Chart Beat
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Pink blasts to No. 1 on Australia’s chart with Trustfall (via RCA/Sony), the U.S. pop superstar’s ninth studio album.
With Trustfall debuting at the summit of the ARIA Chart, published Feb. 24, Pink bags a seventh leader in the parts, bringing her total number of weeks at the top to 44, ARIA reports.
Pink is considered an “honorary Aussie,” and she’s certainly spent enough time here to earn it.
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On her 2009 Funhouse Tour, she criss-crossed the country for an astounding 59 shows, an epic adventure that took three months and saw her sell 650,000 tickets. Not bad for a country of less than 25 million at the time.
For her Truth About Love Tour in 2013-14, Pink completed 46 dates; and for the Australasian leg of her Beautiful Trauma World Tour in 2018, she spent over two months on these shores, nailing 42 arena dates.
According to Billboard Boxscore, Pink is the highest-grossing act of the 2010s in Oceania with about $135 million. She even has her own ladies’ toilet block at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, where she has smashed attendance records.
Her albums are also surefire hits. Among Pink’s leaders, three have logged more than eight weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart: Funhouse from 2008 (nine weeks), Greatest Hits… So Far!!! from 2010 (13 weeks) and The Truth About Love from 2012 (10 weeks).
The Philly native also ruled the national chart with I’m Not Dead (2006), Beautiful Trauma (2017) and Hurts 2B Human (2019).
Meanwhile, the title track from Trustfall flies 34-19 on the ARIA Singles Chart, for Pink’s 44th top 20 hit in Australia, a feat that includes 37 top 10 appearances.
As Ed Sheeran winds his way around the country for his latest stadium tour in support of = (equals via Atlantic/Warner), two of the Brit’s LPs return to the top 10. His latest release from 2021, equals, rises 17-6, while divide (÷) from 2017 is up 15-8.
Another English superstar pop artist is currently touring Australia, and enjoying sales bumps for his recordings. Harry Styles, who is working his way around the country for the domestic leg of his Love On Tour trek, sees his global hit single “As It Was” (Columbia/Sony) gain 9-5, while its parent album Harry’s House holds at No. 2.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (Columbia/Sony) beds down for a sixth consecutive week at No. 1.
If it returns for a seventh week at the penthouse, “Flowers” will equal the reign of Miley’s dad Billy Ray Cyrus, with his 1992 smash “Achy Breaky Heart.”
Finally, another pink-tinged artist is making a statement on Australia’s charts. The English singer, songwriter and producer PinkPantheress’s “Boy’s A Liar” (Parlophone/Warner) lifts 3-2, a new peak, thanks to a viral cut featuring rising U.S. rapper Ice Spice.
Lil Uzi Vert claims their first No. 1 as a lead artist on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart as “Just Wanna Rock” ascends to the summit of the chart dated Feb. 25. The single, which spent the six previous weeks at No. 2, is their second overall champ, following their featured turn on Migos’ 12-week champ, “Bad and Boujee,” in 2017.
As “Rock” ascends from No. 2 on Hot Rap Songs, it ends a peculiar streak at the top. The eight previous champs all began their reigns with No. 1 debuts, making “Just Wanna Rock” the first song to climb into the No. 1 spot on Hot Rap Songs since Latto’s “Big Energy” advanced 2-1 in April 2022. In the 44 weeks between, here are the eight titles that all debuted at the top and passed the baton among themselves to prevent any challengers from ascending all the way.
Song, Artist, Weeks at No. 1, Date Debuted at No. 1“First Class,” Jack Harlow, 14, April 23, 2022“Wait for U,” Future featuring Drake & Tems, two, May 14, 2022“Jimmy Cooks,” Drake & 21 Savage, one, July 2, 2022“Staying Alive,” DJ Khaled featuring Drake & Lil Baby, one, Aug. 20, 2022“Super Freaky Girl,” Nicki Minaj, 11, Aug. 27, 2022“California Breeze,” Lil Baby, one, Oct. 29, 2022“Rich Flex,” Drake & 21 Savage, 13, Nov. 19, 2022“Superhero (Heroes & Villains),” Metro Boomin, Future & Chris Brown, one, Dec. 17, 2022
“Just Wanna Rock” advances to No. 1 on Hot Rap Songs as it posts weekly improvements in all three of the chart’s contributing metrics – streaming, radio airplay and sales – in the tracking week of Feb. 9 – 16, according to Luminate. In the foremost category, “Rock” totaled 17 million official U.S. streams, a 7% gain, and returns to No. 1 on the Rap Streaming Songs chart for a second overall week on top. The cut previously reigned in its second week on the list, the chart dated Nov. 12, 2022. “Rock” also sold 2,000 digital downloads in the tracking week, an increase of 5% from its previous week.
