Chart Beat
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A dance music miracle has seized the U.K. singles chart.
Four weeks into its chart journey, Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s throwback rave tune “Miracle (via Colombia) climbs 3-1, for its first stint at the summit.
With its unlikely climb, Harris now boasts an 11th U.K. No. 1 and Goulding a fourth. Also, it’s their first as a duo, and third top 10 after 2012’s “Need Your Love” (No. 4 peak) and 2014’s “Outside” (No. 6). “Miracle” led at the midweek stage and completes the chart race in top spot.
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The last time Harris checked in at the chart penthouse was 2018 with “Promises,” featuring Sam Smith, while Goulding last scaled the chart in December 2019 with the English singer’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “River.”
According to the Official Charts Company, Harris, the Scottish EDM DJ and producer, now moves into eighth place in the all-time list of artists with No. 1s, pulling away from Eminem and Elton John (with 10 each).
Goulding, meanwhile, draws level with Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and Rita Ora among British female solo artist leaders. Just two artists are above her on the list, the OCC reports: Jess Glynne (seven No. 1s) and former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl (five).
The Official U.K. Singles Chart podium is completed by two former leaders, Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” (Columbia), unchanged at No. 2; and Ed Sheeran’s “Eyes Closed” (Atlantic), down 3-1.
Further down the list, rising pop star Mimi Webb’s “Red Flags” (Epic) lifts 13-12, its equal peak position. “Red Flags” is the top trending song in the U.K. right now, the OCC reports.
The highest new entry on the latest chart, published April 7, belongs to BlackPink singer Jisoo, with her debut solo single “Flower” (Interscope). It’s new at No. 38. With that debut, Jisoo becomes the first member of the K-pop girl group — which also includes Rosé, Lisa and Jennie — to bag a solo U.K. top 40 hit.
Finally, former Odd Future rapper Tyler, The Creator bags his fourth top 40 appearance, as “Dogtooth” (Columbia) sneaks inside the top tier. It’s new at No. 39, making its appearance following the “Estate Sale” deluxe reissue of Call Me If You Get Lost.
Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time continues to cruise at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as the album spends a fifth straight and total week atop chart (dated April 15). The set earned 173,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending April 6 (down 12%), according to Luminate. One Thing at a Time debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated March 18 and has held in place ever since.
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Across Wallen’s two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, One Thing at a Time and Dangerous: The Double Album, he has now spent a total of 15 weeks atop the chart. That surpasses Bad Bunny for the second-most weeks at No. 1 this decade. Only Taylor Swift has more weeks at No. 1 since the start of 2020, with 20 total.
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 chart, Melanie Martinez scores her highest-charting album yet with the No. 2 debut of Portals, Tyler, the Creator’s former No. 1 Call Me If You Get Lost surges 137-3 after its deluxe reissue with eight additional songs and supergroup Boygenius starts at No. 4 with its first full-length studio album (and major label debut), The Record.
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 April 15, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (April 11). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of One Thing at a Time’s 173,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending April 6, SEA units comprise 162,000 (down 9%, equaling 215.58 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 36 songs), album sales comprise 8,000 (down 53%) and TEA units comprise 3,000 (down 6%).
Martinez logs her highest-charting album yet on the Billboard 200, as her new studio effort Portals opens at No. 2. The set earned 142,000 equivalent album units, her biggest week ever by units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 99,000 (her largest sales week ever), SEA units comprise 42,000 (equaling 60.58 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs, her largest streaming week ever) and TEA units comprise 1,000 units.
In total, Portals marks Martinez’s third top 10-charting set, following K-12 (No. 3 peak in 2019) and Cry Baby (No. 6 in 2015).
The new album was previewed by the songs “Void” (the set’s official first single) and “Death,” both of which have reached the top 40 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, while “Death” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 1 at No. 95. The latter debut is Martinez’s first appearance on the Hot 100 since 2012, and the first time she’s charted with anything that wasn’t part of her run as a contestant on NBC’s The Voice. (Her two previous entries on the Hot 100 were both covers from the reality competition show.)
Portals’ sizable first-week sales of 99,000 was supported by 21 different physical variants of the album — six vinyl LPs, 14 CDs and one cassette. The audio content across all of the editions is the same; the variations are mostly distinguished by their packaging (including color vinyl editions, alternative covers, a signed CD and four deluxe boxed sets with either a tank top or a shirt along with a CD).
