State Champ Radio Chart Beat
Page: 37
Hamilton: An American Musical this week becomes the first original cast album to log 500 weeks on the Billboard 200. The album debuted at No. 12 on the chart dated Oct. 17, 2015, which was the highest debut for a cast album in more than 50 years. It peaked at No. 2 in July 2020, which was the highest ranking for a cast album since Hair topped the chart for 13 weeks in 1969.
Hamilton logs its 500th week on the chart just one month after the album was elected to the National Recording Registry in its first year of eligibility.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the book, music and lyrics for Hamilton, has been showered with honors for his masterwork. He won two Tonys (best original musical score and best book of a musical), a Grammy (best musical theatre album) and the Pulitzer Prize for literature. The show’s creative team (Miranda, Thomas Kail, Alex Lacamoire and Andy Blankenbuehler) was even honored at the Kennedy Center Honors.
Miranda also won a Primetime Emmy (outstanding variety special, pre-recorded) in 2021 as a producer of a Disney TV adaptation.
To mark Hamilton’s 500-week chart achievement, we have prepared this list of the 10 cast albums with the most weeks on the Billboard 200 (which dates to March 1956). Hamilton is one of just two shows on the list where a solitary songwriter wrote both music and lyrics for the show. The other: The Music Man, written by Meredith Willson.
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe are the only songwriter(s) with two albums in the top 10 – My Fair Lady and Camelot. Lady gave us such standards as “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” Camelot spawned “If Ever I Would Leave You” and “How to Handle a Woman.” Both shows had the same female lead – the incomparable Julie Andrews.
Here are the 10 cast albums with the most weeks on the Billboard 200.
Because of how the Billboard 200 chart is now compiled, where streaming activity is blended with album sales and track sales, albums tend to spend a longer time on the list thanks to continued streaming activity. The chart began utilizing streaming information in its methodology in December 2014. Previous to that, the chart was based solely on traditional album sales.
Also, a lengthy tracklist with multiple popular songs can help accrue large streaming totals, so albums like Hamilton (with 46 tracks) benefit from the continued weekly streams of their long tracklists.
Further, older albums (known as catalog albums; generally defined today as titles at least 18 months old), were mostly restricted from charting on the Billboard 200 from May 25, 1991-Nov. 28, 2009. Since then, catalog and current (new/recently released) albums chart together on the Billboard 200. As a result, older albums now regularly spend hundreds of weeks on the chart.
Man of La Mancha, 167
Ghost grabs the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time, as the Swedish hard rock band’s new studio effort Skeletá debuts atop the tally (dated May 10) with 86,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending May 1, according to Luminate. Of the album’s starting sum, 89% was driven by traditional album sales — buoyed by a big vinyl sales figure.
Skeletá launches with Ghost’s best week ever by both equivalent album units and traditional album sales.
Trending on Billboard
Skeletá marks the ninth charted effort for the group on the Billboard 200. The band first visited the list in 2013 with its second album, Infestissumam, which also marked the act’s first top 40-charting set, reaching No. 28. Skeletá scores Ghost its eighth top 40 set, and fifth to reach the top 10. The band had previously gone as high as No. 2 with its last full-length studio album, 2022’s Impera.
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 May 10, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 6. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of Skeletá’s 86,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 77,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 9,000 (equaling 12.45 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The set’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across more than 15 vinyl variants, three CD variants and four cassette variants (all containing the same tracklist, but in collectible packaging).
With Skeletá scoring 9,000 in SEA units (12.45 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs), the group logs its biggest streaming week ever for an album. It surpasses the opening-week of Impera (7,000 SEA; 9.11 million streams for its songs).
The new album was led by the radio-promoted single “Satanized,” which became the act’s 10th top 10-charting hit on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in April. It’s one of a trio of hits that the album yielded on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart prior to the album’s release. “Satanized” hit No. 3 (March 22 chart), followed by “Lachryma” (No. 3, April 26) and “Peacefield” (No. 13, May 3). (Skeletá is also the first full-length project from the band since the act garnered its first hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, when its viral hit “Mary on a Cross” reached No. 90 on the tally in 2022.)
