Mariah Carey and Madonna break Elvis Presley records

Mariah Carey and Madonna have both made chart history, and at none other than The King, Elvis Presley's expense. Until now, Elvis owned the record for most No. 1 singles by a solo artist and most Top 10 hits in the 50-year history of Billboard's Hot 100. This all changed on Wednesday.

Mariah Carey’s "Touch My Body," the lead single from new album E=MC2, jumped 14 spots to number 1, the 18th of her 18 year career.

Mariah came equal with Presley’s mark with back-to-back chart-toppers "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us" from her 2005 comeback album The Emancipation of Mimi. She now only trails the Beatles, who notched 20 No. 1s (in just seven years), with the milestone is well within her reach.

"Touch My Body," which rocketed to the top after becoming available as a retail single, also set a new digital sales record, with 286,000 downloads in its debut. That tops Rihanna's previous record of 277,000 first-week downloads for "Umbrella."

Mariah's hit also benefited from a radio audience exceeding 115 million.

Though she is closing fast on another Elvis milestone (80 weeks total at No. 1) with 78, for now, and fortunately for Elvis aficionados, the King still has an edge.

Meanwhile, the King of Rock 'n' Roll was steamrolled by the Queen of Pop in the area of Top 10 singles. In 2005, Madonna scored her 36th Top 10 hit with "Hung Up," tying Elvis' record, but her new "4 Minutes" jumped 65 spots to No. 3 this week, giving her sole possession of the record books with 37. A duet with Justin Timberlake, "4 Minutes," also benefited from a huge sales week, moving 217,000 digital copies. 

Since launching her recording career in 1992, Madonna has had 53 singles crack the Hot 100, but "4 Minutes" is only her second to feature a guest vocalist. Ironically, the previous instance was 2003's "Me Against the Music" with Britney Spears, shortly after she and Timberlake split.

Mariah and Madonna also combined to set another milestone. Both singles entered the digital charts selling more than 200,000 digital copies apiece, the first time two singles have accomplished this feat.

Despite their head-to-head matchup on the singles sales chart, Mariah and Madonna are bypassing a Kanye/50 Cent matchup with their albums. Mariah's E=MC2 comes out April 15, while the Material One's Hard Candy drops two weeks later.

Tags: madonna, Mariah Carey