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Green Day didn’t want to be a bunch of American idiots, so they became Billboard chart titans instead. The iconic rockers are currently prepping the release of Saviors — their 14th studio album — and in anticipation of their latest LP, Billboard is reflecting on the band’s biggest chart achievements across their decades-long career.
The Cali-bred band made its first entry on a Billboard chart back in 1994 with “Longview,” their debut single. The track soared to No. 1 on Alternative Airplay, becoming the first of 12 for the Grammy-winning rock icons. Since “Longview,” Green Day has gone on to become the act with the second-most chart-toppers in Alternative Airplay history, alongside fellow rock bands Foo Fighters and Linkin Park (12).
Alternative Airplay has proven to be an area of dominance for Green Day. The band is tied with Red Hot Chili Peppers for the fourth-most Alternative Airplay entries of all time (37), and they also boast the third-most top 10 hits on the ranking (25). Over on Rock & Alternative Airplay, Green Day stands as the act with the second-most No. 1 hits (7).
Of course, Green Day wouldn’t be Green Day without its era-defining crossover success. The band has notched a pair of top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — both in 2006 — thanks to the beloved American Idiot singles “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (No. 2) and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” (No. 6). On the Billboard 200, the band has sent 11 titles to the top 10, including the chart-toppers American Idiot (2004, three weeks), 21st Century Breakdown (2009, one week) and Revolution Radio (2016, one week).
Although Saviors doesn’t hit DSPs until Jan. 19, the album has already helped the band increase some of its Billboard chart tallies. “The American Dream Is Killing Me,” the set’s lead single, peaked atop Rock Airplay and reached No. 22 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
Check out the full Billboard Explains video on Green Day’s chart success above.
After that 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.
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up column, 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. This week: YG Marley becomes the latest artist in his legendary family with a breakout single (with an assist from Mom), Rich Gang’s signature smash makes the viral rounds yet again, social media’s Jacob Elordi obsession results in another revived hit and more.
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“Praise Jah!”: YG Marley Adds Yet Another Hit to the Marley Family Legacy
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Just one month out from the theatrical release of Bob Marley: One Love (Feb. 14), the forthcoming Reinaldo Marcus Green-helmed biopic of the late reggae legend, the Marley family is adding yet another hit to their already sprawling cross-generational collection. “Praise Jah in the Moonlight,” the debut single from YG Marley, is currently exploding at streaming, garnering 1.28 million official on-demand streams during the period of Jan. 12-16, according to Luminate. That marks a whopping 176.4% increase in streams from the previous period (Jan. 5-9).
Marley’s debut track is experiencing a perfect storm of pre-release promotion and viral facts related to the song’s credits. Last winter, Marley performed “Praise Jah” at several of his mother’s tour stops. His mother? None other than Ms. Lauryn Hill. Naturally, footage from those shows gained lots of traction on socials, with fans kickstarting a grassroots campaign for an official release of the song. “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” eventually hit DSPs shortly after Christmas (Dec. 27, 2023), and once fans perused the credits, another viral element was added to the song’s run.
“Praise Jah” is co-written by Marley and Hill and includes elements of Bob Marely & The Wailers’ “Crisis,” earning the music icon composer and lyricist credits. This information has quickly made the rounds on socials, with fans praising the musical lineage of YG Marley and embracing the song’s focus on traditional reggae stylings. Having already hit No. 1 on Spotify’s Global and U.S. Viral 50 charts, “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” is looking to grow into a true breakout hit for YG Marley. – KYLE DENIS
Back to the Top for Rich Gang’s “Lifestyle,” Thanks to Very Different Viral Videos
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Rich Gang’s 2010s anthem “Lifestyle,” a No. 16 Hot 100 hit in 2014, has been gaining on streaming this week thanks to a few viral videos. The song first re-entered the cultural zeitgeist when model Alex Consani posted a video of herself dancing to the track at brunch. Since its posting, the video has been liked 4.6 million times with one commenter calling it the “video of the year” (that comment has been liked 110.4K times).
The ”Lifestyle” hype grew even further last week when it was played in the court room during Young Thug’s trial and later clips of the moment went viral on social media. All this has led to a 307% jump in streams in the last week, according to Luminate — with the song rising from 723,000 U.S. on-demand streams for the four-day period of Jan. 5-8 to over 2.2 million for the same period the following week. – KRISTIN ROBINSON
Jacob Elordi’s Sex Appeal Revives Near-Decade-Old Flume Hit
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Between his starring turns in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, Jacob Elordi has become the Internet’s latest obsession. Of course, the 6’5” Australian actor has long been a star for younger audiences thanks to The Kissing Booth trilogy and Euphoria, but he’s hit a new level in the past few months.