Tyler, the Creator’s chart-topping Call Me If You Get Lost jumps from No. 137 to No. 3 following its deluxe reissue on March 31. The set, first released in 2021, was reintroduced to the market with eight additional songs (dubbed the Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale edition). All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes.
In total, Call Me If You Get Lost earned 68,000 equivalent album units for the week, up 617%. The bulk of that sum was driven by SEA activity: 57,000 (up 734%, equaling 77.97 million on-demand official streams of all of the set’s songs, old and new). The set also sold 11,000 copies, including digital download and CD editions of the new deluxe version (though the CD is exclusively sold through the artist’s webstore at this time).
Call Me If You Get Lost was last in the top 10 almost a year ago, on the April 30, 2022-dated chart, when the album zoomed 120-1 after its belated release on vinyl pushed it back to the top. It first led in July 2021 upon its debut.
Rock supergroup Boygenius sees its debut full-length studio album — and major label debut — The Record launch at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The trio comprises Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. The set starts with 67,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 53,000, SEA units comprise 14,000 (equaling 18.17 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
The Record was previewed by a trio of charting songs on Billboard’s tallies: “Emily I’m Sorry,” “Not Strong Enough” and “$20.” The latter two charted on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart (with “Not Strong Enough” hitting the top 10 on the April 15-dated list), while the former two both reached Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
The Record was supported largely by vinyl sales. Of the album’s overall first-week units, vinyl sales represented 67% of the total sum (45,000 of 67,000). And, of the album’s traditional album sales number, vinyl accounts for 85% of the total (45,000 of 53,000). The Record was available in eight different-colored vinyl variants, including exclusives for indie stores, Target and Urban Outfitters.
SZA’s former No. 1 SOS is a non-mover at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 64,000 equivalent album units earned (down 8%), Swift’s chart-topping Midnights rises 7-6 with 61,000 (up 5%) and Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old dips 4-7 with 54,000 (down 46% in its second week). Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album climbs 9-8 with 45,000 (up 3%), Metro Boomin’s former No. 1 Heroes & Villains falls 8-9 with 42,000 (down 7%), and Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. drops 3-10 with 38,000 (down 67% in its second week).
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.
Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” has grown into a rare concurrent multi-format No. 1 on Billboard’s pop and adult airplay charts, as it crowns the Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary surveys dated April 15.
The song, released on Smiley Miley/Columbia Records, tops the mainstream top 40-based Pop Airplay chart for an eighth week, the adult top 40-fueled Adult Pop Airplay ranking for a seventh frame and AC for the first time. It became Cyrus’ third No. 1 on Pop Airplay and her first on Adult Pop Airplay, and now marks her second leader on AC, after “The Climb” reigned for 15 weeks in 2009.
“Flowers” becomes just the seventh song to have led Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and AC concurrently in the 27 years that the three charts have coexisted. (AC launched in July 1961; Pop Airplay in October 1992; and Adult Pop Airplay in March 1996.)
Here’s a look at the select seven songs popular enough across all three formats at the same time to rank at No. 1 on the three charts simultaneously. “Flowers” is the first since Adele’s “Easy on Me” last year, and the second in a row on Columbia, which has promoted four of the seven such hits, including three by Adele.
“Flowers,” Miley Cyrus, one week (to-date), 2023
“Easy on Me,” Adele, three weeks, 2022
“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran, one week, 2015
“Hello,” Adele, four weeks, 2015
“Stay With Me,” Sam Smith, one week, 2014
“Rolling in the Deep,” Adele, two weeks, 2011
“Because You Loved Me,” Celine Dion, five weeks, 1996
“Flowers” is from Cyrus’ new album, Endless Summer Vacation, which debuted at its No. 3 best on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated March 25, marking her 14th top 10. The set’s newest radio hit, “River,” rises to No. 19 on Adult Pop Airplay and No. 20 on Pop Airplay.
All charts dated April 15 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, April 11.
While Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” continues its rule atop the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts – it’s now up to 10 weeks at No. 1 on each tally – activity throughout the surveys shows a variety of artists making impacts. One of those is Peso Pluma, who blasts into the top 10 of both April 8-dated rankings for the first time.
