Chart Beat
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The Beatles’ “last” song “Now And Then” is on track for the U.K. chart title.
Based on sales and streaming data captured from the first 48 hours in the chart week, “Now And Then” is in pole position, outselling the rest of the top 5 combined, the Official Charts Company reports.
If it holds its spot, “Now And Then” will become the Fab Four’s 18th U.K. chart-leader, and their first in 54 years, since “The Ballad of John and Yoko” topped the weekly tally back in 1969.
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“Now And Then” actually debuted at No. 42 in the U.K. last week based on just 10 hours of sales, but is now expected to jump 41 places to the top of the Official Singles Chart when chart is published this Friday, Nov. 10.
The crown would cap a remarkable journey for “Now And Then.” The track began life as a demo written and sung by John Lennon, was later developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and now completed by Paul and Ringo, the surviving members of The Beatles, more than 40 years after the group began work on it.
The late Lennon’s vocals and piano part were recorded to tape at New York’s Dakota Building in the 1970s, and remained there until film director Peter Jackson and his team at WingNut Films developed the MAL audio technology, powered by AI, which could separate the stems. The result is a lush production, with a string arrangement, written by Giles Martin, Paul and Ben Foster, and featuring contributions from all four Beatles.
On the day of its release last Thursday (Nov. 2), “Now And Then” was named as BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record. The song is all-love, McCartney told Radio 1’s Clara Amfo. “Just a loving feeling,” he says of the recording, “because that’s often what we were trying to do with our records, we were trying to spread love. And in this one it is very poignant. It’s John talking about ‘I miss you’ and stuff like that so, I think emotion, that would be the key word for people to take away from it, ‘emotion’.”
Jackson helmed the official music video for “Now And Then,” which dropped last Friday.
The closest competition on the First Look chart, according to the Official Charts Company, is BTS star Jung Kook’s “Standing Next To You,” which is eyeing a No. 2 start. That would be the K-pop artist’s highest peak of his solo career in the U.K. Jung Kook has three U.K. top 10s to his name, with a best of No. 3 for 2023’s “Seven” featuring Latto.
Taylor Swift buries her rivals under a mountain of sales and streams in the U.K. as 1989 (Taylor’s Version) debuts at No. 1.
Swift’s latest release, the fourth of her six recording projects, clocks up a “massive” 184,000 chart units, the Official Charts Company reports, more than double that of the original 1989’s opening-week sales of 90,000, accumulated following its release in 2014.
That opening result crushes the previous record holder for 2023, Lewis Capaldi’s Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, which scored 95,000 chart units in its week one.
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The runaway leader at the midweek stage, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) outperforms the rest of the top 10 combined during the latest cycle, and is the fastest-selling vinyl release of the year, with 62,000 copies sold, according to the OCC.
It’s Swift’s 11th chart-topping U.K. album, extending her own record as the woman with the most U.K. leaders this century, and the female artist with the 11 consecutive No. 1 albums in the briefest timeframe, at 11 years.
Among female artists, only Madonna has more — with 12. It’s only a matter of time before TayTay catches up with the Queen of Pop.
With Swift’s “Vault” cut “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) reigning over the national singles survey, TayTay collects another chart double.
It’s by no means the only new release to make its impact felt on the latest albums tally. Veteran electronic act Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark snag a highest-charting studio album across a career spanning 45 years, with Bauhaus Staircase (100 Percent Records), new at No. 2. That equals the peak position of OMD’s 1988 hits compilation The Best of OMD, one of their eight U.K. top 10s.
Rolling Stones’ latest leader Hackney Diamonds (Polydor) drops 1-3, while Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inducted pop-rock band Duran Duran earn a 12th U.K. 10 with Danse Macabre (BMG), their Halloween-themed 16th studio album.
Also new to the top 10 are albums from James Blunt (Who We Used to Be at No. 5 via Atlantic), CASISDEAD (Famous Last Words at No. 7 via XL Recordings) and Alfie Boe (Open Arms – The Symphonic Songbook this week at No. 10 via BMG).
Taylor Swift is having her way on the U.K. charts, as “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version)” bows at No. 1 on the national singles survey, and its parent LP arrives at the summit of the albums chart.
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“Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version)” starts atop the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, Nov. 3, with a market-leading 4.9 million streams, the Official Charts Company reports.
