Chart Beat
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Kicking off the new year in style, Coldplay leads Billboard’s Top Tours chart for January. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Chris Martin and company grossed $58.8 million and sold 417,000 tickets during the month, essentially doubling its closest competition.
January is traditionally the slowest month of the year, with Elton John and Tool crowning lists in 2020 and 2022, respectively, with less than $20 million each. John himself set a high mark in 2023 with $40.9 million, and now Coldplay improves upon that by 44%. This year’s top 30 tours grossed a collective $271 million, up 75% from last January’s total.
This marks the third time that Coldplay has been No. 1 on Top Tours, having crowned lists in March 2023 and July 2022. The band achieved its hat-trick with eight shows in Asia. Including another two dates in early February and eight shows in November, the latest leg of the Music of the Spheres tour earned $143.3 million.
Coldplay’s January shows break down to two at the Philippine Arena in Manila and six at Singapore’s National Stadium. The latter batch grossed $43.4 million and sold 321,000 tickets, leading Top Boxscores by a margin of 2.8-to-1.
While the phrase “world tour” often translates to the U.S., Canada and western Europe, Coldplay has taken its time to travel the globe. The Music of the Spheres Tour launched in March 2022 and has included three legs in Latin America, two in the U.S. and Canada, two in Europe, and now 18 shows in Asia. More dates in Europe and Oceania await in 2024.
In all, Coldplay’s massive global trek has sold 7.7 million tickets. Only Ed Sheeran’s Divide (÷) tour (2017-19) has sold more, at 8.9 million. With 43 shows scheduled between June and September, Coldplay would need to average about 28,000 tickets per show — less than half of the tour’s global average so far — to close the gap and become the bestselling tour in Boxscore history.
Speaking of Sheeran, he sits at No. 2 on January’s Top Tours chart with Asian concerts of his own. He grossed $31.7 million and sold 194,000 tickets over six dates, with five more in February to count toward next month’s recap.
Sheeran grossed $11.6 million over two nights in Osaka and another $10.6 million from a double-header in Dubai. Similar to Coldplay, his dates in Asia are part of a global endeavor, following legs in Europe, Oceania and North America.
Not only do both acts rub shoulders atop the all-time tally, they wrestle on the opposite end of the top 10. Sheeran’s The Mathematics Tour has now grossed $556.4 million and sold 5.8 million tickets since its April 2022 debut, squeezing into the top 10 highest grossing tours of all time. Collateral damage, Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour (2016-17) dips to No. 11, just as the British rock band encroaches on Sheeran’s prior tour at the all-time summit.
At No. 3 on Top Tours, Madonna brought in $31.2 million from a string of arena dates in January. That leaves her just $500,000 away from Sheeran’s runner-up spot, held back by a margin of less than 2%. All of Madonna’s 11 January dates appear on Top Boxscores, spotlighted by her three shows at Madison Square Garden. Those grossed $10.3 million from 41,200 tickets sold.
Now at $121 million, The Celebration Tour is Madonna’s sixth to cross the nine-digit threshold. Only The Rolling Stones (nine) and U2 (seven) have more. Bruce Springsteen and the Eagles also have six $100 million tours to their names.
Madonna has 32 shows left to report in the U.S., plus five in Mexico City. When all is said and done, The Celebration Tour will likely become her third to gross $200 million or more, behind stadium runs Sticky & Sweet Tour ($407.7 million; 2008-09) and the MDNA tour ($305.2 million; 2012).
K-pop offers bright spots in the top 10, with SEVENTEEN at No. 4 with $19.6 million and ENHYPEN at No. 7 with $13 million. Each group played batches of shows in Asia, just like Coldplay and Sheeran. With restrictive weather in the U.S. and Europe, stadiums in southern Asia and Australia are often pillars of early-in-the-year box office.
Comedians make their mark on Top Tours as well, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Peter Kay, Kevin Hart, Jo Koy and Brett Goldstein all ranking between Nos. 14-20.
Though not without significant highlights, the Top Tours chart embraces the winter doldrums of years past, delivering the lowest top-30 gross since last January. John Mulaney and NieR Orchestra close out the top 30 under $1 million, matching 2023’s two sub-million earners. February marks the stage returns of Blink-182, Karol G and P!nk, while introducing new tours from Bad Bunny and Olivia Rodrigo.
A version of this story will appear in the March 2, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Eladio Carrión may have scored multiple top 10s across the Billboard charts, but he can now cross off a new milestone as he attains his first No. 1 on any ranking with “TQMQA,” a song outside of his usual rhythmic realm.
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“TQMQA,” a Latin pop-tinged song — short for “Te Quiero Más Que Ayer” — rises 2-1 on the Latin Pop Airplay chart (dated March 2) with 5.4 million audience impressions, up 9%, earned in the U.S. during the Feb. 16-22 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The song is the first single from Carrión’s fifth studio album, Sol María, which debuted and peaked at No. 6 on Top Latin Albums and at No. 3 on Latin Rhythm Albums charts (Feb. 3).
