Mary J. Blige is finishing the year with a new hit on Billboard. Her single “Still Believe In Love” featuring Vado advances to No. 1 in its ninth week on the Adult R&B Airplay chart.
“Still Believe In Love” scoots Usher’s “Good Good” featuring Summer Walker and 21 Savage to No. 2 after leading last week. Usher’s track had previously held the lead for five non-consecutive weeks.
Circling back to “Still Believe In Love,” this Mtume-sampled track marks the eighth time the Queen of Hip Hop Soul has earned a No. 1 on this chart. Among women, Blige has the third-highest number of chart-topping hits. Alicia Keys has the most with 14, followed by Toni Braxton with 11.
Blige holds the record for the most top 10 hits among all artists with 26 to her credit.
“Still Believe In Love” marks Blige’s second rapid ascent to the No. 1 spot on the Adult R&B chart, following 2016’s “Thick of It,” which took four weeks to spend 16 weeks at the top.
The latter, from her 2017 album, Strength of a Woman, produced by Camper and co-penned by Jazmine Sullivan, remains her career peak on this list.
Blige’s longest climb to the summit was with “Take Me As I Am,” which reached the No. 1 position in its 22nd week on the chart. The song, co-written by Keri Hilson, appears on 2005’s The Breakthrough.
“Still Believe In Love” marks Blige’s most recent chart-topping hit since her 2022 track, “Good Morning Gorgeous,” which she co-wrote alongside Lucky Daye, Tiara Thomas, H.E.R., and D’Mile.
The latter two also served as co-producers for the Grammy-nominated anthem, which appeared on her lauded 15th album of the same title, Good Morning Gorgeous.
Blige’s eight chart-toppers on the Adult R&B Airplay chart include:
- “Not Gon’ Cry,” four weeks at No. 1, March 2, 1996
- “Be Without You,” 14 weeks at No. 1, Feb. 4, 2006
- “Take Me As I Am,” one week at No. 1, Jan. 27, 2007
- “IfULeave” with Musiq Soulchild, eight weeks at No. 1, Jan. 10, 2009
- “Thick of It,” 16 weeks at No. 1, Nov. 12, 2016
- “U + Me (Love Lesson),” three weeks at No. 1, May 6, 2017
- “Good Morning Gorgeous,” four weeks at No. 1, Feb. 26, 2022
- “Still Believe In Love” featuring Vado, one week to date, Dec. 30, 2023
Additionally, “Still Believe In Love” is Blige’s first song to reach No. 1 on her Beautiful Life Music label.
The song entered the top 10 on the Adult R&B chart in late November and also reached the top 10 on R&B radio at the same time.
Speaking of R&B radio, “Still Believe In Love” is at No. 2, with Muni Long’s “Made For Me” taking the top spot this week.
On Oct. 27, Blige released “Still Believe In Love” along with a music video that she co-directed with Eif Rivera. The breezy visual has amassed more than 3.4 million views on YouTube.
During an October interview with Mike Shannon of SiriusXM’s Heart & Soul, Blige noted that “Still Believe In Love” is a standalone track and not a part of any future album. DJ Cassidy and Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman co-produced the nostalgic track.
In recent news, Blige contributed to the soundtrack for the musical adaption of The Color Purple, out now in U.S. theaters.
The song she performed, “When I Can’t Do Better,” was co-written by its producers Johntá Austin and Bryan-Michael Cox, along with Gabriel Blizman.
Blige also just produced a remake of Boyz II Men’s “Please Don’t Go” by her emerging boy band WanMor.
Listen to “Still Believe In Love” below.