Swift now boasts three career chart leaders in the U.K., a list that includes a “Look What You Made Me Do” (in 2017) and “Anti-Hero” (2022).
“Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) is one of three new TayTay tracks from the “Vault” which crash the top 10, as “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version)” starts at No. 2 and “Slut!” (Taylor’s Version) bows at No. 5.
The top five is completed by Casso, Raye, D-Block Europe’s “Prada” (down 2-3 via Ministry of Sound) and Kenya Grace’s “Strangers” (down 1-4 via FFRR).
Halloween is done and dusted for 2023, but the spooky celebration makes its impact felt on the U.K. singles survey. Danny Elfman’s “This is Halloween” (No. 14 via Walt Disney) from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (No. 20 via Epic), Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” (No. 21 via Arista) and Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash” (No. 29 via TheMonsterMash.com) all power into the top 40 on the latest tally.
Meanwhile, there’s new chart peaks for Drake, Sexyy Red and SZA’s “Rich Baby Daddy” (up 17-15 via OVO/Republic Records), Chase & Status, Hedex and ArrDee’s “Liqour & Cigarettes” (up 20-18 via EMI), Doja Cat’s “Agora Hills” (up 28-26 via Ministry of Sound), and Tems’ “Me & U” (up 36-34 via Since 93/RCA).
Further down the list, Wheatus’s breakthrough number “Teenage Dirtbag” (Columbia) reenters the U.K. Top 40 at No. 38, for its first top flight appearance since 2001. “Teenage Dirtbag” peaked at No. 2 that year.
Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Nov. 11), scoring the superstar her 13th No. 1 on the chart. The set debuts with 1.653 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Luminate. That marks the largest week for any album, by units earned, since Adele’s 25 launched with 3.482 million units earned in the week ending Nov. 25, 2015.
Further, of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s first-week units, traditional album sales comprise 1.359 million of that sum — Swift’s single-largest sales week for any of her albums. It surpasses her previous high, logged when the original 1989 album debuted with 1.287 million sold in the week ending Nov. 2, 2014.
The first-week sales of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) are the largest for any album since Adele’s 25 bowed with 3.378 million. In total, since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991, the debut of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) marks the sixth-largest sales week for any album. The top six biggest weeks are (all in debut frames): Adele’s 25 (3.378 million), *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached (2.416 million, in 2000), *NSYNC’s Celebrity (1.878 million, 2001), Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP (1.76 million, 2000), Backstreet Boys’ Black & Blue (1.591 million, 2000) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (1.359 million).
The sales of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) were enhanced by its availability in 15 collectible physical formats: five color vinyl variants, eight CD editions and two cassette editions. Of the five vinyl variants, Target carries a color variant that includes one bonus track (“Sweeter Than Fiction”). The album is also available to buy in two digital download editions: a standard 21-song version and a deluxe 22-song version (which adds a re-recorded version of the album’s “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar). (Notably, Swift did not offer an autographed edition of the new album to purchase, as she did in time for the first weeks of her last three No. 1s: Speak Now [Taylor’s Version], Midnights and Red [Taylor’s Version]. Signed editions of her albums are a major sales driver.)
With Swift’s total of No. 1s on the Billboard 200 albums chart rising to 13 (Swift’s lucky number), she extends her record for the most leaders among women in the chart’s history, dating back to March of 1956, when the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis. Among all artists, The Beatles have the most No. 1s (19), followed by Jay-Z (14) and Drake and Swift (tied with 13 each).
All 13 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless, her second studio album, through 2023’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) have debuted at No. 1.
Swift announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on Aug. 9, while performing at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., as part of her The Eras Tour. Pre-order sales for the album began shortly afterward via Swift’s official webstore.
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 Nov. 11, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Nov. 7. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s 1.653 million equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 2, album sales comprise 1.359 million, SEA units comprise 288,000 (equaling 375.49 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 21 songs) and TEA units comprise 6,000.
The original 1989 album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart dated Nov. 15, 2014, and spent 11 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1. It is tied with Swift’s first leader, Fearless, for her most weeks at No. 1 with a single album. The 1989 album boasts three songs that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the most No. 1s generated from any Swift album. She sent “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, to No. 1 in 2014-15.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) includes re-recordings of the original 1989 album’s standard 13 songs plus the three tracks from its deluxe edition. The new 1989 (Taylor’s Version) adds five additional previously unreleased “From the Vault” re-recordings, bringing the total number of songs on the standard version of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) to 21.
