Chart Beat
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Doja Cat is purring along as “Paint The Town Red” (via RCA/Sony) climbs all the way to No. 1 in Australia.
The U.S. artist nabs her first leader in the land Down Under, as “Paint The Town Red” completes the leap 6-1 in its third week, eclipsing the No. 2 peak for her previous best, “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, which hit No. 2 in 2020.
Luke Combs is currently on the road in Australia, and his fans reward him with bumps on the latest ARIA Charts, published Friday, Aug. 8. The U.S. country star’s cover of “Fast Car” (Columbia/Sony) motors 8-2, for a new peak position. “Fast Car” previously parked at No. 3 in June, topping Tracy Chapman’s original, which maxed-out at No. 4 in 1988.
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Several Combs tracks are on the up, including “The Kind Of Love We Make” (up 21-16) in its 62nd week on the chart, for a new peak; “When It Rains It Pours” (31-24); and “Beautiful Crazy” (39-34).
Completing the podium on the ARIA Singles Chart is Dave and Central Cee’s former leader “Sprinter” (Virgin Music Australia/Universal), down 2-3.
Over on the ARIA Albums Chart, Genesis Owusu, the Canberra, Australia-raised talent, secures a top 10 start and a new career high for his sophomore album, Struggler (AWAL).
Struggler bows at No. 4, besting the No. 27 peak for 2021’s Smiling With No Teeth, an album that snagged almost every award possible in these parts, including the Australian Music Prize, ARIA Awards, AIR Awards and more. Smiling With No Teeth peaked at No. 27 on the official, national tally.
Hozier returns with Unreal Unearth (Columbia/Sony), the Irish singer and songwriter’s third studio album. It’s new at No. 13, and follows the No. 3 peak for his debut, self-titled LP from 2014 and the No. 8 best for its followup, Wasteland, Baby from 2019.
Also new to the chart are albums by one-time ARIA male artist of the year Dan Sultan (Dan Sultan at No. 15 via Liberation/Universal), celebrated Aussie singer and songwriter Gretta Ray (Positive Spin at No. 17 via EMI) and K-pop boy band NCT Dream (ISTJ – The 3rd Album new at No. 20 via Universal).
At the top of the tally, Barbie The Album (Atlantic/Warner) lifts 2-1, ahead of Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal) and the Weeknd’s The Highlights (Universal), respectively.
08/24/2023
As the Disney Channel alumni’s parallel careers meet again, Billboard looks back on both stars’ biggest chart achievements.
08/24/2023
“DNA,” No. 67, Oct. 14, 2017“Mic Drop,” featuring Desiigner, No. 28, Dec. 16, 2017“Fake Love,” No. 10, June 2, 2018“Idol,” featuring Nicki Minaj, No. 11, Sept. 8, 2018“Waste It on Me” (Steve Aoki featuring BTS), No. 89, Nov. 10, 2018“Make It Right,” featuring Lauv, No. 76, Nov. 2, 2019“Boy With Luv,” featuring Halsey, No. 8, April 27, 2019“Black Swan,” No. 57, Feb. 1, 2020“On,” No. 4, March 7, 2020“Filter,” No. 87, March 7, 2020“My Time,” No. 84, March 7, 2020“Dynamite,” No. 1, Sept. 5, 2020“Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat),” with Jawsh 685 & Jason Derulo, No. 1, Oct. 17, 2020“Life Goes On,” No. 1, Dec. 5, 2020“Fly to My Room,” No. 69, Dec. 5, 2020“Blue & Grey,” No. 13, Dec. 5, 2020“Telepathy,” No. 70, Dec. 5, 2020“Dis-ease,” No. 72, Dec. 5, 2020“Stay,” No. 22, Dec. 5, 2020“Film Out,” No. 81, April 17, 2021“Butter,” No. 1, June 5, 2021“Permission To Dance,” No. 1, July 25, 2021“My Universe,” with Coldplay, No. 1, Oct. 9, 2021“Yet To Come,” No. 13, June 25, 2022“Run BTS,” No. 73, June 25, 2022“Bad Decisions,” with Benny Blanco & Snoop Dogg, No. 10, Aug. 20, 2022“Take Two,” No. 48, June 24, 2023
Myke Towers claims a third week atop the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart as “Lala” crowns the Aug. 26-dated ranking. The song matches his three week-champ “La Jeepeta,” with Nio García, Anuel AA, Brray and Juanka, while “Bandido,” with Juhn, remains his longest-charting title to date, with seven weeks at the summit in 2021. Maria […]
Nine weeks into his Billboard chart career, October London scores his first No. 1 on any chart as his single “Back to Your Place” crowns the Adult R&B Airplay chart. The track rises from No. 3 to head the list dated Aug. 26 thanks to a 10% boost in weekly plays that made it the […]
Jung Kook holds atop the Aug. 26-dated Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts with “Seven,” featuring Latto. At No. 1 for the fifth consecutive week on both lists, it’s the longest running chart-topper on the Global 200 among K-pop acts, including his fellow BTS members and even BTS as a group (“Dynamite” led for four weeks in 2020-21).