While the song had been steadily climbing, “Rock” received an extra promotional boost as an adopted anthem for the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team on their road to a Super Bowl appearance. The team used the hometown artist’s song as their warm-up introduction track in several playoff games, including Super Bowl LVII, where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
For radio airplay, “Rock” registered 34.7 million in total audience, an 11% addition from the prior week and climbs 19-18 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. Airplay advances trickle down to several genre formats as well, with “Rock” rising to No. 1 on the Rap Airplay chart (up 11% in audience), 4-2 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (up 11% in weekly plays at the format), 5-4 on Rhythmic Airplay (up 12% in weekly plays) and 34-33 on Pop Airplay (up 17% in weekly plays).
In other Lil Uzi Vert news, they land a No. 19 debut for “Watch This (Arizonatears Pluggnb Remix).” The song is based on “Watch This,” an unreleased track Lil Uzi Vert previewed in 2019 in an Instagram Live that was later leaked in 2022 and never officially released. This official remix version, released Feb. 5, earned 4.3 million official U.S. streams.
The top three finishers at Italy’s Sanremo music festival have entered Billboard’s global charts, including the contest’s winner, Marco Mengoni. The Billboard Global 200 dated Feb. 25 sees debut from rapper Lazza’s “Cenere” (“Ashes”) at No. 68; Mengoni’s “Due Vite” (“Two Lives”) at No. 80; and Mr. Rain’s “Supereroi” (“Superheroes”) at No. 97.
The Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart features two more Sanremo artists – Madame and Tananai – for a total of five songs from Sanremo 2023. On that chart, “Cenere” debuts at No. 29, “Due Vite” bows at No. 32 and “Supereroi” enters at No. 42. Meanwhile, Madame’s “Il Bene nel Male” (“The Good in the Bad”) starts at No. 104 and Tananai’s “Tango” arrives at the No. 195 spot. On Luminate’s Global Hits – Italy chart for the week ending Feb. 16, “Cenere,” “Due Vite,” “Supereroi,” “Il Bene nel Male” and “Tango” are Nos. 1-5, respectively.
Since the launch of the Billboard global lists in 2020, Sanremo’s most successful songs enter the charts each year after the event. The 2021 edition saw three songs make it to the Global 200 and six enter the Global Excl. US immediately after the contest. In that year, the song that won Sanremo, “Brividi” by Mahmood and Blanco, reached the highest positions on both charts, and at more impressive spots: No. 15 on the Global 200 and No. 7 on the Global Excl. U.S.
Mengoni, who is signed to Sony Music Entertainment’s Epic Records Italy, won Sanremo 2023, after the pop star dominated the song contest from start to finish with “Due Vite.” It was his second victory at the festival, his first coming in 2013 with “L’essenziale” (“The Essential”).
Under the artistic direction of Amadeus, who oversaw his fourth Sanremo this year, recent editions of the Italian song contest have started resonating with younger audiences, especially on streaming platforms. This year’s edition was the highest rated since 1995. Overall, 63.1% of TV viewers followed the five nights of the event, with the final night (Jan. 11) drawing an audience of 12,256,000 people, or 66% of Italian TV viewers.
Depeche Mode becomes one of just two acts to appear on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart in each decade of the list’s existence thanks to “Ghosts Again,” which debuts at No. 27 on the Feb. 25-dated survey.
The song is the act’s 21st appearance on Alternative Airplay, which began in 1988, and first since “Where’s the Revolution,” which hit No. 40 in 2017.
Depeche Mode has made at least one appearance on Alternative Airplay in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and now the ‘20s, making it the second act to do so, following Red Hot Chili Peppers, which accomplished the feat last year.
The No. 27 entrance of “Ghosts” gives Depeche Mode its best-charting Alternative Airplay hit since “Soothe My Soul” reached No. 27 in 2013, as well as the band’s top debut since “Wrong” started at No. 27 in 2009.
