Chart Beat
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She make it look easy, ‘cause she got it. Earlier on Thursday (June 29), Billboard reported that the first nine shows of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour made her the top-grossing touring act of May. But there’s more! She wrapped the European leg of the tour Wednesday night in Warsaw, posting career-high blockbuster numbers. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Beyoncé grossed $154.4 million and sold 1 million tickets across 21 shows.
Not only is that a huge number that resists qualification, it’s the biggest gross and attendance of any of Beyoncé’s previous European legs. On 2016’s The Formation World Tour and 2018’s On the Run II Tour (co-headlined with Jay-Z), she earned $87 million, marking a 77% bump on her recent stint.
The so-far $154 million-plus total from 21 shows over two months is more than any artist made in the six-month window that defined Billboard’s midyear report. Of course, Harry Styles, Elton John and other acts atop those charts continue to add to their hauls, but it bodes well that the Renaissance World Tour isn’t even half done, putting it in immediate contention for year-end honors.
The tour’s attendance of 1.05 million improves upon 871,000 in 2018 and 867,000 in 2016. It’s the first time that any leg of any solo Beyoncé tour broke the seven-digit milestone.
Of the 14 markets Beyoncé hit, 12 of them yielded local records. That includes the biggest gross in the history of London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy, plus the attendance record at Tottenham. Elsewhere, she set highs for single-night engagements and broke ground among women and Black artists throughout Europe.
The obvious standout of the European shows was a five-night run in London, earning $42.2 million from 240,000 tickets. It instantly blasts in to the all-time top 10 Boxscores, ranked seventh behind two engagements apiece from Harry Styles, Take That and Coldplay. That makes it the single biggest report by a woman, a Black artist, or by any act from the United States.
Further, Beyoncé broke the $10 million barrier with double-headers in Solna, Sweden; Amsterdam; and Warsaw. She scored one more eight-figure show with one night at Paris’ Stade de France. The $10.1 million is slightly off from the $10.9 million from On the Run II, but consider that the 2018 gross came from two shows, matching 92% of that gross with just one show in 2023.
These 21 shows push Beyoncé’s reported career gross to $921.7 million and attendance to 9.9 million. But she’s not done for the near future.
The Renaissance World Tour continues with 36 shows in the U.S. and Canada, kicking off on July 8-9 in Toronto. If Beyoncé continues at this pace, the North American leg would gross $264 million and sell 1.8 million tickets. That leg alone would pass the global total of The Formation World Tour to become the biggest of Beyoncé’s career, though it’d make for a worldwide total of about $415 million and 2.8 million tickets.
On that 2016 run, Beyoncé paced $5.3 million in North America, compared to $5.1 million in Europe, indicating that those estimates could be slightly low. Her Renaissance grosses leapt by 44% in Europe from her previous solo tour, but post-pandemic results across the industry have exacerbated an existing ticket-price gap between the continents. Despite typically smaller capacities, North American stadium grosses have ballooned in a more extreme way than in Europe, which could push Beyoncé’s totals even higher.
Final results will depend on final pricing via the dynamics of a post-pandemic ticketing ecosystem. But it is more than safe to say that Beyoncé will soar beyond $1 billion and 10 million tickets in career figures due to her biggest tour ever.
Sure, proper country songs had been absent from the top of the Hot 100 for quite sometime prior to Wallen’s reign, but that doesn’t mean the genre’s sound and aesthetics weren’t present in mainstream music and pop culture, especially when it comes to the work of Black and queer artists.
Obviously, “Old Town Road” is the lightning rod moment — its fusion of country and trap helped keep country sonic motifs present on top 40 radio, and the Billy Ray Cyrus remix gave it an extra dose of country legitimacy — but there were other moments and artists doing similar work. Megan Thee Stallion, a Houston, Texas native, has consistently employed Southern aesthetics in her artistry and music. The Grammy Award-winning rapper frequently sports cowboy hats, she teamed up with Fashion Nova for a 100-piece cowboy-themed collection, and she recently presented Shania Twain the Equal Pay Award at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.
Beyoncé, another Houston native, made a big splash at the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards back in 2016 with the live performance of her The Chicks-assisted “Daddy Lessons” remix. Lizzo, a Detroit native who moved to Houston with her family when she was a child, similarly flaunts her Texas pride with tons of fringe and cowboy hats. She even gave her own spin on country-pop with “If You Love Me,” a deep cut from her Grammy-nominated Special album.