Case in point: A fan-created montage gawking over Elordi’s good looks has sparked a streaming revival for the nearly decade-old song that plays in the background. The fan-cam, which is comprised entirely of shots of Elordi’s Saltburn character, is set to Flume and Kai’s “Never Be Like You,” an era-defining dance track that reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 2016. During the week of Jan. 5-11, the Grammy-nominated track pulled in 2.12 million official on-demand U.S. streams, marking a 75% increase from the previous week.
The Jan. 3 TikTok that kickstarted the “Never Be Like You” surge has since collected a jaw-dropping 42.1 million views and 6.5 million likes on the platform in just two weeks. The sound attached to the post – which is logged as separate from the official “Never Be Like You” sound – has already been used in over 18,000 posts – nearly all of which are about Elordi or Saltburn in some way. Between Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” and now “Never Be Like You,” it looks like Saltburn has the Midas Touch when it comes to minting new-old hits. – KD
Let the Man Go Through: ‘Reacher’ Surrender Spurs Soul Coughing Bump
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Amazon’s action-crime series Reacher, based on the popular Jack Reacher book series, has become one of the streaming service’s biggest serial hits. With episodes of its second season now being released weekly, individual episodes are proving to have a pronounced streaming impact with some of their higher-profile synchs.
Most recently, Soul Coughing’s late-’90s left-field alt-rock hit “Super Bon Bon” was used extensively in the climax to the season’s Jan. 12-debuting penultimate episode, where the title character (played by Alan Ritchson) gives himself up to antagonist Shane Langston (Robert Patrick) as part of a thusfar-unseen plan to rescue his team members from capture. The song’s warped bass line and sung-spoken “Move a-siiiiide and let the man go through” commands perfectly matched the tension of the scene, and captured the interest of viewers – many of whom were likely unfamiliar with the song previously, as evidenced by the song ranking in the top 10 of Shazam’s U.S. Top 200 this week.
That interest also extended to DSPs, as “Super Bon Bon” notched over 118,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the first four days of this tracking week (Jan. 12-15), according to Luminate – a 342% gain from the 27,000 streams it posted over a similar period in the previous week. If that’s what a second-to-last episode synch can do, you can bet music supervisors will be paying attention to the performance of any synchs in the upcoming season finale, airing tomorrow (Jan. 19). – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Muni Long’s “Made for Me” Turns Viral ‘Blue Pajama’ Trend Into Big Streaming Gains
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Soul singer-songwriter Muni Long’s “Made for Me” already had radio on its side – the track has reached No. 2 on Adult R&B Airplay and No. 14 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay – and now it’s turning into a sizable streaming hit thanks, in part, to a hilarious TikTok trend.
TikTok creator @peezyp – better known as “girl with the blue pajamas” — jump-started a simple trend that has captivated the app’s users and sparked new interest in Long’s latest single. The trend is simple: Decked out in blue pajamas, users walk toward the camera (lots of head-bobbing and playing to the camera as if you’re in a ‘90s R&B music video are highly encouraged) while lip-syncing the chorus of the song. The trend’s specifics draw some inspiration from Muni Long’s performance of the track at the 2023 Soul Train Music Awards.
“Made for Me” has been logging over 500,000 official on-demand streams per week for the past month and a half, but the song has shown remarkable growth over the past two weeks. During the week of Dec. 29-Jan. 4, “Made for Me” earned 1.22 million streams, increasing by 25% the following week to 1.53 million streams. Long herself has got in on the fun; On Wednesday (Jan. 17), she posted a TikTok of her jumping on the trend with the caption, “Lemme go buy some blue pajamas rq.” The official “Made for Me” sound currently plays in over 44,500 TikTok posts, while its official music video – which stars fellow R&B fixture Luke James – has garnered over 200,000 views in less than 24 hours.
