Chart Beat
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Stray Kids ring up their second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 — and second of 2022 — as MAXIDENT debuts atop the list (dated Oct. 22). The eight track set bows with 117,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 13, according to Luminate. The South Korean group notched its first chart-topper on the April 2 list, with its first charting effort, ODDINARY.
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Both ODDINARY and MAXIDENT were released via JYP/Imperial/Republic Records.
Maxident is the fourth album by a South Korean act to lead the Billboard 200 in 2022, following BLACKPINK’s Born Pink, BTS’ Proof and ODDINARY. In 2021, there were zero No. 1s by a South Korean act, and in 2020 there were two (BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7 and BE).
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Takeoff and Quavo’s collaborative album, Only Built for Infinity Links, debuts at No. 7, G Herbo’s Survivor’s Remorse: Side A bows at No. 9, and Charlie Puth’s Charlie debuts at No. 10.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Oct. 22, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Oct. 18). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of MAXIDENT’s 117,000 equivalent album units earned, album sales comprise 110,000, SEA units comprise 7,000 (equaling 9.61 million on-demand official streams of the set’s eight tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
MAXIDENT’s 110,000 sold marks the fourth-largest sales week of any album in 2022. Of that sum, 97% were CD sales (107,000), while 3% were digital album sales (3,000). The set was not available in any other configuration (such as vinyl LP or cassette).
The CD configuration of the album was issued in collectible packages (10 total, including exclusive variants for Barnes & Noble, Target and the group’s official webstore), each with a standard set of internal paper items and randomized elements (such as photocards, mini posters and stickers). CD sales were also aided by autographed editions sold via the act’s webstore.
MAXIDENT bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 only six months and three weeks after ODDINARY opened atop the list. The last act with a shorter wait between new No. 1s was Young Thug, with six months between the Young Stoner Life: Slime Language 2 (credited on the chart to Young Thug & Various Artists; May 1, 2021, chart) and Punk (Oct. 30, 2021). The last act with a shorter wait between No. 1s excluding those co-billed with a cast of various artists was Taylor Swift, who waited a more scant four months between the first weeks at No. 1 for Evermore (Dec. 26, 2020) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (April 24, 2021). The last group to have a shorter wait between No. 1s was BTS, with just three months and one week between its first two No. 1s: Love Yourself: Tear (June 2, 2018) and Love Yourself: Answer (Sept. 8, 2018).
ODDINARY and MAXIDENT are Stray Kids’ first two albums to chart on the Billboard 200. Thus, the group maintains a perfect record on the list, landing No. 1 albums with its first two entries. Stray Kids made their overall Billboard chart debut in 2017 on the World Digital Song Sales chart (which ranks the week’s top-selling world music digital songs) and landed their first entry on a Billboard album chart in 2018 with Mixtape. In 2018-21, the act accumulated 10 top 10-charting albums on Billboard‘s World Albums chart (which ranks the week’s most popular world music titles). Stray Kids did not reach the all-genre Billboard 200 with any release until this April with ODDINARY, which marked the act’s first release in the U.S. through JYP’s partnership with Imperial/Republic.
MAXIDENT is mostly in the Korean language, but includes a fair amount of English lyrics. Notably, itis the 16th mostly non-English language album to hit No. 1 and the fourth in 2022. Earlier in the year, there were mostly non-English No. 1s from BTS’ mostly-Korean Proof, Bad Bunny’s all-Spanish Un Verano Sin Ti and the mostly-Korean ODDINARY.
While Stray Kids have yet to chart a song on the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100 chart (through the most recently published list, dated Oct. 15), the group has notched a trio of songs on the Billboard Global 200 and six on the Billboard Global 200 Excl. U.S. tally. The act last charted on both lists with the ODDINARY single “Maniac,” peaking at Nos. 21 and 15, respectively.
Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti falls to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 after 13 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list (76,000 equivalent album units earned; down 9%).
Beyoncé’s former No. 1 Renaissance rallies 6-3 with 75,000 equivalent album units (up 145%) after the wide release of its vinyl album on Oct. 7.
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album dips 3-4 on the Billboard 200 with 46,000 equivalent album units earned (down less than 1%).
