Kirk Franklin's all-star single "My World Needs You," featuring Sarah Reeves, Tasha Cobbs and Tamela Mann, ascends 2-1 in its 24th week on Billboard's Gospel Airplay chart (dated July 15).
Franklin and Mann each complete their fifth trip to No. 1 on Gospel Airplay, tying James Fortune & FIYA for the most leaders in the chart's 12-year history. (More on Fortune in a moment …)
Cobbs earns her second Gospel Airplay No. 1, after her debut single "Break Every Chain," which topped the list for seven weeks in 2013. Reeves, known more in the contemporary Christian genre, scores her first Gospel Airplay leader in her first appearance on the chart. (She has just inked a new deal with Word Records.)
"World" is the third single from Franklin's Losing My Religion album, following "123 Victory," featuring Pharrell Williams, which peaked at No. 2 on Gospel Airplay (June 25, 2016) and ruled Hot Gospel Songs, which blends airplay, streaming and sales data (Sept. 10, 2016).
Launch track "Wanna Be Happy?" topped Gospel Airplay for one week (Nov. 28, 2015), while, on Hot Gospel Songs, it reigned for 45 weeks, starting from its debut on Sept. 19, 2015. Only one smash has led Hot Gospel Songs longer: Marvin Sapp's 46-week No. 1 "Never Would Have Made It," in 2007-08.
GOOD FORTUNE: On Top Gospel Albums, James Fortune's new set Dear Future Me bows at the summit, earning 4,000 equivalent album units (3,000 in traditional sales), in its first week, ending June 29, according to Nielsen Music. The 17-track set is Fortune's third No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums (all of which have arrived at the apex). It follows Live Through It in 2014 and Identity in 2012.
The new LP's lead single, "I Forgive Me," hits a new Hot Gospel Songs peak, jumping 17-11.