But another BTS member makes noise with a pair of top 10 arrivals. V debuts on Global Excl. U.S. at No. 6 with “Love Me Again” and at No. 8 with “Rainy Days,” while starting at Nos. 12 and 16, respectively, on the Global 200.
“Love Me Again” leads the pair with 40.8 million official streams and 35,000 downloads sold worldwide in the week ending Aug. 17, according to Luminate. “Rainy Days” follows with 38.9 million clicks and 32,000 sold. Both tracks take 92% of those streaming figures from outside the U.S.
The bigger global totals for “Love Me Again” are reflected in the song’s international chart ranks. Not only does the song outpace “Rainy Days” in the U.S. (3.4 million streams vs. 2.9 million), but it’s also higher on all five of Billboard’s Hits of the World charts on which they both appear. They’re side-by-side at Nos. 16 and 17, respectively, on Indonesia Songs, but most dramatically separated (if not wildly so) on V’s native South Korea Songs, at Nos. 7 and 21.
Both songs boast official music videos, signaling a big win, especially, for “Rainy Days.” Across video platforms worldwide, the clip received 13.5 million streams (35% of the song’s overall streaming total), compared to 10.5 million (26%) for “Love Me Again.”
Any which way these songs’ success is split, both tracks mark new highs for V. Previously, he hit No. 43 on Global Excl. U.S. and No. 51 on the Global 200 with “Christmas Tree.” With “Love Me Again” and “Rainy Days,” he becomes the fifth BTS member to crack the top 10, following, in chronological order, Jung Kook, Jin, Jimin and Suga (under the alias Agust D).
In total, the men of BTS have accumulated 11 top 10s on Global Excl. U.S. as soloists – equaling the group’s tally.
Tampa, Fla.-based Christian hip-hop artist KB (real name Kevin Burgess) adds his sixth top five entry on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, as His Glory Alone ll debuts on the list (dated Aug. 26) at No. 4.
In the tracking week ending Aug. 17, the set, released Aug. 11, earned 3,000 equivalent album units, with 1,000 in album sales, according to Luminate.
The 16-track LP is the sequel to KB’s His Glory Alone, which opened at its No. 4 peak in October 2020.
Before that, KB rolled up four consecutive career-opening No. 1s. His debut, Weight & Glory, arrived at the summit in August 2012; EP 100 topped the list in March 2014; Tomorrow We Live launched with a career-best weekly count of 18,000 units in May 2015; and Today We Rebel began at the apex in November 2017.
KB’s new album features collaborations with Brandon Heath, Lecrae and Britt Nicole, among others.
‘Great’ News
Demetrius West and the Jesus Promoters’ “Great God,” featuring Lisa Carter-Cork, rises to No. 1 on the Gospel Airplay chart. The song, which West co-wrote, increased by 12% in plays during the tracking week.
“Great God” awards West and his backing group their second No. 1 among four appearances and three top 10s. “I’m Next,” their first chart-topper, led for a week in October 2020. Their first entry, “Open the Floodgates” featuring Karen Hoskins, reached No. 2 in May 2019.
Carter-Cork leads in her first Gospel Airplay chart appearance. She’s based in Indianapolis, as a pastor and life coach.
For the first time in 23 years, a peculiar moment occurs on the Billboard Hot 100, where an entire year has gone by without a rap track reaching No. 1. The weekly recap, which ranks the most popular songs in the U.S., hits the benchmark on the list dated Aug. 26, 2023, as Oliver Anthony Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” seals the deal.
The last rap track – defined as songs that have hit or are eligible to appear on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart – to top the listing was Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl,” which debuted atop the Hot 100 on Aug. 27, 2022, and held the rank for that one week. In the 12 months since, three rap titles have come closest to the summit, each peaking at No. 2: Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” (Nov. 19, 2022) Drake’s “Search & Rescue” (April 22, 2023) and Lil Durk’s “All My Life,” featuring J. Cole (May 27, 2023).
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Before the 2022-23 break, the last time the Hot 100 went without a rap champ for at least a year was pre- and post-Y2K: after Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West,” featuring Dru Hill and Kool Moe Dee, reigned in July 1999. Following the soundtrack single’s one-week rule, rap was absent from the Hot 100 summit until Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me,” featuring Ricardo “RikRok” Ducent began a two-week command in February 2001, a span of 22 No. 1s and just over 18 months. The return quickly brought another champ, as OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” ousted “It Wasn’t Me” for the former’s Hot 100 coronation.
