Chart Beat
Page: 278
The Foos fought all the way to the finishing line, as But Here We Are (via Columbia) wins a tight U.K. chart race.
Foo Fighters’ 11th and latest studio album becomes their sixth leader in the U.K., racking up 44,500 chart units during the latest cycle.
But Here We Are follows One By One (2002), Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007), Wasting Light (2011), Concrete And Gold (2017) and their most recent effort, 2021’s Medicine At Midnight, by marching to the top of the Official U.K. Albums Chart.
Dave Grohl and Co. are currently on the road supporting the new LP, recorded in the wake of the sudden death last year of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Brits will likely have to wait until 2024 for their tune to catch the Foos in action.
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But Here We Are manages to overturn a deficit at the halfway point, to deny Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds another crown with Council Skies (Sour Mash).
The legendary British rocker starts at No. 2 with Council Birds, ending a record-owning streak of 10 studio albums dating back nearly three decades. Gallagher’s unbroken run included all seven albums with Oasis and the previous three with High Flying Birds.
Council Skies, which enjoyed a late push from a digital exclusives campaign powered by Serenade, and finishes the chart week as the best-seller on wax, is Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds fifth top 5 title on the Official Chart.
Further down the list, published Friday, June 9, Sophie Ellis-Bextor bags her fifth U.K. top 10, as HANA (Cooking Vinyl) bows at No. 8, while another veteran British pop artist, Louise, just misses out on a top tier berth with Greatest Hits (BMG), new at No. 11.
Finally, Bob Dylan lands a 67th career top 40 entry with Shadow Kingdom (Sony Music CG). The new album, a collection of studio recordings of the songs that appeared in the master songwriter’s 2021 streaming special, starts at No. 14 on the U.K. survey.
Stray Kids lead a busy week in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated June 17), as the pop group debuts at No. 1 with 5-STAR. It’s the Korean act’s third chart entry, and third to debut at No. 1, following MAXIDENT and ODDINARY, both in 2022.
The new album launches with 249,500 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending June 8, according to Luminate. That marks the fourth-largest week, by units earned, for any album in 2023. Further, of its starting unit sum, album sales comprise 235,000 — the largest sales week for an album this year, and the biggest for any title since Taylor Swift’s Midnights sold 1.14 million in its first week (Nov. 5, 2022-dated chart).
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 albums chart, five other titles arrive in the region: Jelly Roll’s Whitsitt Chapel starts at No. 3; ENHYPEN’s Dark Blood bows at No. 4 after its CD release on June 2 (it was issued via streamers and digital download on May 22); Metro Boomin’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack flies in at No. 7; Foo Fighters’ But Here We Are starts at No. 8; and Moneybagg Yo’s Hard to Love enters at No. 10.
With six debuts in the top 10, the region hosts the most new arrivals in over two and a half years, since the Oct. 10, 2020-dated chart, when six albums also began in the top 10.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new June 17, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (June 13). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of 5-STAR’s 249,500 equivalent album units earned, album sales comprise 235,000, SEA units comprise 14,000 (equaling 19.55 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 500.
As Stray Kids have seen their first three entries on the Billboard 200 all debut at No. 1, the last act also to have its first three chart entries all debut atop the list was Harry Styles, with his first three solo albums: Harry Styles (2017), Fine Line (2019) and Harry’s House (2022).
Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of 5-STAR was issued in collectible CD packages (18 total, including exclusives for Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and a signed edition in the group’s webstore), each containing a standard set of bonus items and randomized elements (photo cards, mini posters, sticker sets, photo books). There were also four alternative digital versions of the album, sold only in the act’s webstore, each containing the base song tracklist, but with alternative covers and bonus voice memos from individual members of the eight-member group, each selling for $6.99.
Effectively all of 5-STAR’s first-week album sales were CDs (98%; 231,000), with about 2% from digital album sales (about 4,000). The set was not available in any other retail format (such as vinyl or cassette).
