Chart Beat
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In the year since SZA’s SOS set sail on Dec. 9, 2022, the album has swelled into a blockbuster success that has dominated the R&B game. With a string of hit singles that preceded the release, exploded alongside it, or kept the momentum alive months after the drop date, SOS pushed SZA’s career into the stratosphere, while gliding from milestone to milestone on Billboard’s charts.
Before the first inklings of a title, release date or single, SZA’s second studio album was already among the industry’s most-anticipated albums. The singer-songwriter’s full-length debut, 2017’s Ctrl, proved a phenomenon, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and, as of December 2023, remaining on the chart every week since its arrival. Ctrl singles “Love Galore,” featuring Travis Scott, and “The Weekend” scored SZA a pair of top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, while collaborations “All the Stars,” with Kendrick Lamar, and a supporting turn on Maroon 5’s “What Lovers Do” not only added to SZA’s success in the Ctrl era, but also produced top 10 Hot 100 results.
As anticipation mounted, SZA’s sophomore era began with a cycle of hope and disappointment for fans, as a series of single releases warmed up the speculation machine each time. “Hit Different,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, landed in September 2020, followed by “Good Days” in December 2020 and “I Hate U” in December 2021, but each came and went without any further announcements regarding S2.
And suddenly, the five-year wait had an expiration date. In a November 2022 Billboard cover story, SZA revealed the second album’s title, SOS, and promised its release the following month. If there was any doubt that the gap cooled the fervor for SOS, its initial success answered with authority. SOS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and broke the record for the biggest streaming week for an R&B album, while its new singles expanded the hitmaking legacy of its predecessors, with “Kill Bill,” in particular, reaching historic heights.
That explosion, however, was just the beginning of a historic year for SOS, both in terms of all-time records on Billboard’s storied R&B/hip-hop charts and personal milestones for SZA’s career. As we hit the one-year anniversary of SOS, here’s a rundown of what the juggernaut album has achieved in its time.
SOS Debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200
Image Credit: Courtesy of RCA Records
Jelly Roll’s “Save Me,” with Lainey Wilson, spends a second week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Dec. 16). The song drew 32.6 million audience impressions Dec. 1-7, according to Luminate.
The collab is the 18th to rise to No. 1 during 2023. That’s after 29 leaders in 2022, 32 in 2021, and 38 in 2020 – more than twice as many as this year.
Since Country Airplay launched in January 1990 (with Clint Black’s “Nobody’s Home,” the first No. 1), 934 songs have led, for an average of 27.5 No. 1s per year. 2016 housed the most, 40, while 2003 brought a yearly low of 18. Even if there’s a new No. 1 on each of the final two charts this year (dated Dec. 23 and 30), 2023 will sport the fewest since 2005, when 19 songs reigned.
(In 2003, one politically-themed hit, Daryl Worley’s “Have You Forgotten?,” commanded Country Airplay for seven weeks, while two superstar duets also logged long reigns: Toby Keith and Willie Nelson’s “Beer for My Horses,” for six weeks, and Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” for eight.)
Notably, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” amassed eight weeks at No. 1 beginning this May – and is Billboard’s top Country Airplay song of the year. Plus, in 2023, and for the first time in 13 years, six consecutive chart-toppers scored multi-week rules. The run started in February with Wallen’s “Thought You Should Know,” which led for three weeks, and continued with, in order, Luke Combs’ “Going, Going, Gone” (two), Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place” (six), Wallen’s “Last Night” (eight), Combs’ “Fast Car” (five) and Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” (four).
Notably, “Fast Car” did not start as a radio single. As Columbia Nashville vice president of promotion and artist development Lauren Thomas tells Billboard, “We declared ‘Love You Anyway’ as the [lead] single [from Combs’ LP Gettin’ Old] based on listener/fan voting, but the demand for ‘Fast Car’ quickly became undeniable.”
Ultimately, both songs reached No. 1 on Country Airplay, reflecting a mix of tried-and-true label planning and independent audience activity both influencing chart runs, as streaming continues to help labels identify potential singles.