Among its 21 entries, Depeche Mode boasts four No. 1s: 1990’s “Enjoy the Silence” and “Policy of Truth,” and 1993’s “I Feel You” and “Walking in My Shoes.”
Concurrently, “Ghosts” opens at No. 30 on Adult Alternative Airplay, where it’s Depeche Mode’s first song to chart since “Wrong” reached No. 15 in 2009.
On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, “Ghosts” bows at No. 24 with 1.5 million audience impressions, according to Luminate. It’s the band’s best rank on the survey, which began in 2009.
“Ghosts” is the first single from Depeche Mode’s 15th studio album, Memento Mori, due March 24.
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: A sanctioned-after-the-fact remix of a popular Lil Uzi Vert leak appears on the verge of becoming their next major hit, while Rainbow finds the pot of gold at the end of a Guardians of the Galaxy trailer bump and Mae Stephens looks to turn TikTok virality into a streaming breakout.
“Watch This”: Lil Uzi Vert Leak Charts With Remix Before Ever Officially Being Released
For much of the past year, fans of Lil Uzi Vert have been frantically trying to get their hands on an official version of “Watch This” – an unreleased track, supposedly from the late 2010s, that leaked in full in April 2022. In the meantime, the track’s unofficial edit has been picked up by a variety of DJs and remixers looking to capitalize on the excitement over the track, including producer Arizonatears, whose “Pluggnb Remix” of “Watch” is on the verge of becoming the rapper’s next major hit.
Despite crediting the popular Sped Up Nightcore account in its Spotify artist listing, the remix is not actually a faster version of the leaked “Watch” – it’s actually slowed and pitched down a bit, with layers of wavy synths giving it a more psychedelic feel. The new edit, which has been out since late last year, has (according to Arizonatears on the song’s YouTube) now been officially sanctioned by Uzi’s Atlantic Records label, and is taking off on streaming – with nearly 4.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending Feb. 16, up 265.1% from the week before, according to Luminate.
The song even debuts on a number of Billboard charts this week, including a No. 19 bow on the Hot Rap Songs dated Feb. 25, and seems likely to impact the Billboard Hot 100 before long as its streams keep rising. It’s an extremely anomalous path for a song whose original version still doesn’t exist in any official capacity, but one that feels incredibly appropriate for 2023. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Rainbow Streams Up “Since” New Guardians Trailer
Deep Purple guitar great Ritchie Blackmore’s ‘70s and ‘80s side project Rainbow might not be the first artist most younger folks think of when they hear the title “Since You Been Gone.” But it’s not Kelly Clarkson’s ‘00s pop-rock classic that just got the spotlight treatment in a trailer for one of the year’s most anticipated movie sequels: Guardians of the Galaxy 3, the latest installment of the blockbuster MCU film series famous for its resurrection of classic rock staples.
“Since You Been Gone” is a little deeper of a dig by Guardians standards – the song originally peaked at No. 57 on the Hot 100 in late 1979, and has never quite gotten the classic rock radio play of Deep Purple’s most celebrated hits. But fans are certainly discovering it now: The song rises from under 116,000 official on-demand U.S. streams the week ending Feb. 9 to over 226,000 the following week, with the trailer dropping mid-week on Feb. 12 – a gain of nearly 96%, according to Luminate. We’ll see what other FM rock mixtape gems get unearthed by the Guardians franchise this time around when Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5. – AU
Mae Stephens’ Single “Broke” on TikTok in December. Can It Cross Over Now?
“If We Ever Broke Up,” the cheeky synth-pop kiss-off from Mae Stephens, was a hit on TikTok more than a month before it was officially released. The English singer-songwriter teased the track’s shrugging, lightly funky hook (“If we ever broke up, I’d never be sad/ Thinking about everything that we had/ If we ever broke up,” Stephens sings) in a couple of late December clips — the biggest of which, posted on Dec. 29, blew up, with 11.5 million views to date.
Stephens spent January watching other TikTok users lip sync and create choreography to the track, while promising the full thing was arriving soon — and dealing with commenters claiming that the release was taking too long. “I promise you guys I’m trying!” she wrote on Jan. 13. “All I need is a little patience and understanding!”