Just this year, the Broadway musical Shucked! — which features original music and lyrics from award-winning country music songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally — earned star Alex Newell a history-making Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Album cuts from R&B stars Chlöe (“Cheatback”) and 6LACK (“Testify”), two artists with roots in Atlanta, Georgia, feature obvious nods to the guitar-based production and narrative-centric songwriting of country music.
The past decade has also seen pop stars like Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and P!nk dip their toes into country music, as well as a handful of country songs (Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Backroad,” Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey,” etc.) that proved to be sizable and enduring cultural moments. Nonetheless, the increased visibility of country music and Southern aesthetics across a diverse collection of Black and queer artists has helped mainstream ears and minds become a bit more open to the sounds and styles of country music, hence the genre’s recent rebound in popularity amongst a general public that might have been less tuned-in to Nashville happenings in decades prior.
Kanii’s Exiit arrives at No. 10 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart dated July 1. The eight-track set earned 4,000 equivalent album units in the June 16-22 tracking week, according to Luminate.
It’s the first appearance on any Billboard album chart for the TikTok-fueled Kanii, whose “Heart Racing” with Riovaz and Nimstarr, reached No. 13 in early June on the multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
Previously, Kanii’s “I Know” hit No. 19 on Hot Rap Songs, No. 29 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April. Kanii hit a No. 15 high on the Emerging Artists chart the same month.
“This is truly insane,” the Washington, D.C.-based teen told Billboard upon learning of his recent Hot 100 bow. “To see my creation thrive and prosper this early in my career, I am forever grateful for this accomplishment.”
‘Smash’-ing Start
Pet Shop Boys also debut on Top Dance/Electronic Albums, as Smash: The Singles 1985-2020 opens at No. 14 (3,000 units). It’s the pair’s 16th appearance on the survey, tying for the sixth most dating to the chart’s 2001 inception; among duos or groups, the tandem trails only The Happy Boys (18).
The set – also new at No. 4 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart – expands Pet Shop Boys’ Billboard chart history to beyond 37 years, as the act first reached rankings in March 1986 with its eventual Hot 100 No. 1 classic, “West End Girls,” the first song on the new collection of remastered songs.
New Top 10s
Elsewhere, TELYkast and Georgia Ku’s “You Got Me” rises 11-8 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay. The fourth top 10 for each act is drawing core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, iHeartRadio’s Evolution network and SiriusXM’s BPM, among other outlets.
Plus, Sigala.’s “Feels This Good” featuring Mae Muller, Caity Baser and Stefflon Don pushes 12-9 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay. It’s the seventh top 10 for Sigala. and the first for each featured act. (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 60 top 40-formatted reporters.)
The all-star team comprising LIT Killah, Tiago Pzk, Maria Becerra, Duki, Emilia, Rusherking, Big One and FMK rule the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart as “Los Del Espacio” holds steady for a third week on the June 24-dated ranking.
It’s the fifth song to rule the ranking for at least three weeks or more in 2023. Here’s the leaderboard:
Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artists7, “En La Intimidad” Emilia, Big One & Callejero Fino5, “Un Finde: Big One CROSSOVER #2,” Ke Personajes, Big One & FMK4, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” Bizarrap & Shakira3, “M.A (Mejores Amigos),” BM, Callejero Fino, La Joaqui & Lola Índigo3, “Los Del Espacio,” LIT Killah, Tiago Pzk, Maria Becerra, Duki, Emilia, Rusherking & Big One
Big One and FMK concurrently occupy the No. 2 slot as “Un Finde,” with Ke Personajes, remains at the runner-up slot for a sixth week after its five-week domination starting the April 22-dating ranking.
BM’s “M. A. (Mejores Amigos)” with Callejero Fino, La Joaqui and Lola Indigo holds at No. 3 for a third week, while Maria Becerra and Ráfaga’s “Adiós” rebounds to its No. 4 high. Plus, YNG Lvcas and Peso Pluma’s “La Bebe” advances 6-5.
The Hot Shot Debut of the week goes to Bizarrap and Rauw Alejandro’s “Rauw Alejandro: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 56” at No 54. Meanwhile, Ke Personajes’ “Adios Amor / Oye Mujer” takes home the Greatest Gainer trophy with an 83-70 surge.
Elsewhere, Yandel, Feid and Daddy Yankee each add a career chart entry as “Yankee 150” bows at No. 75.
