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Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” (Island) simply won’t cool down in the U.K., where it’s on track for a fifth consecutive week at No. 1.
The summer hit leads an unchanged top 3 on the midweek chart, ahead of Billie Eilish’s “Lunch” (Interscope) and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (American Dogwood/Empire), respectively.
Based on sales and streaming data captured by the Official Charts Company, the highest new entry should belong to Central Cee and Lil Baby with their collaborative single “BAND4BAND”. It’s new at No. 4 on the Official Chart Update,
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Lifted from Central Cee’s forthcoming major label studio album with Columbia Records, “BAND4BAND” should become the British rapper’s eighth U.K. Top 10 hit single, and U.S. hip-hop artist Lil Baby’s fourth.
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On the outside looking into the top 10 is rising soul-pop singer Myles Smith with “Stargazing” (RCA). It’s on the rise, and is forecast to improve 14-11, for a new high.
A hatful of U.S. country stars have recently enjoyed chart success in the U.K., a period that’s been described as a renaissance for the genre in these parts. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song,” Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” (No. 5 midweek via Republic Records), “Dasha’s “Austin” (No. 9 midweek via Warner Records) and, of course, Beyonce’s chart-topping, country-flavored Cowboy Carter LP (Columbia/Parkwood Ent), have all rounded up top 10 spots on the U.K. charts. Zach Bryan wants in on the action. The U.S. country singer’s “Pink Skies” (Warner Records) flies in for a No. 31 start on the chart blast. It’s set to become his second U.K. Top 40 entry following his 2023 duet with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything,” which peaked at No. 14.
Finally, Teddy Swims is eyeing a top 40 with “The Door,” the followup to “Lose Control,” his breakthrough blues number. “The Door” is up 45-33 on the chart blast, and could give the U.S. singer and songwriter his second U.K. top 40 appearance. “Lose Control” peaked at No. 2 earlier this year.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday, May 31.
Twenty One Pilots could land their very first No. 1 on the U.K. albums chart, with Clancy.
The Columbus, OH duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun lead the midweek chart with Clancy (via Atlantic/Fueled By Ramen), their seventh studio album. The recording will become the group’s fourth U.K. top 10, following 2015 release Blurryface (No. 5 peak), 2018’s Trench (No. 2) and 2021’s Scaled and Icy (No. 3) — and perhaps their first leader.
Joseph and Dun will support the 13-track LP with a major tour, spanning 59 dates that kick off Aug. 15 in the United States, before heading overseas for legs in Europe and Australia.
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Paul Weller, however, could spoil the Pilots’ party with 66 (Polydor). The British songsmith’s 17th studio effort is close behind at No. 2 on the Official Chart Update, and is set to become set to become his 23rd solo U.K. top 10 album, the Official Charts Company reports. The ex-The Jam and The Style Council frontman has scored six solo U.K. No. 1 albums: 1995’s Stanley Road, 2002 record Illumination, 2008’s 22 Dreams, 2012’s Sonik Kicks, 2020’s On Sunset and, most recently, 2021’s Fat Pop.
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Taylor Swift’s blockbuster The Tortured Poets Department (EMI) is expected to close out the U.K. top 3, dropping 1-3.
Sheffield, England rock act Bring Me The Horizon is forecast to bag a fifth U.K. top 10 with Post Human: NeX Gen (RCA), new at No. 5 on the chart blast, while U.S. alt-rock Wallows (Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters and Cole Preston) could enjoy a career-best with Model (Atlantic), their third studio record. It’s new at No. 10 on the chart update.
Meanwhile, new releases from Manchester, England-rapper Meekz (TRU at No. 12 via Meekz Music & Lifestyle); BTS star RM (Right Place, Wrong Person at No. 17 via Polydor), British breakout artist Niko B (dog eat dog food world at No. 20 via Believe Recordings), and American rock veteran Lenny Kravitz (Blue Electric Light at No. 27 via BMG) are eyeing top 40 berths.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday, May 31.
Billie Eilish crowns Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Songs charts dated June 1 with her new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, and its lead single “Lunch.”
Hit Me Hard and Soft becomes Eilish’s first No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, reigning as her first LP since the chart shifted in 2022 to include alternative-leaning titles outside the rock genre.
The set is also Eilish’s fourth leader on Top Alternative Albums, following Happier Than Ever (2021), When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) and Dont Smile at Me (2019, after it first appeared on the list in 2017).
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In the week ending May 23, Hit Me Hard and Soft, released May 17, earned 339,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. – Eilish’s best career week by that metric – according to Luminate. The sum includes 191,000 album sales and 146,000 streaming-equivalent units.