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“TQMQA,” released and promoted via Rimas Entertainment, yields the Puerto Rican-American rapper and Latin trap singer his first Latin Pop Airplay No. 1 with his third chart appearance. His breakthrough Latin Pop Airplay song, “Alejarme De Ti” with Jay Wheeler, earned Carrión his first top 10 there, peaking at No. 9 in March 2022, while “No Puede Ser,” with Mau y Ricky, reached No. 22 a month later, in April 2022.
Prior to its radio impact, “TQMQA” debuted and peaked at No. 39 on the multimetric Hot Latin Songs chart, which blends airplay, digital sales, and streaming activity.
Elsewhere, the song climbs 22-19 on the overall Latin Airplay chart, Carrión’s highest entry since “Nunca y Pico,” with Yandel and Maluma, earned him his first top 10, peaking at No. 6 in Nov. 2022.
With Feb. 29 a leap day, let’s celebrate by looking at the songs that have made the biggest leaps on the Billboard Hot 100 over the chart’s history.
Taylor Swift’s “Me!,” featuring Brendon Urie, holds the distinction of having made the greatest vault on the Hot 100: 98 spots, from No. 100 to No. 2, on the chart dated May 11, 2019. The song debuted from initial radio exposure before its full first-week airplay, streaming and sales totals propelled it to the runner-up spot (below Lil Nas X’s Billy Ray Cyrus-featuring “Old Town Road,” which logged the fifth of its eventual record 19 weeks at No. 1).
“Me!” was released as the lead single from Swift’s album Lover – which currently boasts its latest Hot 100 top 10: the revived “Cruel Summer,” at No. 7 on the March 2, 2024-dated chart following four weeks at No. 1 beginning last October.
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The 98-position flight for “Me!” on the Hot 100 surpassed Kelly Clarkson’s 96-spot surge with “My Life Would Suck Without You.” The latter leapt 97-1 on the Feb. 9, 2009, chart – the biggest jump ever to No. 1.
Giant steps up the Hot 100 have become fairly common since the chart adopted electronically-derived Luminate data in 1991, often sparked since the 2000s by the likes of video premieres, award show spotlights and the arrival of releases, including remixes, for purchase, along with, as with “Me!,” songs’ complete first weeks of tracking.
Meanwhile, on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the biggest bound (since the survey became a combined stereo and mono listing in August 1963) belongs to Eminem’s Music To Be Murdered By. The set soared 196 spots, from No. 199 to No. 3, on the Jan. 2, 2021-dated chart following the surprise release of its deluxe edition; the album had debuted at No. 1 nearly a year earlier.
(As for another leap day feat, only one song has risen to No. 1 for a first week atop the Hot 100 dated Feb. 29: Mr. Big’s “To Be With You,” which began a three-week command on the chart dated Feb. 29, 1992.)
Below, leap into a list of the songs that have jumped the highest in a single week on the Hot 100.
98 spots: “Me!,” Taylor Swift feat. Brendon Urie
Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
For the first time in 122 weeks, hip-hop albums seize both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard 200 albums chart. On the list dated Feb. 24, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 1 reigns, while Yeat’s 2093 debuts at No. 2. The pair makes for the first time that hip-hop has twin titles atop the chart since Oct. 30, 2021, when Young Thug’s Punk and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, nabbed the top two spots.
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The Punk–Certified Lover Boy moment was the ninth such double for hip-hop on the Billboard 200 in 2021, capping a year that saw additional chart-toppers from Moneybagg Yo, DJ Khaled, J. Cole, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Tyler the Creator, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. But, despite no one-two lockdown in 2022 or 2023, hip-hop still maintained top standing among listeners, with R&B/hip-hop as both years’ most-streamed genre by total album consumption, according to Luminate. (R&B/hip-hop is an umbrella genre for Luminate that contains most titles categorized as R&B and/or rap. Individual statistics for R&B or rap are not available for the purposes of such research.)
While hip-hop’s 122-week break between holding both the gold and silver medal is certainly rare for this era, it doesn’t quite touch the record gap of just under four years in the early 1990s. On the chart dated Jan. 19, 1991, Vanilla Ice’s To The Extreme and MC Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em ranked at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, marking the 12th consecutive week that the blockbuster albums had locked up the top two spots. After those titans surrendered the summit, hip-hop needed until Nov. 5, 1994, to recapture the top pair, with the Murder Was the Case soundtrack (No. 1) and Scarface’s The Diary (No. 2) becoming the magic combination.
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As hip-hop scores its winning week, two different hip-hop No. 1 albums – Vultures 1 and 21 Savage’s American Dream – in the first two months of the year already prevents a repeat of a discussion point that piqued interest in 2023. Last year, the genre didn’t find a No. 1 album in the first half of the year – the longest wait of any calendar year since 1993. Largely due to the dominance of albums such as SZA’s R&B set SOS and Morgan Wallen’s country collection One Thing at a Time, hip-hop couldn’t capture the flag until July, when Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape finally ended the shutout.
After several R&B chart hits to his name, Bryson Tiller switches gears and lands his first top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart as “Whatever She Wants” debuts at No. 8 on the list dated March 2. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In the tracking […]
Welcome to Billboard Pro‘s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
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This week: Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour kickoff leads to gains for both her and her opening act, the new Tyler Perry movie spurs streams for sexy R&B jams new and old, the latest viral country star takes off on TikTok and much more.
Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts Tour Kickoff Boosts Her Streaming Numbers — and Chappell Roan’s, Too
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Last Friday (Feb. 23), Olivia Rodrigo set forth on her second career headlining tour, and first arena run, as the Guts World Tour kicked off at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs. Fans inside the arena and soaking up the online clips pored over her setlist choices, discussed her visual stylings and wardrobe changes, and bemoaned her lack of cover songs a la the Sour Tour (bring back some Veruca Salt, Olivia!); they also, naturally, listened to a whole lot of Rodrigo’s music, as well as that of the rising pop favorite opening on the first leg of the trek.
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Last weekend (Feb. 24-25), Rodrigo’s catalog earned 19.62 million official U.S. on-demand streams — up 24% from the prior weekend before the tour launch (15.78 million during Feb. 17-18), according to Luminate. Guts standouts “Bad Idea Right?” (which opened Rodrigo’s show) and “Get Him Back!” (which closed it out) enjoyed some of the biggest individual upticks, with “Idea” up 27% to 1.23 million streams last weekend and “Back” up 29% to 1.21 million, respectively.
Meanwhile, Chappell Roan, the innovative art-pop auteur opening for Rodrigo across North America over the next month, also saw increased interest in her music, as previously unfamiliar Rodrigo fans watched Roan take the arena stage. The 26-year-old’s streaming catalog enjoyed a 32% bump during the first weekend of the tour, from 941,000 streams during Feb. 17-18 to 1.24 million streams during Feb. 24-25. Opening acts don’t always experience such notable streaming gains as fans are filing in to their arena seats, but on a tour as in-demand as the Guts run, everybody wins. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Tyler Perry’s Kelly Rowland-Led ‘Mea Culpa’ Spurs Streaming Boosts for Sultry Soundtrack Songs
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Tyler Perry’s latest film, Mea Culpa, which stars Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper Kelly Rowland and award-winning actor Trevante Rhodes, hit Netflix last weekend (Feb. 23) amid a flurry of online chatter. Written and directed by Perry, the film follows Rowland as a criminal defense attorney tasked with representing a man accused of killing his girlfriend. With a soundtrack that plays on the film’s dark, sultry overtones, it’s no surprise that several Mea Culpa syncs have experienced significant streaming boosts.
In terms of the classics, a pair of all-time covers — Issac Hayes’ “Walk on By” and Isley Brothers‘ “Hello, It’s Me” — both posted strong gains. Hayes’ track jumped 113% in streaming activity, from 30,000 on-demand U.S. audio steams during the weekend preceding Mea Culpa’s release (Feb. 17-19) to over 61,000 streams in the weekend following the film’s debut (Feb. 24-26), according to Luminate. Similarly, “Hello, It’s Me” collected 25,000 streams during Feb. 17-19, marking a 70% increase to 44,000 streams during Feb. 24-26.
As for the contemporary tunes, tracks from Sabrina Claudio and BANKS both earned eye-popping gains. During Feb 17-19, Claudio’s “Unravel Me” — which dropped back in 2017 – garnered 51,000 official on-demand U.S. streams. That figure jumped by 105% to 105,000 streams during Feb. 24-26. BANKS’ “And I Drove You Crazy” – a cut from the deluxe edition of Goddess, her acclaimed 2014 debut LP – posted an eye-popping 1,984% increase from 2,500 official on-demand U.S. streams (Feb. 17-19) to over 50,000 streams the following weekend (Feb 24-26).
Even if audiences and critics are less than enamored with Perry’s latest offering, they’re still running to stream the songs they encountered during their viewing experience. – KYLE DENIS
Tucker Wetmore Turns “Wine Into Whiskey” Into Viral Breakout
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Morgan Wallen was one of the first country stars to successfully make TikTok teasing a major part of his marketing strategy, so it’s only fitting that his followers should experience their breakout moments the same way. After Bailey Zimmerman followed the Wallen game plan and sound to crossover success in 2022 and 2023, now comes Tucker Wetmore, a Washington-born singer-songwriter who also borrows a heavy dose of Wallen’s twang, trappy production and proclivity for alcohol-soaked laments – and now also may poised for similar virality.
Wetmore had been teasing new single “Wine Into Whiskey” since a December TikTok clip where he offered, “I’m a little hungover, but I just got this demo back for this song, and it goes…. so hard,” before lip syncing along to the song’s moody first minute. Nearly five million plays of the clip later, Wetmore finally released the song independently to DSPs and online retailers last Friday (Feb. 23). The response was immediate: “Wine” has already racked up over three million on-demand U.S. audio streams from Friday to Monday (Feb. 26), along with over 5,000 in digital song sales, according to Luminate – both eye-popping numbers for an artist with little established chart history.
The early consumption has “Wine Into Whiskey” poised to make a Hot 100 debut next week – and then it seems like only a matter of time before country radio wraps its arms around it. In other words, expect to hear a lot more of Wetmore in the months to come. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
GC Eternal’s “Back It Up and Dump It” Sustains Sizable Streaming Gains Following A Pair of Viral TikTok Trends
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The impact of stomp-and-shake cheerleading on TikTok dance trends has been overlooked for some time now, but the sustained virality of GC Eternal’s “Back It Up and Dump It” is pushing the Black cheerleading style to center stage.
