State Champ Radio Chart Beat
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Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” is the biggest song in the world, as it notches a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and ascends to the top of the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey.
Plus, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival” debuts at No. 2 on the Global 200 and No. 10 on Global Excl. U.S., while Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” shuffles onto the Global 200 at No. 4.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.
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Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
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Boone No. 1 on Global 200; Ye, Ty Dolla $ign & Beyoncé New in Top 5
Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” released on Night Street/Warner Records, logs a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, with 57.8 million streams (up 10%) and 12,000 sold (down 11%) worldwide Feb. 9-15.
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival” launches at No. 2 on the Global 200, with 46 million streams and 4,000 sold worldwide from its Feb. 10 release on the pair’s collaborative album Vultures 1 through Feb. 15. As previously reported, the album, Ye’s first since his string of hate speech and antisemitic remarks, which resulted in companies including Adidas and Def Jam Recordings distancing themselves from the rapper, opens at No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard 200 chart. Ye adds his fourth Global 200 top 10 and Ty Dolla $ign, his first.
“Carnival” by the pair, billed collaboratively as ¥$: Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign, concurrently starts at No. 10 on Global Excl. U.S. with 22.5 million streams and 2,000 sold outside the U.S. Ye and Ty Dolla $ign each reach the chart’s top 10 for the first time.
Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” climbs 5-3 on the Global 200 after a week at No. 1 in November.
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Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” bounds onto the Global 200 at No. 4, with 31.9 million streams and 48,000 sold worldwide between its Feb. 11 release and Feb. 15. She lands her second and top-charting hit since the survey began, after “Break My Soul” reached No. 6 in 2022.
Plus, Xavi’s “La Diabla” rises 7-5 on the Global 200, after reaching No. 3.
‘Beautiful Things’ Hits No. 1 on Global Excl. U.S.
Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” bumps 2-1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S., with 36.1 million streams (up 16%) and 4,000 sold (up 10%) outside the U.S. Feb. 9-15. In his two prior visits to the chart, the 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Monroe, Wash., hit No. 59 in 2022 with “In the Stars” and No. 98 in 2021 with “Ghost Town.”
Creepy Nuts’ first Global Excl. U.S. top 10, “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born,” pushes 3-2; Tate McRae’s “Greedy” falls to No. 3 after five nonconsecutive weeks on top beginning in December; Xavi’s “La Diabla” holds at No. 4, after reaching No. 2; and Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” is steady at No. 5, after hitting No. 3.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Feb. 24, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Feb. 21 (a day later than usual due to the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S. Feb. 19). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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.
Pop and R&B/hip-hop superstar Beyoncé makes her debut on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart (dated Feb. 24) with her first two entries on the survey: “Texas Hold ‘Em” at No. 1 and “16 Carriages” at No. 9.
As previously reported, the songs start at Nos. 2 and 38, respectively, on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
Both tracks were released Feb. 11, as announced in a Verizon commercial that aired during CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, ahead of the March 29 arrival of Beyoncé’s album expected to be titled Act II, which follows her 2022 Renaissance LP.
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“Texas Hold ‘Em” drew 19.2 million official streams and 4.8 million in all-format airplay audience and sold 39,000 in the U.S. through Feb. 15, according to Luminate. “16 Carriages” rides in with 10.3 million streams, 90,000 in radio reach and 14,000 sold.
Notably, the Hot Country Songs coronation of “Texas Hold ‘Em” grants Beyoncé No. 1s on seven of Billboard’s multimetric song charts as a solo artist: the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Gospel Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot R&B Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. She’s the only act to have notched No. 1s on that combination of rankings.
Only Justin Bieber has led more hybrid song charts – eight, among Billboard’s menu of 14 such surveys – having ruled the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, the Holiday 100, Hot Latin Songs, Hot Rap Songs, Hot R&B Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Plus, Beyoncé makes history as the first woman to have topped both Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since the lists began as all-encompassing genre song charts in October 1958. Overall, she joins Morgan Wallen, Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus and Ray Charles as the only acts to have led both charts.