Finally, “If We Ever Broke Up” was unveiled in full on Mercury/Republic on Feb. 10 – and early returns for the full track have been promising, with 2.83 million U.S. on-demand streams for the week ending Feb. 16, according to Luminate, and a No. 45 debut on the U.K. Official Charts. Time will tell if “Broke” continues to rise on streaming charts and gets some pop radio play, but Stephens can take comfort in the fact that another song that TikTok users claimed was teased for too long before finally being released — Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” — ended up a Grammy-winning, Hot 100-topping smash. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Once again, the Sanremo Music Festival impacts Billboard’s global charts. Italy’s qualifying competition for the Eurovision Song Contest, the showdown yields a handful of debuts on the Feb. 25-dated rankings. Sanremo was held at the Teatro Ariston from Feb. 7 to 11, and was broadcast by Radiotelevisione italiana. (Eurovision is set for May 9-13 in Liverpool.)
Five songs from the Sanremo competition enter the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, led by Lazza’s “Cenere,” at No. 29. In the week ending Feb. 16, “Cenere” drew 22.5 million streams worldwide, according to Luminate. Ultimately, it placed second in Sanremo.
The competition’s winner was Marco Mengoni for “Due vite,” which topped its competitors in all three categories – public televoting, jury of the press and demoscopic jury. Though it swept its way to a Eurovision qualification, it debuts just under Lazza’s high mark, hitting Global Excl. U.S. at No. 32, on the back of 21.3 million streams.
Mr. Rain follows at No. 42 with “Supereroi,” also third place in Sanremo. These three top 50 debuts also crack the Billboard Global 200 at Nos. 68 (“Cenere”), 80 (“Due vite”) and 97 (“Supereroi”).
Additionally, Madame enters Global Excl. U.S. at No. 104 with “Il Bene Nel” and Tananai rounds out the Sanremo scope at No. 195 with “Tango.” The latter song finished in fifth place in Sanremo, while the former ranked seventh.
All five charting songs from Sanremo drew more than 90% of their streams from Italy, with Lazza, Mr.Rain and Tananai each above 94%. They make up the entire top five of Luminate’s latest Global Hits – Italy ranking, as seen in the data firm’s Music Connect platform, with “Cenere” leading the pack.
The sum of five Sanremo-sparked Global Excl. U.S. entries falls short of last year’s seven but is still above 2021’s four. Plus, the three Global 200 debuts match last year’s high, after no Sanremo songs impacted two years ago. (Both worldwide tallies began in September 2020.)
The zero-to-100 (er, three) momentum from 2021 may have something to do with the notoriety that that year’s winner brought to the competition. Måneskin triumphed with “Zitti E Buoni,” before winning Eurovision and then scoring multiple global hits later that year (plus a Grammy nomination for best new artist this year), including “Beggin’,” which reached No. 2 on Global Excl. U.S.
The band’s pan-continental, and then worldwide, fame may have assisted a top 10 debut for last year’s Sanremo champion, “Brividi” by Mahmood and Blanco. The ballad reached No. 7 on Global Excl. U.S. following Sanremo and returned to the chart after Eurovision.
But while Måneskin may have helped launch a new era of international success for Sanremo-associated titles, one may forget that the Italian glam-rockers were initially outpaced on the global charts. “Zitti E Buoni” debuted at No. 106 on the March 20, 2021-dated ranking, slightly behind the year’s runner-up “Chiamami Per Nome” by Francesca Michielin and Fedez at No. 100. That Måneskin went on to greater heights should give extra hope to Mengoni as he prepares for Eurovision, as even though his competition-winning song didn’t yield the biggest initial chart impact, even bigger things could be right around the corner.
On Feb. 12, Rihanna headlined the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in Glendale, Ariz., using less than 15 minutes of airtime to amplify her sprawling discography.
In a spur of debuts and re-entries, she logs 16 titles on the Feb. 25-dated Billboard Global 200 chart and nine on Billboard Global Excl. U.S., more than any other act on either of this week’s surveys. In all, they totaled 257.2 million streams worldwide in the week ending Feb. 16, according to Luminate.
American football is a specifically stateside sport, but the Super Bowl is a major pop cultural event. The NFL revealed that an estimated 208 million Americans watched this year’s game, while The Athletic estimates an additional 40 million viewers outside the United States.
