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16 Jan 2024

One of Every 15 Vinyl Albums Sold in the U.S. in 2023 Was by Taylor Swift

In 2023, Taylor Swift loomed so large in the world of vinyl albums, that one of every 15 vinyl albums sold in the U.S. was by the superstar.

Comparatively, in 2022, she accounted for one of every 25 vinyl albums sold.

Swift was the year’s top-selling act on vinyl for a third straight year, with 3.484 million copies sold across her catalog of albums, according to data tracking firm Luminate. The industry’s total vinyl album sales for 2023, across all artists in the U.S., finished at 49.61 million – up 14.2% from 43.46 million in 2022. 2023 marked the 18th consecutive year vinyl album sales grew in the U.S., and the largest year for vinyl album sales since Luminate began tracking data in 1991.  

In 2023, Swift’s vinyl sales accounted for 7% of the industry’s total vinyl album sales.

Read more about the year-end numbers in the U.S. 2023 Luminate Year-End Music Report.

Swift’s vinyl sales were so big in 2023 that she sold more than the next seven-biggest-selling acts on vinyl last year. Lana Del Rey was the year’s No. 2-seller on vinyl, with 646,000 copies sold, followed by Tyler, the Creator (552,000), Travis Scott (474,000), Olivia Rodrigo (408,000), Kendrick Lamar (382,000), Metallica (378,000) and The Beatles (373,000). (To round out the top 10-selling acts on vinyl last year, Fleetwood Mac was No. 9, with 357,000, and Mac Miller was No. 10 with 354,000.)

The top-selling vinyl album of 2023 was Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) with 1.014 million sold. That marks the largest yearly sales total for a vinyl album, and the first vinyl set to sell a million in a calendar year, since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. The set also scored the largest sales week for a vinyl set since 1991 when it debuted with 693,000 copies sold in its first week.

Swift has five of the top 10-selling vinyl albums of 2023, and the entire top three. (See list, below.)

TOP 10-SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2023 IN U.S.
1. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (1.014 million)
2. Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (510,000)
3. Taylor Swift, Midnights (492,000)
4. Travis Scott, Utopia (373,000)
5. Taylor Swift, Folklore (308,000)
6. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts (267,000)
7. Taylor Swift, Lover (256,000)
8. Lana Del Rey, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (215,000)
9. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (206,000)
10. Lana Del Rey, Born To Die (192,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.

Vinyl album sales comprised 47.1% of all album sales in the U.S. in 2023 (49.61 million of 105.32 million). Vinyl LPs accounted for 57% of all physical album sold last year (49.61 million of 87 million). Both sums are Luminate-era records for vinyl’s share of the album sales market in the U.S.

For the third consecutive year, and the third year since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991, vinyl albums outsold CD albums in the U.S. Vinyl once again is the leading configuration for album purchases for the third year in a row. (Vinyl was the top-selling album configuration in 2023, followed by CDs and then digital download albums.)

Vinyl was the dominant configuration for album purchases in the U.S. up until the early 1980s. After that, cassettes took hold until the early ‘90s, when the CD configuration blossomed and remained king until 2021, when vinyl retook the top slot.

Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991 when the company was known as SoundScan. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts. Luminate’s 2023 tracking year ran from Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023. Luminate is an independently operated company and a subsidiary of PME TopCo, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge. Billboard is an independently operated company owned by PME Holdings, a subsidiary of PME TopCo.

16 Jan 2024

Selena Gomez Brings Boyfriend Benny Blanco as Her Date to the Emmys

Benny Blanco is proving to be a reliable partner for Selena Gomez during this year’s awards season, most recently accompanying the singer-actress at the 2024 Primetime Emmys Sunday night (Jan. 16). 

The couple remained at each other’s sides for much of the event, as documented in many photos and videos from the evening. Blanco didn’t join the Rare Beauty founder for photos on the red carpet, where she showed off her stunning Oscar de la Renta dress adorned with more than 450,000 pailletes. He did, however, blow her a kiss before splitting up before the line of cameras, the two later reuniting to take their seats for the ceremony.  

In one clip, the pair scoots in with Gomez’s Only Murders in the Building costars Martin Short and Steve Martin in one of the front rows at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. 

Only Murders was in the running for best comedy series at this year’s Emmys, although the award ended up going to FX’s hit project The Bear. Short was also nominated for best actor in a comedy series thanks to his performance in the trio’s murder-mystery sitcom, but Jeremy Allen White took the prize. 