Beyoncé first appeared on Billboard’s rankings in 1997 as a member of Destiny’s Child. The group notched four No. 1s on the Hot 100 and two on the Billboard 200, beginning in 1999. As a soloist, she has scored eight and seven leaders on the respective charts, starting in 2003.
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“Texas Hold ‘Em” is officially being promoted to country radio, as announced in a Columbia Nashville email to stations Feb. 14 at 11 a.m. ET, among other formats, and bows as Beyoncé’s first entry on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Feb. 24), at No. 54 with 1.1 million audience impressions at the format.
“We put the Beyoncé directly into a strong rotation so it can be heard. I want the station to sound as interesting as possible, because the opposite is boring,” says Dave Parker, program director of Sinclair’s WUSH Norfolk, Va. “This song is sounding great and doesn’t sound like anything else. Plus, the feedback from listeners has been very positive.”
“Texas Hold ‘Em” also begins at No. 38 on the Pop Airplay chart, while additionally drawing play at adult pop, rhythmic, adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop formats.
The track concurrently begins at No. 1 on Country Digital Song Sales, where it’s Beyoncé’s first leader. It also crowns the all-genre Digital Song Sales survey, becoming her 11th chart-topper.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” is the 16th song to open in the Hot Country Songs penthouse and the first since Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves, in September. The latter cedes the summit after 20 weeks at No. 1. Among solo women with no accompanying artists, only Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have launched atop the chart, with Swift having achieved the feat with “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” in 2021.
Meanwhile, “Texas Hold ‘Em” is the first Hot Country Songs leader to name-check a state since Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey,” which led for two weeks in 2015. Among women, before Houston-born Beyoncé, Jamie O’Neal last shouted out a state in the title of a No. 1 song when “There Is No Arizona” led in 2001. As for the biggest state in the continental U.S., until this week it last appeared in the name of a leader on the list thanks to “Texas Tornado” by Tracy Lawrence in 1995.
Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” lands a sixth nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard Hot 100. With the song, which first led for a week in December, the rapper doubles his previous longest reign, as “First Class” ruled for three weeks in 2022. He has also led with “Industry Baby,” with Lil Nas X, for one week in 2021.
Meanwhile, three songs are new to the Hot 100’s top 10: Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” bounds onto the chart at No. 2; Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival” debuts at No. 3; and Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” rises to No. 10, from No. 11.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Feb. 24, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Feb. 21 (a day later than usual due to the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S. Feb. 19). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” released on Generation Now/Atlantic Records, drew 77.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 2%) and 21.6 million streams (down 7%) and sold 5,000 downloads (down 7%) in the Feb. 9-15 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The single adds a fifth week at No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart, drops 3-5 after five weeks atop Streaming Songs and rebounds 20-11 after two frames atop Digital Song Sales. It concurrently leads the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a 13th week each.
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Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” blasts onto the Hot 100 at No. 2, with 19.2 million streams, 4.8 million in airplay audience and 39,000 sold through Feb. 15. The track is one of two that she released Feb. 11 (with instrumental and clean and explicit a cappella versions of the song released Feb. 14), along with “16 Carriages,” which debuts at No. 38 (10.3 million streams; 90,000 in audience; 14,000 sold).
The arrival of both tracks was announced via a Verizon commercial that aired during CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, ahead of the March 29 release of Beyoncé’s album expected to be titled Act II, which follows her 2022 Renaissance LP.
Beyoncé lands her 22nd Hot 100 top 10 with “Texas Hold ‘Em” – which concurrently soars in as her first No. 1 on the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart; “16 Carriages” starts at No. 9 on the latter list, giving her two top 10s with her first two entries on the chart.
