State Champ Radio Chart Beat
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Jordan Davis banks his fourth leader on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, as “What My World Spins Around” rises from No. 3 to No. 1 on the list dated Jan. 21. In the tracking week ending Jan. 12, the song increased by 14% to 29.9 million impressions, according to Luminate.
Davis co-wrote “World” with Matt Dragstrem and Ryan Hurd. It’s the second single from Davis’ sophomore album, Bluebird Days, due Feb. 17.
“It feels like yesterday I was praying for that first one to ring the bell,” Davis tells Billboard of his latest Country Airplay coronation. “Huge thanks to my friends at country radio and [the MCA Nashville] promo team for believing in this song. When Ryan, Matt and I wrote this song, there was always that little feeling in the back of my mind that this one might be special. Pumped that it’s connected the way it has.”
On the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs survey, “World” hit a No. 8 high in December.
For the 34-year-old Davis, from Shreveport, La., “World” follows “Buy Dirt” (featuring Luke Bryan), which dominated Country Airplay for two weeks beginning on the ranking dated Jan. 29, 2022. (The song marked Bryan’s 26th No. 1.) “Dirt” controlled Hot Country Songs for four weeks beginning the same frame, awarding Davis his first No. 1 (and Bryan his most recent of 12 leaders).
Davis notched his first No. 1 on Country Airplay with his launch release “Singles You Up,” which led for a week and reached No. 4 on Hot Country Songs in April 2018. “Take It From Me” followed, peaking at No. 2 on Country Airplay and No. 4 on Hot Country Songs in March 2019; “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot” became the singer-songwriter’s second Country Airplay leader, for a week in April 2020, and hit No. 6 on Hot Country Songs that month; and “Almost Maybes” rose to No. 5 on Country Airplay and No. 7 on Hot Country Songs in July 2021.
Lisa Marie Presley made her mark on Billboard’s charts in her lifetime, highlighted by two top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 in the 2000s.
As announced by Priscilla Presley, her mother, the singer-songwriter and only child of Elvis Presley, and ex-wife of Michael Jackson, died Jan. 12, at age 54, after being hospitalized earlier in the day.
Presley made her Billboard chart debut when “Lights On” entered the March 8, 2003-dated Adult Pop Airplay survey. The single went on to hit a No. 18 high, as well as No. 34 on Pop Airplay, that May.
Parent album To Whom It May Concern launched at its No. 5 best on the Billboard 200 in April 2003.
“There is some searing depth to rock ‘n’ roll’s most famous princess, and she has some estimable chops both as singer and songwriter,” Billboard praised in a review of the album a week before it entered the Billboard 200. “Musically, this is sultry, surly mainstream rock with a cutting, contemporary edge. ‘Lights Out’ is a real powerhouse. As a singer, Presley is alternatingly snarling, exposed and defiant. Lyrically, she’s even better – raw, wounded and often pissed off. This project stands on its own.”
Presley followed with Now What, which debuted at its No. 9 Billboard 200 high in April 2005, while the album’s “Dirty Laundry” reached No. 36 on Adult Contemporary. The single updated Don Henley’s critique of a callous media that hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983 (a cover choice that Billboard’s review of Presley’s version referred to as “telling”).
Both albums were released on Capitol Records. In June 2012, Presley’s Storm & Grace, on XIX/Republic Records, hit No. 45 on the Billboard 200, as well as No. 21 on the Top Rock Albums chart.
Presley’s album sales stand at 836,000, while her songs have drawn 9.5 million official streams (audio and video combined) in the U.S. through Jan. 5, according to Luminate.
Also among Presley’s chart history, she charted two virtual duets with her father: “In the Ghetto,” a reworking of The King’s No. 3-peaking 1969 Hot 100 hit, rose to No. 69 on Digital Song Sales, and “Where No One Stands Alone” reached No. 22 on Christian Digital Song Sales.
