Chart Beat
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Beginning in January, Billboard will roll out updates to some of its weekly album charts.
Commencing with the Billboard charts dated Jan. 18, 2025 (reflecting the Luminate tracking week ending Jan. 9), six longstanding album genre charts will transition from sales-only rankings to consumption-based tallies, and expand their depths. Plus, three album genre charts that were already consumption-based will also increase their depths.
Consumption-based album charts rank the most popular titles of the week by equivalent album units earned, as 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 first Billboard album chart to transition from a traditional album sales-based ranking to a consumption-based tally was the overall all-genre Billboard 200 in December 2014. The bulk of Billboard’s album genre charts migrated to a consumption-based ranking in January 2017. (With the January 2025 updates, essentially all of Billboard‘s genre album charts will have migrated to consumption-based ranking.)
Lastly, the Heatseekers Albums chart, which ranks the week’s most popular albums by new and developing acts, will be retired, beginning with the Jan. 18, 2025-dated list. Billboard will continue to chart new and developing acts on its weekly Emerging Artists chart, which launched in 2017. The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard’s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.
Here’s a recap of the changes to Billboard’s album genre charts beginning with the charts dated Jan. 18, 2025:
Bluegrass Albums – Transitions from a 10-position album sales-only chart to a 15-position consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
Blues Albums – Transitions from a 10-position album sales-only chart to a 15-position consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
Cast Albums – Transitions from a 10-position album sales-only chart to a 15-position consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
Classical Crossover Albums – Transitions from a 10-position album sales-only chart to a 15-position consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
Traditional Classical Albums – Transitions from a 10-position album sales-only chart to a 15-position consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
Kid Albums – Transitions from a 15-position album sales-only chart to a 25-position consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
New Age Albums – Expands from 10 to 15 positions, remains a consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
Tropical Albums – Expands from 20 to 25 positions; remains a consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
World Albums – Expands from 15 to 25 positions; remains a consumption-based chart, ranking albums by equivalent album units.
As with all genre consumption album charts, the rankings for the above album genre charts will be inclusive of both current and catalog titles.
Myles Smith’s “Stargazing” caps a triumphant 27-week trip to No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, rising a spot on the tally dated Dec. 21.
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“Stargazing” reigns with 4.7 million audience impressions, up 15%, on alternative, adult alternative and mainstream rock reporting stations in the week ending Dec. 12, according to Luminate.
The song wraps the lengthiest rise to No. 1 by a solo male, and ties for the fifth-longest overall, since Rock & Alternative Airplay began in June 2009.
Longest Rises to No. 1, Rock & Alternative Airplay:33 weeks, “Out of My League,” Fitz and the Tantrums (reached No. 1 in 2013)30, “First, “Cold War Kids (2015)29, “Running Up That Hill,” Meg Myers (2020)29, “Trampoline,” SHAED (2019)27, “Stargazing,” Myles Smith (2024)27, “All My Favorite Songs,” Weezer (2021)26, “Way Down We Go,” KALEO (2016)24, “Broken,” lovelytheband (2018)24, “Tighten Up,” The Black Keys (2010)
“Stargazing” is Smith’s first Rock & Alternative Airplay ruler, earned with the British singer-songwriter’s first entry on the ranking. He’s the third act to score an initial leader on the chart this year, following The Offspring (“Make It All Right”), Hozier (“Too Sweet”) and Pearl Jam (“Dark Matter”). He’s the first to achieve the feat with a maiden hit since Giovannie & the Hired Guns, with “Ramon Ayala,” in 2022. Before Smith, Alice Merton last achieved the feat among soloists as a lead act, with “No Roots” in 2018.
Along the way to its Rock & Alternative Airplay coronation, “Stargazing” led the Alternative Airplay chart in September. (It ranks at No. 5 on the latest tally.) It also leads Adult Pop Airplay for a second week, following a week atop Pop Airplay. It becomes just the eighth song to have hit No. 1 on Rock & Alternative Airplay, Alternative Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay, joining Hozier’s “Too Sweet” earlier in 2024, Panic! at the Disco’s “High Hopes” (2018-19), Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still” (2017), Twenty One Pilots’ “Stressed Out” (2015-16), Lorde’s “Royals” (2013), fun.’s “We Are Young,” featuring Janelle Monáe (2012) and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know,” featuring Kimbra (2012).