According to Luminate, “Back It Up and Dump It (Dump Truck)” — which features Kinfolk Thugs – logged over 650,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of Feb. 16-22. That’s a whopping 129% increase from around 435,000 streams two weeks prior (Feb. 2-8). Several dance trends have contributed to the song’s virality over the past few months. In fact, for the past two weeks the song has increased by over 50% in streaming activity.
Last fall, a two-step-rooted dance trend picked up steam on the platform to the first chorus of the song. More recently, a stomp and shake routine choreographed to the very beginning of the song has taken TikTok by storm. Created by TikTok user @mad0bout.miaaaaaaa, the latest “Dump Truck” dance has helped the song amass just under 300,000 posts on the platform. Mia’s routine – which has earned 1.7 million views and nearly 270,000 likes – errs more on the side of traditional stomp and shake than the current wave of Jersey-inspired TikTok dance combinations.
Although GC Eternal’s track is over ten years old, it’s still connecting with contemporary audiences through a combination of its catchy hook, groovy production, and focus on one of TikTok’s favorite pastimes: admiring a nice backside. – KD
Q&A: Todd Sherman, Director of Product Management at YouTube Shorts, on What’s Trending Up in His World
Can you walk us through the genesis of YouTube Shorts and how it’s become such a primary focus for the company?
In the early days of short-form video you could get the sense from Vine, Dubsmash and Musically that this format empowered new creators and also enabled viewers to watch video at times they might not have before. So to meet the needs of today’s increasingly mobile viewer and creator, four years ago we introduced YouTube Shorts, which make it easier to watch and create short-form content on the platform. And in just a few short years, we’ve seen creators and artists use them to drive fandom, subscribers and express themselves in new ways.
Today, YouTube Shorts is averaging over 70 billion daily views and the number of channels uploading Shorts has grown 50% year over year. That’s tremendous growth and something we’re really proud of. But we still consider ourselves at the beginning of this journey and we’re taking our learnings from nearly 20 years in the video business to make sure we do this right by our creators, artists, advertisers and fans.
You can now use Shorts to remix music videos. What have you noticed thus far with how users are playing around with these new tools?
It’s still early days, but one thing I’ve noticed is the sheer breadth of our music video library on YouTube for fans to play with and enjoy. Short-form video is often inherently creative, collaborative and interactive, so we knew the ability to Remix a Music Video would help fans unlock even more ways to connect and get creative with their favorite artists and their music on YouTube. Remix is available across all YouTube videos, not only Shorts. For the first time, fans can discover deep catalog cuts from their favorite artists and relive those moments by remixing them as their own.
Which songs/artists that are trending on Shorts are most intriguing to you?
So a few weeks back Karol G dropped her new single ”Contigo” — which of course, in itself is incredible — but she took it a step further and delivered her fans a special experience through Shorts and across the platform. The night started with the music video premiere, was followed by a Premium afterparty and then the first #KarolGContigo Short where she encouraged fans to celebrate and show LOVE. In the Short, participants show themselves alone, then as soon as “Contigo”’ sounds in the background, someone or something they love appears with them. We are really excited about the momentum we are seeing so far!
Now, I think what’s special here, and unique to YouTube, is that very real connection that lives on our platform between artists and their fans. This Short gave a way for her global fanbase to not only enjoy her new music video but also create something of their own to be part of her world and her moment. We always strive to build products that help people be their most creative so it’s amazing to see incredible artists like Karol G use them to connect with their fans.
Obviously YouTube is benefiting from having more licensed music available to use in clips, but what do you think is Shorts’ greatest strength as opposed to other short-form video platforms?
To me, the opportunity for artists on YouTube is clear: it’s the interconnected experience between all of the different video formats that allow them to connect with fans in bold new ways. This interplay between Shorts, longform, music and live immerses fans in the vibrant world across all formats. We want to bring fans along a journey of discovering music through Shorts, connecting them deeply to the artists’ music videos, official albums, and then turning them into engaged fans of your artists who lean in and participate. We’re still learning how best to deliver for artists and the industry, and this is an important area of focus for us this year, and we’re doing it in close collaboration with our partners.
What can we expect from the evolution of Shorts over the course of 2024?
We’re focused on making Shorts even more accessible and enjoyable to artists and their fans. YouTube is a place where people can come to build a business but also have fun, be creative, share and connect. So that means continuing to invest in creation tools that make that experience even more seamless, simple and delightful. We’re continuing to improve our recommendations including growing music trends that inspire people to participate. And when people are watching Shorts with music, we want to make it easier for them to connect with the song and artist they love.
We’re also working together with our partners to experiment with AI and its potential to make the creative process easier and more innovative. Overall we hope this work helps artists build a fanbase that feels connected to them in incredible ways. We believe that YouTube really is the best place for every music fan, and we want Shorts to be a part of that. – JL
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated Mar. 9), a star K-pop group aims to end Kanye West’s & Ty Dolla $ign’s two-week Vultures 1 reign on the albums chart.