DeeDee Kearney, founder/CEO of marketing agency The Moxi Group and formerly Capitol northeast regional promotion manager, shared on Facebook Jan. 12 that she was “incredibly saddened” by the news of Presley’s death. “I worked with her in 2003. We drove to many radio stations together, had lovely dinners, visited five cities and had lots of wonderful talks. Her security guards were next-level, and she dealt with crazy fans in every city we visited. She was kind [and] humble.
“One night, while getting off stage at [Boston’s] Paradise [Rock Club], she came right over to me (me!) and asked if her performance was good. I’ll never forget that moment. I just adored her.”
Like her character in “Kill Bill,” the real-life SZA is sizing up the competition on pop radio and taking action.
The singer-songwriter sports two tracks from her new album, SOS, on Billboard’s mainstream top 40-based Pop Airplay chart (dated Jan. 21), led by “Kill Bill,” which soars in at No. 24, up 865% to 2,257 plays on 129 reporting stations (or, an average of 18 plays per panelist) Jan. 6-12, according to Luminate.
Meanwhile, SZA’s “Nobody Gets Me” pushes 37-30 on Pop Airplay, up 115% to 1,632 plays on 107 reporters (a 15 plays-per-station average) in its third week on the list. The tracks claim the second- and fifth-greatest gains, respectively, among all songs on the survey.
SOS, released on Top Dawg/RCA Records, has held the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart in its first four weeks, marking the first R&B album by a woman to achieve such a start since Janet Jackson’s janet. nearly 30 years ago.
Radio ‘Gets’ Two Tracks
RCA originally targeted ballad “Nobody Gets Me” for the pop format, but as streaming has stayed strong for “Kill Bill” – SZA’s not-her-best-idea-turned-murder fantasy (hopefully) – the label decided to formally promote both together. The latter debuted with 36.9 million official U.S. streams Dec. 9-15, followed by frames of 32 million (Dec. 16-22), 26.6 million (Dec. 23-29) and 28 million (Dec. 30-Jan. 5).
“Nobody Gets Me” started with 25.1 million streams Dec. 9-15 and drew 10.4 million Dec. 30-Jan. 5.
“Kill Bill” has so far hit No. 3 on the streaming-, airplay- and sales-driven Billboard Hot 100, debuting at the spot on the Dec. 24 chart and returning to its high on the Jan. 14-dated ranking, and ascends to the top of the Jan. 14 Billboard Global 200. “Nobody Gets Me” debuted at its No. 10 Hot 100 best (Dec. 24).
“When SOS came out this December, we immediately heard from pop programmers saying they wanted to play ‘Nobody Gets Me,’” says RCA head of promotion Keith Rothschild. “Heading into the holidays, most stations went into year-end countdowns [and paused on adding new music]. During that time, ‘Kill Bill’ became a streaming monster. On Jan. 2, I called [the RCA] pop team – [led by] Joe Daddio, Jessie Maldonado [and] Jeff Rizzo – and said, ‘What if we impacted both records at top 40 coming out of the break?’ I also asked a few key programmers, and everyone agreed: ‘Let’s do it.’”
(Fellow SOS track “Shirt,” which helped introduce the album with its release in October, is being worked to R&B/hip-hop and rhythmic radio. It climbs to new highs of Nos. 7 and 8 on the Jan. 21 Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay charts, respectively.)
Programmers: ‘The Data Speaks Loudly’
“There has been a great deal of interest in SZA from our [pop] programmers,” says Jon Zellner, iHeartMedia president of programming operations/digital music, citing growing support on the chain’s Pop Airplay reporters including WHTZ New York, KIIS Los Angeles, KYLD San Francisco and WHYI Miami.
“Typically, programmers tend to gravitate toward one emphasis single,” Zellner says. “‘Kill Bill’ is way ahead at this point. It’s always tough to determine whether any song will have staying power, but the song has a strong hook and a powerful message.”
“The data speaks loudly,” says Erik Bradley, assistant program director/music director at Audacy-owned Pop Airplay panelist WBBM (B96) Chicago. “Our core loves this album and these two singles feel like they’re strongly leading the way. They’re mainstream radio-friendly. It’s really hard to design a plan to have dual singles, but in this instance, the data demanded it, and that creates a no-brainer decision to have both songs simultaneously in regular rotation. Add to that the launch of SZA’s tour and it just feels like everything is teed up for a major 2023 win for her.”