The Emmys aren’t Gomez and Blanco’s first awards-show outing as a couple this season. A week prior, they were both in attendance at the Golden Globes. While the pair didn’t appear to sit next to each other during the main ceremony, the “Calm Down” singer did later post a sweet photo of her beau kissing her neck behind the scenes. 

Gomez and the pop-music maestro first made their relationship public in December, with the former Disney Channel star confirming at the time that they’d been an item for about six months by then. After describing Blanco as “my absolute everything in my heart” in a series of comments on Instagram, Gomez went on to share photos with him and showed off her letter “B” ring on Instagram Stories.  

Since then, the couple has celebrated New Year’s together and attended a Los Angeles Lakers game, where they cuddled up courtside.  

See clips of Gomez and Blanco at the Emmys below: 

16 Jan 2024

Drake Postpones It’s All a Blur Tour – Big As the What? With J. Cole: Here Are the New Dates

Drake and J. Cole’s hotly anticipated It’s All a Blur Tour — Big As the What? won’t start this week. Originally slated to kick off Jan. 18 and Jan. 19 in Denver, Drake and Cole’s first show will take place Feb. 2 in Tampa Bay, Fla., according to Ticketmaster. The opening Denver dates have been pushed back to April 15 and April 16.

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Announced in November, It’s All A Blur Tour — Big as the What? included 22 dates and came on the heels of Drake and Cole’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 collaboration “First Person Shooter.” Fans got a taste of the tour when Cole and Drake headlined the Carolina rapper’s Dreamville Festival last year. The set included a barrage of hits and special guests, including Lil Wayne, GloRilla and Lil Uzi Vert. 

Last year, Drake notched his 13th Billboard 200 No. 1 album with For All the Dogs. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the OVO commander earned 402,000 equivalent albums, courtesy of his Hot 100 chart-topper “Slime You Out” featuring SZA. The album had a bevy of guests ranging from Yeat to Lil Yachty and Sexyy Red.

Shortly after the release of FATD, Drake upped the ante with his For All the Dogs Scary Hours Edition. The six-song entry found a more punchy Drake, who also reeled in J. Cole for another feature on “Evil Ways.” The mini set also featured “You Broke My Heart,” which recently received the visual treatment and featured a cameo from Morgan Wallen. Subsequently, he added 10 more dates to the It’s All a Blur Tour — Big As the What? following the release of the deluxe effort. 

Billboard has reached out to Drake’s reps for comment. 

Here are the new tour dates:

  • Feb. 2 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena 
  • Feb 4 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
  • Feb. 7 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena 
  • Feb. 8 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena 
  • Feb. 12 – St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Arena 
  • Feb 13 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
  • Feb. 16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena 
  • Feb 17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
  • Feb. 20 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center 
  • Feb. 21 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center 
  • Feb. 24 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse 
  • Feb 25 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
  • Feb. 27 – Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center 
  • Feb 28 – Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center
  • March 2 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center 
  • March 3 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
  • March 5 – Memphis, TN @ FedEx Forum
  • March 6 – New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
  • March 7 – New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
  • March 10 – Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena 
  • March 14 – San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center 
  • March 15 – San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center 
  • March 18 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
  • March 19 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
  • March 23 – Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena ~
  • March 24 – Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena ~
  • March 27 – Birmingham, AL @ Legacy Arena at The BJCC ~
  • April 4 – Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena ~
  • April 5 – Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena ~
  • April 8 – Memphis, TN @ FedEx Forum ~
  • April 15 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
  • April 16 –Denver, CO @ Ball Arena

~ Dates without J. Cole

16 Jan 2024

Bush Reveal Dates For 2024 North American ‘Loaded’ Greatest Hits Summer Tour

Bush will celebrate their 30th anniversary this summer with a 32-date North American tour slated to kick off on July 26 at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend, OR. Bush – Loaded: The Greatest Hits Tour will find the Gavin Rossdale-fronted rockers criss-crossing the continent with special guests Alice in Chains guitarist and solo artist Jerry Cantrell and Candlebox, as well as additional guests to be announced soon.