“I think we have a couple things happening,” KBAY San Jose, Calif., program director Bo Matthews said when Billboard examined the increasing lack of turnover atop Country Airplay at midyear. “The pop music cycle is not strong currently, and clearly country music is the winner. Consumption is higher with country music, and programmers are being smart, playing what their listeners want and embracing new country stars. What a great time to be in country music. We have the rock stars right now.”
“Familiarity breeds comfort,” Charlie Cook, Cumulus Media vp of country, said earlier this year. “Okay, that’s a mashup of the saying, but that’s the case with today’s country music. I know that some acts and labels are eager to move on, but I doubt that Wallen, Combs and the writers of these longtime radio hits feel the same.”
Last week, Billboard kicked off its 2023 year-end Boxscore coverage. Beyoncé led reported tours, Taylor Swift is poised for a record-setting finish and BLACKPINK and Karol G are helping usher in a new generation of genre diverse headliners. Plus, Boxscore breaks down the highest-grossing venues in the world, split between four capacity categories, plus a chart for stadiums.
New York City is spotlighted atop two of these lists. Madison Square Garden reigns supreme amongst venues with a capacity of 15,001 or more (excluding stadiums), while Radio City Music Hall is tops for venues with a capacity of 5,001-10,000.
For Madison Square Garden, 2023 marks its 15th year at No. 1 in its capacity category, dating back to 1999. It’s been No. 1 for six of the last seven years, after dipping to No. 2 in 2021. And for the second consecutive year, it’s the highest-grossing venue, regardless or capacity or structure. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, MSG’s 116 shows grossed $223 million and sold 1.6 million tickets between Nov. 1, 2022 and Sept. 30, 2023.
For Radio City Music Hall, it’s back at No. 1 for the first time since 2020, after Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater led in 2021-22. Over 231 shows in the tracking period, the theater earned $122 million from 1.2 million tickets.
Red Rocks remains the venue with the most tickets sold in the 5,001-10k category (1.4M), while London’s O2 Arena takes top honors for 15,001+ (2.4M).
In between, Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas) completes a steady climb to its first year-end No. 1 in the 10,001-15,000 category. After opening in November 2019, the arena was No. 10 on the 2020 year-end recap, and No. 4 in 2021 and 2022. With $70.5 million, it narrowly takes the gold over Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena ($69.3M), Austin’s Moody Center ($67.8M) and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro ($67.3M).
Even newer, Las Vegas’ Resorts World Theatre claims the top spot among venues with capacity of 5,000 or less. It opened in December 2021 and remains undefeated after crowning last year’s chart. Bolstered by residencies by Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Carrie Underwood, the theater hosted 90 shows and grossed $45.3 million.
Finally, the Top Stadiums chart is led by SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., outside Los Angeles. Like Dickies, it’s a relatively new building, after launching in September 2020. This year marks a return to the top, after leading in 2021 and sitting at No. 2 last year behind Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The venue reported 19 shows that collectively earned $175.1 million and sold more than 1 million tickets.
The numbers are in for the first leg of Madonna’s The Celebration Tour. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the European leg grossed $77.5 million and sold 429,000 tickets.
In January, Madonna announced The Celebration Tour, slated to honor the biggest hits of her legendary career. After a medical emergency forced a postponement of the first batch of North American dates, she launched the trek on Oct. 14 at London’s O2 Arena.
Over four shows that week, Madonna earned $14.7 million and sold 60,000 tickets, only to return to the O2 for the leg’s final two shows on Dec. 5-6, which added another $7.5 million and 31,000 tickets. Since returning from the pandemic, only Elton John and Queen + Adam Lambert have amassed bigger totals at the O2, and they did it with nine and 10 shows, respectively. When Madonna last played the O2, it was just two nights in 2015, compared to this year’s six.
In between, Madonna stopped in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and more, for a total of 27 shows across 11 European markets. Four nights at Paris’ Accor Arena provided the tour’s other eight-figure gross, bringing in $10.7 million from 62,000 tickets on Nov. 12-13 and 19-20.