“In radio and programming, we have rules about artist separation, and sometimes those rules need to be adjusted to mirror what our listeners are showing they want,” shares Molly Cruz, regional brand manager for Audacy’s Milwaukee, Wis., stations, including Pop Airplay reporter WXSS, noting prior success with simultaneous pop radio singles for Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, among others.
‘I Might (blank) My Ex’
Hedging against any potential concerns about the lyrics in “Kill Bill”– “I might kill my ex … his new girlfriend’s next …,” later the more damning “I just killed” – RCA has serviced two edits to radio, one in which “kill”/“killed” is simply omitted and one in which the words are replaced by the sound of a slicing knife. (So that’s how she did it! The song’s Christian Breslauer-directed official video, released Jan. 10, as well as its title, an ode to the 2004 film of the same name directed by Quentin Tarantino, with its focus on samurai swords, should’ve also given clues.)
RCA chuckles that while the edit for the song – which SZA wrote with Rob Bisel and Carter Lang – is being promoted, some programmers prefer the original version with the “kill” lyric to the “I might/just (blank) my ex” mix, as the latter could invite listeners’ minds to wander toward tawdry territory.
Historically, songs with similar sinister plots have become hits, however rare, often with the same tongue-in-cheek vibe as SZA’s. Johnny Cash famously boasted that he “killed a man … just to watch him die” in “Folsom Prison Blues,” a No. 32 Hot 100 hit that also topped the Hot Country Songs chart for four weeks in 1968; Eric Clapton confessed “I Shot the Sheriff” in his Bob Marley-penned Hot 100 leader in 1974; and The Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl” reached No. 13 on Hot Country Songs in 2000 – notably, ending a streak of seven consecutive career-opening top 10 singles for the trio (even with the video’s serious portions offset by “Earl,” aka, Dennis Franz, dancing with the trio from the afterlife).
“I applaud her creativity and storytelling,” Bradley praises SZA.
“‘Kill Bill’ is my personal favorite,” Cruz says of SOS’ tracks. “It’s always fun when your favorite song is doing well and you have solid metrics to increase rotation. I think the songwriting on ‘Kill Bill’ is relatable to so many because it’s about the pain of seeing an ex move on and appear happier with their new partner.”
Muses Zellner about “Kill Bill,” “While violent, [it] certainly is creating a buzz. Are there really people who would rather go to jail or hell than be alone?”
ATEEZ captures its third top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Jan. 14) as Spin Off: From the Witness debuts at No. 2. The set sold 40,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 5, according to Luminate. The eight-member South Korean group previously visited the top 10 with The World EP.1: Movement (No. 2 in 2022) and Zero: Fever Part.3 (No. 6 in 2021).
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CDs comprise a little over 39,000 of Spin Off’s sales for the week, while digital album purchases comprise 1,000. Like many K-pop releases, the CD configuration of Spin Off was issued in collectible deluxe packages (six), each with a standard set of items and randomized elements (photocards and posters).
Meanwhile, at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Taylor Swift’s Midnights spends an 11th consecutive, and total, week atop the list (58,000 sold; up 7%). Midnights has the most weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 25 collected 11 total nonconsecutive weeks in late 2015 and early 2016. Midnights has the most consecutive weeks atop the list since the Titanic soundtrack scored 16 weeks in a row at No. 1 (the entirety of its No. 1-run) in 1998. Midnights also ties Fearless as Swift’s albums with the most weeks at No. 1 on Top Album Sales.
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.
RM’s Indigo falls 2-3 on Top Album Sales (9,000; down 41%), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours rises 5-4 (9,000; down 26%), Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House dips 4-5 (8,000; down 38%) and Michael Jackson’s Thriller descends 3-6 (nearly 8,000; down 45%). Tyler, the Creator’s chart-topping Igor is a non-mover at No. 7 (7,000; down 39%), Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city falls 6-8 (nearly 7,000; down 44%), Arctic Monkeys’ AM climbs 15-9 (6,000; down 28%) and SZA’s Ctrl jumps 21-10 (5,000; down 27%).