“Stargazing,” which also reached No. 4 on Adult Alternative Airplay, ranked at No. 3 on the most recently published Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart (dated Dec. 14, reflecting the Nov. 29-Dec. 5 tracking week), with 53.4 million audience impressions across all radio formats, 6.3 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 sold.
“Stargazing” is on Smith’s EP A Minute…, which debuted at its No. 25 high on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart dated Nov. 23.
All Billboard charts dated Dec. 21 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Dec. 17.
The Head and the Heart notches its fifth leader on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart, vaulting three places to No. 1 on the Dec. 21-dated survey with “Arrow.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The band previously topped the Adult Alternative Airplay tally with “Virginia (Wind in […]
The race is on for the U.K’s Official Christmas No. 1, and with a week to go, Wham! is set to be the contender to beat as the duo’s 1984 hit “Last Christmas” has landed at No. 1 on the Official Singles Chart on Friday (Dec. 13).
The duo, made up of Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael, are now at No. 1 for an eighth non-consecutive week in just four years; “Last Christmas” first reached the summit of the charts in 2021.
The song also bagged the coveted Christmas No. 1 spot for the first time in 2023, having been beaten to it in 1984 by Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” LadBaby – the moniker for YouTube influencer Mark Hoyle – holds the record for number of Christmas chart-toppers with five different songs hitting No. 1 between 2018 and 2022, beating The Beatles’ previous record of four.
Wham! saw off a number of other festive classics, and is in pole position ahead of the announcement of Christmas No. 1 in the U.K. on Dec. 20.
Among the other contenders are Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (No. 3), Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (No. 5), and Tom Grennan’s new Amazon Music exclusive “It Can’t Be Christmas” (No. 6).
Speaking to the Bedford Independent earlier this week, Grennan said it felt “crazy” to be going up against “a band and artist that I’ve always loved and admired.” He added: “I was really conscious of not writing a cheesy Christmas song. It would have been so easy to have done that, but I wanted to put out the best I could possibly do.”
Gracie Abrams sees her five-week reign at No. 1 with “That’s So True” come to an end, placing at No. 2. A further slew of Yuletide-themed tracks make appearances elsewhere in the top 40, including Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (No. 7), Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (No. 9) and Laufey’s “Christmas Magic,” (No. 20).
British vocalist Lola Young breaks into the top 20 for the first time with “Messy” (No. 11) following a rise of 24 places week-on-week. Speaking to Billboard U.K. last month, the 23-year-old discussed the slow-burn success of the single and why she believes it has connected with fans. “I choose to give realness and truth. I’ve got a bit of a belly out, I f–king swear a bunch and I have fun,” she said. “And that’s what people are resonating with.”
See the full rundown of the Official Singles Chart here.
Taylor Swift continues her reign over the Official U.K. Albums Chart with The Tortured Poets Department, as the record lands its 10th non-consecutive week at No. 1. Coinciding with the end of her 21-month long Eras Tour last weekend (Dec. 8), the album remains the songwriter’s longest-running chart-topper in the U.K., the Official Charts Company […]
Jimmy Fallon and Jonas Brothers’ Yuletide team-up “Holiday” ascends to the top of Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart (dated Dec. 21). Fallon earns his first Adult Contemporary No. 1 – and his first ruler on a Billboard radio airplay chart – with his second top 10 on the tally, after “Wrap Me Up,” with Meghan Trainor, […]
George Birge notches his first leader on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Cowboy Songs” moseys two spots to No. 1 on the Dec. 21-dated survey. The song increased by 14% to 28.9 million audience impressions Dec. 6-12, according to Luminate.
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“Cowboy Songs” is from Birge’s same-named album, released in April. He co-authored the single with Lalo Guzman, Matt McGinn and Michael Tyler. Guzman and McGinn produced the track about a love interest who “only dances to cowboy songs.” (“That steel guitar’ll steal her heart,” Birge sings.)