5-STAR is mostly in the Korean language, but includes some English lyrics. It is the 19th mostly non-English language album to hit No. 1, and the third of 2023, following Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito (one week, March 11 chart) and TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation (one week, Feb. 11).
Stray Kids have yet to chart a song on the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (through the most recently published list, dated June 10). The act has notched four entries on the Billboard Global 200, and seven titles on the Billboard Global 200 Excl. U.S. chart, which rank the most popular songs globally, and globally excluding the U.S., respectively.
Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 117,000 equivalent album units earned (down 7%).
Jelly Roll rocks in at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with Whitsitt Chapel, starting with 90,000 equivalent album units earned — his biggest week yet and first top 40-charting release. (He previously logged three albums, none going higher than No. 97.) Of the new set’s first-week units, album sales comprise 63,000, SEA units comprise 25,000 (equaling 33.09 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 2,000.
Whitsitt’s album sales were aided by three vinyl LPs (including a color variant exclusive for Walmart), a standard CD, a signed CD sold through Jelly Roll’s webstore, a deeply-discounted digital album (only $4.20 for a limited time during the tracking week in his webstore), nine deluxe CD boxed sets that included branded merch and a copy of the CD and a “hymnal” Zine/CD package.
ENHYPEN notches its second top 10 on the Billboard 200, and the Korean pop group’s highest charting effort yet, as Dark Blood bows at No. 4 with 88,000 equivalent album units earned (also the act’s best week yet by units). Of its first-week units, album sales comprise 85,000, SEA units comprise 3,000 (equaling 3.79 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of Dark Blood was issued in collectible CD packages (17 total, including a number of retailer-exclusives), each containing a standard set of bonus items and randomized elements. Dark Blood’s debut on the Billboard 200 comes only after its CD was released, as its digital album and streaming album both dropped on May 22.
Swift’s chart-topping Midnights falls 1-5 on the Billboard 200 with 83,000 equivalent album units earned (down 70%) and Lil Durk’s Almost Healed dips 3-6 in its second week (67,000; down 46%).
Metro Boomin’s star-studded soundtrack to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings in, debuting at No. 7 with 66,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, streaming equivalent album units comprise 62,000 (equaling 83.57 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 3,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000. It’s the sixth top 10-charting set for Metro Boomin. The album features guests such as Future, Lil Wayne and Nas.
Foo Fighters’ But Here We Are — the band’s first album since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in early 2022 — starts at No. 8 with 62,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the 10th top 10 album for the group. The album was led by the single “Rescued,” which topped both the Alternative Airplay chart (the act’s 11th leader there) and the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart (its 12th No. 1).
SZA’s chart-topping SOS drops 4-9 with 51,000 equivalent album units (down 8%).
Moneybagg Yo’s Hard to Love is the sixth and final debut in the top 10, as it bows at No. 10 with 51,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 48,500 (equaling 66.56 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 2,500 and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. It’s the sixth top 10-charting set for the rapper.
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Luke Combs sends his 17th consecutive career-opening single to the top 10 of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, as his crossover hit “Fast Car” keeps on driving, rising from No. 11 to No. 6 on the June 17-dated list.
In the week ending June 8, the song surged by 27% to 22.6 million audience impressions, according to Luminate, good for Greatest Gainer honors for the third time in four weeks.
“Fast Car” – originally a No. 6 Billboard Hot 100 hit for Tracy Chapman, who wrote the song, in 1988 – concurrently bullets at Nos. 15, 18 and 25 on Adult Contemporary, Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay, respectively.
The cover follows Combs’ “Going, Going, Gone,” which led Country Airplay for two weeks in March, becoming 15th No. 1. His debut entry, “Hurricane” dominated for two weeks starting in May 2017.
Combs has a second solo single climbing Country Airplay, as “Love You Anyway” lifts 15-13 (14.2 million, up 7%). Plus, he’s featured on Riley Green’s “Different ‘Round Here” (Big Machine Label Group), which rises 45-42 (2 million, up 13%).