Dangerous: The Double Album has now accumulated 91 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard 200. It now solely has the fifth-most weeks in the top 10 among all albums since the chart began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956. The all-time top 10 record-holder is the original cast recording of My Fair Lady, with 173 weeks in the top 10 between 1956-60. See list, below.
Albums With Most Weeks in Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart (March 24, 1956-onwards):
Weeks in Top 10, Artist, Title, Year First Reached Top 10
173, Original Cast, My Fair Lady, 1956109, Soundtrack, The Sound of Music, 1965106, Soundtrack, West Side Story, 1962105, Original Cast, The Sound of Music, 196091, Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album, 202190, Soundtrack, South Pacific, 195887, Original Cast, Camelot, 196187, Soundtrack, Oklahoma!, 195685, Peter, Paul and Mary, Peter Paul and Mary, 196284, Adele, 21, 201184, Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A., 1984(through the Oct. 22, 2022-dated chart)
The Weeknd’s compilation The Highlights falls 4-5 on the Billboard 200 with 40,000 equivalent album units earned (up 1%), while Harry Styles’ former leader Harry’s House moves 5-6 with 34,000 (down 1%).
Takeoff and Quavo’s collaborative set, Only Built for Infinity Links, bows at No. 7 with 33,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 31,000 (equaling 41.13 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 18 tracks), album sales comprise 2,000 and TEA units comprise 500. It’s the second top 10-charting set for Takeoff (following The Last Rocket, No. 4 in 2018) and the second for Quavo (after Quavo Huncho, No. 2, also in 2018).
Takeoff and Quavo also comprise two-thirds of Migos, which logged three top 10s, including a pair of No. 1s in Culture and Culture II (in 2017 and 2018, respectively). Migos’ third member, Offset, is due to release a solo album on Nov. 11. He’s previously logged two top 10s on the Billboard 200 (Without Warning, with 21 Savage and Metro Boomin, No. 4 in 2017; and Father of 4, No. 4 in 2019). As for Migos, the act is on an indefinite hiatus.
Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak is pushed down 7-8 on the Billboard 200 despite a 1% gain (to 28,000 equivalent album units).
G Herbo notches his third top 10 album on the Billboard 200 with the No. 9 debut of Survivor’s Remorse: Side A, which launches with 27,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 27,000 (equaling 36.44 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 500 units and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The project was initially released as a 12-track standard album on Oct. 7, and was reissued in a deluxe form on Oct. 10 with 13 additional tracks (dubbed Survivor’s Remorse: Side A & Side B).
Charlie Puth rounds out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 with his third full-length album, Charlie, which bows at No. 10. All three of his full-length studio projects have debuted in the top 10. The new set starts with 26,500 equivalent album units earned, of which SEA units comprise 16,000 (equaling 21.26 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 tracks), album sales comprise 9,500 and TEA units comprise 1,000.
Charlie was preceded by a pair of top 30-charting hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Light Switch” and “Left and Right,” the latter featuring Jung Kook (of BTS).
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.
In the long history of the Billboard Hot 100, it’s pretty rare for a specific word to appear across the title of multiple No. 1s. With the exception of “love” (because love songs have never and will never go out of style), the lack of commonalities make it impossible to say there’s a formula for crafting the title of a hit. But in digging through Billboard’s list of chart-toppers, we found another word that has surprisingly made quite the mark on the U.S. songs chart: “bad.”
The irony is obvious. While Merriam-Webster defines “bad” as “failing to reach an acceptable standard,” “morally objectionable” and “unpleasant,” musical acts across a handful of genres have defied tradition and hit No. 1 thanks to the word — and it’s happened numerous times over the decades. In 1961, Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John” became the first “bad” title to reach the chart’s peak. Bon Jovi did it twice in the ‘80s with “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Bad Medicine.” And, most recently, Steve Lacy earned his first-ever Hot 100 chart-topper with “Bad Habit” in October 2022.
We have to mention that “bad” has also evolved to encompass another meaning over the years. Confusingly, in many 21st-century cases, it’s slang for something more positive (like “good,” “sexy” or “badass”) — including its use in Migos’ 2017 No. 1 “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert.
Whether an act is using the word’s dictionary definition or its slang meaning, check out all 15 No. 1s containing “bad” in their titles, listed from newest to oldest with their “baddest” lyrics below.