“Having the No. 1 song on the Billboard Country Airplay chart is an absolute dream come true,” Birge says. “It’s wild to think that the song I wrote about chasing my wife across dusty dive bars in Austin, Texas, is now sitting at the top. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the year.”
Birge’s first Country Airplay leader follows his rookie entry, “Mind on You,” which hit No. 2 in January.
Before launching his solo career, and signing to Records Nashville in 2021, Birge was half of duo Waterloo Revival with Cody Cooper. (The pair made two appearances on the lower reaches of Country Airplay in 2015.)
At Home in the Top 10
Dan + Shay earn their 12th Country Airplay top 10 as “Bigger Houses” rises 11-10 (17.3 million, up 2%).
The song, which the duo’s Dan Smyers co-wrote, is the title cut from the pair’s LP that entered at its No. 9 Top Country Albums high in September 2023, becoming the twosome’s fifth top 10.
The act — Smyers and Shay Mooney — logged its initial Country Airplay top 10, and first of eight No. 1s, with “Nothin’ Like You,” which dominated for one week in December 2015. The tandem most recently reigned with “Glad You Exist” for a week in August 2021.
Sabrina Carpenter claims her fourth No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart – all earned in 2024 – as “Taste” tops the radio ranking dated Dec. 21.
The song, released on Island Records and promoted to radio by Republic, follows Carpenter’s “Please Please Please,” which led Pop Airplay for two weeks in September; “Espresso” (three weeks, July); and “Feather” (one week, April).
Carpenter joins only Doja Cat and Lady Gaga in having scored four Pop Airplay leaders in a single year, dating to the chart’s 1992 launch. Doja Cat reigned in 2022 with “Need to Know,” “Woman” and “Vegas” and as featured on Post Malone’s “I Like You (A Happier Song).” Gaga dominated in 2009 with “Just Dance” (featuring Colby O’Donis), “Poker Face,” “LoveGame” and “Paparazzi.”
Carpenter this year and Gaga in 2009 are the only artists with as many as four Pop Airplay No. 1s in a single year all in lead roles.
“Taste,” meanwhile, is the third Pop Airplay No. 1 from Carpenter’s LP Short n’ Sweet. The album, released in August, is the first to spin off at least three Pop Airplay leaders since Selena Gomez’s Revival in 2016, and the 10th to achieve the feat in the chart’s history.
Albums With 3 or More Pop Airplay No. 1s:Artist, Album, No. 1s, Year(s)
Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet: “Espresso,” “Please Please Please,” “Taste” (2024)
Selena Gomez, Revival: “Good for You” (feat. A$AP Rocky), “Same Old Love,” “Hands to Myself” (2015-16)
Justin Bieber, Purpose: “What Do You Mean?,” “Sorry,” “Love Yourself” (2015-16)
Maroon 5, Overexposed: “Payphone” (feat. Wiz Khalifa), “One More Night,” “Daylight” (2012-13)
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream: “California Gurls” (feat. Snoop Dogg), “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “E.T.” (feat. Kanye West), “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” “The One That Got Away” (2010-12) (*The album’s The Complete Confection reissue generated an additional No. 1, “Wide Awake.”)
Lady Gaga, The Fame: “Just Dance” (feat. Colby O’Donis), “Poker Face,” “LoveGame,” “Paparazzi” (2009)
Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds: “SexyBack,” “My Love” (feat. T.I.), “What Goes Around…Comes Around,” “Summer Love” (2006-07)
Avril Lavigne, Let Go: “Complicated,” “Sk8er Boi,” “I’m With You” (2002-03)
Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill: “Ironic,” “You Learn,” “Head Over Feet” (1996)
Ace of Base, The Sign: “All That She Wants,” “The Sign,” “Don’t Turn Around” (1993-94)
“I called it Short n’ Sweet for multiple reasons,” Carpenter mused to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe ahead of the album’s release. “It was not because I’m vertically challenged [‘5 feet, to be exact,’ per ‘Taste’]. It was really, like, I thought about some of [my] relationships, and how some of them were the shortest I’ve ever had, and they affected me the most.”