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TWICE, With You-th (JYP/Republic): They’ve been one of Korean pop’s biggest acts for over a half-decade now, with best-selling albums in their home country, worldwide arena and stadium tours, and even a couple entries on the Billboard Hot 100. But nine-piece girl group TWICE has yet to secure a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200: They’ve reached the top three with each of their last three efforts, but have still not gotten any higher than No. 2, achieved last March with Ready to Be (held off from the apex by Morgan Wallen’s blockbuster One Thing at a Time set in its second week).
Next week, the runway may be clear for the nonet to finally take off to the spot. TWICE is the biggest-name contemporary outfit to release a new set last Friday (Feb. 23) — the EP With You-th — and with Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures fading in its third week, the bar for No. 1 should not be an unusually high one for the group to need to clear.
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With You-th‘s sales should be considerable, thanks in part to its availability in 14 different CD variants (including exclusives for Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and the act’s webstore, all with branded paper merch inside the packages as well as randomized merch), as well as three additional vinyl variants (all picture discs, one being a Target exclusive). Streaming numbers may not be quite as robust for the set, given its six-track length, but in a slower release week it may not need much activity there to secure the top debut.
French Montana, Mac & Cheese 5 (Coke Boys/gamma): It’s been a little while since French Montana was one of the biggest names in mainstream rap – his only appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 so far this decade came alongside Diddy, The Weeknd and 21 Savage on the No. 87-peaking “Another One of Me.” But he remains an industry fixture, as evidenced by the guest list on his new mixtape Mac & Cheese 5, which includes appearances from such A-list names as Rick Ross, Lil Baby, Lil Durk and even a pair of appearances from current Billboard 200-topper Kanye West.
He may provide some competition for his chart-topping collaborator on the 200 this week. Mac & Cheese 5 may not be a major streamer – the set will be helped by its features and its length (21 tracks in its standard edition, 22 in its deluxe, and a staggering 126-track Versions edition with clean, explicit, a cappella, instrumental, sped-up and slowed-down versions of each track), but it has yet to produce a real runaway hit there. It should sell pretty well, however — given its availability in three different CD and vinyl variants (all discounted to $5), as well as three signed-CD variants for $10 each, all for sale exclusively via Montana’s Coke Boys webstore.
Le Sserafim, Easy (Source/YG Plus/Geffen): TWICE aren’t the only major Korean girl group to have a new EP out this week: Hitmakers Le Sserafim are also back on the scene with their new five-track set Easy. Their set also should post good sales, boosted by a number of available variants – 14 CD versions, including exclusives for Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart, all with branded paper merch inside the packages as well as randomized merch. The quintet may also have something of a breakout hit from the set in its title track, which debuts at No. 73 on the Global 200 this week, and is still hanging around the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart.
IN THE MIX
Olivia Rodrigo, Guts (Geffen): Olivia Rodrigo’s acclaimed sophomore effort – our staff’s No. 1 album of 2023 — already topped the Billboard 200 for a week last September, and has lingered not too far from the top ever since, landing at No. 23 on this week’s listing. It may get a good bump next week, thanks to the start of her Guts World Tour, which kicked off in southern California over the weekend and continues through Texas this week – not only electrifying fans in those locations, but also tantalizing potential attendees from all over the country, who have been devouring clips of Rodrigo’s first-ever arena headlining dates on social media.
Ace Frehley, 10,000 Volts (MNRK): The Spaceman is back. Guitar legend Ace Frehley did not appear with KISS on their End of the Road World Tour – supposedly the group’s final-ever live trek, ending in December 2023 – but he returns this week with his first album of originals since 2018. The 11-track set, released amidst back-and-forth swiping between Frehley and his former bandmates, is available in at least 11 vinyl variants, as well as a standard CD digipack and jewel case, and a Walmart exclusive with a lenticular cover.
Prince Royce is back in the top five on Billboard’s Tropical Albums chart as Llamada Perdida debuts at No. 2 on the March 2-dated list.
The 23-track set makes the week’s top debut with 6,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 22, according to Luminate. Royce’s seventh studio album was released Feb. 16, the first day of the tracking week, via Smiling Prince/Sony Music Latin.
Of Llamada Perdida’s 6,000-unit week, 3,000 units derive from streaming activity, equal to 3.6 million official on-demand audio and video streams for the album’s songs. Album sales contribute 3,000 of the remaining units, with a negligible amount of activity from track-equivalent units. One unit equals to one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.
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Ahead of Royce on Tropical Albums is Aventura’s greatest hits set Todavía Me Amas: Los Mejor de Aventura (7,000 units; up 48%), which has spent 201 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.
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With Llamada Perdida, Royce logs his seventh consecutive top five effort on Tropical Albums, six of which reached the summit. Here’s the recap of his now seven top 10s:
Peak, Peak Date, Title, Weeks at No. 1
No. 1, Sep. 18, 2010, Prince Royce, 54
No. 1, April 28, 2012, Phase II, 26
No. 1, Feb. 2, 2013, # 1’s, seven
No. 1, Oct. 26, 2013, Soy El Mismo, six
No. 1, March 18, 2017, Five, 10
No. 1, Feb. 22, 2020, Alter Ego, one
No. 2, March 2, 2024, Llamada Perdida
Notably, after a four-year break from Tropical Albums, Royce’s Llamada Perdida album joins two other sets holding strong in the top 20: Prince Royce at No. 6 in its 306th week on the list, and Soy El Mismo at No. 20 in its 412th. The latter marks the fourth-longest run since the ranking launched in 1985.
