Billboard
Page: 36
In the most recent episode of the Inevitable podcast, J. Cole reveals that he wanted to create a dream collab album with Big Sean and Meek Mill. Keep watching for the full story! Narrator: From a “Heaven’s EP” to a dream collab EP? The Dreamville rapper dropped some news on the latest episode of his Inevitable […]
The Moana 2 soundtrack debuts in the top 10 across three Billboard album charts, as the set arrives at No. 2 on Kid Albums, No. 10 on Soundtracks and No. 10 on World Albums (all charts dated Dec. 7, reflecting activity in the U.S. in the tracking week ending Nov. 28). The blockbuster animated movie […]
Kendrick Lamar is back with another massive week on Billboard’s charts, thanks to his new surprise album, GNX.
Released without advance notice Nov. 22 on pgLand/Interscope/ICLG, GNX blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated Dec. 7) with 319,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in its opening week, according to Luminate. It becomes his fifth leader, following Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (2022), DAMN. (2017), untitled unmastered. (2016) and To Pimp a Butterfly (2015).
Concurrently, all 12 GNX tracks enter the Billboard Hot 100, all in the top 30 with seven in in the top 10 – including the entire top five. He joins Taylor Swift, Drake and The Beatles as the only acts to dominate the entire top five in the same week.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Kendrick Lamar GNX Songs on the Hot 100 (dated Dec. 7):No. 1, “Squabble Up”No. 2, “TV Off,” feat. Lefty GunplayNo. 3, “Luther” with SZANo. 4, “Wacced Out Murals”No. 5, “Hey Now,” feat. Dody6No. 8, “Reincarnated”No. 9, “Man at the Garden”No. 11, “Dodger Blue,” feat. Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x & Roddy RicchNo. 13, “Peekaboo,” feat. AzChikeNo. 14, “Heart Pt. 6”No. 24, “GNX,” feat. Hitta J3, YoungThreat & PeysohNo. 27, “Gloria,” with SZA
Trending on Billboard
“Squabble Up” earns Lamar his fifth Hot 100 No. 1, after “Not Like Us” and “Like That,” with Future and Metro Boomin (both earlier in 2024), “Humble.” (2017) and as featured on Swift’s “Bad Blood” (2015). He also ups his career counts to 87 total Hot 100 entries, 57 top 40 hits, 22 top 10s and 14 top five titles.
Thanks to their featured appearances on the album, Lefty Gunplay, Dody6, Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x, AzChike, Hitta J3, YoungThreat and Peysoh all score their first career Hot 100 placements.
Meanwhile, Roddy Ricch returns to the Hot 100 for the first time in two years thanks to his featured turn on “Dodger Blue.” The rapper has notched two No. 1s: “The Box” and as featured on DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” both in 2020.
Kendrick Lamar is on a roll. After debuting at No. 1 on both the Hot 100 & Billboard 200 thanks to ‘GNX’, the rapper just announced a joint stadium tour with SZA, and more music could possibly be on the way. Keep watching to see our full breakdown of what Kendrick’s been up to! Narrator: […]
Tito Double P plays Truth or Dare with Billboard, and he shows off his dance moves, reveals who he wants to collaborate with, his favorite song to perform and more! Tito Double P:Show us your best dance moves, seriously? Do I have to dance or what? Dangerous. Who is an artist you would like to […]
Beyoncé takes the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 25 Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century, and we’re going through her extensive career and accolades that have landed her at No. 1. From nine solo Hot 100 No. 1s to 27 Billboard Music Awards and the most Grammy Awards of any artist in history, we’re […]
Tyla is next up on the list to perform at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards, airing on Thursday, Dec. 12. Keep watching for all the details! Narrator:New performer alert! Tyla will perform at this year’s Billboard Music Awards! The South African singer is set to grace the Billboard Music Awards stage on Dec. 12. Tyla […]
XG just finished the North American leg of their The First Howl World Tour and they share their experience throughout touring, how ALPHAZ have continuously shocked the girl group with the outpour of support, what fans can expect from their new album AWE, why outer space is a significant theme for the girls and more! […]
Jonathan Groff has endeared himself to huge audiences playing some of the most beloved (and different) roles in modern musical theater: breaking hearts as the original Melchior in Spring Awakening; cracking up as King George in Hamilton; and most recently turning in his most complex performance yet as Franklin Shepard in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, for which he won his first Tony award.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Now, Groff is adding to that diverse resume of roles with perhaps the most unexpected of all. In the new musical Just in Time, he’ll play Bobby Darin, the iconic crooner known for his renditions of songs like “Beyond the Sea,” “Dream Lover” and “Mack the Knife.” Developed and directed by Alex Timbers, the show features Groff anchoring a cast of 16 in one of Broadway‘s most unique and intimate theaters, the Circle in the Square. Previews begin March 28, 2025 in advance of an April 23 opening — but you can hear Groff singing as Darin for the first time here, as Billboard premieres his recordings of “Beyond the Sea,” “Dream Lover” and “Just in Time.”