Slipknot‘s The End, So Far continues the band’s string of No. 1s on Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums charts, debuting atop all three rankings dated Oct. 15.
End bows with 59,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 6, according to Luminate, with 50,000 from album sales.
Each of Slipknot’s studio LPs has ruled the three charts since the lists’ inceptions (Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums in 2006, Top Hard Rock Albums in 2007). Prior to End, the band, which formed in Iowa in 1995, reigned with 2008’s All Hope Is Gone, followed by 2014’s .5: The Gray Chapter and 2019’s We Are Not Your Kind.
End concurrently starts at No. 2 on the all-format Billboard 200, marking the band’s sixth top five title, and No. 1 on Top Album Sales, its fourth ruler.
Six songs from End appear on the multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, led by current single “Yen,” which re-enters at No. 6 on the strength of 1.1 million official U.S. streams and 736,000 airplay audience impressions. The top debut from the album is “Hive Mind” at No. 12 (1.5 million streams).
“Yen” and “The Dying Song (Time to Sing)” also rank on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs at Nos. 47 and 50, respectively.
“Yen,” the album’s second radio single, has reached No. 16 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, this week placing at No. 17 with a new high in weekly plays. Preceding single “The Chapeltown Rag” hit No. 28 last December.
Daniel Johns is back in a familiar place — at No. 1 on Australia’s albums chart.
The ex-Silverchair frontman sets a chart record as FutureNever (BMG/ADA), his third solo album, returns to the summit on the ARIA Chart.
Following its release April 22, FutureNever bowed at No. 3 in Australia, then lifted to No. 1 in its third week.
Now, thanks to its release on vinyl, the album stages another return to the top.
Its 22 weeks between stays at the chart penthouse is the biggest gap for an album by an Australian artist, ARIA reports.
FutureNever, the best-seller on wax this week, earned Johns a nomination for best artist at the 2022 ARIA Awards, announced Wednesday (Oct. 12).
“To have FutureNever go to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart twice in 2022 and spend 6 weeks in the ARIA Top 10 is amazing,” Johns says in a statement as the chart was published late Friday, local time.
“Thank you to the incredible people who worked on this album with me and a very special thank you to everyone who has listened to FutureNever and helped spread the word. For an album with no singles and no music videos, I’m truly grateful that the music is speaking for itself.”
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Johns’ album also lends its name to the veteran rocker’s not-for-profit FutureNeverFund, which announced it would work closely with EquiEnergy Youth, a Newcastle, Australia-based charity dedicated to helping communities reduce instances of mental health distress, self-harm and suicide risk in young people, an alliance that coincides with Mental Health Month.
FutureNever is Johns’ first solo leader in Australia, and sixth in total, including all five of Silverchair’s studio LPs, from Frogstomp through to Young Modern, a feat no other band can match.
Meanwhile, a pair of new releases impact the ARIA top five, led by Stray Kids’ Maxident (ING), new at No. 4, a debut that easily eclipses the K-pop band’s previous chart peak, No. 14 for 2021’s Noeasy.
Close behind is Charlie Puth’s Charlie (Atlantic/Warner), which debuts at No. 5, for the U.S. pop singer’s third ARIA top 10.
Beyonce’s Renaissance (Columbia/Sony) roars back into the top 10, up 29-7, following its own release on vinyl. Over on the national singles chart, “Cuff It” becomes the second Renaissance single to crash the top 10, lifting 16-8 after going viral on TikTok.
There’s no change at the top of the ARIA Singles Chart, as Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy” (Capitol/EMI) holds at No. 1, ahead of David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” (via Warner) and OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” (Interscope/Universal), respectively.
The highest debut on the latest singles chart, published Oct. 14, is Ed Sheeran’s ”Celestial” (Atlantic/Warner), new at No. 37. Sheeran’s latest top 40 hit will appear on the Pokémon “Scarlet” and ”Violet” games, set to rollout Nov. 18 on the Nintendo Switch.
Björk begins at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart (dated Oct. 15) with Fossora. The set starts with 10,000 equivalent album units earned, including 9,000 in album sales, in the Sept. 30-Oct. 6 tracking week, according to Luminate.
