CHART STORY: AND A MERRY NEW YEAR

Call it a Christmas miracle—or maybe a little extra oil for Hanukkah—but RCA's Pentatonix have notched their second consecutive week at #1 on our SPS and Album Sales charts. Despite a 50% drop (with Christmas coming early in the week), the a cappella quintet racked up nearly 101k SPS.

XO/Republic's The Weeknd, down just 7%, claims the #2 spot with 93k+, followed by WMG's Bruno Mars at #3 (87k, -24%) and Dreamville/Roc Nation/Interscope's J. Cole (77k, -16%) with Hamilton rounding out the Top 5 at 55k+ (-4%).

Twenty One Pilots (53k, +50%), Disney's Moana (52k, +6%) and YMCMB/ Republic's Drake (49k, +49%) follow; Pilots and Drake both surged on bargain pricing at iTunes. The death of George Michael caused a surge for his hits collection Twenty Five and its associated tracks; the late pop giant lands at #9 with about 48k. Another Pentatonix set, 2014's That's Christmas to Me, hangs in at #10 with 47k.

The Weeknd, driven largely by streaming, takes the #8 spot on the Album chart, where Pearl's Garth Brooks (#5, 37k+), Blackened's Metallica (#6, 34k+) and Interscope's Rolling Stones (#9, 32k) all appear in the Top 10.

Please note that due to holiday-related issues, this week's charts are based on more limited information than usual. Now pass the bubbly and roll that chronic, buster; it's time to let this kidney stone of a year finally pass.