All charts dated Dec. 21 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Capping a banner breakthrough year, Tyla roars to No. 1 on the year-end Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs Artists recap for 2024. The South African singer, who finished at No. 14 last year, leaps into first place thanks to a flurry of hits from her self-titled debut album, released in March, and its runaway hit “Water,” which wraps the year as the No. 1 title on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs year-end chart.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2024 Year-End Charts
Tyla, who records for Fax Records/Epic Records, became widely known through “Water,” which reached No. 1 on the weekly U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart in October 2023, just in time for the 2024 chart year, which ran from the charts dated Oct. 28, 2023, to Oct. 19, 2024. The single drowned the competition and charged to a 51-week domination on the list during the chart year, stepping aside for only one week during that time, for Asake and Travis Scott’s one-week champ, “Active.”
Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024. The rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology details, and the October-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.
After “Water” opened the gates, Tyla’s self-titled debut album reinforced her standing on U.S. Afrobeats Songs, where 10 of the album’s standard edition’s 14 tracks reached the chart. In addition to “Water,” three more tracks land in the top 10 on the year-end recap: “Truth or Dare” (No. 4), “Jump,” with Gunna and Skillibeng (No. 5) and “Art” (No. 9).
Tems, the top U.S. Afrobeats Artist two years ago, comes in at No. 2 on the 2024 edition thanks to the impact of her anticipated full-length debut, Born in the Wild. The set, released on Since ‘93/RCA Records in June, produced 15 charting titles on the weekly U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, including three different tunes that each peaked at No. 3: “Me & U,” “Love Me JeJe” and “Not An Angel.” The foremost pair’s extended trajectories help them finish at No. 3 and No. 7, respectively, on the year-end rankings.
Notably, with “Water,” “Me & U,” “Truth or Dare” and “Jump” accounting for four of the top five year-end slots on U.S. Afrobeats Songs, the only non-Tyla or Tems song in the region is the 2024 runner-up, Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down.” The track, which reigned atop the 2023 standings, nabs the silver medal due to its steady streaming levels. Though the collaboration has waned from its highest point, when it set a record 59-week run atop the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, a consistent level of streams has allowed the single to remain within the chart’s top three positions for the entirety of the charting year.
With help from “Calm Down,” Rema captures the No. 3 spot on the year-end artist rank for U.S. Afrobeats Songs, though it’s not the sole reason for his success. The Nigerian performer debuted 16 additional songs on the list in the 2024 chart year, from both his November 2023 EP, Ravage, and 2024 full-length album, HEIS. Chief among them was “Yayo,” which reached No. 9 in July and became his third top 10 hit on the chart.
Last year’s champ, Burna Boy, picks up the No. 4 position on the 2024 year-end artist recap, largely through cuts from his August 2023 release, I Told Them…, continuing their chart runs into the year. Notably, the international superstar achieved a new top 10 – his 14th total – with “Higher,” which managed a No. 6 high in July.
Asake, meanwhile, rounds out the top five on the 2024 class for the U.S. Afrobeats Songs Artists chart. While a run of 14 top 10s had already established the 29-year-old’s chops, he finally unlocked the penthouse in August with his first No. 1, the Travis Scott collaboration “Active.” A-list pairings proved a winning formula for Asake, with further hits coming via team-ups with Wizkid on the No. 7-peaking “MMS” and Gunna (“Happiness,” also with Sarz) and Central Cee (“Wave”), which both reached No. 8.
In 2024, Elevation Worship, the music collective based in Charlotte, N.C., leads Billboard’s Top Christian Artists in the overall year-end recap. The group also rules as the leading duo/group of 2024.
Elevation Worship’s eight-song album, Can You Imagine?, is Billboard’s No. 1 Top Christian Albums title of 2024. The set, which spent 14 weeks at No. 1 during the 2024 eligibility period (charts dated Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024), has remained in the top five on the weekly ranking for most of the chart year.
The week that the album arrived at the summit, group frontman Chris Brown told Billboard: “We’re blown away by the response to our new album and how it’s pointing people to Jesus,” he said. “It’s reminding us that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine in and through our lives.”