It’s the Icelandic songstress’ sixth top 10 dating to the chart’s 2001 inception, a run that began with Vespertine (three weeks at No. 1, 2001). Björk’s other top 10s are Greatest Hits (No. 2, 2002), Family Tree (No. 6, 2002), Volta (nine weeks at No. 1, 2007) and Biophilia (No. 1, 2011).
Björk landed five earlier titles on the Billboard 200, led by Homogenic (No. 28, 1997). Volta brought Björk her highest rank, and lone top 10 to date, on the chart (No. 9).
Concurrently, Fossora arrives on Top Album Sales (No. 7), Vinyl Albums (No. 7; 5,000 vinyl copies), Top Alternative Albums (No. 9), Independent Albums (No. 15) and the Billboard 200 (No. 100), among other tallies.
Additionally on Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Shygirl (aka Blane Muise) starts at No. 7 with Nymph (3,000 units). The U.K.-based DJ/singer has scored two hits on the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart: “Sour Candy (Mura Masa Remix),” with Lady Gaga and BLACKPINK (No. 24, September 2021), and as featured on FKA Twigs’ “Papi Bones” (No. 32, this January).
Speaking of Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Farruko flies20-12 with “Nazareno,” earning top Streaming Gainer honors following the Sept. 29 drop of a remix and video with Ankhal. The track, which reached No. 7 in June, earned 1.2 million U.S. streams, up 102%, in addition to gathering 2.6 million in all-format radio airplay audience impressions.
Shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, MK collects his fourth top 10 and BURNS earns its first with “Better,” featuring Teddy Swims, who adds his second (13-10). The song is drawing core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, iHeartRadio’s Evolution and KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco, among other outlets. (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 70 top 40-formatted reporters.)
The Killers reach No. 1 on Billboard‘s Adult Alternative Airplay chart (dated Oct. 15) with “Boy,” their third leader on the list.
The song is the Brandon Flowers-fronted act’s first No. 1 on the survey since “The Man,” which ruled for a week in 2017. The group first led with “Read My Mind” for six weeks in 2007.
In between “The Man” and “Boy,” The Killers appeared on Adult Alternative Airplay five times, paced by the No. 2-peaking “Caution” in 2020.
“Boy” has ruled three Billboard airplay charts, including two individual-format tallies. The song tops Adult Alternative Airplay as it begins descending Alternative Airplay, where it falls to No. 3 after six weeks at No. 1. “Boy” is The Killers’ first song to lead both Alternative Airplay and Adult Alternative Airplay; the band also boasts three rulers on the former, with “Boy” preceded by “Caution” in 2020 and “When You Were Young” in 2006.
On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, “Boy” led for five weeks and currently ranks at No. 3 with 3.6 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
Elsewhere, “Boy” places at No. 23 on the multi-metric Hot Alternative Songs chart and No. 38 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, after reaching Nos. 12 and 17, respectively, upon its August debut. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 594,000 official U.S. streams in the tracking week ending Oct. 6.
“Boy” has also crossed over to Adult Pop Airplay, where it bullets at No. 33, after reaching No. 32 the week before. It’s the band’s eighth entry on the chart.
The song is currently a standalone single, having been recorded during the sessions for The Killers’ previous album, 2021’s Pressure Machine. The band is currently working on its eighth studio set.
Burna Boy lands his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Last Last” captures first place on the chart dated Oct. 15. The single climbs from the runner-up spot after a 9% increase in weekly plays made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored R&B/hip-hop stations in the week ending Oct. 9, according to Luminate.
“Last Last” gives Burna Boy his first Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart-topper with his second career entry. He previously reached a No. 26 best with “Ye” in 2019. With its ascent, “Last” also halts the record-breaking stay of Future’s “Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems, which logged an unprecedented 14th week at No. 1 on the chart last week.
Plus, the new champ brings a former R&B hit to the summit via a sample. “Last” prominently samples Toni Braxton’s “He Wasn’t Man Enough,” which reached No. 6 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay in 2001.
The new champ adds to the Afrobeats genre’s mounting presence on R&B/hip-hop radio. It’s the genre’s third No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay in the past year, after the 10-week reign of Wizkid’s “Essence,” featuring Tems, beginning last November and a one-week visit for CKay’s “Love Nwantiti” in February. “Last Last” also retains its status as one of the top Afrobeats songs in the U.S., ranking at No. 2 on the latest Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. The track previously clocked eight weeks at No. 1 from July to September.