Three other songs debut this week, starting with Emilia’s “Guerrero.Mp3” at No. 88, following with Rusherking’s “Intensidad” at No. 97, and Miranda! and Andres Calamaro’s pair-up, “Tu Mentiroso Alguien” opens at No. 100.
For the last 16 weeks, one label has topped the Billboard 200 – Republic Records. That marks the longest streak for any label at No. 1 since 1998, when the Titanic soundtrack kept the Sony Classical label afloat at No. 1, also for 16 weeks.
Republic has led the chart since the March 18-dated tally, when Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (released via Big Loud/Mercury/Republic) debuted at No. 1. That album spent 12 weeks in a row at No. 1, and then stepped aside on the June 10 and 17 charts when Taylor Swift’s Midnights (on Republic) returned to the top and Stray Kids’ 5-STAR (JYP/Imperial/Republic) debuted at No. 1, respectively. One Thing at a Time then returned to No. 1 for the last two weeks (June 24 and July 1 charts).
Sony Classical was the last label to rule the Billboard 200 for 16 straight weeks – and it did so with just one album: the Titanic soundtrack. From the Jan. 24 through May 9, 1998-dated charts, the Titanic album sailed at No. 1 (the entirety of its run in the top spot).
Republic could capture a 17th straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (on the July 8 chart, the top 10 of which is slated to be announced Sunday, July 2). The last label to hold the No. 1 spot for 17 weeks was Mercury, in 1992, when Billy Ray Cyrus’ Some Gave All logged 17 consecutive frames at No. 1 (June 13-Oct. 3, 1992, the entirety of its weeks at No. 1).
Mercury Records was founded in 1945 and continued to operate as a label until the late 1990s. It was reactivated in 2007 but went dormant again in the mid-2010s. Most recently, in 2022, it was relaunched as an imprint of Republic Records. As for Republic, the company debuted as a label in 1995, co-founded by brothers Avery and Monte Lipman. Today, they are Republic’s chief operating officer and chief executive officer, respectively.
If Republic can manage a 17th and then an 18th week in a row at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (on the July 15 chart), it would mark the longest reign for a label since Capitol claimed the top slot for 18 straight frames with M.C. Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em in 1990 (on the July 7-Nov. 3, 1990-dated lists). Please Hammer spent a total of 21 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.
One Thing at a Time recently made news as the album with the most total weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (14) since Adele’s 21 (released via XL/Columbia Records) collected 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12. That 24 weeks in the lead for 21 were pieced together through 10 different stays atop the list, none of which were long enough to give XL or Columbia 16 weeks in a row atop the list.
YOASOBI‘s “Idol” extends its stay atop the Billboard Japan Hot 100 to 11 weeks on the chart dated June 28, tallying the week from June 19 to 25. The CD version of the Oshi no Ko opener went on sale during this chart week, selling 53,589 copies to come in at No. 2 for the […]
Gerardo Coronel picks-up his first No. 1 on a Billboard chart as “Que Onda Perdida,” with Grupo Firme, rises from No. 2 to lead the Regional Mexican Airplay chart (dated July 1). “Que Onda Perdida” lands at the summit with 9 million in audience impressions — a 14% gain from the week prior — earned […]
For the first time, country songs occupy the top two spots on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart.
Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” crowns the July 1-dated survey, leading for a 14th week. But it’s Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” that rises 4-2 to complete the distinction.
“Last Night” earned 29.8 million official U.S. streams in the June 16-22 tracking week, up 1%, while “Fast Car” racked up 21.2 million streams, a 4% boost, according to Luminate.
It’s the first time that the top two of Streaming Songs, which began in 2013, is made up of country songs. Previously, the genre claimed two of the top three multiple times over the holidays, most recently via this year’s Jan. 7 survey when Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” crowned the tally and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” ranked at No. 3.
Removing holiday songs, this week marks the first in which country songs have infused two of the top three on Streaming Songs, let alone the top two.
“Fast Car” becomes Combs’ second track to reach a career-best No. 2 on Streaming Songs, following “Forever After All,” which debuted at the spot in November 2020. In between the two songs, Combs’ hit a No. 5 high with “Love You Anyway” this February.
In all, the country genre claims four of the top 10 on the July 1-dated list. Below the top two are Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” (No. 7; 15.6 million streams) and Wallen’s “Thinkin’ Bout Me” (No. 8; 14.4 million). Country last had a higher share of the top 10 on the March 25 survey thanks to five Wallen titles, led by “Last Night.”