Should streams continue to rise alongside its airplay numbers, “Made for Me” could very well become Muni Long’s third career entry on the Hot 100. – KD
Season’s Gainings: MLK Day Bumps for ‘60s Protest Anthems
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We don’t typically see huge streaming spikes related to the January commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day – it’s not really the kind of holiday most folks feel needs a soundtrack, for obvious reasons. That said, there were a few period anthems that understandably saw bumps in streaming on Monday (Jan. 15) for their topical relevance – including James Brown’s “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” (up 117% in official on-demand U.S. streams from the previous Monday to nearly 7,000, according to Luminate), Dion’s “Abraham, Martin & John” (up 46%, also to nearly 7,000) and Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” (up 14% to over 89,000). And of course, there were also gains for U2’s hit MLK tribute, the classic rock staple “Pride (In the Name of Love),” which rose 12% to over 46,000. – AU
Bring Me the Horizon notches its record-breaking fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, as “Kool-Aid” bows atop the Jan. 20-dated survey. The song debuts with 2.4 million official U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads sold Jan. 5-11, according to Luminate. The track is the Oli Sykes-fronted rockers’ first release since the departure […]
Taylor Swift claims her ninth album to reach 2 million in U.S. sales, as 1989 (Taylor’s Version) surpassed the threshold in the week ending Jan. 11. According to data tracking firm Luminate, the album sold 17,000 copies that week, uppping its total sales figure since its release in October to 2.014 million. (Sales are traditional album purchases – inclusive of all physical configurations [CD, vinyl, cassette] and digital album downloads.)
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1989 (Taylor’s Version) is the only album released in 2023 to have sold 2 million copies in the U.S. — it’s also the only album to have surpassed 1 million copies in 2023 (It cleared the million-mark in its debut week, ending Nov. 2.) The last-released album to cross both marks was Swift’s own Midnights, which was released in October of 2022. Midnights sold more than a million copies in its first week, and then reached the 2 million-mark in February of 2023.
Here’s a recap of Swift’s nine albums that have sold at least 2 million copies each, ranked by largest total sales: Fearless (7.285 million), 1989 (6.472 million), her self-titled album (5.871 million), Speak Now (4.817 million), Red (4.582 million), Midnights (2.814 million), Reputation (2.478 million), Folklore (2.289 million) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2.014 million).
Swift has four more albums that have sold at least 1 million each, lifting her sum of million-selling albums to a lucky 13.
Swift’s continued strong sales should come as no surprise, as she was the year’s top-selling act in the U.S., by album sales, in each of the last five years (2019-23). And, she’s done so while an increasing number of music fans have adopted streaming as a primary means of music consumption. Swift, like many acts, has leaned in to creating additional versions of an album for purchase by superfans, which helps increase sales figures. Her albums sold spectacularly on vinyl as well, and was the configuration’s top-seller in 2023 when she accounted for one of every 15 vinyl albums sold.
On Billboard’s latest Top Album Sales chart (dated Jan. 20), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) spends a sixth non-consecutive week at No. 1, with its 17,000 copies sold (down 28%). Swift has a total of seven albums in the top 10, as 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is joined by six other former Swift leaders in the region. She ties her own record for the most concurrent titles in the top 10 by a single act.
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.
Swift’s other six titles in the Jan. 20-dated top 10 on Top Album Sales are: Midnights (rising 3-2 with 11,000; down 14%), Folklore (4-3 with 10,000; down 21%), Lover (6-5 with 9,000; down 25%), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (8-6 with 7,000; down 30%), Evermore (5-7 with nearly 7,000; down 47%) and Red (Taylor’s Version) (14-10 with nearly 6,000; down 18%).
As for the non-Swift titles in the top 10, they are: Stray Kids’ former No. 1 ROCK-STAR (falling 2-4 with a little over 9,000; down 39%), Olivia Rodrigo’s chart-topping Guts (7-8 with 6,000; down 41%) and ATEEZ’s The World EP.Fin: Will (holding at No. 9 with nearly 6,000; down 34%).
In the week ending Jan. 11, there were 1.195 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 15.6% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 936,000 (down 17.7%) and digital albums comprised 259,000 (down 6.8%).
There were 439,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Jan. 11 (down 13.6 week-over-week) and 492,000 vinyl albums sold (down 21.1%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 946,000 (down 25.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 1.117 million (down 44%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 2.611 million (down 34.1% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 2.073 million (down 36.9%) and digital album sales total 538,000 (down 20.4%).
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 Hot 100 dated Jan. 27), Ariana Grande looks to score her eighth No. 1, while new songs from rap stars 21 Savage and Lil Nas X also make their initial impacts.