As previously reported, “Texas Hold ‘Em” is being promoted to country radio, among other formats, and debuts at No. 54 on the Country Airplay chart. It also begins at No. 38 on Pop Airplay, while additionally drawing play at adult pop, rhythmic, adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop formats.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” concurrently begins at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, where it’s Beyoncé’s 11th leader.
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival” enters the Hot 100 at No. 3, with 23.5 million streams and 4,000 sold from its Feb. 10 release on the pair’s collaborative album Vultures 1 through Feb. 15. As previously reported, the album, Ye’s first since his string of hate speech and antisemitic remarks, which resulted in companies including Adidas and Def Jam Recordings distancing themselves from the rapper, premieres at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Ye adds his 21st Hot 100 top 10 and Ty Dolla $ign, his third – and first in a lead role; he previously led for a week in 2018 as featured on Post Malone’s “Psycho” and hit No. 4 in 2016 as featured on Fifth Harmony’s “Work From Home.”
“Carnival” by the pair, billed collaboratively as ¥$: Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign, crowns Streaming Songs, marking Ye’s fourth No. 1 and Ty Dolla $ign’s first.
Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” backtracks to No. 4 from its No. 3 Hot 100 high; Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” falls to No. 5 from its No. 2 best; and Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” slips 4-6, following four nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in October.
SZA’s “Snooze” descends 5-7 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, as it leads the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart for a 29th week.
Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves, retreats 6-8 on the Hot 100, after it led for a week upon its debut last September. It tops the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts for a 25th week each.
Tate McRae’s “Greedy” dips 7-9 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3. It also becomes McRae’s first No. 1 on the Adult Pop Airplay chart, after it dominated Pop Airplay for eight weeks.
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Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” climbs to No. 10, from No. 11, with 17.8 million streams (up 7%), 15.9 million in airplay audience (up 17%) and 2,000 sold.
The song is the Strafford, Vt., native’s first Hot 100 top 10. He arrived on the chart last June with “Dial Drunk” (featuring Post Malone), which reached No. 25, and peaked at a No. 14 best among his entries prior to “Stick Season” as featured on Zach Bryan’s “Sarah’s Place” in October. Notably, Kahan wrote “Stick Season” solo, making it any soloist’s first top 10 solely written by that artist since Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” (No. 10, January 2023).
“Stick Season” – which leads the multimetric Hot Alternative Songs chart for a fifth week, after it reached No. 2 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart in November 2022 – is the title track from Kahan’s album released that October. Sparked by its latest deluxe version, the set rebounds to its No. 3 high on the Billboard 200.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on Billboard’s social accounts, and all charts (dated Feb. 24), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Feb. 21).
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.
Idles leads an all-new top three on the midweek U.K. chart with Tangk (Partisan), the British rock outfit’s fifth studio album.
Based on midweek sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, Tangk is predicted to snag the crown, and give the Bristol, England five-piece a fourth U.K. top 10, including the 2020 chart topper, Ultra Mono. Idles scored two nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards (best rock album for Crawler and best rock performance for “Crawl!”).
Chart victory is not assured.
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Paloma Faith has a chance of scoring the title with her sixth album The Glorification of Sadness, new at No. 2 on the chart update. The Glorification of Sadness (RCA) should give the British pop singer a sixth consecutive U.K. top 10, a tally that includes her first No. 1 in 2017 with The Architect.
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Completing the podium on the Official Chart Update is Liverpool rock act Crawlers, with The Mess We Seem To Make (Polydor), their debut album. It’s new at No. 3, for what should give the four-piece its first U.K. top 10 appearance.
After one week at the chart summit, Noah Kahan’s Stick Season (Republic Records) looks likely to tumble, down 1-4. Kahan nabbed his first chart double last week, when Stick Season and its title track led the respective Official Charts.
Meanwhile, Derby, England pair Pet Needs (brothers Johnny and George Marriott) eye a top 10 berth with their third collection Intermittent Fast Living (Xtra Mile). It’s set to debut at No. 7, for their first impression on the chart.