Million-Selling Week: With 1.359 million copies sold in its first week, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) marks the sixth Swift album to have sold at least a million in a single week, following the debut weeks of Midnights, reputation, the original 1989, Red and Speak Now. She is the only act with six different albums to each sell at least 1 million copies in a single week since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991.
In total, there have been 25 instances — by 23 different albums — in which an album sold at least 1 million copies in a week in the Luminate era. One of those albums, Adele’s 25, sold more than 1 million in three separate weeks.
2023’s Biggest-Selling Album: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has already become the year’s top-selling album. It surpasses the year’s previous best-seller, Swift’s own 2022 release Midnights, which has sold 791,000 in 2023. Swift now has the top-three-selling albums of the year, as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is the No. 3-seller, with 755,000 sold since its release in July.
Modern-Era Single-Week Vinyl Sales Record: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) sold 693,000 copies on vinyl in its first week. That marks the largest sales week for a vinyl album since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. Swift breaks her own modern-era vinyl sales record, set by the debut of her last studio album of all-new material, Midnights, which sold 575,000 copies in its opening week (ending Oct. 27, 2022).
Biggest Sales Week for a CD Album Since 2015: Of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s first-week sales across all formats (CD, vinyl, digital download and cassette), its combined eight CD editions sold 554,000 copies. That marks the single-largest sales week for an album on CD since Adele’s 25 sold 1.03 million copies on CD in its fifth week of release (week ending Dec. 24, 2015).
Swift’s Biggest Streaming Week for a Re-Recorded Album: As 1989 (Taylor’s Version) earned 288,000 SEA units, which equates to 375.49 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 21 songs, the album tallies Swift’s biggest streaming week, by total streams for its songs, for any of her four re-recorded projects. Her previous biggest streaming sum for a re-recorded project was the opening week of Red (Taylor’s Version), which saw its collected 30 songs generate 303.23 million streams. (Swift’s biggest streaming week overall for any album is the debut frame of Midnights, with 549.26 million clicks — which is also the single-largest week for any album by a woman.)
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, SEVENTEEN debuts with SEVENTEENTH Heaven: 11th Mini Album, marking the Korean pop group’s fourth top 10-charting effort. The set launches with 100,000 equivalent album units earned, driven almost entirely by CD sales (98,000 in total), bolstered by its availability across 16 collectible CD variants.
The rest of the top 10 comprises former No. 1s. Drake’s For All the Dogs falls 2-3 (95,000 equivalent album units earned, down 21%); Bad Bunny’s Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana is a non-mover at No. 4 (73,000; down 25%); Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is steady at No. 5 (64,000; down 7%); Rod Wave’s Nostalgia rises 9-6 (46,000; down 9%); Swift’s Midnights dips 6-7 (45,000; down 15%); Swift’s Lover falls 7-8 (just over 44,000; down 15%); Zach Bryan’s self-titled album descends 8-9 (44,000; down 14%); and SZA’s SOS climbs 11-10 (42,000; down 5%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Luke Bryan hits the top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for a 35th time, as he hoists “But I Got a Beer in My Hand” to No. 10 on the chart dated Nov. 11. In the Oct. 27-Nov. 2 tracking week, the song increased by 8% to 18.3 million audience impressions, according to Luminate. […]
Pop Evil notches its eighth No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with “Skeletons,” which rises to the top of the Nov. 11-dated list. The song is the band’s first leader since “Survivor,” which ruled for two weeks in October 2021. In between, Pop Evil notched a pair of top five hits: “Eye of […]
Tyler, the Creator’s Wolf returns to the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Nov. 4), re-entering the list at No. 4 following its reissue on vinyl for its 10th anniversary. The album sold 26,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 26 (up 4,982%), according to Luminate, with nearly all of that sum driven by vinyl sales. The album originally debuted and peaked at No. 3 on Top Album Sales in 2013.
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Wolf, first released in 2013, was reintroduced on vinyl on Oct. 20 in either a multi-disc collectible boxed set or a standard pink-colored vinyl edition. On the Vinyl Albums chart, which ranks the top-selling vinyl releases of the week, Wolf re-enters at No. 3. The set peaked at No. 2 on the list in 2014.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart: The latest releases from Blink-182, The Rolling Stones and Cher all debut in the top five.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Blink-182’s reunion album One More Time starts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales with 101,000 copies sold, marking the third leader for the rock group. The Rolling Stones’ new Hackney Diamonds – the band’s first studio album of original material since 2005 – launches at No. 2 with 94,000 copies sold. TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Freefall drops to No. 3 with 28,000 (down 73%) after debuting atop the list a week ago.