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The tour is slated to include stops in Denver, Indianapolis, Chicago, Nashville, Cincinnati, Toronto, Boston, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Houston, Dallas, Las Vegas and San Diego before winding down on Sept. 15 with a show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

Loaded The Greatest Hits 1994-2023 — Bush’s first-ever hits collection — pulls together the band’s seven No. 1 singles, the new track “Nowhere to Go but Everywhere” and a studio cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together.” Among the beloved hits on the collection are: “Everything Zen,” “Little Things,” “Comedown,” “Glycerine,” “Machinehead,” “Swallowed” and “Greedy Fly.”

An artist presale will begin at noon ET on Tuesday (Jan. 16), with VIP packages available, followed by a general onsale on Friday (Jan. 19) beginning at 10 a.m. local time; for information on tickets click here. A limited number of tickets will be available in participating markets with prices as low as $19.94 (before taxes and fees) as a tribute to the release of the band’s 1994 debut, Sixteen Stone.

Check out the dates for Bush’s Loaded tour below.

July 26 — Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater

July 27 — Airway Heights, WA @ BECU Live at Northern Quest

July 29 — Great Falls, MT @ Pacific Steel & Recycling Arena – Montana State Fair

July 31 — West Valley City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre

August 1 — Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre

August 3 — La Crosse, WI @ Copeland Park

August 4 — Indianapolis, IN @ Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park

August 6 — Cedar Rapids, IA @ McGrath Amphitheatre

August 7 — Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island

August 9 — Nashville, TN @ Nashville Municipal Auditorium

August 10 — Maryland Heights, MO @ Saint Louis Music Park

August 13 — Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion

August 14 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center

August 16 — Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre

August 17 — Lewiston, NY @ Artpark Outdoor Amphitheater

August 19 — Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage

August 21 — Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center

August 23 — Atlantic City, NJ @ Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena

August 24 — Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion

August 26 — Charlotte, NC @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre

August 27 — Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater

August 29 — Jacksonville, FL @ Daily’s Place

August 30 — Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live

Sept. 1 — Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park

Sept. 4 — San Antonio, TX @ Freeman Coliseum

Sept. 5 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall

Sept. 7 — Durant, OK @ Choctaw Casino

Sept. 8 — Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion

Sept. 11 — Las Vegas, NV @ Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood

Sept. 13 — San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU

Sept. 14 — Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre

Sept. 15 — Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre

16 Jan 2024

Jack Harlow’s ‘Lovin on Me’ Holds Atop Hot 100, Teddy Swims’ ‘Lose Control’ Hits Top 10

Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” adds a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The rapper ties his longest reign on the chart, among his three leaders, after “First Class” ruled for three weeks in April-May 2022. He has also topped the chart with “Industry Baby,” with Lil Nas X, for one week in October 2021.

Plus, singer-songwriter Teddy Swims tallies his first Hot 100 top 10, as “Lose Control” ascends to No. 8, from No. 12.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Jan. 20, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Jan. 17 (a day later than usual due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday Jan. 15). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” released on Generation Now/Atlantic Records, drew 58 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 11%, as it wins the Hot 100’s Greatest Gainer award) and 27.9 million streams (down 4%) and sold 8,000 downloads (down 11%) in the Jan. 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The single notches a fourth week atop the Streaming Songs chart; jumps 5-2 on Radio Songs; and dips to No. 2 after two frames atop Digital Song Sales.

“Lovin on Me” concurrently leads the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a ninth week each.

“Lovin on Me” is currently a standalone single from Harlow, whose most recent album, Jackman., debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 in May, becoming his third top 10 set. (The song’s hook samples singer Delbert “Dale” Greer’s 1995 track “Whatever.”)

Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” keeps at No. 2 on the Hot 100 following four nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in October. It rules Radio Songs for a 12th week (69.4 million, down 4%), extending her personal-best command on the ranking.

Tate McRae’s first Hot 100 top 10, “Greedy,” holds at its No. 3 best and Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves, rises 5-4, after it dominated for a week upon its debut in September, as it rules the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts for a 20th week each and Hot Country Songs for a 16th week.

Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” descends 4-5 on the Hot 100, after it led for three nonconsecutive weeks beginning in September, and SZA’s “Snooze” stays at No. 6, after reaching No. 2, as it leads the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart for a 24th week.

Tyla’s initial Hot 100 top 10, “Water,” is steady at its No. 7 high. It concurrently crowns the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for a 14th week.