As Groff tells Billboard, his preparation process for the role began seven years ago, when he was researching the singer while putting together a concert of his music for the 92nd St. Y in New York. “We’ve been developing this musical about his life ever since then,” Groff says. “Bobby Darin was the consummate performer. And he was way ahead of his time. He had this chameleon ability to jump styles and genres way before it became popular for pop artists to do that. Having this opportunity to play him, I get to push myself to places I’ve never gone before as a singer or performer. My heart races just thinking about it.”
Trending on Billboard
Timbers — who won a Tony for his direction of Moulin Rouge! The Musical and has brought his vision to shows ranging from Here Lies Love to The Pee-wee Herman Show — calls Darin “a singular talent whose music lives on today,” but notes that “what was so memorable to the people who knew him was his connection with an audience.” With Just in Time, “We’re doing everything we can to try to transform our Broadway theater to evoke a 1960s club,” he tells Billboard, “and allow our audience to experience what it was like to be in a room, up close, with one of that generation’s most electric performers.”
Just in Time features a book by Tony-winner Warren Leight (Side Man) and Isaac Oliver (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel); music supervision and arrangements by Andrew Resnick (Parade); choreography by Shannon Lewis; and is based on an original concept by Ted Chapin. Along with Groff, the cast includes Joe Barbara (A Bronx Tale The Musical), Tony-winner Michele Pawk (Wicked), Lance Roberts (The Music Man), Caesar Samayoa (Come From Away), Christine Cornish (Kiss Me, Kate), Julia Grondin (Funny Girl), Valeria Yamin (Moulin Rouge!), John Treacy Egan (My Fair Lady), Tari Kelly (Mr. Saturday Night), Matthew Guy Magnusson, Khori Michelle Petinaud (Lempicka), and Larkin Reilly (Bad Cinderella).
The original Broadway cast recording of Wicked reaches the top 40 of the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time, nearly 21 years after its release in December 2003. The set jumps 79-33 on the chart dated Dec. 7, following continued buzz generated by the recently released film adaptation of the long-running stage show.
The Broadway show, which opened in New York in October 2003, launched with Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in the lead roles of Glinda and Elphaba (played by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in the film).
Wicked is just the seventh musical cast album to reach the top 40 of the Billboard 200 in the last 25 years, following Bruce Springsteen’s solo show Springsteen on Broadway (2018) and the original Broadway cast recordings of Dear Evan Hansen (2017), Hamilton: An American Musical (2015), If/Then (2014), The Book of Mormon (2011) and Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2008).
Trending on Billboard
The new Wicked film opened in U.S. theaters on Nov. 22 and has earned more than $260 million at the U.S. and Canada box office. Its soundtrack debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, marking the highest debut for a soundtrack of a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical.
In the tracking week ending Nov. 28, as reflected on the Dec. 7-dated Billboard 200 chart, the Wicked Broadway cast recording earned 22,000 equivalent album units (up 60%) while the Wicked film soundtrack starts with 139,000 units.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Dec. 7, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
The original Broadway cast recording of Wicked had previously peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200 in March of 2014. Chenoweth and Menzel starred in the Broadway show from its opening through July 2004 and January 2005, respectively. Wicked has continued to play on Broadway since its premiere in 2003, and with more than 8,100 performances, it is the fourth-longest running show in Broadway history.
The original Broadway cast recording of Wicked also spends a 350th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart, which ranks the week’s top-selling musical stage show albums. Wicked has the second-most weeks at No. 1 on Cast Albums since the list began in January of 2006. The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical leads the pack with 411 weeks at No. 1.
The Wicked cast album also debuts on the Top Streaming Albums chart at No. 38, where the Wicked movie soundtrack debuts at No. 4.