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Bebe Rexha shares five things you didn’t know about her music backstage at Billboard Women In Music 2024.
Bebe Rexha:Hi, I’m Bebe Rexha, and this is five things you don’t know about my music.
My favorite music video I’ve ever shot was “Sacrifice,” and it was inspired by the movie Blade. And it’s me and my vampire girlfriends and we seek revenge on a very bad guy.
Every time I record a song, it’s always different. Sometimes I’ll start with chords, sometimes I’ll start with a concept, or title. Sometimes something happens to me that day, and I want to write about it. But the recording process for me changes every time. But a lot of my a lot of the songs that have been the most successful, you know, on the charts have been stuff that have started just with me on the piano.
I love performing an Amsterdam but also I loved when, I loved it when I was in Japan as well. That was really fun. I don’t love just one place. I personally just love meeting fans from everywhere around the world. I always want to see what the city looks like. And not just go to the touristy parts. I like finding like the grungy places. That’s fun for me.
We have my first album ever, it was called Expectations, and it was based off of a quote that an old manager told me, because I was at the point I was very … I was going through the music industry as a songwriter kept getting, you know, in really not great situations. And he told me he’s like, “Honestly, the best thing in life is having no expectations.” So whether you’re going on a date, or walking into … I said walking — I’m from New York — walking into a studio session or meeting somebody. Don’t think, “Oh, I hope this date goes well” or build a fantasy in your head — just walk in very neutral. And I feel like that’s the reason why I call my album Expectations. That was my first album.
My favorite accomplishment ever is I was studying to be an act classically — a classically trained opera singer. And I got into … I got into this program. It was like a New York City program in New York State program. It is very hard to get into it. That was a really exciting moment for me. But the crazy thing is, what happened is when you get picked, you will [go to] upstate New York, and you sing with a whole choir, it’s like a choir situation. And I end up getting the flu that day. But you know, that’s life, but here I am at the Billboard Women In Music.
Ariana Grande is having a massive week on Billboard’s charts. Along with claiming the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and reigning as the No. 1 act on the Billboard Artist 100, she also rules the Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts for the first time.
As such, Grande becomes just the fourth artist to top all five of those surveys simultaneously, a feat achieved just 10 times since Billboard launched the songwriter and producer charts in 2019. Here’s a look at every such week.
Chart Date, Artist, Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Hot 100 No. 1 songMarch 23, 2024: Ariana Grande, Eternal Sunshine, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”Nov. 18, 2023: Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), “Cruel Summer”Nov. 11, 2023: Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]”Sept. 9, 2023: Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan, “I Remember Everything” ft. Kacey MusgravesDec. 3, 2022: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero”Nov. 26, 2022: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero”Nov. 12, 2022: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero”Nov. 5, 2022: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero”Nov. 27, 2021: Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version), “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”April 4, 2020: The Weeknd, After Hours, “Blinding Lights”
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Taylor Swift has led all five charts simultaneously a record seven times, and via three albums: Red (Taylor’s Version), Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The Weeknd and Zach Bryan have both achieved the feat once, thanks to their LPs After Hours and Zach Bryan, respectively.
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Grande tops the latest Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts thanks to her credits on all 12 of her charting songs on the Hot 100, all from Eternal Sunshine. Notably, she’s the only co-songwriter and co-producer on all 12 songs. Here’s a recap.
Rank, TitleNo. 1, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”No. 10, “Yes, And?” (up from No. 31; debuted at No. 1 on Jan. 27)No. 16, “The Boy Is Mine”No. 17, “Supernatural”No. 23, “Eternal Sunshine”No. 25, “Bye”No. 28, “Don’t Wanna Break Up Again”No. 30, “True Story”No. 37, “Imperfect for You”No. 38, “Intro (End of the World)”No. 39, “I Wish I Hated You”No. 55, “Ordinary Things,” feat. Nonna
Eternal Sunshine is Grande’s first album cycle in which she’s credited as a co-producer. She logged her first career Hot 100 entry as a credited producer on “Yes, And?,” with Max Martin and ILYA. Of the 12 charting songs from the set, Martin is a co-producer on all but “Intro (End of the World)” and “I Wish I Hated You.” ILYA co-produced all except “Intro,” “Supernatural” and “Ordinary Things.” Martin and ILYA rank at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, on Hot 100 Producers.
Martin has an unprecedented history on Billboard’s charts, having produced a record 25 No. 1 songs on the Hot 100. He tallied his record-breaking 24th leader in January with “Yes, And?” (passing late Beatles mastermind George Martin). He tallies his 25th with “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”
As for ILYA, 26 of Grande’s Hot 100-charting entries have been produced or co-produced by the hitmaker, including her two most recent No. 1s, as well as her first top five hit, “Problem,” featuring Iggy Azalea, in 2014. He also co-produced Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ 2022 No. 1 “Unholy,” along with songs by Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers, Lizzo and Normani.
Billboard’s weekly Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings). Billboard launched its Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic in June 2019. Alternative and hard rock joined in 2020, along with seasonal holiday rankings in 2022.
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Ariana Grande is the top musical act in the U.S., as she returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated March 23) for a 16th total week on top, thanks most prominently to her new album, Eternal Sunshine.
