Blue Ivy Youngest Person Ever To Appear On A Billboard Chart
If you guessed that Baby Carter would grow up to be a star because of her ubiquitous, famous parents, you were probably right. If you anticipated her first song being released in her tweens, a la Willow Smith, you were dead wrong. Try within hours of her birth. Blue Ivy Carter, the bundle of joy brought into the world by megastar Beyoncé (with a little help from fellow famous dad Jay-Z) Saturday (Jan. 7), becomes the youngest person ever credited with gracing a Billboard chart, as Jay-Z's newly-recorded studio cut "Glory" -- officially billed as "featuring B.I.C.," an abbreviation of Blue Ivy Carter -- begins on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 74. (For historical purposes, this week's Billboard charts are dated Jan. 21). Taking a page out of Stevie Wonder's proverbial book on how to be a sentimental musical dad, Jay-Z recorded his precious girl's first seconds of life -- her breathing, cries and coos -- just as Wonder did on his iconic song "Isn't She Lovely," written for his then-newborn daughter Aisha. Why does B.I.C. claim the mark for youngest charted artist and not Wonder's girl? Two reasons: young Aisha was never officially credited on "Lovely" and the song did not reach a Billboard chart until Jan. 29, 1977 (when it entered Adult Contemporary at its No. 23 peak), almost two years after she was born. Blue Ivy Carter/B.I.C. also benefits from the era in which she born. Technology today allows an advantage in that Jay-Z was able to record and release "Glory" less than 48 after her birth. After almost 72 years of numbers, positions, peaks, lows, gains and debuts -- the first national Billboard chart was published the week of July 27, 1940 -- the little princess born to the reigning king and queen of R&B/hip-hop breaks the mold almost concurrently with her arrival into Beyonce's anticipating, loving arms. "Glory" arrives as the week's highest new entry on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with 1.7 million audience impressions on 54 radio stations, according to Nielsen BDS. In a stroke of chart kismet, the song marks Jay-Z's 107th career entry on the survey, mirroring the Jan. 7 birth date - in other words (or, um, numbers), 1/07 - of Blue Ivy.
