MLK Jr on Billboard Charts
| MLK Jr on Billboard Charts |
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| Written by Robert ID740 |
| Friday, 21 January 2005 09:19 |
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Through the years, some larger-than-life figures have appeared on the Billboard charts. In 1963 alone, Pope John XXIII, Cassius Clay, President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made their debuts. King first appeared on the Billboard 200 albums chart the week of Oct. 26, 1963, with an album on Motown Records'' founder Berry Gordy's namesake label. "The Great March to Freedom" peaked at No. 141.
Three albums (of spoken-word material and speeches) by King charted in 1963, and four more did so in 1968 in the weeks after his assassination. The first to enter the chart after his death was "I Have a Dream," a recording of his famous speech given Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C.
Fast forward to 2005, the week ended Jan. 16, and "I Have a Dream" returns to a Billboard chart, albeit in a different form. Gospel singer BeBe Winans debuts at No. 72 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks tally with a song titled "I Have a Dream" (Still Waters/Hidden Beach), which incorporates text from King's speech. That means King receives a songwriting credit, his first on the R&B singles chart.
For Winans, "I Have a Dream" marks his first appearance on the chart in almost five years. His most recent entry was "Coming Back Home," No. 61 in 2000. |