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Ariana Grande, “Yes, And?” (Republic): Ariana Grande has been one of the most reliable hitmakers in pop music for over 10 years now, and though she’s only released one album so far this decade (2020’s Positions), she’s already scored a stunning five Hot 100 No. 1s since ‘20: two alongside The Weeknd (“Save Your Tears” and “Die for You”), one with Lady Gaga (“Rain on Me”), one with Justin Bieber (“Stuck With U”) and one totally solo (“Positions”). Next week, she hopes to add a sixth No. 1 to that 2020s tally, and her second one unaccompanied, with the arrival last Friday (Jan. 17) of new single “Yes, And?”
The house-influenced song, released as the lead single from her upcoming Eternal Sunshine album, was easily the most-anticipated drop of the new year thus far, and came with a new dramatically staged and intricately choreographed music video, as well as instant radio support. But the streams for it, while considerable – it still rests at No. 1 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart, though it’s fallen significantly lower on other daily DSP charts – are not so overwhelming that it is likely to blow past Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” which spends its third frame atop the Hot 100 this week.
To help get the new song over the top, Grande and her team have also released edited, extended, sped-up, slowed-down, a cappella and instrumental mixes of “Yes, And?” — all of which, as of writing, are currently populating the top 10 of iTunes’ real-time sales chart. The extra sales boost might be enough to make up the difference, but it will likely be something of a photo finish between it and “Lovin,” making for our first real chart suspense atop the Hot 100 of 2024.
Jack Harlow, “Lovin on Me” (Genaration Now/Atlantic): For its part, Harlow’s crossover banger has hardly been letting up as the new year has unfolded. “Lovin” remains atop the Streaming Songs chart this week, while dropping just one spot to No. 2 on Digital Song Sales, and jumping 5-2 on Radio Songs. As long as its radio growth continues to offset its inevitable slippage in streams and sales, “Lovin” should remain a No. 1 contender for the near future – and it’s worth noting that Harlow has yet to even release an official remix or deliver a late night or awards show performance of the song, meaning he has still has cards to play if he ever wants to give the song’s momentum another adrenaline shot.
21 Savage, “redrum” (Slaughter Gang/Epic): While the Billboard 200 albums chart has seen even less impact from new releases so far this year than the Hot 100, this week it should get a few big debuts, led by star rapper 21 Savage’s new set American Dream. The semi-surprise release, announced just a week ago after a “movie trailer” that may have just been a particularly cinematic (and star-studded) music video for proper album opener “All of Me,” is likely to contend for the No. 1 spot on that chart — with all 15 tracks from the album (Savage’s first unaccompanied solo LP since 2018’s I Am > I Was) littering the daily charts of streaming services all week.
One song has proven to be the early runaway hit from the set: “Redrum,” a tough-talking, The Shining-referencing early-album highlight. The song, which even ends with a clip of Jack Nicholson doing his famous “Here’s Johnny!” speech from the aforementioned Stanley Kubrick horror classic, also got its own music video, set in the U.K. — where Savage was born, and was at risk of being deported back to at the turn of the decade. The natural buzziness of the song and video (as well as its intoxicatingly threatening chorus) has led to it being American Dream’s best performer on streaming – topping the Apple Music charts for most of the week, and finishing just behind Grande and Harlow on Spotify – and could result in a top 10 Hot 100 debut, which would be the rapper’s first appearance in the chart’s top tier on an unaccompanied solo track.
IN THE MIX
Kali Uchis feat. Peso Pluma, “Igual Que Un Ángel” (Geffen): Uchis’ fourth full-length album (and her second predominantly in Spanish) Orquídeas has already netted some of the early year’s strongest reviews, and is also likely to earn her second straight top five placement on the Billboard 200, after last year’s No. 4-debuting Red Moon in Venus. The set also has an obvious breakout single in the Peso Pluma collab “Iqual Que Un Ángel” — with a roller-rink disco groove that gets the música Mexicana superstar on the dancefloor for arguably the first time – which has gotten off to a strong start on streaming, and may get Uchis back to the Hot 100’s top 40 for the first time since 20201’s “Telepatía.”
