Stephanie Beatriz & Her Encanto Cast Mates Earn First No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”

Stephanie Beatriz and her Encanto cast mates has the entire country talkin’ about Bruno

The 40-year-old Colombian and Bolivian American actress’ “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” from Disney’s animated hit film Encanto, has made history in its rise to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

EncantoThe ensemble song – by Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Beatriz and the Encanto Cast – rises from the Hot 100’s runner-up spot and becomes just the second No. 1 ever from a Disney animated film.

“Bruno” also marks the first Hot 100 leader for the song’s sole writer, Lin-Manuel Miranda. He and Mike Elizondo co-produced it and earn their first and second trips to No. 1, respectively, in those roles.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data.

“Bruno” becomes the Hot 100’s 1,133rd No. 1 over the chart’s 63-year history.

It drew 34.9 million U.S. streams (up 8%) and 1.5 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 239%) and sold 12,300 downloads (up 32%, aided by 69-cent discount pricing in the iTunes Store, good for the Hot 100’s top Sales Gainer award) in the January 21-27 tracking week, according to MRC Data.

The track tops the Streaming Songs chart for a fourth week and ranks at No. 3 on Digital Song Sales, a week after it reached the summit.

“Bruno” rules the Hot 100 in its fifth week on the chart, after it debuted at No. 50 on the January 8 survey. Encanto arrived on December 24 on the Disney+ streaming service, after it premiered in U.S. theaters on November 24.

“Bruno” becomes only the second Hot 100 No. 1 from a Disney animated film. It follows Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s Aladdin theme “A Whole New World,” which topped the March 6, 1993, chart.

“Bruno” was released on Walt Disney Records, while “World” was released on Columbia Records. It’s the first Hot 100 No. 1 for Walt Disney Records. (The label formed in 1956, just before the Hot 100 began in 1958.)

Prior to “Bruno,” another collaborative song represented Walt Disney Records’ highest Hot 100 rank: “Breaking Free,” by Zac Efron, Andrew Seeley and Vanessa Anne Hudgens, from High School Musical, hit No. 4 on the February 11, 2006, chart. The label has also reached the top five via Idina Menzel’s “Let It Go,” from Frozen (No. 5, 2014).

(The Disney Music Group, which includes the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, notched one prior Hot 100 No. 1: the latter label’s “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s led for two weeks in 2007.)

“The [Encanto] rollout began with a fantastic film, incredible music and a strong marketing campaign,” Disney Music Group president Ken Bunt recently told Billboard, adding that one reason he feels that “Bruno,” specifically, has connected is that it “includes the entire Family Madrigal, which reflects the dynamics of so many families.”

“Bruno” was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who achieves his first No. 1 writing credit on the Hot 100. The Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner, among numerous other honors, previously reached a No. 20 best in October 2017 as both a recording artist and writer thanks to “Almost Like Praying,” his charity single featuring Artists for Puerto Rico.

“It’s been really amazing because ensemble numbers don’t usually get this kind of love,” Miranda mused of “Bruno” on Billboard‘s latest Pop Shop Podcast. “My job is to raise my hand and let this room of animators and incredibly creative people know what music can do.”

While one person wrote “Bruno,” the song, conversely, sets the record for the most credited recording artists ever on a Hot 100 No. 1.

The billing of Gaitán, Castillo, Adassa, Feliz, Guerrero, Beatriz and the Encanto cast outpaces the quintet of DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne, whose “I’m the One” topped the May 20, 2017, chart.

(Notably, the superstar-infused “We Are the World,” which topped the Hot 100 for four weeks in 1985, was billed as by USA for Africa.)

Gaitán, Castillo, Adassa, Feliz, Guerrero and Beatriz each lead the Hot 100 for the first time. They voice Encanto characters, and Madrigal family members, Pepa, Félix, Dolores, Camilo, Isabela and Mirabel, respectively.

Leave a Reply