Silk Sonic’s “Love’s Train” reaches its destination on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart as the single climbs to No. 1 on the chart dated April 23. The track advances after a strong 31% gain in plays to become the most-played song on U.S. monitored adult R&B stations in the week ending April 17, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data.
The new champ, released earlier this year on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14), is a cover of a 1983 tune by Con Funk Shun, who racked up 26 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart from 1977-97. Eight of them reached the top 10, with “Ffun” topping the list for two weeks in 1978.
“Train” gives Silk Sonic, the duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, its third No. 1 among four career appearances. The duo’s first offering, “Leave the Door Open,” topped the list for 13 weeks in 2021, while third single “Smokin’ out the Window” ruled for one week in January. Between the champs, second release “Skate” peaked at No. 4. All four tracks are on the duo’s An Evening With Silk Sonic album; “Train” was added to the digital and streaming editions of the set in February.
As Silk Sonic achievements also contribute to the individual ledgers for Mars and .Paak, “Train” yields a third Adult R&B Airplay for .Paak – all from Silk Sonic hits. Outside the group, his best result was a No. 2 peak for “Make It Better,” featuring Smokey Robinson, in 2019. Mars, meanwhile, collects his seventh No. 1 and moves to within one more chart-topper for the most among male artists in Adult R&B Airplay chart history. Kem, Maxwell and Charlie Wilson each own eight No. 1s, with Mars and R. Kelly – both with seven – just below.
Elsewhere, “Train” keeps rolling on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which measures songs’ audience reach among U.S. monitored adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, “Train” speeds 15-9 after it gained 54% in weekly audience to 10.6 million in the week ending April 17. The improvement of 3.7 million gives the song Greatest Gainer honors for the biggest increase among the chart’s 50 titles.
The “Train” gains just add to Silk Sonic’s recent spell of good fortune. Earlier this month, the duo, as .Paak informed viewers, completed “a clean sweep” at the Grammy Awards by winning all four of its nominations – record of the year, song of the year, best R&B song, and – in a tie – best R&B performance, all for “Leave the Door Open.” The pair also opened the ceremony with a performance of their Evening album cut “777.”