With the No. 1 arrival on the Billboard 200, Skeletá lands a number of milestone achievements for Ghost. Here’s a recap:
Skeletá yields Ghost’s best week ever by both equivalent album units and traditional album sales. The act’s previous high in both metrics came in the debut week of Impera (March 26, 2022), which earned 70,000 units (of which nearly 63,000 were album sales). As noted earlier, Skeletá also garners the largest streaming week for a Ghost album.
Ghost lands the biggest week of 2025, by either equivalent album units or traditional album sales, for any rock, hard rock or alternative album.
Of Skeletá’s first-week album sales, vinyl purchases comprised just over 44,000 copies. That’s not just the largest sales week on vinyl for Ghost, but the biggest week for a hard rock album on vinyl in the modern era (since Luminate began tracking data in 1991). It’s also the third-largest sales week on vinyl in the modern era for any rock album, trailing only the opening weeks of blink-182’s One More Time… (49,000; 2023) and boygenius’ The Record (45,000; 2023).
Skeletá is the first hard rock album to lead the Billboard 200 in over four years, and the only rock, hard rock or alternative album to be No. 1 in 2025. The last hard rock album at No. 1 was AC/DC’s Power Up, which premiered at No. 1 on the Nov. 28, 2020, chart and spent one week at No. 1. The last rock, or alternative, album to lead the tally was Coldplay’s Moon Music, when it debuted at No. 1 on the Oct. 19, 2024, chart (spending one week at No. 1).
Rock, alternative and hard rock albums are defined as those that are eligible for, or have charted on, Billboard’s Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums charts, respectively.
Not only is Skeletá the group’s first No. 1, but it’s the first chart-topper for its label Loma Vista Recordings and the first leader for Concord Label Group in nearly a decade — since James Taylor’s Before This World (on Concord Records) debuted at No. 1 on the July 4, 2015-dated chart. Loma Vista had previously gone as high as No. 2 with Ghost’s last full-length studio album, Impera, in 2022.
Skeletá is the lone debut in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 chart. The titles at Nos. 2-7 are all former No. 1s. SZA’s SOS slips to No. 2 (52,000 equivalent album units earned; down 1%), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX falls 2-3 (48,000; down 5%), Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is down 3-4 (46,000; down 4%), Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet descends 4-5 (44,000; down 8%), PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U falls 5-6 (43,000; down 6%) and Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos is down 6-7 (38,000; down 3%).
Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going gallops 45-8 with 35,000 equivalent album units earned (up 110%) after a deluxe reissue on April 25 that added six additional songs, bringing its total song count to 18. The set debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the June 15, 2024-dated list. (He also played the Stagecoach Festival on April 26.)
Playboi Carti’s chart-topping MUSIC (7-9; 34,000 equivalent album units, down 11%) and Morgan Wallen’s former leader Dangerous: The Double Album (9-10; 33,000, down 3%) round out the Billboard 200’s top 10.
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.
CAAMP’s “Let Things Go” climbs a spot to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart dated May 10.
The track marks the band’s fourth leader on the list, following “Believe” (2022), “Officer of Love” (2020-21) and “Peach Fuzz” (2019).
In between “Believe” and “Let Things Go,” CAAMP charted the No. 3-peaking “The Otter” in 2022. Four of the band’s six Adult Alternative Airplay entries have hit No. 1, and five have reached the top three. “By and By” peaked at No. 11 in 2020.
CAAMP is tied for the second-most Adult Alternative Airplay No. 1s dating to its first week on top (Nov. 2, 2019), after only Hozier’s five in that span. Also with four each in that stretch: The Black Keys, The Lumineers, Phoenix and Nathaniel Rateliff (solo and with the Night Sweats).