In the week ending Jan. 5, there were 2.123 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 22.4% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.772 million (down 24.6%) and digital albums comprised 351,000 (up 8.3%).
There were 681,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Jan. 5 (down 11.4% week-over-week) and 1.081 vinyl albums sold (down 31.1%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 681,000 (up 9% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 1.081 million (up 36.8%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 2.123 million (up 16.4% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 1.772 million (up 24.5%) and digital album sales total 351,000 (down 12.4%).
SZA soars from No. 5 to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters chart (dated Jan. 14), becoming the top songwriter in the U.S. for the first time, thanks to 15 charting songs on the latest Billboard Hot 100, all of which appear on her latest album, SOS.
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Leading the way is the album’s standout track “Kill Bill,” which jumps 11-3 on the Hot 100, returning to its peak, with 28 million official streams (up 5%), 1.7 million radio airplay audience impressions (up a whopping 703%, as it’s now being promoted to pop radio, alongside the set’s “Nobody Gets Me”) and 1,000 downloads sold (up 1%) in the U.S. Dec. 30-Jan. 5, according to Luminate.
Here’s a recap of all 15 SZA songs on the latest Hot 100, with additional co-songwriters listed in parentheses:
Rank, Title (co-songwriters in addition to SZA)
No. 3, “Kill Bill” (Rob Bisel, Carter Lang)
No. 23, “Shirt” (Rodney Jerkins, “Freaky” Rob Gueringer)
No. 42, “Nobody Gets Me” (benny blanco, Rob Bisel, Carter Lang)
No. 45, “Low” (Rob Bisel, SANGE, Aire Atlantica, Jozzy)
No. 51, “Blind” (Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, Yuli, Will Miller)
No. 53, “Snooze” (Babyface, Khristopher Riddick-Tynes, Leon Thomas III, BLK Beats)
No. 56, “Love Language” (Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, ThankGod4Cody, Yakob, Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, Ty Dolla $Ign, Ant Clemons, Jazzae De Waal)
No. 66, “Seek & Destroy” (Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, ThankGod4Cody, Scum)
No. 76, “Used,” feat. Don Toliver (DJ DaHi, John Hill, Ely Rise, Danny McKinnon, John Key, Don Toliver)
No. 79, “Ghost in the Machine,” feat. Phoebe Bridgers (Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, Matt Cohn, Marshall Vore, Phoebe Bridgers)
No. 83, “Special” (benny blanco, Blake Slatkin, Shellback, Omer Fedi)
No. 85, “Open Arms,” feat. Travis Scott (Rob Bisel, Michael Uzowuru, Teo Halm, Dougie F, Travis Scott)
No. 90, “SOS” (Jay Versace, Rob Bisel, Gabriel Hardeman)
No. 94, “Gone Girl “(Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, ThankGod4Cody, Jeff Bhasker, Emile Haynie)
No. 100, “Notice Me” (Carter Lang, ThankGod4Cody, Teo Halm, Michael Uzowuru)
SOS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated Dec. 24 and has ruled every week since (four and counting). The set tops the latest tally with 125,000 equivalent album units earned Dec. 30-Jan. 5. All 23 songs on SOS charted on the Hot 100 in the set’s opening week.
SZA is the first solo woman to lead Hot 100 Songwriters since Taylor Swift ruled for five consecutive weeks in November-December. Kate Bush is the only other woman to have led in 2022, with eight weeks at the summit, thanks to “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” her 1985 single that was revived thanks to its synch in Netflix’s Stranger Things.
SZA concurrently spends a 15th week at No. 1 on the R&B Songwriters chart and a fourth week atop R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriters.