Lil Nas X, “J Christ” (Columbia): Much teased and much hyped by LNX himself, “J Christ” was looking like the most headline news-making debut of the week before Ariana Grande and 21 Savage announced their own new releases. Despite similar backlash to the song’s (and its accompanying video’s) religious themes to 2021’s Hot 100-topping “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” it seems unlikely that “J Christ” will make as big an initial splash, as the song does not currently rank in the top 100 on either the Spotify or Apple Music daily charts – though it has gotten off to a solid start in sales and radio, and its video is still near the top of the Trending chart on YouTube.
Flo Milli’s “Never Lose Me” snags the No. 1 spot on the Jan. 20-dated TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart in its seventh week on the survey, vaulting 7-1.
The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity Jan. 8-14. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.
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“Never Lose Me” reigns a month-and-a-half after its Nov. 30, 2023, premiere. Its rise is concurrent with continued gains on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100; it reaches a new peak of No. 42 on the Jan. 20-dated tally on the strength of 9.8 million official chart-eligible U.S. streams (up 11%) and 430,000 radio audience impressions (up 113%), according to Luminate.
As previously covered in articles about the TikTok Billboard Top 50, “Never Lose Me” has sported a variety of trends on TikTok since its release, including one involving creators displaying medals and trophies with captions describing what they got those accolades for, generally tongue-in-cheek (example: having the worst ex). Recently, the sound has also included a bevy of uploads highlighting the song’s “never had a b—h like me” lyric.
“Never Lose Me” takes over from Lesley Gore’s “Misty,” which falls to No. 2 after a weeklong reign. Then comes Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor,” which continues its bound toward the top of the chart, leaping 10-3. Its virality continues to stem from the film in which it’s featured, Saltburn, though usages of the track on TikTok continue to expand past Salburn-specific content.
Like “Never Lose Me,” “Murder on the Dancefloor” is blasting up the Hot 100, zooming 98-58 on the latest survey via 6.3 million streams, 295,000 radio impressions and 4,000 downloads.
Nicki Minaj’s “Everybody” (featuring Lil Uzi Vert) and Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine,” both recent stalwarts near the top of the TikTok Billboard Top 50, round out the top five.
One doesn’t need to travel outside the top 10 to find the week’s top debut. That distinction belongs to He Is We’s “I Wouldn’t Mind,” which bows at No. 8. It’s one of TikTok’s latest examples of revitalizing a long-since-released song; “I Wouldn’t Mind” originally premiered in 2010.
A sped-up version of the track, which was officially released on streaming services Jan. 11, has aided the song’s renaissance, with nearly all uploads centering on its “merrily we fall out of line” opening refrain and many following a specific dance trend.
The latest Billboard chart tracking week finds “I Wouldn’t Mind” up 98% to 2.2 million streams total.
A pair of songs that are new in the top 10 – but not chart debuts – follow “I Wouldn’t Mind,” as Cordelia’s “Little Life” and Xavi’s “La Diabla” complete the top 10. “Little Life” has sported a recent trend where creators do impressions of the song’s “I think I like this little life” vocal delivery, while “La Diabla” is the latest regional Mexican tune to find success on TikTok, with the viral sound occurring as the song leaps up the Hot 100, hitting a new peak of No. 22 on the Jan. 20 ranking.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here, also featuring debuts from Rich Gang, Big Thief, Project Pat and more. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.
Up-and-coming R&B singer 4Batz is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist thanks to his viral hit “Act II: Date @ 8.” The song, which the Dallas native self-released Dec. 15, debuts at No. 77 on the Hot 100 (dated Jan. 20) — the highest new entry — with 5.3 million official U.S. streams (up 40%) […]
Natasha Bedingfield is writing another chapter to her U.K. chart story, thanks to a sync in Will Gluck’s rom-com Anyone But You.
The British pop singer and songwriter’s “Unwritten” (via Phonogenic) could return to the U.K. top 20 for the first time in 19 years.
Based on a late chart blast published by the Official Charts Company, “Unwritten” is predicted to climb 24-20, for its first appearance in the top 20.
“Unwritten” peaked at No. 6 following its release back in 2004, and is one of Bedingfield’s five U.K. top 10 hits, a tally that includes a No. 1 with “These Words” (both appeared on her debut album from that year, Unwritten).
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In the Shakespeare-inspired Anyone But You, “Unwritten” plays a pivotal role in the narrative of Glen Powell’s character, and is played and sung by multiple characters throughout the film.
It’s not the only British pop single from the early noughts enjoying a resurgence, powered by a feature film.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s “Murder on the Dancefloor” (Polydor) lifted to No. 2 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart last week, following its memorable spot late in Emerald Fennell’s dark-as-coal movie Saltburn — equaling its peak set back in 2001.