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Concurrently, “Let Things Go” ranks at No. 29 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 1.4 million audience impressions, up 3%, in the week ending May 1, according to Luminate. The song’s best on that tally so far, No. 28, was achieved on the May 3 ranking; it stands as CAAMP’s highest-peaking hit, surpassing the No. 29 high of “Believe.”
“Let Things Go” appears on the four-song EP Somewhere, which the band released in February and has earned 8,000 equivalent album units to date. A full-length album, Copper Changes Color, will follow on June 6. CAAMP’s fifth album follows 2022’s Lavender Days, which peaked at No. 5 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart that July and has accumulated 240,000 units so far.
Trending on Billboard
All Billboard charts dated May 10 will update Tuesday, May 6, on Billboard.com.
Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” dominates Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for a third total and consecutive week. The track tops the chart dated May 10 with 30.5 million in audience (up 3%) April 25-May 1, according to Luminate.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The song became Wallen’s third Country Airplay No. 1 from his album of the same name — prior to its May 16 release. “Love Somebody” ruled for three weeks in February, after “Lies Lies Lies” led for a week in November. His latest single being promoted to country radio, “Just in Case,” climbs 22-19 (9.1 million, up 16%).
Wallen’s new 37-track LP contains one more song than his 2023 LP, One Thing at a Time. That set has ruled Top Country Albums for 84 weeks, the second most in the chart’s history, after only his own Dangerous: The Double Album, which ran up a record 97 weeks at No. 1 beginning in January 2021.
Trending on Billboard
Meanwhile, “I’m the Problem” marks Wallen’s ninth Country Airplay No. 1 to dominate for three or more frames. His longest-leading hit, “You Proof,” reigned for 10 weeks beginning in October 2022. It’s tied for the longest command in the chart’s 35-year history with Nate Smith’s “World on Fire,” which started its rule in December 2023.
Country Lake
Brandon Lake’s “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” featuring Jelly Roll, lifts 56-54 on Country Airplay (979,000, up 15%). Lake’s first entry on the chart has commanded Hot Christian Songs for 20 weeks running and hit the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40. A remix was released Feb. 7 adding Jelly Roll, while the twosome performed the song on ABC’s American Idol on April 20.
Lake is the first core Christian music artist to reach Country Airplay since Chris Tomlin, who, as featured on Thomas Rhett’s “Be a Light,” alongside Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott and Keith Urban, hit No. 2 in September 2020. (Speaking of Rhett, his duet with Forrest Frank, “Nothing Else,” ranked at No. 8 on the May 3 Hot Christian Songs chart.)
Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” continues to dominate the U.K. Singles Chart as it notches a seventh consecutive week at No. 1 on May 2. The hot streak makes “Ordinary” the longest running chart-topper in the U.K. since Sabrina Carpenter’s nine-week reign with “Taste” in 2024. The news also coincides with continued success on the Billboard Hot […]
Welsh rock group Stereophonics has earned its ninth U.K. No. 1 album with 13th studio LP, Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry, Make ‘em Wait, on May 2.
The band earned its first chart-topper in 1999 with Performance and Cocktails, and has appeared at the summit a further eight times with Just Enough Education to Perform (2001), You Gotta Go There to Come Back (2003), Language.Sex.Violence.Other? (2005), Pull the Pin (2007), Keep the Village Alive (2015), Kind (2019) and Oochya! (2022).
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The ninth No. 1 sees the four-piece leapfrog Oasis, Ed Sheeran and Led Zeppelin — all of whom have eight — and pulls them level with Bob Dylan and Take That on the all-time leaders list. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are the only British rock bands to have landed more No. 1s with 15 and 14, respectively.
Trending on Billboard
The group will headline a number of massive outdoor and stadium shows in the U.K. this summer, including at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium and London’s Finsbury Park.