On the latest Hot 100 Producers chart, Joey Moi returns to No. 1 for a 15th week on top, thanks to five production credits on the Hot 100, four via songs recorded by Morgan Wallen. Here’s a recap:
Rank, Artist Billing, Title (co-producers in addition to Moi)
No. 13, Morgan Wallen, “You Proof” (Charlie Handsome)
No. 22, Morgan Wallen, “Wasted On You” (Jacob Durrett)
No. 33, Morgan Wallen, “Thought You Should Know”
No. 38, HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson, “Wait in the Truck” (HARDY)
No. 77, Morgan Wallen, “One Thing at a Time”
Moi passes Greg Kurstin for the third-most weeks spent at No. 1 on Hot 100 Producers, dating to the list’s launch in June 2019. Dan Nigro has logged the most time at No. 1, 27 weeks, followed by Louis Bell (18).
Moi also adds a record-extending 90th week at No. 1 on the Country Producers chart.
The weekly Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100; plus, genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).
The full Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, in addition to the full genre rankings, can be found on Billboard.com.
SZA cleans-up on the Australian singles chart with “Kill Bill” (via RCA/Sony), while Taylor Swift enters a 10th non-consecutive week at No. 1 on the national albums survey with Midnights (Universal).
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Swift’s 10th and latest album becomes her longest-reigning No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, eclipsing the nine-week run for 1989’s 2014. On the latest chart, published Friday, Jan. 13, 1989 dips 19-20.
“Congratulations Taylor! Ten weeks at No. 1 is a great achievement and 10 chart-topping albums in just 12 years is incredible,” comments ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd. “Australia’s love affair with Taylor and her music is not slowing down.”
Midnights manages to hold off SZA’s SOS from a first stint on the albums chart throne, as it holds at No. 2 — though the U.S. R&B star goes one better on the ARIA Singles Chart.
In a week that saw SZA drop a bloody music video for “Kill Bill,” the track lifts 2-1 on the ARIA Chart for her first leader in Australia.
Until now, SZA’s best was a No. 2 placing for “All The Stars” with Kendrick Lamar, lifted from the Black Panther soundtrack in 2018. She also featured on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” which peaked at No. 2 in 2021.
“Kill Bill” switches places with Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy” (Capitol/Universal), which slips 1-2, just days after Smith performed an exclusive, intimate concert at the d’Arenberg Cube winery in McLaren Vale, Adelaide.
Raye’s “Escapism” (Orchard) featuring U.S. rapper 070 Shake reaches a new high, up 7-4. The British singer and songwriter snagged the U.K. No. 1 this week with “Escapism,” released independently after her public split with Polydor, part of Universal Music Group.
Meanwhile, Dean Lewis’ “How Do I Say Goodbye” (Island/Universal) is the best-placed homegrown track on Australia’s official singles chart, up 26-16, just two places removed from its peak position.
Also noteworthy is Stephen Sanchez and Em Beihold’s dark horse “Until I Found You” (Universal), which races 30-12, six months after it first impacted the top 100, while Skrillex, Fred Again and Flowdan bag the week’s highest debut, as “Rumble” (Atlantic/Warner) starts at No. 35.
Chileans Cris MJ and Standly cross off a career milestone with their first No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart (dated Jan. 7). “Marisola,” with Duki and Nicki Nicole, jumps 2-1 in its 19th week. It’s the longest trek to No. 1 since Rauw Alejandro and Camilo’s “Tattoo” took 21 weeks to land at the penthouse in July 2020.
Released via Stars Music Chile, “Marisola” sends Manuel Turizo’s “La Bachata” to the runner-up slot after its 15-week run at the summit. While Duki collects his fourth champ, Nicki Nicole claims her third No. 1.
Meanwhile, Luck Ra’s “Ya No Vuelvas,” featuring La K’Onga and Ke Personajes, ascends 5-3, as Rosalía’s “Despechá” falls 3-4.
Further, Argentine duo La T y La M, conformed by Tobías Medrano and Matías Rapen, notches its first top 10 with “Pa’ La Selección,” a cumbia in honor of Argentina’s national soccer team. The track surges 17-5 in its third week.