Llamada Perdida was preceded by two of its songs reaching the multimetric Hot Latin Songs list: “Lao a Lao,” which peaked at No. 23 in 2021, and the No. 31 peaking “Si Te Preguntan,” with Nicky Jam and Jay Wheeler, in 2022.
In addition to “Lao a Lao,” three other songs from the album reached the penthouse on the Tropical Airplay chart: “Te Espero” with Maria Becerra (May 2022), which samples “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by English pop rock band Cutting Crew (1986); “Me EnRD” (July 2023) and “Cosas De La Peda” with Gabito Ballesteros, which holds at No. 1 for a second week on the current list.
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Charli XCX occupies a very special and very rare spot in the pop music ecosystem. On the one hand, she’s the mainstream entry point into the underground, with projects such as Vroom Vroom introducing PC music to top 40 audiences back in 2016. On the other hand, she’s also known to deliver a smash single or two for the biggest films of the year and craft chart-topping collaborations with era-defining artists.
As the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Powerhouse honoree, Charli XCX stands as one of the most exciting figures in contemporary pop music. To contextualize her decade-long career, a trip through the Grammy nominee’s chart history is in order.
Charli XCX made her Billboard Hot 100 debut back in 2013 with “I Love It,” a boisterous synth-pop team-up with Icona Pop that reached No. 7 on the chart. The following year, Charli doubled up with two additional Hot 100 top 10 hits: “Boom Clap” (No. 8), the breakout song from The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack, and “Fancy” (No. 1), a monsterous smash collaboration with Iggy Azalea that spent seven weeks atop the ranking.
“Boom Clap,” in addition to fellow single “Break the Rules” (No. 91), appeared on 2014’s Sucker, which hit No. 28 on the Billboard 200, marking her first entry on the chart. She followed that up with four more entries, including 2022’s Crash (No. 7), her first Billboard 200 top 10 title. The following year, Charli revisited her soundtrack roots and cooked up “Speed Drive,” a single from Barbie the Album that hit No. 73 on the Hot 100 — her first entry on the chart in nine years.
With a catalog and career as kaleidoscopic as hers, Charli XCX is a Powerhouse through and through.
After the video, catch up on more Billboard Explains videos and learn about Peso Pluma and the Mexican music boom, the role record labels play, origins of hip-hop, how Beyoncé arrived at Renaissance, the evolution of girl groups, BBMAs, NFTs, SXSW, the magic of boy bands, American Music Awards, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Hot 100 chart, how R&B/hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S., how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, nonbinary awareness in music, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement, rise of K-pop in the U.S., why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom of hit all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs, how the Super Bowl halftime show is booked and more.
When Beyoncé released “Texas Hold ‘Em” as the first single from her upcoming Act II album on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 18), it scored a No. 2 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 with just four days of tracking activity. That was impressive enough — but in its second week, “Hold ‘Em” maintains and then some, climbing to No. 1 on the chart.
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The song makes for Beyoncé’s second Hot 100 No. 1 of the 2020s, following Renaissance leader “Break My Soul,” and the ninth of her solo career (following four notched at the turn of the ’00s as part of Destiny’s Child). While the song continues to excel in sales and streams in its second week, it also grows rapidly at radio — including on country radio, whose approval has been historically hard to come by for artists from outside of the Nashville community (as well as for Black women artists in general).
What does the No. 1 mean for Beyoncé? And will it be a gate-busting moment for Black women in the country space in general? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
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1. A week after debuting at No. 2, “Texas Hold ‘Em” climbs to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. On a scale from a pair of deuces to a royal flush, how big of a win do you think this is for Beyoncé?
Rania Aniftos: Full house. Beyoncé has hit icon status at this point, so anything she touches turns to gold, but I’m sure that making a major genre switch and it being received so well is incredibly validating no matter what status level you’re at.
Kyle Denis: Royal flush. Beyoncé bagged her ninth solo No. 1, made history in the process and pulled off a highly effective launch of both her country pivot and the second installment of her three-act Renaissance project. Most importantly, she did this all while playing the game (mostly) on her terms. Sure, Bey & Co. gave into the “multiple versions” trend with recent single releases, but “Texas Hold ‘Em” reached nearly instant astronomical heights without deviating from the current Beyoncé playbook: surprises and silence.
From a purely musical and personal standpoint, it must feel really gratifying to not only keep scoring hits nearly three decades in the game, but to score one of your biggest hits in years while exploring a genre you grew up listening to and cherishing.
Jason Lipshutz: Let’s call it a very strong full house. Beyoncé didn’t need another Hot 100 chart-topper for the Act II era to continue her phenomenal run, especially after a No. 2 debut demonstrated widespread interest in her next project. Yet “Texas Hold ‘Em” powering to No. 1 in its second week shows that Act II is kicking off with a bonafide smash — the type of multi-quadrant, cross-genre hit that makes the music industry salivate — and could very well become Beyoncé’s biggest chart hit in a decade. Maybe it’s all just gravy for Queen Bey at this point, but it’s still gotta taste pretty delicious.
