By Fred Bronson

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Mariah Carey is on track to collect her 18th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart next week.


"Touch My Body," the first single from her upcoming album, dipped one place to No. 15 on the latest survey, issued Thursday. But the fresh availability of a digital download should send the song hurtling to the top next week.

That will push Carey to second place among artists with the most No. 1s in the rock era. The record is held by the Beatles with 20. She is currently tied with Elvis Presley.

Carey's album, "E=MC2," the follow-up to her 2005 Grammy-winning smash "The Emancipation of Mimi," is due in U.S. stores on April 15.

The current Hot 100 champ is Leona Lewis, who becomes only the third British solo female artist in the rock era to reach the top with her debut chart entry, "Bleeding Love." The only other artists to achieve this milestone were Sheena Easton with "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" in 1981 and Petula Clark with "Downtown" in 1965.

Counting all U.K. solo females who have spent time at No. 1 on the pop singles chart, Lewis is the first to visit the penthouse since Kim Wilde had a one-week stay in June 1987 with her cover of "You Keep Me Hangin' On." Counting all U.K. acts that have reached the summit, Lewis is the first to do so since James Blunt occupied the top rung for one week in March 2006 with "You're Beautiful."

A little further down the latest Hot 100, Madonna's "4 Minutes" entered at No. 68. The Material Girl was last on the Hot 100 with "Sorry," which peaked at No. 58 in March 2006.

"4 Minutes" represents the 53rd entry of Madonna's career, but only the second single on which she shares billing with another musician: Justin Timberlake is credited as a featured artist. Madonna's first shared credit was "Me Against the Music," the 2003 single that was billed as Britney Spears featuring Madonna.

The new single comes from the album "Hard Candy," which is due in U.S. stores on April 29.

Reuters/Billboard
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