“La Bebe,” by Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma, climbs to No. 6 on Global Excl. U.S. and No. 7 on the Global 200. In the week ending March 30, the reggaetón track drew 61 million streams, up 90%, according to Luminate. It’s the first global chart entry for YNG Lvcas. For the latter, it builds upon many months of momentum.
Peso Pluma first reached the global charts with “Siempre Pendientes,” a collaboration with Luis R Conriquez. That song spent three weeks on both lists last September, peaking at No. 155 on Global Excl. U.S. and No. 174 on the Global 200.
The track dropped off both charts seven months ago, but Peso Pluma now counts six songs on each April 8-dated global ranking, none lower than No. 60. And while that haul started just two-and-a-half months ago with the debut of “AMG” with Gabito Ballesteros and Natanel Cano, the best could be yet to come.
Just last week, “Ella Baila Sola” with Eslabon Armando debuted in the top 20 of both charts; it jumps to No. 11 on this week’s Global 200 and No. 12 on Global Excl. U.S. One spot away from becoming his second top 10 in two weeks, rising into either charts’ upper echelon would mark the first time a Mexican act would double-up in the same week.
Further, “El Azul,” Peso Pluma’s collaboration with American producer Junior H, zooms to No. 53 on Global Excl. U.S. and No. 59 on the Global 200. Rising 39 positions on the former chart and 42 on the latter, the song nears each list’s top 40, on track to become Peso Pluma’s sixth title to reach the region.
Peso Pluma has buffed up his global portfolio in 2023 with a wide range of collaborations, but his solo prowess shouldn’t be underestimated. “Por Las Noches” is his first solo chart hit, holding in the top 40 of the Global 200. And even his top 10 duet with Yng Lvcas shows evidence of his contribution to the song’s high rank: “La Bebe” originated as a solo Yng Lvcas track, released in 2021. Picking up momentum at the top of the year, the song hit both global charts, climbing among the lower half of each list last month. The remix featuring Peso Pluma arrived March 17, propelling the song from No. 103 to No. 21, and now to No. 7 on the Global 200, and similarly from No. 74 to No. 6 across two weeks on Global Excl. U.S.
Peso Pluma’s wide-ranging global success can, in part, be attributed to his musical flexibility. Most of his globally charting hits fit the mold of regional Mexican tradition, while “La Bebe,” his first top 10, aligns with reggaetón. Both have become increasingly popular, both globally and in the U.S., where he counts five songs on this week’s domestic-based Billboard Hot 100.
And while reggaetón might first appear to be the more U.S.-friendly genre with its production sharing elements with American pop and hip-hop, it’s one of Peso Pluma’s regional Mexican tracks that leads the way on the Hot 100. “Ella Baila Sola” hangs at No. 31, over “La Bebe” at No. 34. This week, All of his regional Mexican songs skew 27-28% of their worldwide streams from the U.S. and 72-73% international, while “La Bebe” splits 22% U.S. and 78% beyond.
As for Peso Pluma’s global standings, all five of his charting regional Mexican songs rank among the top 10 of Billboard’s Mexico Songs chart, logically enough, but don’t appear on any other Hits of the World tallies. “La Bebe,” however, with its top 10 placement on both global charts, finds itself on rankings for Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, in addition to its No. 1 status on Mexico Songs.
Illenium and Nina Nesbitt surge to No. 1 from No. 4 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart (dated April 8) with “Luv Me a Little.”
Up 45% in plays March 24-30, as the survey’s Greatest Gainer, the track is drawing core-dance airplay on SiriusXM’s BPM, Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel and iHeartRadio’s Evolution network, among other outlets, according to Luminate.
The track turns somber source material into a hit. Says Illenium, “This song’s about one-sided relationships and overinvesting in people who don’t give you that love back.”
Illenium, originally from Illinois, notches his fourth Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1. Nesbitt, from Scotland, leads the list for the first time.
Illenium’s three previous No. 1s, for a week each, on the chart: “Takeaway,” with The Chainsmokers and featuring Lennon Stella (November 2019); “Nightlight” (November 2020); and “Hearts on Fire,” with Dabin and LIGHTS (April 2021).
“Little” previews Illenium’s self-titled album, due April 28.
Other Hits To ‘Go Dancing’ To
As Illenium and Nesbitt’s “Love” crowns Dance/Mix Show Airplay, four other songs reach the top 10.
Frank Walker and Ella Henderson’s “I Go Dancing” bounds 11-4, marking the acts’ third and fourth top 10 each.
Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze” leaps 13-7, becoming her 10th top 10. “Anti-Hero,” the prior single from her latest album, Midnights, hit No. 3 in January, making the set her first with multiple top 10s since 1989, from 2014, generated five.
“Nothing in Common” becomes MOTi’s first Dance/Mix Show Airplay top 10, and featured artist’s Raphi second, jumping 19-9.
Plus, Icona Pop and Galantis up their top 10 counts to five and nine, respectively, as “I Want You” soars 25-10.
‘54’ From Bizarrap’s Studio
Meanwhile on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-driven Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, Bizarrap and Arcangel’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 54” flies 15-8, marking the former’s third top 10 and the latter’s first. In its first full tracking week, the collaboration drew 3.2 million official U.S. streams.
Bizarrap’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” with Shakira, spends a 10th week at its No. 2 best on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. The series’ “Vol. 52,” with Quevedo, hit No. 4 last August.
“Vol. 54” concurrently starts on Hot Latin Songs at No. 34. “Vol. 53” ruled the chart for five weeks beginning in January, after “Vol. 52” hit No. 9 in November.
Melanie Martinez snags her first chart leader in Australia as Portals (via Atlantic/Warner) debuts at No. 1.
The 27-year-old U.S. singer and songwriter, who made the leap into the public arena during the 2012 season of The Voice, leads the latest ARIA Chart, published April 7, for her second top 10 appearance and third top 40.
Martinez’s previous album, 2019’s K-12, peaked at No. 6; and her debut set, 2015’s Cry Baby, hit No. 27.
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Close behind at No. 2 is Australian indie-act DMA’S How Many Dreams? (I Oh You/Universal). It’s the Australian indie-rock outfit’s fourth studio album and fourth top 10 appearance, following 2020’s The Glow, which also peaked at No. 2; 2018’s For Now (No. 7) and 2016’s Hills End (No. 8).
Completing an all-new top three on the ARIA Albums Chart is The Record (Interscope/Universal), the debut LP from Boygenius, the indie “supergroup” featuring Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. The No. 3 bow for The Record is an improvement on Bridgers’ No. 12 best with 2020’s Punisher, and Baker’s No. 21 peak for 2021’s Little Oblivions.
Meanwhile, Melbourne punk rock band Private Function just miss out on a top 10 berth with their fourth album, 370HSSV 0773H (Still On Top Records/RKT). It’s new at No. 11, for their second ARIA Chart appearance after 2020’s Whose Line Is It Anyway? reached No. 9.
The group has made headlines in these parts thanks to the unusual marketing campaign for 370HSSV 0773H. The first 3,000 copies of the physical record features a limited-edition scratchable album cover, and a limited-edition “Gold” release is apparently infused with the band members’ urine. The “Gold” variant was priced at A$200 and sold-out in under a minute, according to reps for the band.
370HSSV 0773H — a title which has a different meaning when read upside down — makes a splash on the ARIA Vinyl Chart at No. 2.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus’ ”Flowers” (Columbia/Sony) extends its reign into a 12th week. With that feat, “Flowers” joins an “elite group,” ARIA reports, tying it with Pharrell Williams’ ”Happy” (from 2014), Eminem’s ”Lose Yourself” (2002-03) and Dinah Shore’s ”Buttons and Bows” (1949).
Only eight songs have spent more time at the helm, with Tones and I’s ”Dance Monkey” the king at 24 weeks at No. 1 in 2019-20.
Finally, BlackPink’s Jisoo bows at No.33 with her solo single ”Flower” (Interscope/Universal). She becomes the third member of the superstar K-pop girl group to crack the ARIA Top 50. Melbourne, Australia-raised Rosé saw her 2021 single “On The Ground” reached No. 31 and Lisa’s 2021 release “Money” cashed in at No. 32.
Marshmello captures his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart with “El Merengue,” his collaboration with Manuel Turizo. The new champ climbs 2-1 on the chart dated April 8 and sends “La Bachata,” another one of Turizo’s songs to No. 2 after 14 weeks in charge.
Turizo becomes the first artist to replace himself at No. 1 since Marc Anthony achieved the feat as “Un Amor Eterno” dethroned “De Vuelta Pa La Vuelta,” with Daddy Yankee, in March 2021.