Melinda Newman: This is a full house for Beyoncé, the type of hand that any poker player would be excited to have and one that doesn’t come along every day, but isn’t so rare and unattainable as a royal flush. It’s still a thrill to see the cards (or chart positions, in this case), add up to such a winning hand, no matter how many times an artist has been here before — and in Beyoncé’s case, it’s eight times before as a solo artist.
Andrew Unterberger: To invert a Garth Brooks title from 30-plus years ago — in a way that may not make all that much sense in actual poker terms — Beyoncé has a full house, working on four of a kind. It’s just one of many historic accomplishments for her at this point, but it’s still a pretty big deal for her to have such success with such a hard pivot, and to maybe end up with her biggest hit in a decade or longer when all is said and done.
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2. “Hold ‘Em” has gotten off to a much better start on streaming than any of her Renaissance hits or other singles from the past five years or so — helped, of course, by instant virality on TikTok. What do you think is the biggest factor that has allowed this song to take off with that kind of velocity?
Rania Aniftos: Bey played her cards just right with something fun and different. Everyone loves Beyoncé’s classic R&B sound, but I was definitely among the masses that rushed to streaming services to hear this new country song as fast as possible. And just like everyone else, I loved it and have been listening to it ever since, despite not generally being a country fan myself. I think music fans like hearing something unique from an artist that’s been in the game for decades, and it’s even better when it’s executed as well as “Texas Hold ’Em.”
Kyle Denis: The same night “Hold ‘Em” dropped, it was available on all streaming platforms. There wasn’t a mysterious unlisted YouTube video nor was there a week-long Spotify Premium exclusivity period nor were the new country songs locked away on TIDAL years at a time. And immediate wide release coupled with a blockbuster Super Bowl ad gave “Hold Em” an advantage that few Beyoncé singles have ever had. Think about it: even “Break My Soul” was simply announced via the singer’s Instagram bio.
Speaking of “Break My Soul,” a lot of the immediate success of “Hold ‘Em” is due to the work Renaissance did to help Beyoncé regain her footing on streaming. “Break My Soul” marked the first solo song attached to a Beyoncé studio album in six years. From 2016-2022 – although she gifted us a bevy of stunning projects — Beyoncé withheld a studio album while streaming exploded. Now that she’s gotten solo streaming smashes and reintroduced herself to younger audiences through those hits and the Renaissance World Tour, “Hold ‘Em” was always going to get off to a particularly strong start.
Of course, there are also the facts that 1) “Hold ‘Em” is an unequivocally catchy song with wide appeal that fits into the current guitar-centric wave of pop music and 2) “Hold ‘Em” benefitted, at least initially, from the novelty of Beyoncé making a country record.
Jason Lipshutz: The song’s chorus possesses a perfect combination of hummable, radio-friendly hooks and interactive TikTok fodder for a hit in 2024 — “Texas Hold ’Em” reaches the passive listener ready to enjoy a new Beyoncé singles, and the active social media user ready to make the most of those “hey”s and “woo”s. If the song relied more heavily on gimmickry, maybe it would still go viral, but it wouldn’t be hitting the top of the Hot 100. “Texas Hold ’Em” contains a stronger hook than any of the (still great) big Renaissance singles, and looks like it may eclipse them in terms of both Hot 100 longevity and TikTok reach.
Melinda Newman: Announcing and releasing it during the Super Bowl was a brilliant move and showed that an artist doesn’t have to be a halftime performer, or even in attendance, to get a huge bump. Her Verizon commercial was money very well spent with 123 million viewers made aware that new music was dropping. It’s hard to think of any other platform that could have created such an instant blast.
Andrew Unterberger: She landed in the right genre at the right time, didn’t she? The mainstream ceiling for country right now is basically as high (and the audience as wide) as it’s been for R&B or even for more classic pop at any point this decade, and Bey’s spin on it is so fun and fresh and viral-friendly — and clearly authentic to her and her artistry — that it’s really no major surprise it’s being embraced by all kinds of 2024 audiences.
3. “Hold ‘Em” is also off to a fast start on that most contentious of platforms for a crossover star — country radio, moving No. 54 to 34 in its second week on the Country Airplay listing. Do you think it will continue to climb there, or is this hot start mostly due to a curiosity factor that will abate in the weeks to come?
Rania Aniftos: I want it to keep climbing! A Black female artist atop country radio is long overdue. Period.
Kyle Denis: Country radio is notoriously hard to break if you’re Black, a woman, or crossing over – and Beyoncé is all three at the same time. I see “Hold ‘Em” peaking somewhere in the 20s on Country Airplay; if it can break the top 20, I think that will be one of the song’s most notable achievements. But who knows? “Hold ‘Em” is well on its way to being too big to completely ignore, so if listeners connect with the track and Columbia Nashville works its muscle, the sky is the limit for “Texas.”
Jason Lipshutz: I could see it continuing to climb into the top 20 and potentially even the top 10, but have some trouble vying for No. 1 against core country artists. History tells us that crossover artists can move the needle at country radio without necessarily installing their songs in the heaviest rotation, so I think that “Texas Hold ’Em” could keep gaining spins while still being boxed out of the pinnacle by songs from artists like Warren Zeiders, Morgan Wallen and HARDY.