Elsewhere, “Last” repeats at its No. 3 peak thus far on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, which ranks songs by combined audience at adult and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the single adds 8% in weekly audience to reach 14.6 million in the week ending Oct. 9. Similarly, “Last” holds at its current No. 8 peak on Rhythmic Airplay, with a 9% improvement in weekly plays.
Thanks to its strength at R&B/hip-hop and rhythmic radio, “Last” advances 29-24 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. There, it surges 18% to 22.3 million in total radio audience. Radio airplay, in turn, helps the track lift 49-44 on the Billboard Hot 100, which combines radio airplay with sales and streams to arrive at its rankings.
Streams of Loretta Lynn‘s catalog shot up 615% in the week of the country legend’s death, according to Luminate.
In the Sept. 30-Oct. 6 tracking period, Lynn’s catalog earned 8.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams, a 615% jump from 1.2 million the previous week (Sept. 23-29).
The primary bump occurred on Oct. 4, the day of Lynn’s death. Her music was streamed 3.2 million times that day, up 1,841% from 167,000 on Oct. 3.
Her signature hit, 1970’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” led the pack at 1.3 million streams Sept. 30-Oct. 6, a 399% boost from 253,000 the previous period.
It’s followed by 1966’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)” (768,000 streams, up 381%), 1966’s “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” (593,000, up 351%), her 1973 Conway Twitty collaboration “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” (575,000, up 209%) and 1968’s “Fist City” (427,000, up 424%).
Additionally, Lynn’s catalog moved 7,000 digital downloads Sept. 30-Oct. 6, a gain of 2,691% from a negligible amount the previous week. “Daughter” makes a pair of Billboard charts dated Oct. 15 as a result, appearing at Nos. 12 and 36 on Country Digital Song Sales and Digital Song Sales, respectively, on the strength of 2,000 downloads.
Lynn’s 2022’s greatest hits package, All Time Greatest Hits, also debuts on Top Country Albums with 5,000 equivalent album units earned.
Lynn died Oct. 4 at age 90 in her sleep in Tennessee of natural causes.
Lynn earned 10 Top Country Albums No. 1s over a career that spanned seven decades from 1960 through 2021, plus 16 No.1s on Hot Country Songs.
Harry’s House has made itself quite at home on Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart.
On the list dated Oct. 15, Harry Styles infuses the top 10 with three hits, all from his third album: “As It Was,” which reigned for seven weeks beginning in May (No. 4); follow-up “Late Night Talking” (No. 8; a week at No. 1 in September); and third radio track “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” up 12-10 to become the third Pop Airplay top 10 from the set, and his fifth overall.
Harry’s House, released on Erskine/Columbia Records May 20, launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated June 4, spent two weeks at the summit, and has ranked in the top 10 in each of its first 20 weeks on the tally.
Styles becomes the first solo male to log three simultaneous Pop Airplay top 10s, and just the third artist total, dating to the chart’s October 1992 inception. Ariana Grande initiated the honor for two weeks in May 2021 with “Positions,” “34+35” and “pov,” all from her album Positions, and Doja Cat tallied two frames in the tier last October with “Kiss Me More,” featuring SZA; “You Right,” with The Weeknd; and “Need to Know,” all from her LP Planet Her.
While artist separation has long been a tenet of radio, to help ensure variety, “It’s up to pop radio to reflect what truly is the hottest of the hot, and that’s definitely Harry,” says Erik Bradley, assistant program director/music director at Pop Airplay reporter WBBM-FM Chicago. “It’s a challenge to keep all of his songs separated, but when an artist is this on fire, I tend to not be as critical about that.”
“As programmers, we’re looking to give our listeners what they want,” echoes Mark Adams, iHeartMedia vp of pop programming and pd of Pop Airplay panelist KYLD San Francisco, among other stations. “As the demand for those songs has been overwhelming, we’ve been nimble in recognizing that our listenership is not concerned about the traditional rules of artist separation and have acted accordingly. Ariana Grande and Doja Cat were similarly audience-driven, and radio responded.”