Cher’s first holiday album, Christmas, starts at No. 5 with 20,000 sold. It also bows at No. 1 on the Top Holiday Albums tally, which returns to Billboard’s chart rankings for the season.
Taylor Swift’s former leader Lover rises 10-6 (10,000; up 12%) and Olivia Rodrigo’s chart-topping Guts bumps 8-7 (9,000; down 13%). Two of Swift’s former No. 1s are next, as Midnights climbs 12-8 (nearly 9,000; up 1%) and Folklore ascends 18-9 (8,000; up 17%). Boygenius’ The Rest rounds out the top 10, dipping 6-10 in its second week with nearly 8,000 sold (down 35%).
In the week ending Oct. 26, there were 1.767 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 4.1% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.424 million (up 3.2%) and digital albums comprised 344,000 (up 8.1%).
There were 601,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Oct. 26 (down 7.9% week-over-week) and 811,000 vinyl albums sold (up 14%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 26.012 million (down 1.4% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 37.152 million (up 16.2%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 80.656 million (up 3.9% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 65.607 million (up 7.9%) and digital album sales total 15.049 million (down 10.5%).
Blink-182 earns its second consecutive and total No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, as “One More Time” tops the Nov. 11-dated ranking.
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The song lifts from No. 2 to No. 1 with 9 million audience impressions, up 11%, in the Oct. 27-Nov. 2 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The song follows the group’s “Edging,” a 17-week leader on the list beginning nearly a year ago.
Concurrently, “One More Time” rules the Alternative Airplay survey for a fourth week. It also rises 5-4 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, marking Blink-182’s second-highest-charting entry, after “Edging” reached at No. 2 in January.
“One More Time” is also bubbling under Adult Alternative Airplay; should it chart, it would become the band’s first appearance there.
The song has crossed over to non-rock radio formats, too. It rises 32-29 on Adult Pop Airplay, having become the band’s first title to make the tally since “I Miss You,” which peaked at No. 24 in 2004.
On the most recently published multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart (dated Nov. 4), reflecting activity Oct. 20-26, “One More Time” ranked at No. 10. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 3.8 million official U.S. streams and sold 2,000 downloads in that span.
The song is the second single from Blink-182’s LP One More Time…, the trio’s ninth studio album and first since the return of guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge. The set debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated Nov. 4 with 125,000 equivalent album units earned.
All Billboard charts dated Nov. 11 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
On the Billboard Hot 100 dated Jan. 18, 1964, Steve & Eydie, the duo of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, and The Beach Boys made room for a new act in between them. The former rose from No. 52 to No. 44 with their track “I Can’t Stop Talking About You” and the latter fell 38-46 with “Be True to Your School.”
At No. 45? “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” its debut marking the first Hot 100 hit for The Beatles. The single by the quartet — George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr — would quickly become the group’s first No. 1, beginning a seven-week stay atop the chart dated Feb. 1, 1964.
Just over six years later, The Beatles had racked up a record total 20 Hot 100 No. 1s. With 71 entries, including 34 top 10s, the most among groups, through the chart dated Nov. 4, 2023, the Fab Four’s impact on the Hot 100 has been so huge that the band reigns as the top-performing act in the survey’s history.
Meanwhile, over 59 years since their debut, The Beatles have released what’s billed as their last single together, “Now and Then.” The song, which premiered in full Nov. 2, 2023, completes what Lennon began as a demo tape, Harrison, McCartney and Starr worked on in the mid-1990s, and McCartney and Starr, with the aid of new technology, turned into the latest intriguing chapter in Beatlemania.
Of all their songs, which stand as The Beatles’ biggest Hot 100 hits? Browse their 50 best-performing singles below.
The Beatles’ 50 Biggest Billboard Hits recap is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames are weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years.
“Act Naturally”
After less than one day of airplay, The Beatles’ “Now and Then” debuts at No. 37 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart dated Nov. 11. In the Oct. 27-Nov. 2 tracking week, “Now and Then” – with all of its airplay logged Nov. 2, after it premiered at 10 a.m. ET – earned 1.1 […]