Madonna’s European totals average out to $2.9 million and 15,900 tickets per night on a $180.53 ticket. Compared to the theater-residency run of her last tour, the Madame X Tour (2019-20), she’s up by 312% in nightly earnings and by 518% in average attendance.
On more level footing with the European leg from the Rebel Heart Tour from 2015-16, Madonna’s last arena tour, her 2023 shows are still up – by 9% in attendance, sold out on every show, and by 70% in average gross, thanks in large part to bulked up ticket pricing.
Immediate demand for The Celebration Tour expanded Madonna’s initial routing of 12 shows in Europe to 27. Likewise, the first batch of 26 shows in the U.S. and Canada has swelled to 47. She kicks off the North American leg on Wednesday (Dec. 13) at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. After a handful of shows this month, she’s back for the rest in 2024, playing through April 15 in Austin, plus five shows from April 20-26 at Mexico City’s Foro Sol.
Looking at the relationship between Madonna’s European shows and stateside shows on the Rebel Heart Tour, Billboard expects the U.S. and Canadian leg to earn about $150 million from 650,000 tickets.
With the handful of Mexico shows to follow, the current routing for The Celebration Tour is headed toward a total haul of $240-245 million and 1.1-1.2 million tickets over 79 shows. That would situate it behind stadium runs on the Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008-09; $407.7 million) and The MDMA Tour (2012; $305.2 million), but ahead of arena treks the Confessions Tour (2006; $194.8 million) and the Rebel Heart Tour (2015-16; $169.8 million).
Miley Cyrus’ “Used To Be Young” ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart (dated Dec. 16). The ballad, on Columbia Records, becomes Cyrus’ second leader on the list, after “Flowers” dominated for 17 weeks beginning in March – the most among songs by women since the survey began in Billboard’s pages in […]
Last week, Billboard revealed its year-end Boxscore charts, ranking the top tours, venues, and promoters of 2023. That coverage included analysis of the new wave of genre diverse artists crashing stadium stages, and in turn, our charts. This week, we are breaking down the year’s biggest tours, genre by genre. Today, we continue with rock. […]
Tate McRae gets “Greedy” to No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart.
The song becomes the first leader on the list (dated Dec. 16) for the Calgary, Alberta-born, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, who reached a prior No. 2 best with her breakthrough hit, “You Broke Me First.,” in 2021.
(The Pop Airplay chart reflects plays on over 150 reporting mainstream top 40-formatted stations. Airplay is monitored by Mediabase and provided to Billboard by Luminate.)
“Greedy,” on RCA Records, has also become McRae’s first top 10 on the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100, reaching a No. 7 high to date. It topped the Billboard Global 200 chart for two weeks and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 for one frame each.
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McRae wrote “Greedy” with Amy Allen, Jasper Harris and Ryan Tedder, and Harris and Tedder produced it. It’s Tedder’s sixth Pop Airplay No. 1 as a writer and producer and Harris’ second, and Allen’s third as a writer and McRae’s first.
Meanwhile, McRae bookends Pop Airplay as “Greedy” follow-up “Exes” debuts at No. 40. (McRae and Tedder are likewise two of its writers, while Tedder co-produced it.)
“Greedy” and “Exes” are from McRae’s second LP, Think Later, released today (Dec. 8). She recently performed “Greedy” in her first appearances on both NBC’s Saturday Night Live (Nov. 18) and the Billboard Music Awards (Nov. 19). In April 2024, she’s set to kick off her Think Later World Tour in Dublin.
“I think what defines a pop star is how iconic [they are],” McRae mused in her recent first Billboard cover story. “Madonna, Britney [Spears], Christina [Aguilera]; they would put on these shows and blow everybody away and make timeless art. And that’s what I want to do: make timeless art and timeless performances – and strive to keep on doing that.”
All charts dated Dec. 16 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Dec. 12.