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The Artist 100 measures artists’ activity across key metrics of music consumption: streaming, radio airplay, album sales and track sales. Using a methodology comprising those metrics, the chart provides a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
Eternal Sunshine arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as Grande’s sixth leader, with 227,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in its opening week (March 8-14), according to Luminate. The set scores the biggest weekly sum of 2024. Concurrently, the LP’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” launches as her ninth No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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With 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Artist 100, Grande passes Ed Sheeran for the sixth-most frames spent in charge since the chart began in 2014.
Artist 100, Most Weeks at No. 1:102, Taylor Swift38, Drake28, The Weeknd21, BTS20, Adele16, Ariana Grande15, Ed Sheeran
Here’s a breakdown of the metrics contributing to Grande’s latest reign on the Artist 100.
Streaming
In the March 8-14 tracking week, Grande’s catalog generated 219.3 million on-demand official U.S. streams (encompassing songs on which she has lead artist billing). She ranks as the third-most-streamed artist in that span, after only Taylor Swift (286.7 million) and Drake (224.7 million).
Grande’s songs that generated the most official streams (on-demand and programmed) during the week: “We Can’t Be Friends” (32.6 million, making it the most-streamed song overall), “The Boy Is Mine” (17.6 million), “Yes, And?” (17.3 million), “Supernatural” (16.4 million) and “Eternal Sunshine” (15.9 million).
Radio airplay
Grande’s songs earned a combined 33.7 million in radio airplay audience March 8-14. Her songs that drew the most impressions in that span: “Die for You,” with The Weeknd (14.4 million), “Yes, And?” (13.7 million) and “We Can’t Be Friends” (4.6 million).
Grande is also charting on the following radio rankings:Adult Pop Airplay: “Yes, And?” (No. 11) and “We Can’t Be Friends” (No. 29)Dance/Mix Show Airplay: “Yes, And?” (No. 12)Pop Airplay: “Yes, And?” (No. 20) and “We Can’t Be Friends” (No. 31)Adult Contemporary: “Yes, And?” (No. 24)Radio Songs: “Yes, And?” (No. 48)
Album sales
As for Grande’s album sales March 8-14, here’s a breakdown, by configuration:
Overall album sales: 79,000, the most among all actsVinyl sales: 34,000, the most among all actsCD sales: 32,000, the most among all actsDigital sales: 13,000, the most among all acts
Eternal Sunshine sold 77,000 copies, almost the entirety of Grande’s album sales for the week. It’s the top-selling album overall, as well as the top-seller on both vinyl and CD.
Meanwhile, Grande’s collections earned a combined 241,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week, the second-most among all acts after Swift (261,000).
Track sales
Grande’s songs sold a combined 14,000 downloads March 8-14, making her the third-best-selling artist of the week in terms of digital song sales, after Swift (26,000) and Teddy Swims (16,000).
Grande’s songs that sold the most in that period, all from Eternal Sunshine: “We Can’t Be Friends” (9,000), “The Boy Is Mine,” “Bye” and “Imperfect for You” (1,000 each).
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“Ever since Rent, I have made it a priority to originate roles and shine a light on new work,” Idina Menzel tells Billboard. “It takes lots of patience and fortitude, but there is truly nothing as rewarding as seeing your kernel of an idea fully realized with a group of people you love and admire so deeply.”
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The Broadway icon’s latest project in that vein is the new musical Redwood, currently playing at La Jolla Playhouse in California. For Menzel — who plays Jesse, a successful businesswoman, mother and wife who finds herself as a personal crossroads and finds unexpected answers in the forests of Northern California — the show is an especially personal creative endeavor. “The story of a woman at a turning point in her life paralleled with the resilience, wisdom and strength of the redwood tree was one that spoke to me deep in my soul,” Menzel says. “Nature’s power to heal and connect us as human beings is essential in this turbulent world we are living in.”
Idina Menzel backstage during REDWOOD at La Jolla Playhouse.
Courtesy of Idina Menzel
Menzel, who released her latest album Drama Queen in August of last year, isn’t just the star of the production. She co-conceived Redwood with director, writer and co-lyricist Tina Landau (recently of Broadway’s inventive SpongeBob SquarePants musical) over the course of many years, delving deeply into the development of Jesse as a character.
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Menzel and Landau also “knew we wanted to find a new young composer who could bring a fresh take to musical theater” for the show, bringing in Kate Diaz for a score that Menzel describes as having “a beautiful, earthy and soulful quality as well as expansive and cinematic. When I perform Kate’s music, I am able to use all the different colors in my voice. I’m not just shooting for the rafters. I’m expressing myself similarly to how I express myself in my own songwriting.” (Diaz also co-wrote the lyrics with Landau).
While the La Jolla run of Redwood ends March 31, the show has its sights set on Broadway — which certainly seems more likely than not with Menzel and her creative collaborators on board. “We knew we wanted the production to be cutting edge and unconventional,” Menzel says. “We have encouraged one another to dream big, break rules, and not compromise our creative ideas. There’s a deep sense of creative freedom and trust in how we work.”
Here, Menzel exclusively shares with Billboard a live recording of her performing “Great Escape,” recorded during a performance of Redwood.
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