EDM DJ and producer Marshmello secured his first entry on any Latin chart when “El Merengue” debuted at No. 4 on the March 18-dated ranking. Now, he scores his first leader as the song rises with a 6% gain in audience impressions, to 7.5 million, earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 30, according to Luminate.
“El Merengue” is the second song from Turizo’s third studio album, 2000, to top Tropical Airplay. The album debuted and peaked at No. 11 on Top Latin Albums (chart dated April 1) and earned him his third top 10 on Latin Rhythm Albums.
As mentioned, “La Bachata” rose to No. 1 in its 10th week where it remained for 14 nonconsecutive weeks.
The Colombian picks up his third straight No. 1 among three career appearances. His first offering arrived through his featured turn on Piso 21’s “Déjala Que Vuelva” which topped the chart for two weeks in 2018.
Elsewhere, “El Merengue” jumps 25-24 on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart with a 5% gain in streams. The track logged 3 million official U.S. streams.
Pink Floyd’s archival album The Dark Side of the Moon: Live at Wembley, London, 1974 debuts at No. 8 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated April 8). The set also bows in the top 10 of Top Rock Albums (No. 9), Vinyl Albums (No. 5), Tastemaker Albums (No. 3) and Top Current Album Sales (No. 8). It additionally launches at No. 49 on the Billboard 200 chart.
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The Dark Side of the Moon: Live was released on March 23, and was recorded in November of 1974 during the band’s winter tour at Wembley Empire Pool (the original name for Wembley Arena). This marks the first time the recording has been available as a stand-alone album, though performances from the shows were previously included on earlier deluxe reissues of some of the band’s studio albums. In addition, the Live album is also included as a bonus disc within the just-released 50th anniversary boxed set of The Dark Side of the Moon studio album.
Also on Top Album Sales, new albums from Jimin, Lana Del Rey, Fall Out Boy, Luke Combs and Depeche Mode all debut in the top 10.
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.
Top Rock Albums ranks the week’s most popular rock albums by equivalent album units. Vinyl Albums tallies the top-selling vinyl albums of the week. Top Current Album Sales lists the week’s best-selling current (not catalog, or older albums) albums by traditional album sales. Tastemaker Albums lists the week’s top-selling albums at independent record stores.
The Dark Side of the Moon: Live sold 15,000 copies in the United States in the week ending March 30, according to Luminate. Of that sum, vinyl sales comprise 8,500, yielding at No. 5 debut on the Vinyl Albums chart.
Meanwhile, the original The Dark Side of the Moon album was reissued in as both a multi-disc remastered deluxe boxed set and 10-track digital album on March 23rd for its 50th anniversary. The boxed set contains two CDs, two vinyl LPs, two blu-ray audio discs, a DVD audio disc, two hardcover books and two 7-inch singles. The former No. 1 set continues to hold the record for the most charted weeks on the Billboard 200 (977 weeks and counting).
The new deluxe boxed set’s sales are combined with the original studio album (and any later released iterations) for tracking and charting purposes. Combined, all of the versions sold just over 10,000 copies in the week ending March 30 (up 178%) and sends the album 28-11 on Top Album Sales.
On the latest Billboard 200, Dark Side vaults from 172-48 – marking its highest charting week in over eight years. It last placed higher when it zoomed 183-13 on the Dec. 20, 2014-dated chart, following ultra-cheap sale pricing by a digital retailer.
Back on Top Album Sales, the top 10 is flush with debuts, led by BTS’ Jimin, who sees his solo debut FACE open at No. 1. The set sold 124,000 copies in its first week – the third-largest sales week of 2023.
Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of FACE was issued in collectible CD packages (five total, including exclusives for Target and the Weverse webstore) each containing a standard set of items and randomized elements (photo cards and postcards). It was also available as a standard digital download album, plus two alternative cover digital download variants that were sold exclusively through his official webstore. 79% of FACE’s first-week sales were CDs, while the remaining 21% were digital album downloads. It was not released in any other format (vinyl, cassette, etc.).
Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 87,000 copies sold. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 81,000 (58,500 vinyl LPs, 20,500 CDs and 2,000 cassettes) and digital download album sales comprise 6,000.