Finally, veteran indie-rock act Cast is on track for a first top 10 spot in 25 years, and fourth overall with Love is the Call (Cast Recordings), new at No. 8 on the chart blast, while former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett could bag his first top 10 album in 44 years with his latest solo effort The Circus and the Nightwhale (Inside Out), new at No. 9 on the chart update. Hackett last cracked the top 10 back in 1980 with Defector.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday, Feb. 23.
Beyoncé strides ahead in the U.K. chart race with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the first cut from her forthcoming project Renaissance Act II (via Columbia/Parkwood Ent).
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Based on midweek sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, “Texas Hold ‘Em” has an advantage of fewer than 1,500 combined sales over the second-ranked single, Dua Lipa’s “Training Season” (Warner Records).
If “Texas Hold ‘Em” plays its cards right, Bey will bag a sixth U.K. No. 1 single.
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Teased during a Verizon Super Bowl LVIII advertisement, “Texas Hold ‘Em” opened at No. 9 on the Official Chart last week, for the top debut of the cycle and Bey’s 22nd solo U.K. top 10 hit.
The Houston, TX-raised artist chalked up another 12 top 10 singles as a member of Destiny’s Child, including two leaders (“Independent Women, Pt. 1” from 2000 and “Survivor” from 2001).
As Bey bounces up the midweek tally, Dua Lipa’s “Training Ground” gives good fight. It’s at No. 2 on the Official Chart Update, and should earn Lipa her 15th U.K. top 10 single. One of those is “Houdini,” which peaked at No. 2 and is currently sat at No. 12.
As it stands, Washington-born singer and songwriter Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (Warner Records) appears likely to hold at No. 3, its peak position.
Noah Kahan‘s reign with “Stick Season” (Republic Records) appears set to come to an end. Following a seven-week stay at No. 1, the folky hit is predicted to dip to No. 5.
After “Training Ground,” the next best new entry should belong to “Lovers In A Past Life” (Columbia), the latest collaborative track by Scottish EDM hitmaker Calvin Harris and deep-voiced English singer Rag’n’Bone Man. It’s new at No. 19 on the chart update. Rag’n’Bone Man has a perfect two-from-two No. 1 albums in the U.K., and five top 40 singles. Harris has also notched two chart-leading albums, and a whopping 42 solo U.K. top 40 singles. The pair teamed up on 2019’s “Giant,” which peaked at No. 2.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Singles Chart is published Friday, Feb. 23.
The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack franchise and Taylor Swift unspooled big numbers on cassette tape in 2023, as the combined sales of the two accounted for 29% of all cassette albums sold in the U.S. last year, according to data tracking firm Luminate. Further, the top five-selling cassette albums of 2023, as well as six of the top 10, were all Swift and Guardians titles (see list, below).
2023’s top-selling cassette album in the U.S. was the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack, released in 2014, with 18,000 sold. Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version), released last October, was the No. 2-seller, with 17,500 sold.
TOP 10-SELLING CASSETTE ALBUMS OF 2023 IN U.S.
Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (18,000)
Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (17,500)
Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (16,000)
Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (13,000)
Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (11,500)
Nirvana, Bleach (8,000)
Metallica, 72 Seasons (7,500)
Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Mix, Vol. 1 (6,000)
Soundtrack, Barbie: The Album (5,500)
Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher (5,500)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.
In total, 436,400 cassette albums were sold in the U.S. in 2023, down just 0.75% as compared the configuration’s volume in 2022 (439,700).
Cassettes accounted for a mere 0.41% of the total 105.32 million albums sold in the U.S. across all configurations combined – cassette, vinyl, CD, digital download, etc. Cassettes were once the leading configuration for all album purchases in the U.S. – from the early 1980s until the early ‘90s. In 1994, for example, 40% of all albums sold were on cassette – with 246 million cassettes sold that year of an overall 615 million albums. Though the configuration now accounts for a tiny slice of total album sales, cassettes have staged a mini-comeback in the last decade. The once nearly dead cassette went from just 50,000 copies sold in the U.S. in 2014 to over 400,000 in each of the last two years. Once widely available at retail stores, cassette tapes are now frequently sold exclusively on an artist’s webstore and in collectible editions.
