Beyonce leads singles chart for seventh

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" led the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts for a seventh consecutive week Thursday, while Akon's "I Wanna Love You" and Fergie's "Fergalicious" remained at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

"Irreplaceable" ties Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" as the longest running No. 1 among the songs that moved into first place in 2006.

It also means that the first new No. 1 of 2007 won't arrive until at least February. That's late, going by the last two years. The first new No. 1 of 2006 was D4L's "Laffy Taffy," which hit the apex the week of January 14. The year 2005 began with the earliest possible arrival of a new chart-topper: Mario's "Let Me Love You" hit the highest mark on January 1.

Meanwhile, Timberlake has become the first lead artist since 50 Cent in May 2005 to boast three songs within the top 20. "What Goes Around ... Comes Around" jumped nine places to join the prior No. 1 hits "My Love" (No. 8) and "Sexyback" (No. 16) in the chart's upper fifth.

Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right" inched up one to No. 4, switching places with Akon's "Smack That" featuring Eminem. Jim Jones' "We Fly High" jumped two places to No. 6, and the Fray's "How To Save a Life" held at No. 7.

Also unchanged: My Chemical Romance's "Welcome to the Black Parade" at No. 9, and the All-American Rejects' "It Ends Tonight" at No. 10.

Teen vocalist Jordan Pruitt boasted the top debut with "Jump to the Rhythm" at No. 69. The cut is featured on the soundtrack to the Disney Channel's recently-premiered TV movie "Jump In!" and it will also appear on her debut album, due February 6.

Another Disney-reared star, Ashley Tisdale of "High School Musical," opened at No. 77 with "He Said, She Said," from her Warner Bros. debut, "Headstrong." That set also arrives February 6. Additional Hot 100 debuts included Mike Jones' "Mr. Jones" at No. 92, the Wreckers' "My, Oh My" at No. 94 and Fergie's "Glamorous" featuring Ludacris at No. 98.

Elsewhere, Rodney Atkins' "Watching You" overthrew Brad Paisley's "She's Everything" on Hot Country Songs, his second No. 1 on this chart. Keith Urban's "Stupid Boy" climbed three places to No. 9, his 14th top 10 hit on the tally.

Mana's "Bendita Tu Luz" was No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart for a third straight week, while Altar's "Party People" featuring Jeanie Tracy leapfrogged Rihanna's "We Ride" to claim the top position on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play tally.

By ascending to No. 1 on the Modern Rock chart with "Snow (Hey Oh)," the Red Hot Chili Peppers join Green Day as the only acts to top this tally twice with three songs from an album. On the Mainstream Rock chart, Three Days Grace started a sixth week at No. 1 with "Pain."