Combs’ “Fast Car” is the first Country Airplay top 10 remake of a Hot 100 top 10 since Reba McEntire’s “Because of You” with Kelly Clarkson reached No. 2 in September 2007. It updated Clarkson’s original, which hit No. 7 on the Hot 100 in November 2005.
Before that, two such covers hit Country Airplay in 1999: Alabama’s “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You” featuring *NSYNC hit No. 3, after *NSYNC’s original reached No. 8 on the Hot 100 that year, and Mark Chesnutt’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” led for two weeks after Aerosmith’s original topped the Hot 100 for four frames in 1998.
Top-Shelf ‘Whiskey’
Justin Moore and Priscilla Block’s “You, Me, and Whiskey” also hits the Country Airplay top 10, ascending 12-10 (17.1 million, up 13%). It’s Moore’s 14th top 10 and first since “With a Woman You Love” became his 10th No. 1 last September.
Block achieves her first top 10, after her debut single — “Just About Over You” — reached No. 14 in December 2021 and “My Bar” hit No. 26 last September.
Additional reporting by Gary Trust.
Submit questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S.
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Let’s open the latest mailbag.
That’s a Long ‘Time’
Dear Gary,
As of last week’s charts (dated June 3), Morgan Wallen spent an eighth week topping the Billboard 200 albums chart and Billboard Hot 100 songs chart simultaneously with his latest LP, One Thing at a Time, and its biggest song, “Last Night,” respectively.
Do those eight weeks mark a record for an album and any of its songs ruling the two charts simultaneously? Or has anyone – maybe Michael Jackson, with Thriller, “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” in 1983 – had longer such runs?
Thanks,
Raditya GunardisuryaSerpong, Indonesia
Hi Raditya,
Both Wallen and Taylor Swift have recently logged notable double dominations atop Billboard’s premier album and song charts.
Wallen has amassed the longest such rule since Drake’s Views and its smash “One Dance” simultaneously topped the Billboard 200 and Hot 100, respectively, for nine weeks in 2016.
Overall, Wallen claims the sixth-most impressive such run. Here’s a recap, since the Billboard 200 became a weekly chart measuring both stereo and mono albums in August 1963, after the Hot 100 had begun in August 1958.
As noted above, Jackson’s Thriller and its two Hot 100 No. 1s combine to place third on the ranking below.
Most Weeks for Albums & Their Songs Topping the Billboard 200 & Hot 100 Simultaneously:
13: Soundtrack, Saturday Night Fever; “Stayin’ Alive” (4; Bee Gees), “Night Fever” (8; Bee Gees), “If I Can’t Have You” (1; Yvonne Elliman), 1978
12: Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard soundtrack; “I Will Always Love You,” 1992-93
10: Michael Jackson, Thriller; “Billie Jean” (7), “Beat It” (3), 1983
9: Drake, Views; “One Dance,” feat. WizKid & Kyla, 20169: Usher, Confessions; “Yeah!” (5; feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris), “Burn” (4), 2004
8: Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time; “Last Night,” 2023
7: Taylor Swift, 1989; “Shake It Off” (2), “Blank Space” (5), 2014-157: Adele, 21; “Rolling in the Deep” (4), “Someone Like You” (1), “Set Fire to the Rain” (2), 2011-12
6: Adele, 25: “Hello,” 2015-166: 50 Cent, The Massacre; “Candy Shop” (feat. Olivia), 20056: Mariah Carey, Daydream: “Fantasy” (3), “One Sweet Day” (3; with Boyz II Men), 1995-966: The Police, Synchronicity; “Every Breath You Take,” 1983
5: Taylor Swift, Midnights, “Anti-Hero,” 20225: Soundtrack, Encanto; “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, 20225: Drake, Scorpion; “Nice for What” (1), “In My Feelings” (4), 2018 5: Janet Jackson, janet.; “That’s the Way Love Goes,” 19935: George Michael, Faith; “Father Figure” (2), “One More Try” (3), 19885: John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Double Fantasy: “(Just Like) Starting Over” (John Lennon), 1980-815: Donna Summer, Bad Girls: “Hot Stuff” (1), “Bad Girls” (4), 19795: Carole King, Tapestry; “It’s Too Late”/“I Feel the Earth Move,” 19715: Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water; “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” 19705: The Beatles, Meet The Beatles!; “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” 1964
Clearly, some of the most prominent names in pop music history have earned their way onto the above list, starting with The Beatles.
