J. Brown Earns His First Billboard No. 1: ‘To Finally Get Here Is So Surreal’

J. Brown captures his first No. 1 on a Billboard chart as “My Whole Heart” ascends to No. 1 on the Adult R&B Airplay list dated Oct. 28. After three weeks in the runner-up spot, the single crowns the list following a 9% gain in plays that made it the most played song on U.S. monitored adult R&B stations in the tracking week ending Oct. 19, according to Luminate.

As “My Whole Heart” advances, it wraps the nine-week reign of October London’s smash “Back to Your Place.” The latter tied Tems’ “Free Mind” for the longest Adult R&B Airplay command this year.

“To have my first No. 1 record at Billboard has me speechless,” J. Brown tells Billboard. “I’ve had so many ups and downs in my career, and I’ve been close, but to finally get here is so surreal. When we recorded ‘My Whole Heart,’ it felt special. Carvin Haggins & The Ring Music Group [the writing and producing collective behind the song] pushed me to pull everything out of me. Thank you to everyone at radio, and of course, the audience. I feel like I’m dreaming.”

With “My Whole Heart,” J. Brown achieves his first Adult R&B Airplay No. 1 upon his sixth appearance, and after four prior top 10s. Here’s a full recap of the Detroit native’s history on the list:

Song Title, Peak Position, Peak Date

Elsewhere, “My Whole Heart” pushes 18-14 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which orders songs through combined audience on adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations. There, the track registered 6.9 million audience impressions in the last tracking week, up 11% from the previous week. Airplay strength helps the song retain its No. 20 peak on the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart, which blends radio activity with streaming and sales for its rankings.