“Last Night” and “Fast Car” concurrently rank at Nos. 1 and 2 on Country Streaming Songs for a 10th straight week, dating back to the April 29 tally.
As previously reported, the songs also rank at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, marking the first time that country songs have held the top two simultaneously in over 42 years.
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: The Barbieverse continues to take over the music world, while Kylie Minogue’s fan-favorite latest continues to grow and a British singer-songwriter’s tribute to the artist known as Mama Africa goes global a second time.
Come on Barbies, Let’s Go Party: Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Boost Aqua’s Pop Classic
With the highly anticipated Barbie movie featuring a star-studded soundtrack — boasting new songs from Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Charli XCX and PinkPantheress, among many others — it made all too much sense for the original Barbie anthem, Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” to have some presence within the upcoming film. And indeed, the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group’s 1997 hit was revived on Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s contribution to the soundtrack, “Barbie World,” which samples “Barbie Girl” and credits Aqua as a featured artist on the track.
Since the release of “Barbie World” last Friday (June 23), streams for Aqua’s original have ticked up, gaining plays from those who want to fully relive its Eurodance glory or bask in it for the first time. While Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World” bowed with 3.33 million U.S. on-demand streams (and nearly 14,000 in sales) last Friday, according to Luminate, Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” earned 222,000 streams that day, a nearly 22% increase from the previous day’s streaming total.
And while “Barbie Girl” is unlikely to ever approach its No. 7 Hot 100 peak during its original run in the late ‘90s, Aqua will no doubt enjoy a healthy streaming resurgence in the coming weeks, ahead of the July 21 release of the Barbie film. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
“Padam Padam” Beats Its Way to Virality
Australian pop legend Kylie Minogue has already called her 2023 single “Padam Padam” the biggest musical moment of her career since 2001’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” – no small designation for an artist who’s scored eight top 10 hits in her home country (and 14 on the UK Official Singles Chart) since that classic release. But the Darenote/BMG-released “Padam Padam” is indeed her most viral song of the streaming era, climbing to No. 19 in Australia and No. 8 on the Official Singles Chart – her highest peaks on both charts in over a decade.
Mingoue’s chart success in the U.S. has always been a bit more limited than it has overseas: “Head” peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100 in 2002, but that’s been her lone top 10 appearance on the chart since her initial late-’80s breakout. And so the Billboard rise of “Padam” has been much slower and gradual than it has in those other markets – though you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the song’s internet presence, where it has become an obvious favorite (both as a song and as a meme for its unusual title, meant to approximate a heartbeat) among stateside pop fans on social media.
Regardless, the song has begun to rise in the U.S. as well. It’s sold over 1,000 digital copies each of the last five chart weeks (up to the week ending June 23), according to Luminate, and currently sits at a new peak of No. 18 on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales listing, moving over 2,400 copies last week. Streams are also up, with “Padam” gaining from just over 1.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams the week ending May 25 to nearly 2.4 million this past week, a gain of 70%. (June being Pride Month has undoubtedly helped to boost the song’s fortunes, with Minogue long serving as a gay icon and her new song being deemed a Pride anthem.)
The song still has a long way to go before it really threatens to become Minogue’s first Hot 100 hit since “Slow” in 2004. But its Billboard chart impact is growing: The song sits at No. 7 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs this week, having already become her first top 10 on the chart since its 2013 inception. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Jain’s ‘Makeba’ Could Be Dancing Toward the U.S. Charts Soon
“Makeba,” the whooping dance-pop single from French singer-songwriter Jain, is evolving into a fascinating type of global smash. Originally released in 2015 on Jain’s debut Spookland/Sony/Columbia album Zanaka as a tribute to South African singer-activist Miriam Makeba, the song became a top 10 hit in the pop artist’s native France, a successful follow-up to her No. 1 hit “Come.” Although “Makeba” soundtracked a popular Levi’s ad in the States soon after, the song never made a dent in the charts in North America.
Fast-forward to 2023, and Jain has already released two more albums, including this year’s The Fool — but “Makeba” is becoming a delayed hit in the U.S., thanks in part to a TikTok dance challenge. The song has been resurrected with a simple four-step that combines a heel kick, arm wave and booty shake, among other moves; users put their own spins on the dance, and 740,000 TikTok videos have been created with “Makeba” playing underneath.