‘Guardians’ & Swift Sizzle on Tape
In 2023, the four Guardians soundtracks available on cassette (three film soundtracks and one TV soundtrack) sold 52,500 copies. As literal mixtapes factor into the story of Guardians of the Galaxy films, it’s not surprising that Guardians’ soundtracks on cassette sell well.
As for Swift, her catalog of albums available on cassette sold 74,500 in 2023.
Combined, the cassette sales of the Guardians albums and Swift’s albums totaled 127,000 in 2023 – accounting for just over 29% of all cassette album sales last year (127,000 of 436,400).
The Guardians albums have been consistent sellers on cassette tape since the first Guardians album, Awesome Mix Vol. 1, was released in 2014. Overall, the four Guardians albums have sold 295,000 copies on cassette, through Feb. 15, 2024.
When Drake first debuted at No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 23, 2009 with breakthrough hit “Best I Ever Had,” few could’ve guessed that it would mark the start of one of the successful careers the chart has ever seen. But a little over a decade and a handful of historic chart runs later, the artist born Aubrey Graham has again etched his name in the Billboard record books — as the artist with the most hits in the Hot 100’s 60-plus-year lifespan.
As if that wasn’t enough, “First Person Shooter,” Drake’s blockbuster collaboration with J. Cole from his For All The Dogs album topped the Hot 100 on October 21, 2023. The accolade gave the OVO head honcho the same amount of number ones as the legendary Michael Jackson. It’s a feat many thought would never be topped, but Drake’s career has been a showcase of broken records.
Of course, with Drake’s chart ascent coinciding with the rise of streaming, it’s not like all 328 of these songs were “Drake hits,” at least in the old-fashioned, single-oriented sense. The majority of these entries are album cuts that charted along with the rest of their parent sets, while featured appearances that Drake lent to trusted collaborators like Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Future, and (of course) Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne over the years are equally numerous.
Yet despite the staggering number of entries Drake has notched on the Hot 100 over his chart run — an average of nearly 20 a year since his mid-2009 chart debut — the rapper’s entire catalog is hardly represented here. Missing of course is anything from pre-fame mixtapes Room For Improvement or Comeback Season, along with such early fan favorites as “Houstatlantavegas,” “Fear,” “Karaoke,” “Lord Knows,” “The Ride” and “Draft Day.” (Also worth noting that despite prominently featuring Aubrey, Travis Scott’s Hot 100-topping “SICKO MODE” does not technically list him on its official artist credit, nor does Young Money’s No. 2-peaking crew cut “BedRock” — thus neither is included here.)
Still, the great majority of the singer-rapper’s best-known work can be found here, spanning from his first pop breakthroughs to his diaristic deep cuts to his harder mixtape tracks to his meme-courting later smashes. Read on below and see how we rank an already unprecedented chart run — one that, by all indications, is still far from over.
“Charged Up” (Hot 100 Peak: No. 78, Date of Peak: 8/22/15)
Usher lands his fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Feb. 24) as his new studio album, Coming Home, arrives atop the list. The set sold 53,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 15, according to Luminate. Usher previously topped the list with Looking 4 Myself (in 2012), Raymond V Raymond (2010), Here I Stand (2008) and Confessions (2004).
Elsewhere in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, the latest albums from P1Harmony, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign, and iTZY arrive.