Meanwhile, of all the acts with an album to have topped the Billboard 200 while any of its songs concurrently led the Hot 100 for at least five weeks, Wallen is the first country artist to achieve the feat – although a shoutout to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” written by Dolly Parton.
Notably, two soundtracks top the recap of the 22 albums above: Saturday Night Fever and the Houston-centric The Bodyguard. (The only other soundtrack also included: Encanto.)
Plus, the only acts with multiple albums above? Adele, Drake and Swift, each with two.
Swift’s Midnights, meanwhile, nearly moved up the tally above this week. The set led the Billboard 200 for five weeks as its lead single “Anti-Hero” topped the Hot 100 late last year. With new versions of the LP released May 26, along with a remix of its current single, “Karma,” adding Ice Spice, the set returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated June 10, while the song surges 27-2 on the Hot 100.
Speaking (now) of Swift …
How about a review of Swift’s show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., May 21, the third of three nights of her New England stop of the Eras Tour?
This recap is courtesy of the most avid Swiftie I know, and to whom I happen to be related. Having luckily made it through to buy tickets as soon as they went on-sale (leaving her brother to figure out a less expensive, though less impressive, birthday present), Molly Trust has written up her second review of a Swift show at the venue, following her Billboard.com debut … fittingly, 13 years ago.
Back then, as 16-year-old Justin Bieber was one of the night’s openers (and Tom Brady, who then called Gillette home, was three Super Bowl wins down with three more to go as a Patriot), Swift drew the following praise: “After hearing her sing live for just a few minutes, it’s obvious: The 20-year-old is one of the most talented female musicians today. Her songs are beautifully written, her voice unique and pure, and she is a phenomenal performer. In concert, she exudes seemingly inhuman energy.”
In 2023, the above could be said about the Eras Tour, although Swift’s songs have 13 more years of meaning behind them.
‘A Journey Through Every One of Our Personal Eras’
“There’s nothing like this,” Taylor Swift sings in her opening song of the Eras Tour, “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.” No, there certainly is not. There is nothing like attending the Eras Tour.
I attended my first Taylor Swift concert at Gillette Stadium in 2010 – a stop on her Fearless tour, at the tender age of 20. Yes, I, too, was born in 1989. I could talk for hours about the night I realized my favorite singer was also the best performer I’d ever seen, but for now I will simply say it was without a doubt the best night of my life.
Thirteen years later, I returned to Gillette to spend the night with my girl Tay again. Her 10 studio albums have guided me through every heartbreak. Somehow she knew I hadn’t quite cried enough. [Editor’s note: big hug.]
My best friend and I showed up at Gillette Stadium on the sunny afternoon of May 21 in our carefully-crafted outfits (mine a combination of Lover and 1989 and hers strictly Lover) with the tickets I will never forget: section 111, row 5, seats 17 and 18. Some people can rattle of their social security numbers without thinking; I can rattle off my Eras Tour seat numbers.
When her tour kicked off in March, I vowed to do the unimaginable: avoid obtaining any details of the concert by avoiding TikTok and Instagram until the day of my show. I knew no matter what, the show would be worth the large percentage of my monthly mortgage I spent on tickets, but the memory of that first night at Gillette with Taylor so many years ago kept creeping into my mind, and I wanted to hold onto some of the magic of seeing her for the first time. And to do that, I realized I needed the entire show to be a surprise to me.