Rap’s current absence from the Hot 100’s top slot largely traces to the dominance of several hits in the past 12 months that nearly shut out almost all challengers from all genres. Since “Super Freaky Girl,” 14 songs have reached the Hot 100’s summit: Six were multi-week No. 1s driven initially by large streaming premieres, followed by sustained streams and rapid airplay gains: Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (which began its run before “Super Freaky Girl” but returned to the summit), Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” Mariah Carey’s annual holiday dominator “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” and Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night.”
The remaining eight, on the contrary, ruled for one week each, due to a high-profile debut (Jimin’s “Like Crazy,” Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire”), an already-popular hit navigating a crowded landscape with a well-timed sales discount or remix release (Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” and SZA’s “Kill Bill”) or a song becoming a rallying cause for larger cultural symbolism (Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” and Oliver Anthony Music’s “Richmond”).
Before we pound the alarm, though, the R&B/hip-hop sector remains the largest consumed genre of music in the U.S., according to Luminate, whose data on streaming, sales and radio informs the Hot 100. In the firm’s 2023 mid-year report, R&B/hip-hop accounted for 25.9% of all consumption in the U.S. during the first half of the year. And, of course, rap music being good for at least one, if not multiple, No. 1s each year across the last two decades speaks to its reliability as a hitmaking force. After all, we were a similar spot earlier this summer with the Billboard 200 — lamenting the lack of a No. 1 rap album on the chart — and then in quick succession, Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape and Travis Scott’s Utopia reset the clock there.
At the same time, hip-hop’s presence among Hot 100 top 10s has fallen in the first half of 2023 to its lowest level since 2016, according to Hit Songs Deconstructed’s midyear analysis. The genre “all but disappeared” from the top 10 in Q1 2023, HSD noted earlier in the year, after it reigned in both 2022 and 2020.
So, when does the gap end? Well, the next great hope is on the horizon: After posting two of the three runner-ups in the past year, it’s only fitting that Drake take the next crack at breaking the barrier. The superstar’s new album, For All the Dogs, is set for release tomorrow (Aug. 25) — and, assuming the usual avalanche of streams that accompany any Drake release (plus his Hot 100 pedigree, with his 11 career No. 1s the most among all rappers), he should be in strong contention to recapture the crown.
Doja Cat could also come to the rescue, as her “Paint the Town Red” single is rallying in streams and, while currently at No. 15 on the current Hot 100, should march upward on the coming week’s chart. But whether the next No. 1 arrives from them or someone else, given the genre’s continued overarching influence, it’s hard to envision a rap song not soon appearing at the Hot 100’s apex, with the latest break between leaders likely more a fun fact than a fundamental shift.
Just how meteoric has the rise of Oliver Anthony Music been?
From Aug. 11-17, Anthony’s catalog received 32.8 million official on-demand streams in the U.S., according to Luminate.
That’s in stark contrast to Aug. 4-10, when Anthony’s music was streamed 1.2 million times, a 2,606% jump.
But by then, Anthony’s star had begun to rise. “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Anthony’s eventual No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Aug. 26, was uploaded to the radiowv YouTube channel Aug. 8, but it was not yet available on other major streaming platforms until Aug. 11. Anthony did, however, have other songs ready to stream, among them “Aint Gotta Dollar,” “Rich Mans Gold,” “Ive Got to Get Sober” and more. Curious listeners gravitated to those songs, pulling Anthony’s streaming count north of 1 million.
Before Aug. 4-10? That’s the number that best illustrates Anthony’s leap from Virginia farmer to a No. 1 song. The July 28-Aug. 3 tracking period saw 32,000 streams for Anthony, making the two-week gain from July 28-Aug. 3 to Aug. 11-17 a 102,741% boost.
The majority of those streams in the latest week – 17.5 million – came from “Rich Men North of Richmond.” But that majority is slim at 53%; 15.4 million streams went to Anthony’s other songs, most of which were available before the official release of “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
Leading that pack was “Aint Gotta Dollar,” which accumulated 3.5 million streams, up 1,222% from 267,000 the previous frame (it was Anthony’s most streamed of the Aug. 4-10 week that saw him earn 1.2 million on-demand clicks in all). Then came “Ive Got to Get Sober” at 2.3 million streams, up from 180,000, a 1,66% boost.
The streams of “Rich Men North of Richmond” were enough to chart the song at No. 4 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs ranking, as well as No. 2 on Country Streaming Songs. And more gains – both for the runaway hit and the rest of Anthony’s catalog – are possible on the Billboard charts dated Sept. 2.
Beyoncé crowned May’s Top Tours chart before sliding back to No. 2 in June. Back with a vengeance, she’s at No. 1 for July with record-breaking revenue. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, The Renaissance World Tour earned $127.6 million over 11 shows between July 8-30, claiming the largest one-month sum for any artist since the Boxscore archives began in the mid-1980s.