Teddy Swims achieves his first Hot 100 top 10, as “Lose Control” lifts 12-8. The song drew 24.5 million in radio audience (up 6%) Jan. 5-11, as it ranks at No. 2 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart and in the top 20 on Adult Pop Airplay, Adult Contemporary and Pop Airplay. It also tallied 16.3 million streams (up 12%) and sold 6,000 (down 7%) in the tracking week.

Teddy Swims (real name Jaten Dimsdale), from Conyers, Ga., first appeared on Billboard’s charts in 2021, after he broke through with a viral cover of Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” in June 2019. (He signed to Warner Records on Christmas Eve 2019.) As a co-writer, he topped the Country Airplay chart via Thomas Rhett’s “Angels Don’t Always Have Wings” for a week last September.

Teddy Swims scores his first Hot 100 top 10 as a writer, as well as a recording artist. He co-penned “Lose Control” with Ammo, Julian Bunetta, Infamous and Mikky Ekko, who up their top 10 totals as writers to seven, five, two and two, respectively. (Mikky Ekko first hit the top 10 as a writer and recording artist, as featured on Rihanna’s “Stay,” which rose to No. 3 in 2013.)

“When it was finished, I was showing everybody before the song came out,” Teddy Swims told Billboard of “Lose Control” last year. “I just felt that energy, like, ‘this is lighting in a bottle.’ I knew this was going to change my life.”

(You “Snooze,” you “Lose”: the words “snooze” and “lose” appear in song titles in the Hot 100’s top 10 simultaneously for the first time, thanks to SZA and Teddy Swims’ winning hits. Meanwhile, the latter is the second top 10 titled “Lose Control”; Missy Elliott’s, featuring Ciara and Fat Man Scoop, hit No. 3 in September 2005. Plus, Eric Carmen’s “Make Me Lose Control” cruised to No. 3 in August 1988.)

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Doja Cat’s “Agora Hills” advances 10-9 for a new high and Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” backtracks 8-10, following 16 weeks at No. 1 beginning last March, the longest reign ever for a non-collaboration.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on Billboard’s social accounts, and all charts (dated Jan. 20), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 17).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

16 Jan 2024

Will Lainey Wilson’s ‘Bell Bottom Blues’ Win Grammy for Best Country Album After CMA & ACM Wins? These Projects Did

Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Blues has been an awards magnet in the past year. The collection won album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 11 and at the Country Music Awards on Nov. 8. On Feb. 4, we’ll find out if it becomes the eighth album to complete country music’s “triple crown” by also winning a Grammy.

Bell Bottom Blues is competing for the best country album Grammy with Kelsea Ballerini’s Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, Tyler Childers’ Rustin’ in the Rain and eponymous albums from Brothers Osborne and Zach Bryan.

Jay Joyce produced Bell Bottom Blues, which was released on Oct. 28, 2022. The album has spawned the singles “Heart Like a Truck,” “Watermelon Moonshine” and “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.”

The Grammys presented an award for best country & western album in 1965 and 1966. Roger Miller won both years. The Grammys didn’t present such an award again until 1995, when it went (under the more modern term best country album) to Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Stones in the Road.

The CMA Awards first presented album of the year (to Jack Greene’s There Goes My Everything) at their first awards presentation in the fall of 1967. The ACM Awards first presented the award (to Glen Campbell’s Gentle on My Mind) at their third ceremony, in March 1968.

Before the Grammys finally reinstated a best country album category, six albums won album of the year at both the ACM and CMA Awards – Merle Haggard’s Okie From Muskogee, Charlie Rich’s Behind Closed Doors (a Grammy nominee in the all-genre album of the year category), Willie Nelson’s Always on My Mind, Alabama’s The Closer You Get…, George Strait’s Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind and Garth Brooks’ No Fences. At least some of these albums probably would have won a Grammy for best country album if the category had existed at the time. Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure.

Here are the eight albums that have won album awards at all three shows.

16 Jan 2024

Roy Wood Jr. Has Hilarious Moment During ‘The Daily Show’ Emmy Win

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Roy Wood Jr. made his mark on The Daily Show as its resident correspondent, using his journalism background coupled with expert comedic timing that translated well in his other endeavors. In connection to those comedic chops, Roy Wood Jr. had a hilarious moment during the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards that can’t be missed.

Roy Wood Jr., 45, joined Trevor Noah and others from The Daily Show cast to accept the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series. As Noah was delivering his thanks to the audience, Wood could be seen standing behind him mouthing the words “Please hire a host.”