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. The new Feb. 24, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 21, one day later than usual, owed to the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S. on Feb. 19. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
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Of Coming Home’s 53,000 copies sold, digital sales comprise 47,500 and physical sales comprise 5,500 (4,000 on CD and 1,500 on vinyl). Its start marks the largest sales week for an R&B album in more than four years, since Lionel Richie’s live set Hello From Las Vegas sold 65,000 copies in its first week (on the list dated Aug. 31, 2019). Richie’s first-week sales were boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer. Ticket/album bundles ceased to count toward chart sales as of Oct. 9, 2020. (R&B albums are defined as those that have charted on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.)
Coming Home was available to purchase in its first week as a standard digital download, a standard CD, five different vinyl variants, two deluxe boxed sets and a deluxe digital album with a bonus track and alternative cover art. The latter was promoted as a SKIMS exclusive (alongside Usher’s new starring role in a SKIMS campaign) and sold for a limited time via SKIMS’ official store and Usher’s own webstore. Both versions of the digital album were deeply discounted during the set’s opening week.
Coming Home was released on Feb. 9, two days before Usher took the stage as the 2024 Super Bowl halftime headliner. The 2024 Super Bowl was the most-watched broadcast in American TV history, with 123.4 million viewers across CBS and the game’s simulcasts across Nickelodeon, Univision, Paramount+ and other digital platforms. Usher didn’t perform any material from the new album during the halftime show, focusing instead on familiar favorites from the past, such as “My Boo” (with Alicia Keys), “U Got It Bad” (with H.E.R.) “OMG” (with Will.i.am) and the show-closing “Yeah!” (with Lil Jon and Ludacris).
P1Harmony’s Killin’ It debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 18,000 copies sold – nearly all from CD sales. Like many K-pop projects, the set was issued in collectible CD packages, 16 in total, each containing branded merchandise and randomized elements. It’s the best sales week for P1Harmony, its highest-charting effort, and second top 10.
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative album Vultures 1 starts at No. 3 with 18,000 sold – all from digital downloads.
Vultures 1, released on Feb. 10, was initially only available to purchase as a digital download. The original 16-track set sold through leading digital retailers, as well as Ye’s own official webstore. Physical versions of the album on CD and vinyl are expected to be released at a later date, and Ye’s store is accepting pre-orders for both presently. The set’s first-week sales were boosted by aggressive sale pricing. Vultures 1 is the 12th top 10 for Ye and first for Ty.
Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) falls 1-4 with 15,000 copies sold (though up 28%).
iTZY’s Born to Be bows at No. 5 with 14,000 copies sold, largely from CD sales. It’s the fifth top 10-charting effort for the Korean pop act. As is customary for many K-pop project, the album was available in multiple collectible CD editions – 10 in total – all containing branded merchandise with randomized elements.
Swift has three more albums in the top 10, as Lover falls 3-6 (12,000; up 13%), Midnights dips 2-7 (11,000; down less than 1%) and Folklore rises 10-8 (9,000; up 57%). Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits drops 4-9 with 7,000 sold (down 35%) and Noah Kahan’s Stick Season climbs 14-10 with nearly 7,000 (up 48%) following its deluxe reissue on Feb. 9 with additional tracks.
In the week ending Feb. 15, there were 1.258 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 7.8% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 906,000 (up 9.3%) and digital albums comprised 353,000 (up 4%).
There were 435,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Feb. 15 (up 11.3% week-over-week) and 467,000 vinyl albums sold (up 7.7%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 2.933 million (down 31.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 3.314 million (down 46.7%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 8.341 million (down 35.5% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 6.279 million (down 40.5%) and digital album sales total 2.062 million (down 12.7%).
Beyoncé holds all the cards as “Texas Hold ‘Em” blasts into the U.K. top 10.
The new single, the first from Bey’s forthcoming Renaissance Act II (Columbia/Parkwood Ent) project, bows at No. 9 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, Feb. 16.
With that fast start, the pop superstar bags a 22nd U.K. top 10 single. Act II will mark Bey’s eighth studio record, four of which have gone to No. 1 in the U.K.
