[Paul M]

You should really use query_first for that (and use slave if it's not a time critical read).

PHP Code:

    // Count the total Artists
    $artists_data = $vbulletin->db->query_first_slave("
            SELECT
            COUNT(artistid) AS artists
            FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "vblyrics_artists
    ");

    $totalartists = $artists_data['artists'];