Despite a few photos spoiling her costumes, I entered the stadium knowing nothing of what I was about to see, prepared to sing and dance and have no voice for at least 48 hours.
Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on May 19, 2023.
Scott Eisen/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
I will say, my discipline between the start of her tour and my show on May 21 (yes, I narrowly escaped the “rainiest rain show that ever rain showed,”) paid off. Her opening music, a dreamy mashup of all of her album title tracks folded into “Miss American and the Heartbreak Prince,” is meant to be heard for the first time live.
As the night unfolded, I realized very quickly how this show would be different than the last time I saw her. Like every fan who had first heard Taylor’s music as a child and attended the Eras Tour as an adult, I was sneakily being guided through a therapy session. I danced to “You Belong With Me” with the freedom and innocence of my college-aged self, screamed the lyrics to “I Knew You Were Trouble.” as though I were confronting every bad boy I’d met, and even shed a tear while swaying to “Cardigan.”
“Don’t Blame Me” even provided me with a religious experience in which I was able to release some of my deepest inner demons. I highly suggest throwing your head back and screaming, “don’t blame me, love made me crazy,” into the sky along with 70,000 other people and the woman who wrote the lyrics to relieve yourself of any guilt you may have lingering in your subconscious.
Did I succeed in trying to recreate my first flawless experience seeing Taylor Swift sing live? Truthfully, the Eras Tour, much like Taylor herself, isn’t a recreation of anything, but rather its own entity. It’s so much more than a moment in time, as most concerts are. Because a journey through Taylor’s musical eras is also a journey through every one of our personal eras, whatever those may be.
Taylor Swift rewrites the mark for the most top 10 hits in the history of Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart, as “Karma” climbs from No. 11 to No. 8 on the list dated June 17. The song, released on Republic Records, becomes Swift’s 28th Adult Pop Airplay top 10, surpassing Maroon 5 for the record […]
Matchbox Twenty returns with its first studio album in a decade, as Where the Light Goes debuts at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated June 10). The set marks the group’s sixth top 10-charting effort on the tally and its second-highest charting title ever, second only to the No. 1 North (the band’s last studio set) in 2013.
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Light bows with 12,000 copies sold in the United States in the week ending June 1, according to Luminate.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Taylor Swift’s Midnights rushes 10-1, logging its 14th nonconsecutive week atop the list after new deluxe editions and a color vinyl variant of the album were released. Midnights sold 196,000 copies in the week ending June 1 (up 1,529%) – the largest sales week of 2023. With a 14th week at No. 1, Midnights surpasses the Frozen soundtrack (13 weeks at No. 1 in 2014) for the most weeks atop the chart since Adele’s 21 spent 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12.
Plus, the soundtrack to the live-action The Little Mermaid film swims 41-6 on Top Album Sales (9,000; up 172%).
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.
SEVENTEEN’s former No. 1 SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album: FML rises 5-3 (12,000; down 26%), the Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 climbs 9-4 (10,000; down 15%), SZA’s SOS falls 3-5 (10,000; down 65%), LE SSERAFIM’s Unforgiven jumps 12-7 (9,000; down 3%), TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation bumps 15-8 (8,000; up 1%), Ed Sheeran’s chart-topping – (Subtract) ascends 13-9 (7,000; down 25%) and (G)I-DLE’s I Feel falls 7-10 (nearly 7,000; down 59%).
In the week ending June 1, there were 1.802 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 0.3% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.358 million (down 5.4%) and digital albums comprised 443,000 (up 23.5%).
There were 602,000 CD albums sold in the week ending June 1 (down 3.6% week-over-week) and 747,000 vinyl albums sold (down 6.5%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 14.520 million (up 4.1% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 20.335 million (up 24.7%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 42.929 million (up 9.1% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 35.084 million (up 15.1%) and digital album sales total 7.846 million (down 11.5%).
Just days after the Foo Fighters announced another stadium lap of Australia, the rock legends land at No. 1 with their new album, But Here We Are (via RCA/Sony).