All of those eyeballs on Rihanna created a firestorm of consumption worldwide. She properly performed 12 songs during her halftime set, and those dozen tracks averaged a week-to-week streaming increase of 231%.
Her hit parade is led by 2007’s “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z, debuting on the Global 200 at No. 32 and re-entering Global Excl. U.S. at No. 66. The classic spent three weeks on the latter chart in January 2021 but never hit the former until now.
2012’s “Diamonds” and 2011’s “We Found Love,” featuring Calvin Harris, both crack the top 50 of the Global 200, at Nos. 40 and 47, respectively, while arriving at Nos. 71 and 77 on Global Excl. U.S.
“Only Girl (In the World),” “B**** Better Have My Money,” and “Where Have You Been” debut further down both charts. “Work,” featuring Drake, “Run This Town,” with Jay-Z and Kanye West, and “Rude Boy” debut on the Global 200 while missing the Global Excl. U.S. ranking.
The superstar performed three other songs during her set – “Pour It Up,” her featured verse on DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts,” and her refrain from West’s “All of the Lights” – that miss both charts.
But while Rihanna’s hyper-curated setlist spurred chart activity for specific tracks, the performance also drew listeners to her entire discography, hungry to rediscover deeper hits as the seven-year gap since her last studio album continues to widen. She charted an additional seven songs from beyond her halftime performance. See below for a rundown of all of Rihanna’s globally charting hits on the latest lists.
The seven songs above that were not performed drew the smallest streaming bumps, up anywhere from a still notable 23% (“Lift Me Up”) to 107% (“Don’t Stop the Music”). Next are the songs that were performed that were generally expected to be performed, and therefore had already been picking up steam in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. “Umbrella” was up by 131%, “Diamonds” by 138%, “Only Girl (In the World)” by 159% and “We Found Love” by 160%.
Then, there are big-to-massive gains for songs that may have surprised fans with their inclusion and had smaller global streaming counts to begin with, and therefore more room to grow after last weekend’s exposure.
Among all Rihanna tracks, the seemingly NSFW “B**** Better Have My Money” got the biggest gain, up 594% globally to 14.7 million streams. “Pour It Up” followed, up 334%. Those songs’ original releases, in 2015 and 2012, respectively, predate Billboard’s global charts but they peaked outside the top 10 of the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100, where Rihanna has 32 career top 10s. Including both in a tight 12-song set alongside six former No. 1s (and another three top five hits) ensured a massive resurgence.
Across the board, Rihanna’s gains in the U.S. were bigger than those beyond. That is to be expected considering that an estimated 80% of the viewing audience watched from somewhere in the U.S. Still, Rihanna’s 12 songs from the halftime show averaged a 201% gain in non-U.S. streams. That’s notably smaller than the 297% average domestic gain, but still enough to land more than a handful of songs on the Excl. U.S. ranking.
Welcome to The Contenders, 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 March 4), as SZA’s SOS goes for its 10th week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, she’ll have to fend off pop’s most acrobatic veteran star, as well as hitmakers from the country and dance worlds.
P!nk, Trustfall (RCA): While P!nk used to be one of top 40’s most ubiquitous figures, she hasn’t reached the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40 since 2017 and her most recent lead single, “Never Gonna Not Dance Again,” has so far toppedout at No. 99. Still, two decades of being a household name — and more recently, a stadium-level touring draw – ensure that P!nk remains a major threat on the Billboard 200. She’s topped the chart with each of her last three albums, most recently 2019’s Hurts 2B Human.
Trustfall will, however, be P!nk’s first album release since the 2020 elimination of ticket bundles from Billboard 200 calculations – sure to affect the first-week numbers for such a top-flight live draw. Helping to make up the sales difference will be the multiple options for physical purchase via P!nk’s webstore, including a limited -edition T-shirt box set, and a “zine-pak” including a CD.
Jordan Davis, Bluebird Days (MCA Nashville): Since Jordan Davis’ 2018 debut album, Home State, he has become one of country’s preeminent hitmakers on both radio and streaming, with four Country Airplay No. 1s and two entries on the all-genre Streaming Songs chart. Both of those latter hits are found on Davis’ sophomore album, Bluebird Days, as well as the currently rising Billboard Hot 100 single “Next Thing You Know.” Bluebird is available for sale in a variety of physical packages on Davis’ webstore.