The 10-song collection is the first release to reach six digits in units on Top Rock & Alternative Albums since Dolly Parton’s Rockstar (128,000; Dec. 2, 2023) and the first on Top Alternative Albums since blink-182’s One More Time… (125,000; Nov. 4, 2023).
The 339,000-unit total is the highest for a title on Top Rock & Alternative Albums in a decade, since the 383,000 units amassed by Coldplay’s Ghost Stories (June 7, 2014; it’s the top count since Top Rock & Alternative Albums shifted to a consumption-based methodology in 2016).
On Top Alternative Albums, Hit Me Hard and Soft has the biggest week since the all-time leader: Taylor Swift’s Folklore (846,000; Aug. 8, 2020), with Eilish’s new LP the second-biggest in a single week since the 2016 shift to a consumption-based formula.
Concurrently, Hit Me Hard and Soft debuts at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and crowns the Vinyl Albums chart, with 90,000 vinyl copies sold, as previously reported.
“Lunch,” the album’s lead single, bows at No. 1 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs surveys. “Lunch” is Eilish’s fourth No. 1 on the former, which became inclusive of alternative-leaning songs not categorized within the rock genre in 2020, following commands for “What Was I Made For?” in 2023, “Happier Than Ever” in 2021 and “My Future” in 2020. Of those, “Happier Than Ever” also debuted at No. 1.
On Hot Alternative Songs, which began in 2020, “Lunch” is also Eilish’s fourth leader, likewise following “What Was I Made For?,” “Happier Than Ever” and “My Future.”
“Lunch” starts with 32.8 million official U.S. streams, 20.2 million radio audience impressions and 3,000 downloads sold May 17-23.
The entirety of Hit Me Hard and Soft’s 10-song tracklist reaches Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, with eight titles debuting in the top 10 and all 10 in the top 12. Only Zach Bryan, with nine of the top 10 on the Sept. 9, 2023, tally, has claimed more in the top 10 in a single frame.
The LP’s top-charting song after “Lunch” is “Chihiro,” which bows at No. 3 with 27.2 million streams and 1,000 sold.
“Lunch” concurrently debuts at No. 17 on Pop Airplay, No. 21 on Alternative Airplay and No. 24 on Adult Pop Airplay, as well as No. 26 on the all-format Radio Songs list.
The track also arrives at No. 1 on Alternative Streaming Songs, marking Eilish’s eighth leader since the ranking began in 2020. On the all-genre Streaming Songs chart, it starts at No. 5.
All Billboard charts dated June 1 will update on Billboard.com on Wednesday, May 29, a day later than usual due to the May 26 Memorial Day holiday in the U.S.
Blessd and Feid combine forces atop Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart, as the singer-songwriters’ first collaboration climbs from No. 7 to lead the list dated June 1. The new champ is the second team-up by two Colombian artists to rule the overall Latin radio tally in less than a year, after Shakira and Manuel Turizo united at No. 1 through “Copa Vacía” (one week in charge) in Oct. 2023.
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“Si Sabe Ferxxo” is one of eight collaborative cuts from Blessd’s 14-track album, Si Sabe, which earned the 24-year-old his first entry on any Billboard albums chart, debuting and reaching No. 29 and No. 15 high on the Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums charts (dated Feb. 10), respectively.
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The song advances to the chart’s summit with a 28% gain in audience impressions, up to 8.5 million, earned in the U.S. during the May 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate.
With “Si Sabe,” Blessd achieves his second No. 1 on Latin Airplay, following his three-way collab “Medallo,” with Justin Quiles and Lenny Tavarez, in May 2022.
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For Feid, “Si Sabe” becomes the hitmaker’s eighth No. 1 on the overall radio ranking, which began with “Porfa,” featuring J Balvin, Maluma, Nicky Jam, Sech and Justin Quiles, climbing to No. 1 in Aug. 2020. Here’s his collection of champs:
Peak, Title, Artist, Weeks at No. 1Aug. 29, 2020, “Porfa,” with J Balvin, Maluma, Nicky Jam, Sech & Justin Quiles, oneMarch 4, 2023, “Hey Mor,” with Ozuna, oneApril 15, 2023, “Yandel 150,” Yandel, fourAug. 19, 2023, “Niña Bonita,” with Sean Paul, oneJan. 13, 2024, “Bubalu,” with Rema, twoApril 20, 2024, “Perro Negro,” with Bad Bunny, oneMay 4, 2024, “Luna,” with Atl Jacob, twoJune 1, 2024, “Si Sabe Ferxxo,” with Blessd, one
As “Si Sabe Ferxxo” rises to No. 1, it unseats another Warner Latina song from the summit: Myke Towers’ “La Capi” dips 1-5 with a 25% decrease in audience impressions, to 7.71 million.