The album’s robust vinyl sales mark the largest week for a vinyl album in 2023 and Del Rey’s best sales week on vinyl ever. It debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
Did You Know was issued in six vinyl variants: a standard black vinyl, a picture disc and four color vinyl editions (pink, green, red and white) all with different covers, exclusive to Amazon, independent retailers, Target and her webstore, respectively. Did You Know was also issued in nine CD iterations (a standard edition, four with alternative covers, and four deluxe boxed sets exclusive to her webstore containing either a T-shirt and a CD or a hoodie and a CD). Del Rey even dropped the album on cassette tape — in five different color variants (black, white, pink, green and red).
Fall Out Boy’s So Much (for) Stardust starts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 49,000 sold. Physical sales comprise 42,000 (21,000 vinyl LPs, 20,000 CDs and 1,000 cassette tapes) and digital download album sales comprise 7,000.
Stardust was supported by a hefty number of physical formats – one standard CD, two cassettes, nine stand-alone vinyl LPs in assorted colors, eight deluxe vinyl boxed sets (each containing a different color vinyl LP and branded merchandise) and 11 deluxe CD boxed sets (seven containing a CD edition of the album and branded merch — and four consisting of an autographed CD along with merch).
Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old bows at No. 4 on Top Album Sales with a little over 32,000 sold. It was available in eight physical editions – two CDs (a standard version and a signed edition exclusive to his webstore), five vinyl LPs (standard black, a deluxe black edition containing a slipmat [either signed or unsigned, exclusive to his webstore], an opaque white-colored edition exclusive to Amazon and a blue-colored edition exclusive to Walmart), and a red-colored cassette tape.
Depeche Mode’s new Memento Mori rounds out the all-debuts top five on Top Album Sales, as the veteran band’s latest studio set enters at No. 5 with 29,000 copies sold. Physical sales comprise 21,000 of that sum (11,500 CDs, 9,000 vinyl LPs and about 500 cassette tapes) and digital download album sales comprise 8,000. The album was available in three vinyl variants (a standard black edition as well as a clear version and red-colored pressing), two CD editions (a version with enhanced packaging, as well as a standard edition) and one cassette tape.
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is pushed down 4-6 on Top Album Sales, though with a gain, as it sold 17,000 (up 36%) – following the release of its vinyl LP. It sold 8,000 copies on vinyl during the tracking week. TWICE’s former No. 1 Ready to Be: 12th Mini Album falls 2-7 with 16,000 sold (down 46%).
Two former chart-toppers close out the top 10, as Taylor Swift’s Midnights drops 3-9 with 12,000 (down 1%) and TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation dips 6-10 with 11,000 (up 1%).
In the week ending March 30, there were 2.197 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 19.9% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.803 million (up 20.8%) and digital albums comprised 394,000 (up 15.7%).
There were 791,000 CD albums sold in the week ending March 30 (up 26.1% week-over-week) and 997,000 vinyl albums sold (up 16.7%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 8.343 million (up 2.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 11.529 million (up 26.4%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 24.638 million (up 8.7% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 20 million (up 15.1%) and digital album sales total 4.639 million (down 12.2%).
Sire Records, which Seymour Stein co-founded with Richard Gottehrer in 1967 as an independent label before it joined with Warner Bros. in 1976, has generated some of the biggest hits in Billboard Hot 100 history.
As reported April 2, Stein died at age 80. His legendary career began as an intern in Billboard’s New York offices, where, after school, he helped found the Hot 100. “The industry was looking for was a hotter, quicker way of getting chart information,” he recalled to Billboard in 2015. “I was just 16. From the time I was 9 years old, I knew I wanted to be in the music business.”
In honor of Stein’s legacy, Billboard has compiled Sire’s top 50 Hot 100 hits all-time, below.
Madonna is the queen of the recap, with 29 of the 50 songs, including nine of the top 10 and 20 of the top 25.
Of bringing Madonna to Sire, Stein said, “I signed her because I believed in Mark Kamins, who I thought was the greatest DJ, and he wanted to be a producer. So, I gave him some money to bring me an artist, and the third or fourth thing he brought me was Madonna. I was very involved in the beginning. Then I realized, ‘This woman is smarter than all of us. Just get out of her way.’”
“Seymour Stein Has Left Us! I need to catch my breath. He Was one of the most influential Men in my Life!! He changed and Shaped my world,” Madonna wrote in an Instagram post April 3, featuring a screenshot from her 1992 “Deeper and Deeper” video, in which Stein made a cameo.