Explore All of Billboard’s 2024 Year-End Charts
Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 28, 2023, through Oct. 19, 2024. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the October-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate
Additionally, Elevation Worship’s “Praise” featuring Brandon Lake, Chris Brown and Chandler Moore leads multiple major year-end song charts: the multimetric Hot Christian Songs, along with the radio rankings Christian Airplay Songs and Christian AC Airplay Songs, and even Christian Streaming Songs.
“Praise” hit No. 1 on the weekly Hot Christian Songs chart in March and became the act’s third chart-topper among 15 top 10s. It was the first leader for Brown, Lake’s third of five and Moore’s first. It spent 31 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Christian Songs during the 2024 chart year.
Meanwhile Singer-songwriter Brandon Lake, who is featured on “Praise,” leads Billboard’s Top Christian Artists – Male roundup. Lake, who hails from Dallas, is No. 2 on the overall Top Christian Artists recap.
Lake’s 2023 hit “Gratitude,” which led Hot Christian Songs for 13 weeks during the 2024 chart year, finishes at No. 6 on the year-end Hot Christian Songs recap. The singer-songwriter banked two additional Hot Christian Songs No. 1s: “Praise You Anywhere” rang up six weeks in the penthouse starting in November 2023, and “That’s Who I Praise” became his fifth leader in the final week of the 2024 chart year (Oct. 19, 2024).
Lake notched his first No. 1 on Top Christian Albums with Coat of Many Colors which debuted atop the Nov. 4, 2023 dated tally. The 16-song Colors ranks at No. 5 on the year-end roundup. The 34-year-old from Charleston, S.C., also posts the No. 14 album of 2024, House of Miracles. It peaked at No. 6 on the weekly Top Christian Albums chart in June of 2023, but continued to have a sustained chart run into the 2024 eligibility period.
Billboard’s Top Christian Artists — Female of 2024 is Lauren Daigle, who was 2023’s overall Top Christian Artist. She finishes fourth in the latter category this year. The singer-songwriter who hails from Lafayette, La., has the No. 6 spot on the 2024 top albums survey with her 2023 self-titled album.
Daigle released the initial 10-song self-titled album with the promise that the deluxe version with 10 more tracks would come later. The LP paired the 33-year-old Daigle with new producer Mike Elizondo and was her first through Atlantic Records, which her longtime label, Centricity, formed a partnership in early 2023.
The first version of the LP entered at the summit on May 27, 2023, returning to the apex that September with the deluxe version, which added 13 tracks to the original release. It led on Sept. 23, 2023, with 13,000 units and has remained on Top Christian Albums throughout 2024.
Meanwhile Daigle’s earlier albums remain extremely popular. Her third of four No. 1 sets, Look Up Child from 2018, is No. 3 on the Top Christian Albums year-end ranking.
The No. 2 female of the year (and No. 5 overall) is Anne Wilson. She is notable as her music is being promoted to both Christian and country radio (by Capitol Christian and Capitol Nashville, respectively). The two-sided promotion between these two genres is still not all that common. While she has not impacted Country Airplay yet, her single “Strong,” hit No. 3 on Christian Airplay and No. 2 on Christian AC. Wilson has earned five top 10s on each of the lists to date.
Queen Is ‘New’ King
At No. 1 on the 2024 year-end Top New Christian Artists ranking is Josiah Queen. He concurrently cracks the top 10 on the overall Top Christian Artists list, coming in at No. 9.
His independently released debut set, The Prodigal, opened atop Top Christian Albums in June. Queen’s rookie single, the album’s title track, reached No. 4 on Hot Christian Songs in May becoming his first top 10. The 21-year-old from Tampa, Fla. initially accumulated traction by posting videos on TikTok, where he has more than 100,000 followers.
Speaking of artists who springboard from social media, Forrest Frank, who was 2023’s Top New Christian Artist, is No. 3 among all acts this year. Frank’s “Good Day” is the No. 2-ranked Hot Christian Songs title of 2024. “Good” reached No. 2 on the weekly version of the list in March, becoming his first of three top 10s. His duet with Connor Price, “Up!”, peaked at No. 8 in April, while “Never Get Used to This,” with JVKE, climbed to No. 6 in August.