As fans of The Daily Show might know, the show has employed a rotating schedule of hosts to fill the seat vacated by Noah back in the fall of 2022. Throughout 2023, names such as Desus Nice, Chelsea Handler, Charlamagne Tha God, and Sarah Silverman all took temporary turns as hosts, among other notables.

On X, formerly Twitter, one user captured the viral moment and Wood responded as only he could. You can check out that video below.

According to reports, a permanent host may be announced this year but those whispers have not been widely confirmed.

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Photo: Getty

16 Jan 2024

Diddy Settles Racism Lawsuit Against Diageo Over Tequila Partnership

Sean “Diddy” Combs and alcohol giant Diageo reached a settlement Tuesday to resolve a lawsuit over their soured tequila partnership, ending a bitter legal battle that saw the embattled hip-hop star and mogul accuse the company of racism.

Combs, who is now facing multiple sexual assault lawsuits, claimed in the lawsuit that Diageo had breached their agreement by failing to adequately support his DeLeón brand of tequila. In doing so, he accused Diageo of treating his product line “worse than others because he is Black.”

The detailed terms of Tuesday’s settlement were not disclosed, but Diageo and Combs said in a joint statement that the agreement would leave the two with “no ongoing business relationship,” removing Combs from any further involvement in not just DeLeón but also the company’s popular Cîroc vodka.

“Sean Combs and Diageo have now agreed to resolve all disputes between them,” the two sides said in a joint statement. “Mr. Combs has withdrawn all of his allegations about Diageo and will voluntarily dismiss his lawsuits against Diageo with prejudice.”

The abrupt settlement with Diageo came as Combs is facing multiple accusations of sexual assault. After he quickly settled a rape lawsuit filed in November by longtime romantic partner Cassie, he was then quickly sued again by three different times by three different women over similar allegations. Diddy has strongly denied all such accusations and vowed to clear his name in court.

Before any of those allegations came to light, Combs sued Diageo in May, claiming the company breached his partnership deal for DeLeón. But he also went a lot further than that, claiming Diageo had “typecast” the tequila as a “Black brand” that could only be sold to “urban” consumers, harming its sales and leaving it lagging behind competing Diageo brands like Casamigos and Don Julio.

“Cloaking itself in the language of diversity and equality is good for Diageo’s business, but it is a lie,” Combs’ lawyers wrote. “While Diageo may conspicuously include images of its Black partners in advertising materials and press releases, its words only provide the illusion of inclusion.”

Diageo responded a month later, calling the lawsuit a “bad faith, sham action” filed by a star who had “amassed nearly one billion dollars” from their partnership but now wanted to “extract” billions more.

“These allegations are nothing more than opportunistic attempts to garner press attention and distract the court from the fact that plaintiff’s breach-of-contract claim is entirely without merit,” the company’s attorneys wrote. “Diageo categorically denies these accusations.”

Diageo demanded that the case be sent to private arbitration, citing a provision in Diddy’s partnership contract that they said required such disputes be handled out of court. The company argued that, if Diddy’s “inflammatory rhetoric” about racism was removed, the case was nothing more than a “garden variety” business dispute that must be arbitrated. But in September, the judge overseeing the case rejected that argument, meaning the case would have moved forward in state court, with the trial open to the public.

16 Jan 2024

Rema & Selena Gomez’s ‘Calm Down’ Breaks Record for Most Weeks Ever on Pop Airplay Chart

Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” solely claims the record for the most weeks ever spent on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, adding an unprecedented 64th week on the survey (dated Jan. 20).

The song, released on Jonzing World/Mavin/SMG Music/Virgin/Interscope Records, debuted on the Nov. 5, 2022-dated tally and spent five weeks at No. 1 last May-July, marking Rema’s first leader and Gomez’s fourth. It ranks at No. 12 on the latest list.

“Calm Down” breaks out of a tie with Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (63 weeks, 2022-23) for the longest Pop Airplay stay.

Here’s a rundown of the songs that have charted on Pop Airplay the longest, over the ranking’s 31-year-plus history.