The Foos’ 11th studio LP becomes their ninth leader on the ARIA Chart, following One By One (2002), In Your Honor (2005), Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007), Greatest Hits (2009), Wasting Light (2011), Sonic Highways (2014), Concrete And Gold (2017), and their most recent LP, 2021’s Medicine At Midnight.
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Earlier in the week, the Foos confirmed a major jaunt in November and December of this year, produced by Frontier Touring.
Coming in at No. 2 on the national albums survey is Stray Kids, new at No. 2 with 5-Star (ING). It’s the K-pop act’s third charted release in Australia following Noeasy, which peaked at No. 14 in 2021; and the EP Maxident, with a No. 4 peak in 2022. Stray Kids has an Aussie connection; band mates Bang Chan and Felix both hail from these parts.
Completing an all-new top three is Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Republic/Universal). Metro Boomin’s Spidey soundtrack, which features guest appearances from Swae Lee, Future, Nas, 21 Savage, Lil Wayne, ASAP Rocky, James Blake and 2 Chainz, is new at No. 3.
Further down the list, homegrown punk-rock trio DZ Deathrays bags a fifth top 50 appearance with R.I.F.F. (Orchard). It’s new at No. 8, for the award-winning act’s third stint in the top 10, following Bloody Lovely (No. 4 in 2018) and Positive Rising: Part 2 (No. 4 in 2021).
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Dave and Central Cee are the top sprinters as the British hip-hop artists team up for a fresh No. 1.
“Sprinter” (via Virgin Music Australia/Universal) races to the summit, becoming the first U.K. hip-hop single to debut at the top, and ending the eight-week reign of Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” (Republic/Universal), down 1-2.
The first U.K. rap single to scale the Australian chart mountain was Russ Millions and Tion Wayne’s “Body,” completing a six-week climb in May 2021.
“Sprinter” is the first Australian chart leader for both acts. Dave’s previous best in Australia was No. 8 for 2022’s “Starlight,” and Central Cee’s top effort was 2022’s “Doja,” which reached No. 3. Based on midweek sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, “Sprinter” is also on track for the U.K. No. 1.
Meanwhile, Dua Lipa’s shimmies into the Australian top 20 with “Dance The Night” (Atlantic/Warner), lifted from the soundtrack to the forthcoming Barbie movie. “Dance” rises 22-14 for the Brit’s 12th top 20 hit in Australia, ARIA reports. It’s some way from contesting her biggest career hit here, her collaboration with Elton John on “Cold Heart,” remixed by homegrown electronic trio PNAU, which logged 10 weeks at No. 1 in 2021 and 2022.
Finally, the Queen of Pop makes a long overdue appearance in the top tier. “Popular” (Universal) by the Weekend, Playboi Carti and Madonna debuts at No. 24 on the ARIA Singles Chart, published June 9. The last time Madonna appeared in the top 30 was in 2012, when “Give Me All Your Luvin’” with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A reached No. 25.
Official HIGE DANdism and King & Prince top Billboard Japan’s 2023 mid-year charts, tallying the weeks from Nov. 28, 2022, to May 28, 2023.
On the Japan Hot 100 songs chart, hitmakers Official HIGE DANdism rule with “Subtitle.” The four-man band’s record-breaking single, featured as the theme of the popular TV series silent, was streamed 287,706,788 times during the tallying period after dropping digitally on Oct. 12 last year. In May it sailed past 400 million streams, breaking the previous record for the time it took for a song to reach that milestone. It also became the record-holder for most weeks at No. 1 after the topping the survey 13 times.
“We’re so very grateful that so many of you have listened to our music,” the band says in a statement. “We’ll keep working hard on our songwriting and live shows, and enjoy being in this band so we can continue delivering music we think is great. Thank you so much!”
Two popular anime series openers follow on the mid-year Japan Hot 100: the Chainsaw Man opener “KICK BACK” by Kenshi Yonezu at No. 2 and the Oshi no Ko opening theme “Idol” by YOASOBI at No. 3. The latter recently made headlines in Japan for becoming the first Japanese-language song to top Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. list.