“Not only did Seymour hear me but he Saw me and my Potential! For this I will be eternally grateful!,” she shared. “I am weeping as I write this down. Words cannot describe how I felt at this moment after years of grinding and being broke and getting every door slammed in my face. Anyone who knew Seymour knew about his passion for music and his impeccable taste. He had an Ear like no other!”
Among other acts on the retrospective below: Pretenders, Depeche Mode, Talking Heads, Erasure, Seal and the late Tommy Page, the latter of whom also worked at Billboard, as publisher in the early 2010s, and presented Stein with the first Billboard Industry Icon Award in 2012. (Wrote Stein in tribute in 2017, “One thing nearly everyone who knew him said about Tommy was that he made them feel special, that they were the only person in the room, and that’s just one reason why so many people adored him.”)
“We are so sorry to hear about the passing of legendary US music guru Seymour Stein, who was such a huge part of Erasure’s US success,” Erasure posted on its social media accounts April 3.
“Talking Heads are deeply saddened to learn that Seymour Stein has died,” the band wrote on Instagram April 3. “He was our champion. He fought bravely for us and he remained loyal to us until the end. Some people can spot a diamond in the rough and Seymour was one of them. He offered us a record deal after seeing us only one time at CBGB, before even we felt we were ready. He waited impatiently for eighteen months until we finally said yes to his offer.
“To hear him sing one of our own songs to us while barreling down Broadway in a Checker cab was one of our life’s great delights. We say this with respect to his beautiful daughter Mandy and to all of the Sire Records family. He was a mensch that we and the music business will never forget.”
Sire Records’ Top 50 Hot 100 Hits:
Rank, Title, Artist, Label Listing / Peak Pos., Date:
1, “Like a Virgin,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (six weeks), 12/22/19842, “Vogue,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (three weeks), 5/19/19903, “Take a Bow,” Madonna, Maverick/Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (seven weeks), 2/25/19954, “Kiss From a Rose,” Seal, ZTT/Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (one week), 8/26/19955, “Justify My Love,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (two weeks), 1/5/19916, “Like a Prayer,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (three weeks), 4/22/19897, “Papa Don’t Preach,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (two weeks), 8/16/19868, “Live To Tell,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (one week), 6/7/19869, “Pop Muzik,” M, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (one week), 11/3/197910, “Open Your Heart,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (one week), 2/7/1987
11, “Who’s That Girl,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (one week), 8/22/198712, “Material Girl,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 2, 3/23/198513, “I’ll Be Your Everything,” Tommy Page, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (one week), 4/14/199014, “I’ll Remember,” Madonna, Maverick/Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 2, 5/28/199415, “Causing a Commotion,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 2, 10/24/198716, “Express Yourself,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 2, 7/15/198917, “True Blue,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 3, 11/15/198618, “Cherish,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 2, 10/7/198919, “La Isla Bonita,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 4, 5/2/198720, “Secret,” Madonna, Maverick/Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 3, 11/5/1994
21, “Couldn’t Get It Right,” Climax Blues Band, Sire/ABC / No. 3, 5/21/197722, “Back on the Chain Gang,” Pretenders, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 5, 3/19/198323, “Angel,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 5, 6/29/198524, “This Used To Be My Playground,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 1 (one week), 8/8/199225, “Dress You Up,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 5, 10/5/198526, “Lucky Star,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 4, 10/20/198427, “Enjoy the Silence,” Depeche Mode, Sire/Reprise / No. 8, 7/14/199028, “Tainted Love,” Soft Cell, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 8, 7/17/198229, “Crazy,” Seal, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 7, 9/7/199130, “Hocus Pocus,” Focus, Sire/Famous / No. 9, 6/2/1973
31, “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” Pretenders, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 10, 12/27/198632, “Borderline,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 10, 6/16/198433, “Keep It Together,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 8, 3/31/199034, “Deeper and Deeper,” Madonna, Maverick/Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 7, 1/30/199335, “Burning Down the House,” Talking Heads, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 9, 10/22/198336, “People Are People,” Depeche Mode, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 13, 8/3/198537, “Erotica,” Madonna, Maverick/Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 3, 10/24/199238, “Chains of Love,” Erasure, Sire/Reprise / No. 12, 10/29/198839, “Brass in Pocket (I’m Special),” Pretenders, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 14, 5/31/198040, “I’ll Stand by You,” Pretenders, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 16, 12/3/1994
41, “A Little Respect,” Erasure, Sire/Reprise / No. 14, 3/4/198942, “Policy of Truth,” Depeche Mode, Sire/Reprise / No. 15, 10/20/199043, “Rescue Me,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 9, 3/23/199144, “Hanky Panky,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 10, 7/28/199045, “Holiday,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 16, 1/28/198446, “Get Over Yourself,” Eden’s Crush, 143/London-Sire / No. 8, 3/31/200147, “Wild Wild Life,” Talking Heads, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 25, 12/6/198648, “Oh Father,” Madonna, Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 20, 1/6/199049, “Middle of the Road,” Pretenders, Sire/London-Sire / No. 19, 2/11/198450, “Far Behind,” Candlebox, Maverick/Sire/Warner Bros. / No. 18, 10/1/1994
Sire Records’ Top 50 Hot 100 Hits recap is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames were weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years.