Elsewhere, Bizarrap and Duki’s “3 Estrellas En El Conjunto” takes the Hot Shot Debut of the week, at No. 39. While the former adds his 41st career entry, the latter secures his 39th.
Here’s a recap of the artists with the most entries on the chart since it begun in 2018:
55, Bad Bunny
49, J Balvin
41, Bizarrap
37, DuKi
35, Anuel AA
35, Maria Becerra
35, Ozuna
35, Rauw Alejandro
Further, Emilia notches the Greatest Gainer title as “La Chain” ascends 21 positions from No. 87 to No. 66.
Finally, Ke Personajes earns its third career entry as “Cómo Estás” bows at No. 92.
Skrillex, Fred again.. and Flowdan roar onto Billboard‘s multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated Jan. 14) with “Rumble” (No. 15). The collab earned 653,000 U.S. streams in the Dec. 30-Jan. 5 tracking week, according to Luminate.
“Rumble” is the 37th chart appearance for Skillex, the 13th for Fred again.. and the second for Flowdan. It’s Skrillex’s 11th top 15 entry and the first since “En Mi Cuarto,” with Jhay Cortez (No. 8, August 2021). Skrillex has scored five top 10s, including one leader, “Where Are You Now,” with Diplo and Justin Bieber (for two weeks in 2015).
For Fred again.. and Flowdan, “Rumble” marks new career high peaks. Fred again..’s “Turn On the Lights Again..,” with Swedish House Mafia and featuring Future, reached No. 16 last August, and “Gassed Up,” by Zeds Dead x Subtronics, featuring Flowdan, hit No. 26 in January 2022.
Concurrently, “Rumble” arrives on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart at No. 13.
Additionally on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, SLANDER, Said the Sky and Alison Wonderland start at No. 18 with “Picture,” courtesy of 619,000 streams. The collab is SLANDER’s second-highest-charting song among 15, after “All You Need to Know,” with Gryffin and featuring Calle Lehmann (No. 12, 2019); it’s Said the Sky’s first time in the top 20 among four chart hits. For Alison Wonderland, “Picture” is her 13th appearance, tying “High,” featuring Trippie Redd, for her top position (2018).
Looking at the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, a third threesome of acts is making an impact with a third single-word-titled song, as VASSY, Bingo Players and Disco Fries improve after hitting the top 10 a week earlier with “Pieces” (9-8). The track is VASSY’s eighth top 10, Bingo Players’ second and Disco Fries’ third.
“We’ve worked with both Bingo Players and VASSY on previous collaborations, so once we heard about ‘Pieces’ coming together, we had to jump in!” Nick Ditri of Disco Fries tells Billboard. “It’s been awesome to work across the globe on a record like this. It was created in all of our respective studios, from Los Angeles to New York to the Netherlands. Feel-good, melodic dance music is always our sweet spot, and to see this record climb the chart so quickly has been proof that it’s still alive and well. We’re super grateful.”
“Pieces” pockets core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco and iHeartRadio’s Evolution, among other supporters. (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.)
Jeff Beck, the legendary guitarist who died Jan. 10 at age 78, had a Billboard charts history that stretched over a half century whether it was through his solo work or with the band that brought him his initial fame, The Yardbirds.
Beginning in 1965 and running all the way up to 2022’s Johnny Depp collaboration 18, Beck reached the charts dozens of times, rattling off top 40 albums on the Billboard 200 and scoring entries on the Billboard Hot 100.
In fact, beginning in the 1960s, there was never a decade that didn’t feature an album involving Jeff Beck on the Billboard 200, solo or otherwise. As a guitarist in The Yardbirds, he first appeared on the chart with For Your Love, which peaked at No. 96 on the Billboard 200 in August 1965, followed by Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds (No. 53, February 1966) and Over Under Sideways Down (No. 52, October 1966). Yardbirds Greatest Hits peaked at No. 28 in June 1967 and The Yardbirds hit No. 155 in October 1970, both featuring Beck recordings, but by then he had left the group.