Swedish band Ghost has equaled its career high at No. 2 with its sixth album, Skeletá. The theatrical rockers, led by Tobias Forge under the Papa Emeritus persona, has hit the top 10 several times previously: 2018’s Prequelle (10), 2023’s Phantomime (8) and 2024’s Rite Here Rite Now (10).
Former X Factor winner James Arthur has netted a sixth top 10 with his new LP PISCES; he scored the top spot three times previously with 2016’s Back From the Edge, 2021’s It’ll All Make Sense In the End and 2024’s Bitter Sweet Love.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet nets another week in top five (No. 4) and Self Esteem hits a new peak with her third album, A Complicated Woman (No. 5). The new release saw the Rotherham-born artist sign to Polydor after years on indie labels with her previous band The Slow Club and earlier Self Esteem LPs. Speaking to Billboard U.K., she said, “This whole journey has taught me that what’s important is people and community. That’s what the music means to me.”
The Black Keys top Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart for the eighth time as “The Night Before” lifts a place to No. 1 on the May 10-dated tally. The duo notches its first leader since “Beautiful People (Stay High)” led for two weeks in March 2024. In between its latest No. 1s, the act hit No. […]
Lorde has officially returned to the ARIA Singles Chart’s top tier, as her latest release “What Was That” debuts at No. 9 this week (May 2). It marks the New Zealand singer-songwriter’s first top 10 appearance in Australia since 2017, when “Green Light” peaked at No. 4. The new track, co-produced by Dan Nigro — […]
Cazzu leads the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart for a second consecutive week as “Con Otra” holds steady at No. 1 on the chart dated May 3. The song, released on DALE Play March 19, has remained strong in the chart’s top 10 since its debut at No. 2 (April 5 dated list).
In addition to her recent leader, the Argentinian previously reached a No. 5 high through her Maria Becerra collab, “Animal,” in 2021.
Trending on Billboard
W Sound, better known as Westcol, Béele and Ovy On The Drums nearly miss the top slot as “W Sound 05: La Plena,” rises 4-2, marking the acts’ highest entry to date. Meanwhile, Emilia, TINI, and Nicki Nicole’s “Blackout” dips 2-3, after topping the ranking for two consecutive weeks in April. Emilia also places another top 10 track on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100: “Bunda,” with Luísa Sonza, which slips 7-8.
Back in the top five, La T y La M’s “Amor De Vago,” featuring Malandro de América, falls 4-3. Alleh and Yorghaki’s “Capaz” holds at No. 5 for a second week, for its eighth week in the upper region during its 13th week run so far.
Karol G’s “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” adds a fourth week at No. 6, after the song dominated for 16 consecutive weeks between 2024-25. Plus, Bad Bunny’s “Baile Inolvidable” jumps 8-7, following two consecutive weeks in the runner-up slot in March.
Ecuadorian Jombriel closes the top 10 with two entries. “Parte & Choke,” with Ryan Castro, Jotta and Alex Krack, holds at No. 9 for the third consecutive week, after it ruled for one week in March. Plus, Jombriel’s most recent single, “Vitamina,” with DFZM, breaks into the top 10, climbing 15-10. The move gives Jombriel his second top 10, while Colombian DFZM earns his first.
The week’s Greatest Gainer honors goes to Pablo Chill-E, whose single “Resentía” leaps 28 positions, surging from No. 49 to No. 21.
Elsewhere, Mattei’s “Pa Las Girlas” becomes the Hot Shot Debut of the week, entering at No. 50.
Lastly, Tobal MJ and Lucky Brown’s “Tiene” opens at No. 78, while rock band Estelares add its third entry with “Ella Dijo” at No. 91. It’s the group’s first appearance in over two years, following “Encantan,” featuring Enjambre, in 2022.
Alex Warren tops Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart in his first appearance, as “Ordinary” lifts 4-1 on the May 3-dated tally. “Ordinary” reigns with 21 million official U.S. streams earned in the week ending April 24, up 3%, according to Luminate. The song becomes the first No. 1 to rise to the top of the list, […]