Matt Mony, pd of Pop Airplay reporter WYOY Jackson, Miss., pd, concurs. “Harry Styles and other artists who continue to pump out massive amounts of hits have forced radio playlists to adapt to an online world,” he says. “An album can drop and have five or six songs hit the Spotify top 10 almost instantly. Bad Bunny is a great example. Harry Styles and Doja Cat have both earned a special 15-minute separation on WYOY. Some programmers might look at this as playing too much of a certain artist, [but] Harry Styles is extremely popular right now, so the station should reflect that.”
Also helping Styles’ latest single stand out: its instrumental hook, courtesy of Ivan Jackson on trumpet.
“Pop songs with almost entirely instrumental-driven hooks have seemingly become rare,” Adams says. “I can readily think of Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Street’ or Vanessa Carlton’s ‘A Thousand Miles,’ but there have been fewer of them as of late. Modern dance music producers and DJs are probably where most of the instrumental-dominated hit tracks are originating from in more recent years.” Adams notes such examples as DJ Snake’s “You Know You Like It,” with AlunaGeorge, and “Lean On,” with Major Lazer and featuring MØ, and SAINt JHN’s “Roses.”
Joining “Sushi,” instrumental ingredients are key to David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue),” as the track, another with a dance pedigree, bounds 21-14 on Pop Airplay, built on the signature section of Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” from 2000.
Mony, meanwhile, cites Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” as a song in which an instrumental section was … well, instrumental to its success. “That is such a great record for so many reasons, but that driving bass and drum line makes the song,” he says. Also: “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man, as “The Ventures vibe in that guitar riff made that song inescapable.
“It’s refreshing,” Mony muses of “Sushi.” He’s also vocal about … well, the song’s vocals. “Harry’s mini-scat line in the middle doesn’t hurt things, either.”
Six years after its release, Sia‘s “Unstoppable” ascends to No. 1 on Billboard‘s Adult Pop Airplay chart (dated Oct. 15).
The song is the singer-songwriter’s second leader on the list, after “Cheap Thrills,” featuring Sean Paul, reigned for seven weeks beginning in September 2016.
Notably, the two tracks are from the same album – Sia’s 2016 LP This Is Acting, which debuted at its No. 4 best on the Billboard 200 that February and spent 83 weeks on the chart through 2018.
“Unstoppable” has lived up to its title, notably being used promos for Major League Baseball’s 2016 postseason and in a Lancôme Idôle commercial, starring Zendaya, in 2019. It subsequently became prominent on TikTok and soundtracked a Samsung Galaxy ad beginning this February.
Radio promotion began this year for the song, which debuted on the Adult Pop Airplay chart dated May 7.
“We started talking about it in January. The question was, ‘How are we going to do this?’ ” Erik Olesen of Crush Music tells Billboard of the song’s promotional campaign. Complicating the push somewhat, Sia’s most recent material has been released on Atlantic Records and “Unstoppable” was originally on RCA Records, and later moved to Sony Music’s catalog division under the Legacy label. However, “both RCA and Legacy were very supportive and were all about us going for this,” Olesen says.
Olesen recalls bemusement among certain programmers as he began bringing “Unstoppable” to radio, but, seemingly in its favor, it was hardly the only older song cutting through in 2022. “As we got it going, Kate Bush took off” with her 1985 classic “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” sparked by its feature in Netflix’s Stranger Things. “At least ‘Unstoppable’ was 30 years younger!”
As momentum continued to build for the song, “I asked several format captains at different radio chains both domestically and internationally to put it into their callout research,” Olesen recalls. “After a couple of weeks, it started to raise its hand and had huge familiarity. One of the most important ingredients for radio is familiarity.”
Among major-market Adult Pop Airplay panelists, KBIG Los Angeles leads with over 1,600 plays to-date for “Unstoppable,” followed by WWBX Boston (800) and WNEW New York (700), according to Luminate.
Since its release, “Unstoppable” has drawn 388.2 million in airplay audience among reporters to Billboard‘s all-format Radio Songs chart and 250 million official streams and sold 365,000 downloads in the U.S.
In addition to its Adult Pop Airplay coronation, the track rises 10-9 on Radio Songs, up 11% to 37.1 million in reach in the week ending Oct. 6. It also drew 3 million streams and sold 3,000 in that span. It likewise hits new highs on Adult Contemporary (No. 3), Pop Airplay (No. 19) and the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 (No. 30).