Most Weeks on Pop Airplay, Title, Artist(s), Peak Pos./Date:

  • 64 (to date), “Calm Down,” Rema & Selena Gomez, No. 1 (five weeks), beginning May 13, 2023
  • 63, “As It Was,” Harry Styles, No. 1 (seven), May 21, 2022
  • 60, “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd, No. 1 (six), April 18, 2020
  • 54, “Heat Waves,” Glass Animals, No. 1 (two), Jan. 29, 2022
  • 50, “Die for You,” The Weeknd, No. 1 (two), Feb. 11, 2023
  • 48, “Stay,” The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, No. 1 (13), Sept. 4, 2021
  • 47, “Before You Go,” Lewis Capaldi, No. 1 (one), Sept. 26, 2020
  • 45, “Thats What I Want,” Lil Nas X, No. 1 (four), Feb. 19, 2022
  • 45, “Adore You,” Harry Styles, No. 1 (one), April 11, 2020
  • 45, “Circles,” Post Malone, No. 1 (10), Nov. 16, 2019
  • 45, “Eastside,” benny blanco, Halsey & Khalid, No. 1 (one), March 2, 2019
  • 45, “Love Lies,” Khalid & Normani, No. 1 (two), Sept. 22, 2018
  • 45, “New Rules,” Dua Lipa, No. 1 (four), Feb. 3, 2018

“Calm Down” also holds the mark for the most weeks logged in the Pop Airplay top 10: 45, from the charts dated March 11, 2023, through Jan. 13.

Rema, from Nigeria, released the original version of “Calm Down” in February 2022 as a single from his debut solo LP, Rave & Roses. Its remix with Gomez arrived that August, and that version’s official video premiered that September.

“Calm Down” dominated the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for 58 weeks from September 2022 to October 2023, the longest command since the ranking began in 2022.

On the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100, “Calm Down” hit No. 3 last June, becoming Rema’s first entry and Gomez’s ninth top 10, and second-highest-charting, after “Lose You to Love Me” led for a week in November 2019.

“I was at a party, and a couple of girls walked in, and I saw a girl in yellow,” Rema told Billboard in 2023 of the origin of “Calm Down.” “I wanted to talk to her, and her friends were being really stuck up. They didn’t really want to chat. And I was like, ‘Yo, just calm down. Let’s have a chat.’ And then she actually calmed down, and we started talking and dancing. When she left the party, she was on my mind, and I wanted to see her again. That was it. I walked in the studio fresh out of that emotion.

“I’m so happy,” Rema added of the song’s success. “I’m happy for me, my team, the culture and for Selena. She embraced the sound, and she did her own thing. It was the right timing [with] the right person, and the impact has been so huge. Seeing people who don’t speak my language sing my song word-for-word really shows that people are impacted by the sound, and I’m grateful for it.”

All charts dated Jan. 20 will update on Billboard.com Wednesday, Jan. 17, a day later than usual due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday Jan. 15.

16 Jan 2024

Drake Responds To Yasiin Bey After Recent Shopping In Target Quip

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Drake was a hot topic of discussion during the MLK holiday weekend after a new interview featured Yasiin Bey sharing his thoughts on the Canadian superstar’s music. In the debates that cropped up since the clip went viral, Drake has responded in a way befitting of the “Petty King” moniker he gave himself.

Yasiin Bey was a guest on The Cutting Room Floor podcast and a segment of the chat was shared online regarding Drake and his musical output. The Brooklyn veteran expressed that Drizzy’s music is what you’d hear while out shopping at Target, signaling that he views the OVO Sound honcho as a popular or mainstream act.

Drake took to his Instagram Stories feed and shared a clip of Method Man discussing the finer points of Hip-Hop culture with an interviewer. True to his nickname, the Take Care star wrote in the captions, “What umi say again? Lemme shine my light king don’t change up now” referencing Bey’s classic “Umi Says” track.

While Bey’s observation might ring true considering where Drake stands in the greater conversation surrounding the culture, Hip-Hop has undergone a series of transformations since Bey’s initial start in the 1990s, and artists of that ilk undoubtedly influenced Drake. As it stands, The Boy has previously demanded respect from rappers for his pen work and even hopped into a strictly Hip-Hop bag on the deluxe version of his last studio album, For All The Dogs.

Naturally, Bey’s comments woke up the hives of both artists, pitting them against each other with fans using silly potshots, with some referring to Bey’s music as “Peace God Raps” and other related jabs. Others are defending Bey’s right to his comments and have taken swipes at Drake’s authenticity as a rapper while firmly placing him in the “pop Rap” world.

Hopefully, a conversation can happen between the pair to clear the air.

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Photo: Getty