Elsewhere, thanks to its radio haul, “Si Sabe” rises 36-31 with the Greatest Gainer/Airplay honors of the week on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart, which combines airplay, digital sales and streaming data.
All charts (dated June 1, 2024) will update on Billboard.com Wednesday, May 29, a day later than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. on Monday, May 27. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X and Instagram.
After three years, Manuel Medrano announces the release of his third album, ‘Perfecto.’ He gives us a sneak peek of new single “Mojado,” his upcoming tour, explains why it took him so long to release his third album and more!
Manuel Medrano:
Hi everyone, I am Manuel Medrano and you are watching Billboard News.
Leila Cobo:
Manuel Medrano, welcome to Billboard.
Manuel Medrano:
Leila, what a pleasure.
Leila Cobo:
First of all, tell me about your look. I love all your looks, and you look very ’50s. Tell me, what are you wearing?
Manuel Medrano:
Thank you very much. It is a classic suit, bone color, a beige color with a shirt I recently discovered that comes with this knot here.
Leila Cobo:
Yes it seems like… You look from Pamplona as if you’re going to run with the bulls.
Manuel Medrano:
I like this classic style, a little elegant. I am taking my style towards that.
Leila Cobo:
This style contrasts with the tattoos because here we have an entire sleeve, tattoos down there, there too. The fire. So this is…
Manuel Medrano:
This is for kitesurf.
Leila Cobo:
Really?
Manuel Medrano:
Yes, make the board look cool.
Leila Cobo:
Is there a new tattoo for the new music?
Manuel Medrano:
There is a new tattoo for the new music. I have a broken heart here. I have a little angel here in honor of my second album. And a new tattoo is coming for my new album. You are the first person to know this.
Leila Cobo:
I can’t believe it. But you haven’t done it yet?
Manuel Medrano:
Not yet. But very possibly I will do it this week.
Keep watching to learn more!
The only existing copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, one of the greatest collector’s items in recorded music history, will finally get its public debut.
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There is a catch: you’ll have to visit Tasmania next month to hear it.
The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart, the capital of the Apple Isle, has loaned the one-off record for its upcoming exhibition, Namedropping.
Mona’s Frying Pan Studios will host 30-minute listening parties twice-a-day from June 15-24, where a curated selection of tracks from the album will be played.
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“During Namedropping,” reads a statement, “the world’s only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s fabled seventh studio album will be on display in the museum. We’re giving you the chance to hear it, too. At least some of it.”
Tickets are free – if you are lucky enough to secure a ticket, the museum handily warns – and available only for over-18s.
“You hear talk about once-in-a-lifetime opportunities: this is probably one of them,” reads a statement.
The brief history of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is so unusual, it’s worthy of its own feature film.
The hip-hop pioneers announced the secret, one-of-a-kind pressing in 2015, a rebuff to the digital world in which we now live. And put the record under the hammer.
“When you buy a painting or a sculpture, you’re buying that piece rather than the right to replicate it,” says RZA in a Q&A on the online auction site. “Owning a Picasso doesn’t mean you can sell prints or reproductions, but that you’re the sole owner of a unique original. And that’s what Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is. It’s a unique original rather than a master copy of an album.” The Clan delivered the coup de grâce on the project by deleting all digital files.
The winning bidder was Martin Shkreli, the notorious so-called “pharma bro” who went on a headline-dominating rampage when he both hiked up prices of the HIV/AIDS drug Daraprim and purchased the unreleased double-disc for a cool $2 million.
He continued to capture headlines when promised to share the album publicly, but only if Donald Trump was elected as president. That happened, and Shkreli shared a small series of videos, all of which featured him with snippets of the album playing in the background – despite being under orders from the Clan to not play the album for 88 years.
Shkreli attempted to sell the album on eBay, chastened by the backlash he’d received from a member of the Clan and the music world. The sale didn’t go through and, in 2018, following Shkreli’s conviction for securities fraud, he was forced to part ways with the album under a federal court-ordered seizure of assets.
In 2021 the US Department of Justice reportedly sold the album for $4 million to digital art collective PleasrDAO, its current owner.
Empire of the Sun rises again with a tour in support of Ask That God, the forthcoming fourth studio album by the electro-pop outfit from Down Under.