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Three cuts from Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 1 (YZY) fly into the Official Chart – the maximum allowed from any one album. All crack the top 20, led by “Carnival” (at No. 12), “Burn” (No. 17) and “Back To Me” (No. 18).
At the top of the tally is Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” (Republic Records), which logs a seventh straight week at No. 1. With its parent album climbing to the summit of the Official U.K. Albums Chart, Kahan has his first career U.K. chart double. A new edition of the Stick Season album yields the track “Forever,” which arrives at No. 31 for his fifth U.K. top 40 single.
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Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Saltburn-powered “Murder On The Dancefloor” (Polydor) holds at No. 2 on the Official Singles Chart, less than 600 combined units ahead of Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (Warner Records), the OCC reports. “Beautiful Things” lifts 5-3, a new peak position for the 21-year-old Washington-born singer-songwriter.
Also on the rise is YG Marley’s “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” (YG Marley Music), up 9-5. That’s a career high for Marley, the grandson of the late, great Bob Marley and son of Ms. Lauryn Hill.
English singer and TV presenter Wes Nelson enjoys a top 40 debut with “Abracadabra” (Moor), his collaboration with homegrown R&B favorite Craig David. It’s new at No. 37, following the pair’s live performance on ITV’s Love Island All Stars, for Nelson’s fourth U.K. top 40 single and David’s 26th.
Finally, Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” (Rhino) returns to the top 40 following her rare performance of the ‘80s hit at the 2024 Grammy Awards. “Fast Car” reenters at No. 38, after Chapman and country star Luke Combs performed the song on the Grammys on Feb. 4, marking Chapman’s first live television appearance since 2015. Originally released in 1988, “Fast Car” reached its peak of No. 4 in 2011, and has been introduced to country audiences by Combs’ faithful rendition which appeared on 2023’s Gettin’ Old and became a U.S. hit.
Noah Kahan scores his first U.K. chart double as “Stick Season” holds at No. 1 on the national singles chart, and his LP of the same name rises to the summit of the albums tally.
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It’s taken 36 weeks (including 10 weeks in the top 10) for Stick Season (via Republic Records) to complete its first stint atop the Official U.K. Albums Chart, doing so in a tight finish. Stick Season lifts 3-1.
The collection enjoys a late flurry, thanks to the release of the deluxe edition, Stick Season (Forever), a string of in-store signings, and the buzz around his U.K. arena tour this August.
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With his chart feat, Kahan joins some elite company. According to the Official Charts Company, the last artist to swing the U.K. chart double was Taylor Swift, who, in November 2023, simultaneously landed her 11th No. 1 album with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and third U.K. singles single leader “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version)”.
Coming in at No. 2 on the Official Chart is Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 1 (YZY), the most streamed album of the week, the OCC reports. The No. 1 album in the U.S. and Australia this week, Vultures 1 becomes Ty Dolla $ign’s career high and first U.K. top 40 appearance. Kanye has 11 solo U.K. top 40s, including seven top 10s and three No. 1s.
Stick Season and Vultures 1 overpower Declan McKenna’s What Happened to the Beach? (via Columbia), the leader at the midweek point. It’s the best-selling album during the chart cycle, for a No. 3 debut, for the London-born singer and songwriter second top 10 spot, following 2020’s Zeros, which peaked at No. 2.
Also making a splash on the latest tally is Zara Larsson’s Venus (Black Butter/Sommer House), new at No. 15 for the Swedish singer-songwriter’s third U.K. top 40, after 2017’s So Good (No. 7) and 2021’s Poster Girl (No. 11).
And finally, Usher enjoys a post-Super Bowl score as Coming Home (Mega Gamma) lands at No. 24, for his eighth U.K. top 40, while former Mercury Prize winning British rapper Dizzee Rascal is close behind with Don’t Take It Personal (Big Dirte3), new at No. 27. That’s Dizzee Rascal’s eighth top 40.