What followed was a multi-decade streak of Beck solo records that reached the chart, beginning with the No. 15-peaking Truth in November 1968. The ‘70s? More albums, paced by the No. 4 peak of Blow By Blow, to date Beck’s highest-charting album on the Billboard 200. The ‘80s brought the No. 21-peaking There and Back in August 1980 as his top-charter, and the ‘90s were accented by Who Else!, at No. 99, in April 1999.
Moving into the 2000s, Beck appeared twice, led by You Had It Coming (No. 110, February 2001), and the 2010s saw four appearances, with Emotion + Commotion leading the group at No. 11 in May 2010. The aforementioned 18 with Depp, Beck’s final release before his death, continued his streak into the ‘20s, hitting No. 183 in July 2022.
On the Hot 100, Beck was best represented by The Yardbirds recordings, accruing a top 10 in 1965 with “Heart Full of Soul” after he replaced Eric Clapton as the band’s lead guitarist (No. 9, September 1965). A cover of Bo Diddley’s “I’m a Man” reached No. 17 that December. “Shapes of Things” hit No. 11 in May 1966. “Over Under Sideways Down” followed at No. 13 that August, the band’s final top 20 with Beck or otherwise. One more appearance with Beck occurred later that year, with the No. 30-peaking “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago.”
Beck reached the Hot 100 three more times as a credited artist, first with Donovan’s “Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)” (credited to Donovan and the Jeff Beck Group) at No. 36 in September 1969. A decade-and-a-half later, he was back with the Rod Stewart collaboration “People Get Ready” at No. 48 (July 1985), and in 2007 he returned one final time to date as a featured artist on Kelly Clarkson’s cover of “Up to the Mountain” (No. 56, May 2007).
But that’s not where Beck’s chart story ends. He was an occasional presence on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart upon its 1981 inception, first with the aforementioned “Ready,” which peaked at No. 5. In all, he reached the chart five times as a lead artist, most recently with Seal collaboration “Manic Depression” (No. 10, February 1994).
A 28-year break from the chart followed before his return as a featured artist on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Patient Number 9” in 2022. A three-week No. 1, it allowed Beck to set a record for the longest amount of time between first chart appearance (“Ready”) and first No. 1, a 37-year, one-month, two-week wait. It’s a record that, as of January 2023, remains intact.
Beck died Jan. 10 in England after a brief battle with bacterial meningitis. He’s nominated at the 2023 Grammy Awards for both best rock performance and best rock song, on Osbourne’s “Patient.”
Just as Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” arrives on the Billboard charts thanks to activity that originated on TikTok, the platform (which itself does not currently contribute to charts) revives another 2011 track: Miguel’s “Sure Thing,” which returns at No. 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
“Sure Thing” drew 8.4 million official U.S. streams in the week ending Jan. 5, according to Luminate, up 14% from the previous week. The sum prompts a No. 20 start on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart and at No. 46 on the corresponding, all-genre list.
The resurgence isn’t only having impact stateside, either. “Sure Thing” rockets 143-69 on the Billboard Global 200, sparked by 21.2 million global streams in the same period, a 14% bump from the prior frame. It debuts on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. at No. 134. Both appearances mark Miguel’s debuts on the global surveys, which launched in 2020.
“Sure Thing,” first released in 2011, became not only one of the singer-songwriter’s biggest hits, but one of the genre’s biggest smashes of the 2010s. As just his his second appearance on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, “Sure Thing” became Miguel’s first No. 1 on the list and spent 23 weeks in the top 10. It ultimately posted 59 weeks on the chart in it is initial run in 2011-12, and at the time of its departure, was one of only 17 songs to reach that mark since the list began in 1958. In 2019, the track finished at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs recap for the 2010s decade.
In addition to the placements above, “Sure Thing” returns at No. 14 on the Hot R&B Songs chart to secure a 47th total week on the list. Plus, the song’s activity helps “Sure Thing” parent album, All I Want is You, score a No. 20 entrance on the Top R&B Albums chart, with 8,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, a 13% improvement over the previous week.
