the movie Trolls), grabbed the top spot this week. Billboard predicted that this might happen last week—early data suggested that Timberlake's single could sell as many as 330,000 units, almost three times as many as Drake's tune. In the end, "Can't Stop The Feeling" did even better than expected, with 379,000 downloads. While "One Dance" was streamed more frequently, that lead was not enough to overcome Timberlake's raw sales numbers.

"Can't Stop The Feeling" was co-written and produced by Max Martin. Last year, Martin achieved his 21st No. 1 as a writer when "Can't Feel My Face" reached the top spot. Only John Lennon (26) and Paul McCartney (32) have written more No. 1's. Read the full story here.