Skrillex, Quest for Fire / Don’t Get Too Close (Owsla/Atlantic): Skrillex has been one of the most visible dance artists of the last 15 years, just about everywhere except the Billboard 200. Until last week, he’d only released one full-length album, 2014’s No. 4-peaking Recess. But after dropping Quest for Fire and then, as a surprise, Don’t Get Too Close on Saturday, that number of LPs has tripled for the no-longer-bespectacled superproducer.
Both releases came in the midst of a live Skrillex performance blitz in New York – alongside big-name collaborators Four Tet and Fred Again.. — with three surprise gigs at smaller venues (including one “pop-up rave” out of a converted school bus) leading up to the trio’s much-anticipated Saturday night performance at Madison Square Garden, where Close was first announced. The albums are currently streaming, but only available for physical purchase through preorder on the Atlantic webstore, with CDs set to arrive in March, cassettes in April and vinyl in July.
IN THE MIX
Taylor Swift, Lover – Live (Republic): Taylor Swift never got to properly tour behind her 2019 album Lover before the pandemic hit, but before heading out on her Eras Tour, she’s giving fans a taste of what might have been with this live set, taken from her one-off “City of Lover” Paris concert that September. Don’t bother searching for it on Spotify or Apple Music, though – Lover – Live was only made available for limited purchase (on heart-shaped double vinyl) via Swift’s webstore, and already looks to be sold out.
Big Scarr, The Secret Weapon (1017/Atlantic): Signed to Gucci Mane’s 1017 label, Memphis rapper Big Scarr looked to be one of the decade’s rising stars before his death from a prescription drug overdose at age 22 in December. This month, his too-brief legacy is continued with the release of posthumous album The Secret Weapon, a 17-track effort featuring appearances from Gucci, Pooh Shiesty and Key Glock.
Though the calendar year has flipped and Billboard’s January Boxscore report celebrates the beginning of a new year in touring, the top of the charts carry over what became a constant toward the end of 2022. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour earned $40.9 million during the month, securing his seventh at No. 1 on the Top Tours chart overall, and third in the last four months.
Beyond extending his record for time atop the ranking, notably, January’s Oceania leg of John’s sprawling farewell tour pushed the entire run’s gross to $817.9 million – making it the highest grossing tour of all time. It surpasses Ed Sheeran’s The Divide Tour ($776.4 million), which set the previous high mark in 2019, and U2’s The 360 Tour ($736.4 million), which had held the title since 2011.
Simultaneously, John leads the Top Boxscores chart with $11.3 million at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on Jan. 17-18. Since the charts launched in February 2019, it’s the ninth time an artist has ruled both rankings, and the second for John, who first did so in January 2020. BTS is the only other act to double-up twice.
John’s $40-million January breaks down to two stadiums shows apiece in Newcastle (Jan. 9, 11), Melbourne (Jan. 14-15) and Sydney (Jan. 18-19), plus single shows in Brisbane (Jan. 22) and Christchurch (Jan. 25).
Not only does John crown the Boxscores ranking, he follows himself at Nos. 2 (Melbourne), 4 (Newcastle), 6 (Brisbane), and 11 (Christchurch). Blanketing the chart with four top 10 appearances, he set himself apart from the pack in stadiums during Australia and New Zealand’s summer, while the Northern winter kept last year’s holdovers dormant and 2023’s from beginning later into the spring.
The strategy does extend to the Red Hot Chili Peppers at No. 2 on Top Tours and at Nos. 5, 9 and 12 on Top Boxscores. The funk-pop-rock band earned $15.1 million from the first three of its Oceania shows, with five more to chart in February. This follows the $59.6 million in Europe and $117.4 million in North America last year, playing stadiums in both continents during the warmth of June through September.
With far less history in Oceania than on the Western hemisphere, the Chili Peppers enlisted Post Malone to join the January and February shows. The bulked-up billing helped transform the band from an arena act to a stadium act in the region, having last reported shows in Oceania on 2007’s Stadium Arcadium Tour. Audience in Auckland flipped from 22,000 in ’07 to 48,000 in 2023, while Brisbane’s crowd grew from 22,000 to 40,000.
Playing Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium just a week after John, the two combined for $13.9 million and 91,000 tickets sold, enough to be the top grossing venue of the month worldwide.