The No. 1 album on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums mid-year chart is King & Prince’s greatest-hits collection Mr.5. The boy band’s best-of set sold over a million copies (1,376,802) during the surveying period and dominated the physical sales metric as well.
King & Prince
Courtesy Billboard Japan
Ren Nagase and Kaito Takahashi of King & Prince shared a heartfelt statement expressing gratitude to their fans for their undying support: “We’re thrilled to hear King & Prince’s first best-of album Mr.5 finished first in the album category on [Billboard Japan’s] mid-year charts of 2023. Thank you so much to everyone who picked up a copy and to everyone who was involved in its making!”
“This album was created to reflect upon our journey so far as a group, made together with our fans who walked with us along the way,” they added. “It made us so happy to receive so many votes when we were selecting the tracks, seeing how much people loved our songs. We’re sure we were able to achieve this result because so many of you supported us. We’ll continue to stay true to ourselves and keep delivering our best performances and songs. Please look forward to it!”
The album at No. 2 is Snow Man‘s i DO ME and SEVENTEEN‘s FML follows at No. 3.
Official HIGE DANdism is the top act on the mid-year Japan Artist 100 chart, compiled from the results of the Japan Hot 100 and Hot Albums lists. The band has eight songs in the top 100, including former chart-toppers “Mixed Nuts” and “Pretender.”
The artist at No. 2 is young singer-songwriter Vaundy, whose performance of his long-running hit “Kaijuu no Hanauta” on last year’s New Year’s Eve live music extravaganza Kohaku Uta Gassen stole the show. Following at No. 3 is veteran three-man band back number, with five songs in the top 100 including the hits “I Love You” and “Suiheisen.”
While the synergistic effects of major tie-ins with popular TV series and anime have led to the accumulation of more points than ever in the digital realms of the chart’s methodology — streaming, video views and downloads — the breakthroughs of hits independent of tie-ins such as Vaundy’s “Kaiju no Hanauta,” Tani Yuuki‘s “W/X/Y” and Natori’s “Overdose” should also be noted.
Billboard Japan Hot 100 Mid-Year Chart 2023
1. “Subtitle” / Official HIGE DANdism2. “KICK BACK” / Kenshi Yonezu3. “Idol” / YOASOBI4. “Kaijuu no Hanauta” / Vaundy5. “Dai Zero Kan” / 10-FEET6. “New Genesis (Uta from ONE PIECE FILM RED)” / Ado7. “W/X/Y” / Tani Yuuki8. “Overdose” / Natori9. “Mixed Nuts” / Official HIGE DANdism10. “I Love You” / back number
Billboard Japan Hot Albums Mid-Year Chart 2023
1. Mr.5 / King & Prince2. i DO ME / Snow Man3. FML / SEVENTEEN4. THE SOUND / Stray Kids5. Koe / SixTONES6. Kessoku Band / Kessoku Band7. Awakening / INI8. FACE / JIMIN9. Humor / back number10. POWER / Johnny’s WEST
Billboard Japan Artist 100 Mid-Year Chart 2023
1. Official HIGE DANdism2. Vaundy3. back number4. YOASOBI5. Ado6. Mrs. GREEN APPLE7. Yuuri8. King & Prince9. Snow Man10. Kenshi Yonezu
The soundtrack to the new live action The Little Mermaid film jumps 4-1 on Billboard’s Soundtracks chart (dated June 10), while also surging 103-21 on the overall Billboard 200 chart. On the latter tally, the new set swims past the peak of the original soundtrack to the 1989 animated The Little Mermaid, which topped out […]
YOASOBI’s “Idol” adds another week to its No. 1 streak on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, now at eight straight weeks on the chart released June 7. The latest hit by the Japanese duo of Ayase and ikura continues to dominate the same four metrics it ruled last week — streaming, downloads, video views, and […]