On Dec. 9, 1978, Charlie Rich and Janie Fricke’s “On My Knees” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Rich solely authored the song — which Billy Sherrill produced — and he initially recorded it in 1976 as a solo track before it became a duet.
For Rich, originally from Forrest City, Ark., and nicknamed the Silver Fox thanks to his shiny mane, the single became the last of his nine chart-toppers. Fricke, from South Whitney, Ind., earned her first of eight leaders with the team-up.
Rich first led Hot Country Songs in 1973 with “Behind Closed Doors” and followed with “The Most Beautiful Girl,” the latter also a No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Both hits helped him earn the entertainer of the year award from the Country Music Association in 1974. He passed away in 1995 at age 62 and was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
In 2008, Mark Chesnutt scored the most recent of his 32 top 40 Hot Country Songs hits with “Rollin’ With the Flow,” an update of Rich’s eighth No. 1, from 1977.
Fricke, 75, began as a background vocalist for the likes of John Conlee, Johnny Duncan and Crystal Gayle. She claimed the CMA’s female vocalist of the year trophy in 1982 and 1983. Still active as a touring artist, she has a round of dates scheduled to begin in April.
Notably, in 1984, Fricke appeared in the seventh and final season premiere of CBS’ The Dukes of Hazzard, in a flashback origin story in which she played a bank robber named Ginny whose getaway car would later become the famed General Lee. “That was really an exciting time for me,” she recalled in 2019. “I was doing a show with Merle Haggard in LA when the casting director came backstage and asked me if I wanted to be on the show. She said if I could sing, I could surely act. I was the only country singer to ever play an acting role on the show. Other stars like Dottie West, Oak Ridge Boys and Freddy Fender all got to perform songs on the show in the Boar’s Nest.
“When we filmed the episode,” Fricke further reminisced, “it took us 10 days to tape that one show and we had to wear the same outfit every day. It was really funny because even the chickens on the show had a manager and agent. Yes, animals have agents, too! Fans bring General Lee cars for me to sign all the time at shows and it just proves that people still love the down-home country lifestyle that all the Dukes lived.”
Record Store Day’s Black Friday festivities on Nov. 24 yielded big gains for vinyl album sales in the U.S., thanks to hot-selling titles by the likes of Linkin Park, Olivia Rodrigo, The Doors, U2 and Post Malone – all released exclusively for the indie store holiday.
According to Luminate, in the tracking week ending Nov. 30, the top five-selling Record Store Day (RSD) Black Friday album release were Linkin Park’s Lost Demos (on translucent sea blue vinyl), Rodrigo’s four-song Guts: The Secret Tracks (on opaque deep purple vinyl), The Doors’ Live in Bakersfield, California, August 21, 1970 (on double vinyl), U2’s U2 Live: Under a Blood Red Sky (on red vinyl, naturally) and Post Malone’s The Diamond Collection (on clear double vinyl). (See lists below, which are ranked by album sales generated in the week ending Nov. 30.)
The Doors’ Live in Bakersfield set was released on both vinyl and as a two-CD set, and their combined sales across the two configurations make the album the RSD Black Friday top-seller overall for the week.
Typically, many unique and limited-edition titles – both albums and singles – are released for RSD Black Friday celebrations, exclusively sold through independent and small chain music stores. Record Store Day traditionally has its main indie store holiday in the springtime (2023’s edition was held on April 22), followed by a secondary shindig for Black Friday.
In the week ending Nov. 30, U.S. vinyl album sales industry-wide (across all sellers of music, not just indie stores and small chains) grew 67% to 1.748 million sold (up from 1.046 million sold the previous week). Independent store vinyl album sales for the week jumped 149% to 829,000 (up from 333,000 the previous week). 47.4% of all vinyl albums sold in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 30 were purchased at independent and small chain music stores (829,000 of 1.748 million).
With 1.748 million vinyl albums sold industry-wide, that marks the fifth-largest week for vinyl album sales in the U.S. in the modern era, since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. (It’s also the second-largest week of 2023 for vinyl album sales, following the week ending April 27, which captured Record Store Day 2023, with 1.809 million sold). The biggest week since 1991 for vinyl album sales was the week ending Dec. 22, 2022, when 2.232 million vinyl albums were sold.