As the challenge has been working its way through TikTok over the past month, stateside streams for “Makeba” have exploded, reaching 3.04 million U.S. on-demand streams for the week ending June 23 — nearly 10 times its weekly total from one month before, according to Luminate. Meanwhile, the song has reached No. 1 on Shazam’s Top 200 chart, and rises 34 spots to No. 55 on this week’s Global 200 chart. If people keep dancing to “Makeba” throughout the summer, Jain could score her first Hot 100 entry with an eight-year-old song that was too engaging to be kept out of U.S. pop culture forever. – JL
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 charts dated July 8), an unexpected release from an incarcerated rapper leads a week that also includes some familiar names releasing debut albums, and others releasing their first projects in six years.
Young Thug, Business Is Business (YSL/300): A week after Gunna reached the Billboard 200’s No. 3 spot with his A Gift & A Curse album, his labelmate Young Thug should have a chance of doing even better with his new set, Business Is Business. Much interest in the new set is undoubtedly driven by not only the rapper’s incarceration, while he awaits trial on racketeering charges, but also his possibly strained relationship with Gunna — who was similarly indicted in the RICO trial, but released after taking an Alford Plea (a formal admission of guilt made while also maintaining innocence).
The alleged drama between the two rappers isn’t the only thing spurring consumption of the set, though. Young Thug has long been one of the most successful rappers on streaming, and Business’ tracklist is filled with appearances from A-listers like Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Future, 21 Savage & Travis Scott. The 15-track set, which does not yet have a physical release, is also receiving today a deluxe Metro’s Version, named after its executive producer (and longtime Thug collaborator) Metro Boomin, and including two extra bonus tracks, including one with appearances from superstars Nicki Minaj and the late Juice WRLD.
Standing in the album’s way, of course, is Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time – now the longest-reigning album of the last 10 years on the Billboard 200, with its 14 weeks on top. That album is still posting weekly units in the low six figures, so Thug will need to do a little better than the 90,000 first-week units his most recent album (2021’s Punk) notched to claim the top spot. (He would also score the first hip-hop No. 1 album of 2023 on the Billboard 200 in the process.)
Peso Pluma, Génesis (Double P/Prajin/The Orchard): No star around the globe has risen as quickly or as dramatically this year as Mexican corridos singer-songwriter Peso Pluma. He’s already made such an impact on the Billboard Hot 100 this year – reaching the chart 11 times, including with the top 5 hit “Ella Baila Sola,” alongside Eslabon Armado – that it’s pretty hard to believe that last week’s 14-track set Génesis is actually his debut album.
The album – which technically debuted last Thursday (June 22), bowing at No. 35 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart with less than a full day of consumption– does not load up on those aforementioned Hot 100 hits, with only closer “Bye” having reached the chart. That should change next week, with the album dotting the daily charts of DSPs, led by likely breakout hit “Lady Gaga” with Gabito Ballesteros and Junior H. It’ll have to do most of its damage on streaming, as the album is also not yet for sale in any physical formats.
Kelly Clarkson, Chemistry (Atlantic): While veteran pop/rock hitmaker Kelly Clarkson isn’t the streaming force that Young Thug and Peso Pluma are, her Chemistry album will probably have much more of a sales impact. The LP, her first since 2017’s Meaning of Life is available in at least six different vinyl variants, including some retail-exclusive editions – along with a signed CD sold in her webstore, and Amazon- and Target-exclusive versions with a poster and alternate cover, respectively. It may be enough to help Chemistry became Clarkson’s eighth consecutive top five-charting original album, a streak that stretches all the way back to 2003 debut Thankful.
IN THE MIX
Kim Petras, Feed the Beast (Amigo/Republic): Though cult pop favorite Kim Petras has been releasing acclaimed singles, EPs and mixtapes for six years now, June’s Feed the Beast is her official debut album. It arrives after her breakthrough success with the Hot 100-topping “Unholy” — which is featured here, along with the Nicki Minaj-featuring “Alone” – and is being sold as a signed CD in her webstore.
Portugal. The Man, Chris Black Changed My Life (Atlantic): Portugal. The Man a very personally and collectively trying half-decade following their 2017 breakout smash “Feel It Still,” as chronicled in the group’s recent Billboard digital cover story. Their new set – named after PTM’s longtime friend and touring hypeman, who died in 2019 – doesn’t feature a single like that, but it does have a top 10 Rock & Alternative Airplay hit with “Dummy.” It’s also available as a cassette, as a signed CD, and in multiple vinyl variants.