On the Top Venues, 15,001+ capacity chart, Suncorp is followed by Sydney’s Allianz Stadium and Melbourne’s AAMI Park at Nos. 2-3, respectively, plus Manchester’s McDonald Jones Stadium at No. 6, forming a powerful Oceania block over western mainstays like the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. (No. 4), the O2 Arena in London (No. 5) and Madison Square Garden in New York (No. 8).
Continuing the 2022 carryover at the head of Top Tours, Harry Styles is No. 3, after finishing at No. 4 on last year’s annual recap. He earned $12.4 million from 62,000 tickets sold, all from four arena dates. On Jan. 26-27 and 29, Styles played the final three dates of his 15-show mini-residency at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Those dates grossed $9.6 million and pushed the entire Inglewood run to a gross of $47.8 million, making it the fifth-highest grossing headline engagement in Boxscore history.
Additionally, Styles played two shows at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif. One of those shows, played on Jan. 31, counts toward his monthly total, and the other, played on Feb. 1, will count toward his February earnings.
While January typically is a lull between the final dates of major tours in November and December and the opening nights for the year’s biggest attractions in February and March, January 2023 proved that there are ways to kick off the year in style, pun intended. From John and the Chili Peppers going to Australia, to The 1975 and Future conducting brief, monthlong runs before calendars get too packed, January can be a sneaky time for sleeper ticket sales.
Further flagged by Omicron-era woes, the January 2021 Top Tours chart featured six tours above $5 million, 18 above $1 million, and cut off the 30-position ranking at $548,000. One year later, those numbers improve to eight, 28, and $975,000.
The Rolling Stones’ new concert album, GRRR Live!, debuts at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Feb. 25), marking the fifth consecutive year the band has placed a top 10-charting set on the tally.
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The new live effort was recorded on Dec. 15, 2012, at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, as part of the group’s 50th anniversary trek, dubbed the 50 & Counting Tour. The show was originally broadcast live as a pay-per-view event titled One More Shot, but was not released in a home video or audio format until its GRRR Live! bow on Feb. 10. For its album release, the show was re-edited and remixed.
The GRRR Live! album features a robust lineup of guest stars in The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr., Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen and former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. The set was released in multiple configurations, including a 24-track digital album, a limited edition red-colored $80 three-vinyl-LP set, and variants that housed the concert on either blu-ray or DVD alongside two CDs.
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.
Elsewhere on the new Top Album Sales chart, Paramore debuts atop the list with its latest studio album, This Is Why, launching with 47,000 copies sold. It’s the second leader for the band, which also led the tally with 2013’s self-titled set.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER’S The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION falls to No. 2 after spending its first two weeks at No. 1. It sold 28,000 in its third week, down 34%.
Pierce the Veil logs its highest charting effort yet on Top Album Sales as the rock band’s latest release The Jaws of Life starts at No. 3 with 18,000 sold. Taylor Swift’s former leader Midnights dips 3-4 with 17,000 (up 11%). Harry Styles’ chart-topping Harry’s House falls 4-5 with 9,000 sold (down 6%).
Rock band In Flames scores its first top 10 on Top Album Sales as Foregone bows at No. 6 with nearly 9,000 sold. It’s the ninth charting effort for the act, who had previously gone as high as No. 20 with I, the Mask in 2019.
Veteran alternative act Yo La Tengo hits the top 10 on Top Album Sales for the first time as This Stupid World bows at No. 8 with 6,000 sold. The band’s peak until the new chart was No. 26 in 2013 with Fade.
Closing out the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart are Tyler, the Creator’s former leader IGOR, rising 17-9 with just over 6,000 (after the set was reissued in physical formats) and Shania Twain’s Queen of Me falls 2-10 in its second week with 6,000 (down 82%).
In the week ending Feb. 16, there were 1.884 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 6% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.552 million (up 9.8%) and digital albums comprised 332,000 (down 8.7%).
There were 622,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Feb. 16 (up 2.7% week-over-week) and 919,000 vinyl albums sold (up 14.7%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 4.281 million (down 0.1% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 6.218 million (up 25.6%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 12.922 million (up 6.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 10.560 million (up 13.7%) and digital album sales total 2.361 million (down 17.7%).