It’s not Beyoncé’s first time setting Boxscore records with the Renaissance World Tour. When her five-show run at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium grossed $42.2 million, it was noted that it was the highest grossing engagement ever by a woman, a Black artist, or any American artist.
This time around, her enormous earnings require no such qualifications, breaking ground without regard to race, gender, genre or geography. Beyoncé’s $127.6 million passes Bad Bunny’s $123.6 million from last September, claiming the biggest one-month gross since the charts launched in February 2019 – and beyond. Before the monthly charts premiered, no artist had reported earnings of $100 million in a single calendar month.
Beyoncé and Bad Bunny, as well as other stadium headliners such as Harry Styles and The Weeknd, continue to show how contemporary acts have invaded a space once thought to be reserved for classic rock bands. Notably, Taylor Swift has yet to report sales figures for The Eras Tour. The last time she was on the road, she joined Beyoncé with Jay-Z, and Ed Sheeran at the top of the pack of 2018’s year-end rankings.
Beyoncé and Bad Bunny’s $120 million-plus months played out in strikingly similar fashion. Both played five one-night engagements, plus doubleheaders in three cities for a total of 11 shows. Both narrowly sold more than half a million tickets – 503,000 for Beyoncé and 501,000 for Bad Bunny. And both relied on a couple major markets to push them over the edge (and then some). Bad Bunny benefited from shows in Inglewood (the greater Los Angeles area) and Las Vegas, while Beyoncé played high-yield concerts in East Rutherford, N.J. (the greater New York area), and Chicago.
Beyoncé’s two nights at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium (July 29-30) brought in $33.1 million and sold 106,000 tickets, enough to reign over Top Boxscores. That makes her the first woman to simultaneously top both lists in exactly four years, dating back to when P!nk led in July 2019.
Queen Bey follows with two dates at Chicago’s Soldier Field, at No. 3 on Top Boxscores with a gross of $30.1 million. Next, she’s at No. 7 with two shows at Toronto’s Roger’s Centre ($18.3 million). There are four more Beyoncé appearances on the chart (Nos. 20, 24, 27, and 30), more than anyone else.
With two months of shows left to report, the Renaissance World Tour is flying at breakneck speed. After conquering Europe with a $150-million run, Beyoncé has made almost as much ($141.4 million) in North America with far fewer shows. Her 12 North American dates (including an Aug. 1 concert in Foxborough, Mass.) have averaged $11.8 million, which is more than double the business that Beyoncé was doing in the U.S. and Canada on 2016’s The Formation World Tour and 2018’s On the Run II Tour with Jay-Z.
Up 60% from the European leg and 112% from her previous peak, Beyoncé’s July Renaissance shows establish a new standard for herself as an artist, and with its monthly record, for everyone on tour.
Through Aug. 1, The Renaissance World Tour has grossed $295.8 million, already Beyoncé’s highest grossing tour yet, passing The Formation World Tour’s $256.1 million. With two months of shows yet to be reported, Billboard expects that total to soar past the half-billion mark.
Beyoncé’s two shows in Chicago pair with an Ed Sheeran date (July 29) to make Soldier Field the top-grossing venue of the month, at No. 1 on Top Stadiums. That chart mirrors the top of Top Boxscores, with Beyoncé and Coldplay fueling the top four spots.
And while Sheeran’s contribution pushes MetLife Stadium to No. 2, the New York market dominates the arena rankings, with Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center at Nos. 1-2 on Top Venues, 15,001+ capacity.
Among venues with a capacity of 5,001-10,000, Red Rocks Amphitheatre earned $16.5 million. Located in Morrison, Colo. (15 miles west of Denver), The Avett Brothers spotlight the iconic amphitheater’s month with three shows, July 7-9, that grossed $2.3 million and sold 28,050 tickets. Tedeschi Trucks Band, Caamp, Zeds Dead and String Cheese Incident each played multiple shows with million-dollar earnings.
The Weeknd follows Beyoncé on Top Tours with a $85.7 million gross, while mounting the highest attendance total of July with 891,000 tickets sold across 15 stadium shows in Europe. Since the monthly charts began in 2019, that total only trails Harry Styles’ 967,000 tickets in June.
Both acts — and Ed Sheeran in third with 749,000 tickets (June 2022) — nabbed their sales highs with extensive runs of European stadium shows, averaging 60,000 or more seats per night. With slightly smaller venues and higher ticket prices, Beyoncé and Bad Bunny’s massive grosses stem from North American legs.
In total, July’s top 30 tours grossed a combined $861.5 million and sold 7.3 million tickets, up .4% and 2%, respectively, from last month’s record-setting figures. While July sported fewer tours with reports above the $10 million and $20 million thresholds, Beyoncé’s monster earnings helped push the total take into uncharted territory.