The Saltburn bump is real, and it’s happening around the globe. In the United States, “Murder on the Dancefloor” belatedly entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 98, and now rises to No. 58 in its second week. And in Australia, “Murder on the Dancefloor” reenters the ARIA Chart at No. 25.
As previously reported, Noah Kahan‘s “Stick Season” (Republic Records) is on track for a third successive week at No. 1 on the U.K. chart, while Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?” (Republic Records) should be the week’s top debut, bowing at No. 2 on the midweek tally. “Murder on the Dancefloor” is forecast to complete the U.K. podium, at No. 3.
The next Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday, Jan. 19.
It may not officially be stick season anymore — the New England-area expression refers to the late fall, before the winter snow hits — but you certainly wouldn’t know it from looking at the Billboard charts.
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On the Billboard 200, alt-folk singer-songwriter Noah Kahan‘s Stick Season album climbs back up to No. 5, having previously hit No. 3 last June. Meanwhile, its title track climbs 18-14 on the Billboard Hot 100, resulting in a new peak for the set’s lead single, which was originally released back in August 2022.
How has Kahan continued to grow his breakout LP this long into its album cycle? And how much further should he keep trying to maximize its impact before he officially changes seasons? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
1. Stick Season returns to the top 5 of the Billboard 200 this week — 15 months after first debuting on the chart and six months after peaking at No. 3 with the release of its We’ll All Be Here Forever deluxe edition. What would you point to as the primary reason that the album is still doing so well this late in its run?
Eric Renner Brown: The steady drip of remixes has kept Stick Season in the cultural consciousness, while exposing Kahan to new fanbases. Kahan’s prominence in the discourse only continues to grow, by way of his high billings on festival lineups and his December turn as Saturday Night Live‘s musical guest, putting him on the radar of still more consumers. And fall just ended – prime time for our autumnal alt-folk king.
Hannah Dailey: I can’t remember the last time another artist approached collaborations with as much consistency and volume as Noah Kahan has, but every month since September he’s been giving new life to songs from the album by inviting other musicians to duet on them – Lizzy McAlpine, Kacey Musgraves, Gracie Abrams, Hozier, and next up, Sam Fender’s remix of “Homesick,” set for Friday (Jan. 19). This draws new listeners from other fanbases into the album while keeping his own fans excited about the material.
Kyle Denis: I’d have to say it’s Noah’s commitment to working the album. A lot of his contemporaries tend to abandon albums and eras after 1-2 singles, and some of them pump out multiple LPs within a calendar year. While he’s kept a steady stream of new releases, they’ve almost all been additions to the Stick Season universe. His strategy of updating the album’s songs by way of duets with different artists is doubly effective: His core fans have another incentive to revisit the album, and listeners who may only be familiar with the featured artist have a reason to check out Stick Season.
Lyndsey Havens: I can’t quite recall the last time an artist has done so well at staying spotlight-adjacent. It’s a fine line to walk between staying top-of-mind and over-saturation to the point of turning fans away, and Kahan has done it perfectly. Since the release of the album’s deluxe edition, he has continued to churn out clever collaborations. He’s performed on Saturday Night Live and his name keeps popping up on summer festival bills. All of that would be enough on its own, I think. But then when you also consider the time of year – winter, in many parts of the country – Stick Season was made for this moment. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a combination of holiday streams and the usual slow start to a new year in terms of major new releases that have helped push this album back up the chart.
Andrew Unterberger: Kahan has done the most valuable thing you can do as a singer-songwriter enjoying a breakout moment in 2024 — built a whole world around his project. Between the reissues, the remixes, the live performances, the social media posting and teasing and the coherent, specific recurring lyrical themes, Kahan has made Stick Season into something more than just an album. How many other alt-folk singer-songwriters have you ever talked about in terms of “album eras”? (Well, outside of You Know Who in 2020.)
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2. The set’s title track also climbs inside the top 15 of the Hot 100 this week, reaching a new peak of No. 14 a full year and a half after its July 2022 release. Why do you think the song continues to grow, even after so many other subsequent singles from Stick Season have been released and promoted in the meantime?