Melinda Newman: There was definitely a curiosity factor and we’ll know for sure if that’s all it was if in a couple of weeks it begins to fall, but the 20-position leap in its first full week on the Country Airplay chart indicates that fans are responding to the song and requesting it. Columbia Nashville is pushing the song and that will carry weight with programmers. Plus, it sounds great on the radio. It’s sweet vindication for Beyoncé, after 2016’s “Daddy Lessons” got no love from mainstream country and was rejected for consideration by the Grammys in the country categories.
Andrew Unterberger: A 20-spot jump in its second week is definitely some eye-opening movement — especially in country radio, which can be purposefully gradual in its adoption of new songs, particularly from non-core artists. i imagine that will slow a little as the excitement (and conversation) around “Hold ‘Em” recedes a bit, but it feels now like it could end up a real hit there — which would’ve felt close to unimaginable just a couple weeks ago.
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4. Billboard reported last week about how big a bump Bey’s country pivot had already afforded to both up-and-coming and legendary Black female artists in the country space. Do you think “Hold ‘Em” is turning into a moment of real significance in country’s history in terms of shining more light on the Black female artists who have been doing important work in the genre all along — or is it too soon to tell if its impact will be a lasting one?
Rania Aniftos: I certainly hope so. With artists like Mickey Guyton, Brittney Spencer and Tanya Blount-Trotter of The War and Treaty out there, Black women in country have always displayed immeasurable talent. With Bey’s success with “Texas Hold ’Em,” I’d like to see country music spotlight other Black women as well, including up and coming artists who might not have had the confidence (or opportunity) to pursue a more mainstream avenue before.
Kyle Denis: I think the song is already turning into a moment of real significance in country’s history. Even outside of its milestone achievements, new fans are falling in love with country and checking out other Black woman in the genre as a result of “Hold ‘Em.” I see fans sharing playlists rounding up notable Black women in country music every day. Ideally, the impact of “Texas Hold ‘Em” is a lasting one, but we’ll probably have to wait for the next mainstream country album from a Black woman to gauge just how much things have (or haven’t) changed.
Jason Lipshutz: Yeah, way too soon to tell. “Texas Hold ’Em” producing real gains for rising and veteran Black female artists in country makes for an important by-product of a smash single, but we can’t yet say how sustained those gains will be, which songs and artists will experience prolonged revivals, and, stepping back even further, how much the paradigm will shift as more Black women release country music for mass audiences. Let’s hope “Texas Hold ’Em” symbolizes real change for music discovery and in-genre opportunity, but we likely won’t know its full impact for a while.
Melinda Newman: Sadly, no. Beyoncé occupies her own unique space in the musical firmament and it’s likely that the streaming bump other Black female artists saw is short-lived. If radio stations aren’t inclined to play Black female artists, at least streaming outlets may be a little more willing to add them to their playlists, but I don’t expect for Beyoncé to be an “a-ha moment” for programmers.
Andrew Unterberger: I doubt it’s going to be an opening of the floodgates exactly, but I think it could be an important turning point in subtler, deeper ways. For the biggest Black female artist in popular music this century to stake her ground in country, and to be embraced from (nearly) all corners in the process… it’s going to have an impact beyond what we can see in the immediate numbers, and more in the long-term shifts of perception from artists and audiences on all sides. (And as we’re already seeing, it’s going to have a pretty sizable impact in the immediate numbers, too.)
5. Given the hot start it’s off to and how it’s still growing rapidly at radio — it debuts at No. 43 on Radio Songs this week — it doesn’t seem like “Hold ‘Em” is likely to fold on the Hot 100 particularly soon. How many weeks total would you guess it spends at No. 1 on the chart?
Rania Aniftos: I’m going to guess a good nine or ten weeks — perhaps non-consecutively and with a boost from when Act II arrives or something like a surprise performance or remix.
Kyle Denis: Barring a “Carnival” surge or a massive breakout hit from Eternal Sunshine, I can see “Hold ‘Em” spending at least eight weeks atop the Hot 100… so until Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets songs make their debut. And, by then, “Hold ‘Em” might be so strong that it’ll only get knocked off the top for a week.
Jason Lipshutz: My guess would be six weeks — a legitimate smash, to be sure, but one that happens to be hitting its stride during a crammed two-month period in the release calendar. Could another single from Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine pause its run? What about the focus track from Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department? “Hold ’Em” is just getting started, but at a busy moment in pop, so I’ll predict a half-dozen nonconsecutive weeks on top.
Melinda Newman: Barring a rebound by Jack Harlow’s “Lovin’ on Me,” which dropped 1-2 after six weeks at No. 1, Beyoncé probably has a few weeks at the top with “Hold ‘Em.” Most of the songs in the top 10 have already hit their peak so that plays in her favor.
Andrew Unterberger: I’ll say six. It could end up being longer, but competition is about to start getting thick with new albums from Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift (and maybe another Vultures or two), while current top five hits from Teddy Swims, Benson Boone and Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign continue to grow. In the less-crowded winter landscape of 2022 or 2023, Beyoncé might’ve had a clear path until at least April, but this year she’s going to have to fight every week to keep hold of her spot.