Led by Luke Steele (frontman of indie-rock act The Sleepy Jackson) and Lord Littlemore (Nick Littlemore of electronic trio PNAU), Empire of the Sun will embark on a tour of Australia, kicking off Oct. 24 at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, and visiting Melbourne, Brisbane and wrapping Nov. 1 with a show at Red Hill Auditorium, in Steele’s hometown, Perth.
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The national trek, produced by Frontier Touring, is the first announced in support of Ask That God, the group’s first album in eight years. Additional treks are yet to be announced.
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Due out July 26 (via EMI Australia), Ask That God is led by the first singles “Changes” and “Music On The Radio;” both are accompanied with sparkling, Michael Maxxis-helmed music videos that capture Steele and Littlemore in all their astral-wizardry.
Ask That God is the follow-up to 2016’s Two Vines, which logged at week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums and featured contributions from Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, Wendy Melvoin from Prince’s Revolution band and two members of David Bowie’s Blackstar band, pianist Henry Hey and bassist Tim Lefebvre.
To build the buzz, Empire of the Sun today shared behind the scenes footage from the “Changes” music video.
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“Ask That God is an album we searched for and were thankfully blessed with. We are nothing more than conduits, gathering experience and finding what is meant for the Empire to find,” explains Steele.
Since their breakthrough debut album from 2008, Walking On A Dream, which housed the title track and “We Are The People,” Empire of the Sun has collected eight ARIA Awards (including four at the 2009 ceremony), two APRA Music Awards, an APRA Billions Award, and collected 7.6 billion streams, according to EMI.
“Walking On A Dream” belatedly cracked the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016, peaking at No. 65, after hitching a ride with a Honda Civic campaign. The track would become a U.S. chart leader, hitting No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs, for their second leader after 2013’s “Alive” – a song that was released five years after “Walking on a Dream.” Empire of the Sun would also preside over the Billboard + Clio Music’s Top Commercials chart for successive months in the United States, where the single is now platinum certified.
Littlemore hinted at some hidden gems in an interview with Billboard in 2021. “There’s a lot of great music in the bag. I’m hoping that will see the light of day,” Littlemore told this reporter. “I have great faith. I don’t feel we have exhausted that well by any stretch. The name still has a lot of goodwill. I really hope we can come together and finish it.”
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The U.K. singles chart race was something of a feast, as Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” (Island) beat Billie Eilish’s “Lunch” (Interscope) for the title. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news With its latest crown, confirmed Friday, May 24, “Espresso” extends its streak to four weeks. Carpenter’s breakout hit is […]
It’s Billie Eilish’s week in the U.K., as Hit Me Hard And Soft punches its way to No. 1 with personal-best results.
According to the Official Charts Company, Hit Me Hard And Soft (Interscope) knocks out 67,100 chart units in its first seven days, easily surpassing the opening week for her 2019 leader When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which bowed with 48,400 units.
With that effort, Eilish hits a perfect three-from-three with her studio albums (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and 2021’s Happier Than Ever also debuted at the summit), and bags the second-biggest opening week for any album in the U.K. this year, behind only Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, which shifted a mighty 270,000 U.K. chart units in just seven days.
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Also, three tracks from the California alternative pop phenomenon’s latest LP crack the national top 10, led by “Lunch” at No. 2, ahead of “Chihiro” (No. 7) and “Birds Of A Feather” (No. 9), lifting her career tally of U.K. top 10 hits to 12.
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The runaway leader on the midweek chart, when it was outselling the rest of the top 5 combined, Hit Me Hard And Soft knocks Swift from the summit, as Tortured Poets (via EMI) dips 1-2, while Zayn lands a No. 3 start with Room Under The Stairs (Republic Records). That’s the former One Direction singer’s third top 40 solo appearance, following 2016’s chart-leading Mind of Mine and 2021’s Nobody is Listening, which peaked at No. 17.
Further down the Official U.K. Albums Chart, Portishead singer Beth Gibbons debuts at No. 7 with her first solo studio album, Lives Outgrown (Domino Recordings), while legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash earns a No. 8 entry with his star-studded collection, Orgy of the Damned (Gibson).
Finally, Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band scores a second U.K. top 10 with Loophole (Modern Sky), new at No. 10.
Ahead of NLE Choppa’s interview release, we give you a sneak peek where he breaks down the Kendrick Lamar & Drake beef, who won, and more! NLE Choppa: I think the win is like, you know, how Kendrick go home and feel about it, and how Drizzy will go home and feel about it. I […]