Eric Renner Brown: “Stick Season” is Stick Season‘s title track because it’s an encapsulation of the album and Kahan’s Whole Thing: The verses are intimate (and timely, given the COVID reference), the choruses are propulsive and anthemic, and, naturally, it’s about autumn. He knocked the song’s performance on Saturday Night Live out of the park, too. It’s fascinating to me that Kahan’s highest-charting Hot 100 success as lead artist is the one single he didn’t release a remix of with a famous guest.
Hannah Dailey: When a song is both catchy and well-written, there’s no limit to how far it can go. Noah is simply really talented at writing songs that stick in your brain without you getting sick of them, and that skill really shines on “Stick Season.” It also helps that the song is fairly cynical and self-deprecating, two traits that have become hugely trendy in pop lyrics as of late (as pointed out by our very own Kyle Denis).
Kyle Denis: Honestly, it’s probably the hook. Save “Dial Drunk,” there isn’t a hook as immediately arresting as the title track on Stick Season. Moreover, the song benefits from how different its sound is in comparison to the dominant sounds of the mainstream: Afropop, house music influences, Jersey club, etc. Of course, a years-long TikTok-focused marketing campaign also helped matters; Kahan first teased “Stick Season” back in 2020, finally released the track in 2022 and has continued to relentlessly promote the song even in the midst of subsequent releases. He’s been persistent in pushing the song in a way that has fostered a remarkably intimate relationship between his audience, himself and the song’s lyrics.
Lyndsey Havens: I suppose it really is the season of the sticks right now. There are certain albums that have a cozy feel to them, and Stick Season definitely delivers – as does its title track. Yet, its genius is that it sounds just as much at home blasting from an amphitheater stage in the warmer months, too. And right now, we’re in that middle ground of wanting to nest while also looking ahead to warmer festival days.
Andrew Unterberger: “Stick Season” may have gone lightly viral back in 2022, but it never really got a full mainstream moment — not like it’s having now, with Kahan now firmly in the spotlight — and continued to plug away at streaming. So now it probably feels like a brand-new hit to a lot of people, and it’s perfectly situated to capitalize on the ground that “Dial Drunk” and its accompanying Post Malone remix broke in establishing Kahan as a top 40 proposition.
3. While many of the tracks on Stick Season have received new remixes co-starring big-name guests, its title track has not yet been so revised. If Kahan wanted to boost “Stick” to the Hot 100’s top 10, who’s an artist you’d advise him to reach out to as a new co-star?
Eric Renner Brown: Kahan couldn’t have pulled this off earlier in the Stick Season cycle, but now that more people know who he is and he’s staked out some turf of his own: Marcus Mumford. You know you want to, Noah!
Hannah Dailey: Olivia Rodrigo!!! It feels pretty much written in the stars at this point, given how she’s already covered the song and they’ve both publicly said they want to work with each other. Besides her, I’d love to hear Noah’s voice collide with Jeremy Zucker or Bon Iver, or maybe get back in the studio with Chelsea Cutler for a “Crazier Things” sequel. I also think he could make something epic with one or all of the members of Boygenius, of whom he’s said he’s a big fan.
Kyle Denis: I think the obvious choice is Olivia Rodrigo. Her BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge cover of the song garnered millions of likes when it hit TikTok last October; I’d imagine an official duet would pull in some monster streams.
Lyndsey Havens: Oh, it would have to be Olivia. She already knows the song, as evidenced by her cover for BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, and the two artists have made their fandom for the other clear. I’d say it’s only a matter of time.
Andrew Unterberger: Rodrigo is no doubt the home-run choice — but if the busy (and traditionally remix-averse) Rodrigo is unavailable, how about going a little more old-school with Adult Alternative fixture Ray LaMontagne, arguably New Hampshire’s greatest musical export of the pre-Kahan 21st century? His voice would sound pretty mighty growling that chorus.
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4. With the Stick Season era now being 18 months old and still gaining momentum, would you advise Kahan to keep going with its promotion and revising as long as the album continues to build its audience? Or would it be in his best interest to quit while he’s ahead in the near future and move onto what’s next?
Eric Renner Brown: The Stick Season era may be 18 months old, but many people have been aware of Kahan for far less time than that. And many people still don’t know who he is at all! Stick Season is a juggernaut and has so many good and successful singles – I think he should continue to ride this wave for as long as he can.
Hannah Dailey: My instinct would be to move onto the next album as soon as possible, while he still has as many eyes on him as he does now. I can’t even imagine how big the hype is going to be for his next project. On the other hand, I think it’s really beautiful how committed he is to seeing Stick Season through with all of his touring, remixes, and social media activity. It shows how much he loves and believes in the album, and how genuinely he appreciates the reception it’s gotten.