Top-Selling Record Store Day Black Friday 2023 Exclusive Albums at Independent Record Stores in U.S. (By Configuration)Rank, Artist, Title1. Linkin Park, Lost Demos (translucent sea blue vinyl)2. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts: The Secret Tracks (opaque deep purple vinyl)3. The Doors, Live in Bakersfield, California, August 21, 1970 (double vinyl)4. U2, U2 Live: Under a Blood Red Sky (red vinyl)5. Post Malone, The Diamond Collection (clear double vinyl)6. Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight (translucent “blacklight” purple vinyl)7. Noah Kahan, Cape Elizabeth (color marbled vinyl)8. Grateful Dead, Filmore West 1969, March 2nd (five vinyl LP box set)9. Coheed and Cambria, Live at the Starland Ballroom (solar flare colored double vinyl)10. Gram Parsons and The Fallen Angels, The Last Roundup: Live From the Bijou Café in Philadelphia, 3/16/73 (double vinyl)11. Jerry Garcia & John Kahn, Pure Jerry: Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium San Rafael, California – February, 28, 1986 (double vinyl)12. Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark: Demos (vinyl)13. CZARFACE, CZARtificial Intelligence (translucent Czarbury orange vinyl)14. The Beach Boys, The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album (green vinyl)15. My Morning Jacket, Happy Holiday! (clear vinyl with “white snow splatters”)16. Faces, Had Me a Real Good Time: Live at the BBC, In Session & In Concert 1971-1973 (vinyl)17. Nas, I Am… The Autobiography (double vinyl)18. The English Beat, I Just Can’t Stop It (double vinyl)19. Willie Nelson, Shotgun Willie (double vinyl)20. Bill Evans / Chuck Israels / Larry Bunker, Tales: Live in Copenhagen (1964) (vinyl)21. Various Artists, Jazz Dispensary: At the Movies (purple marble vinyl)22. Kim Petras, Problematique (apple red vinyl)23. Jonas Brothers, The Family Business (clear double vinyl)24. Soundtrack, Asteroid City (orange double vinyl)25. The Flaming Lips, Live at the Paradise Lounge (pink vinyl)
Top-Selling Record Store Day Black Friday 2023 Exclusive Singles at Independent Record Stores in U.S.Rank, Artist, Title1. Prince and The N.P.G, Gett Off (12-inch vinyl)2. Billy Strings featuring Willie Nelson, California Sober (green 12-inch vinyl)3. Turnstile x BADBADNOTGOOD, Mystery / Alien Love Call, featuring Blood Orange / Underwater Boi (12-inch vinyl)4. Motley Crue, Too Young to Fall In Love (Remix) / Knock em’ Dead Kid / Too Fast for Love (orange/black 12-inch vinyl)5. Cypress Hill, Insane In the Brain (2023 Remix) / Hits From the Bong (2023 Remix) (12-inch vinyl)6. Phoenix, Winter Solstice / Winter Solstice (Braxe+Falcon Remix) (7-inch vinyl)7. Aimee Mann, Dead Eyes / Dead Eyes (demo) (7-inch vinyl)8. Jeff Beck, Midnight Walker Lament, featuring Imelda May / Elegy for Dunkirk (Live), featuring Olivia Safe / Goin’ Down (Live) (12-inch vinyl)9. The Hold Steady, The Death of the Punchline / Radar & Leda (random color 12-inch)10. Waterboys, This Is the Sea (Fast) / The Passenger (10-inch vinyl)
Source: Luminate, for the week ending Nov. 30, 2023.
Emilia and TINI’s “La_Original.Mp3” holds steady atop the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart for a fourth week at No. 1 on the chart dated Dec. 9. The song enters a tie with Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” for the eighth-most weeks in charge in 2023. Singer-songwriter Abel Pintos nabs his first top […]