It’s been a transformative few months for SZA. The R&B superstar released SOS, her second studio album, in December to universal critical acclaim and blockbuster business. The set earned 318,000 album equivalent units in its first week of release, kicking off a non-consecutive 10-week run atop the Billboard 200. And in the middle of that chart-topping stretch, she kicked off the aptly titled SOS Tour.
The 18-date stint ran from Feb. 21 through March 23, giving SZA her first taste of headlining arenas on her own. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the SOS Tour grossed $34.5 million and sold 238,000 tickets.
Spread across its month of action, SOS shows averaged $1.9 million and 12,812 tickets per night. Returns were remarkably consistent, only dipping below 11,000 at the (relatively) low-capacity Viejas Arena in San Diego. The SoCal arena sold 8,700 tickets, but fostered the tour’s second-highest ticket price, at $174.69. Otherwise, attendance swung between 11,069 (Atlanta) and 14,383 (Toronto) on a nightly basis.
New York and Los Angeles were the two markets, perhaps unsurprisingly, with double-headers. SZA played two shows at Madison Square Garden on March 4-5, and the run’s final two dates at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on March 22-23. Logically, these were the highest grosses and attendance counts, hitting $4.7 million and 27,000 tickets at the East Coast arena, and $3.9 million and 25,000 on the West.
Reporting is limited for SZA’s pre-pandemic concerts, with a small handful of figures for 2017’s Ctrl the Tour and subsequent 2019 Australian shows. But matching up her shows market-by-market, her growth over the last six years is undeniable.
SZA played at Austin’s Emo’s on Oct. 1, 2017, earning $31,000 from a sold-out audience of 1,550. She returned to the city on March 9 at the newly minted Moody Center. She spun that attendance and its average $20 ticket seven times over, amounting to a show gross 55 times the total of her previous market play ($1.7 million).
In New York, it’s a similar – but bigger – story. SZA grossed $45,000 and sold 1,800 tickets at Brooklyn Steel on Dec. 10, 2017. Returning to Madison Square Garden last month, she earned $4.7 million and sold 27,000 tickets. That represents a jump of 1,376% in attendance and more than 10,000% in revenue.
The caveat in NYC is that SZA also played an un-reported show at Manhattan’s Irving Plaza the night after her Brooklyn date in 2017. But even if the 1,100-capacity club sold out at the same average ticket price, her growth in New York would still be nearly 6,500%.
SZA got some arena experience during her first album cycle, snagging co-headline billing on Top Dawg Entertainment’s Champions Tour in between Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. But even that stacked bill played only one show in New York, selling fewer tickets (12,500) than SZA did on either of her solo ’23 shows at the same venue.
Much of that upward trajectory can be attributed to the slow-burn success of 2017’s CTRL. While peaking at No. 3 and spending “just” a handful of weeks in the Billboard 200’s top 10, it has accumulated more than 300 weeks on the chart. One of its five frames in the top 10 was in June 2022, after a five-year-anniversary deluxe edition hit streaming services.
After letting that album breathe for more than five years, SZA’s timing was sharp. The SOS Tour was announced days after its namesake album was released, with tickets going on sale a few days after that. The set’s massive opening week backed up the feverish hype surrounding her long-awaited comeback, and its subsequent ticket on-sale capitalized on that momentum without missing a beat.
The SOS Tour helped complete SZA’s transformation from slow-burn R&B wunderkind to genre-bending arena powerhouse. She is represented by Wasserman Music and promoted by Live Nation. The tour featured direct support act Omar Apollo.