Kyle Denis: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I would advise Kahan to continue doing what he’s doing. Nonetheless, if another album track isn’t showing signs of single potential by the time “Stick Season” hits its commercial peak, it might be time to start teasing music from a new project – even if it doesn’t actually materialize for another few years.
Lyndsey Havens: I say keep going. I really do commend him (and his team) for how well they have balanced this predicament – if you can even call it that – and with festival season ahead, he should continue to lean in. But hey, if he were to toss some new music into the set I wouldn’t be mad.
Andrew Unterberger: This is always the question, isn’t it? It’s tempting to tell him to just keep extending Stick Season for as long as the weather allows, but there is something to be said long-term for pulling back before he absolutely has to, and before he gets forever pigeonholed as The Stick Season Guy. I wouldn’t mind him using 2024 as something of a quasi-gap year — closing out his Stick Season touring and writing intermittently, while maybe keeping his name out there by returning the karmic favor on a couple peer remixes and maybe dropping a one-off single or two. Then in 2025, return in full force with the proper Stick follow-up.
5. With Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan experiencing extended breakout mainstream success in back-to-back years, who’s another rootsy singer-songwriter you might expect to have a similar breakout in 2024?
Eric Renner Brown: Tyler Childers has already amassed a huge live following; he’s headlining arenas and amphitheaters this summer, including two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden. But he hasn’t had Kahan-level crossover chart success yet – his sole Hot 100 entry, “In Your Love,” peaked at No. 43 in August, even if it did also rack up three nominations at the upcoming Grammys. Childers is a bit more traditionally country than Bryan, who draws on rock sounds, and Kahan, who channels Mumford and Lumineers vibes – but he’s prolific and could hit new heights soon with the right single.
Hannah Dailey: It’s a band, but I think Mt. Joy could be poised to follow on Noah’s trail. Briston Maroney, too.
Kyle Denis: Yola!
Lyndsey Havens: I’m rooting for Brenn! this year. I think he is walking a similar path as Zach and Bryan, but with a touch more pop sensibility that could help sustain folk music’s resurgence while also widening the fanbase to an even younger demographic.
Andrew Unterberger: Not the boldest prediction perhaps — you can currently find his “Pretty Little Poison” just 16 spots below “Stick Season” on the Hot 100 — but Warren Zeiders seems on the precipice of something pretty major.
YOASOBI’s “Idol” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Jan. 17, extending its all-time record for weeks atop this chart to 22.
The Oshi no Ko opener is back at No. 1 after 19 weeks — the last time the long-running hit took the top spot was on the chart dated Sept. 6 — and while overall points for the track are down by 13% from the week before, it comes in at No. 1 for streaming, No. 2 for karaoke, No. 4 for downloads and video views, and No. 33 for radio airplay.
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Ado’s “Show,” the song tied for second-most weeks at No. 1 (13 weeks) with Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle,” holds at No. 2 this week. Points for “Show” are down by 18%, but the USJ event theme continues to perform well, hitting No. 2 for streaming and video, No. 3 for downloads, and No. 5 for karaoke.
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Last week’s No. 1 song, Number_i’s “GOAT,” continues to rule downloads and video, coming in at No. 3 on the Japan Hot 100 this week.
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tuki.’s “Bansanka” rises 6-4, breaking the 15-year-old singer-songwriter’s personal record for highest position on the Japan Hot 100. Spotify Japan included the rising artist on its RADAR: Early Noise 2024 list (released Jan. 11), featuring J-artists expected to make great strides this year. This could be one of the reasons why “Bansanka” soared to No. 3 for streaming with 8,893,914 weekly streams, up by about 22%, and No. 8 for downloads with 4,674 units, up 7.7%. The track is also up by about 13% for video (No. 5, 1,655,118 views), and moves 11-7 for karaoke, also the highest position so far for the young artist.
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Yorushika’s “Sunny” (Japanese title: “Haru”) jumps 31-8 this week to break into the top 10. The track is being featured as the opener for the anime series Frieren Season 2 and dropped on the day of the season premiere Jan. 5. The track hits No. 2 for downloads with 9,164 units, No. 25 for streaming with 3,660,640 streams, and No. 3 for radio.
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The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Jan. 8 to 14, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
