Chart Beat
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Veteran Christian hard rock group Stryper adds its 13th top 10 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart as When We Were Kings enters the list (dated Sept. 28) at No. 2. During its launch week (Sept. 13-19), the set earned 6,000 equivalent album units in the United States, with 5,000 in album sales, according to Luminate.
“We love what we do and the fans love it even more,” Stryper frontman Michael Sweet tells Billboard. “My mentality is to always outdo the last album. Whether we do or not, we’ll go into a project certainly trying our best to do just that. We’re so happy with how Kings turned out, and the Stryper army worldwide seems to agree. We are blessed!”
The new set from the four-piece unit, which formed in 1983 and is based in La Mirada, Calif., follows The Final Battle, which arrived at its No. 3 Top Christian Albums best in November 2022, and Even the Devil Believes, which in September 2020 became the band’s first No. 1. Stryper first reached the chart with The Yellow and Black Attack, which entered in November 1984 and reached No. 10 the following June.
After over 40 years together, three of the four members of Stryper are originals, including brothers Michael and Robert Sweet, along with Oz Fox. The newest rocker in the foursome is Perry Richardson, who replaced Tim Gaines in 2000. Richardson formerly played bass for country artists Trace Adkins and Craig Morgan before joining the faith-based bangers.
Adams’ Sunny Days Shines
Yolanda Adams banks her 17th top 10 on Top Gospel Albums as Sunny Days bursts in at No. 9 (1,000 units).
The set is the Houston native’s first entry on the chart since May 2011, when Becoming started at its No. 3 best. Before that, What a Wonderful Time hit No. 2 in December 2007, after The Best of Me became her fifth No. 1 that May.
Last year was a banner year for live events, with grosses from the top 100 tours up 53% from 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. In March, Billboard and Luminate collaborated to dig deeper, and published The Shared Impact of Touring and Streaming. On Wednesday (Sept. […]
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
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This week: Ryan Murphy’s new FX series about the Menendez Brothers inspires streaming gains for a heavily featured late-’80s act, dance crazes help a new viral hit by Odetari and an old one by Freak Nasty, and can you believe it’s Sept. 21 again already?
‘Menendez Story’ Drives Streaming Gains for Milli Vanilli’s Catalog
The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story – the latest installment in Ryan Murphy’s Monsters anthology series – has unsurprisingly inspired loads of controversy and discourse, but it’s also inspired some new interest in Milli Vanilli’s catalog.
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The vocal duo, best known for their three 1989 Hot 100 chart-toppers and the infamous revocation of their best new artist Grammy after being exposed for lip-syncing,also plays a key musical role in the first few episodes of Menendez Story. The opening episode features three of their biggest hits — “Girl You Know It’s True,” “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” and “Blame It on the Rain” — even earning its title from the latter. Though the events of Menendez story take place several years after Milli Vanilli’s reign, the duo’s music is used to help set the scene and explore the two brothers’ friendship.
“Blame It On the Rain,” the most prominently featured Milli Vanilli track in the series, posted at 68% increase in streaming activity, going from 75,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of Sept. 13-16 to over 125,000 streams in the four-day period following the series premiere on Netflix (Sept. 20-23). Similarly, “Girl You Know It’s True” jumped 32.5% in streaming activity to nearly 135,000 streams (Sept. 20-23). “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” earned the biggest streaming increase out of all three tracks, exploding a whopping 258% from 28,000 streams (Sept. 13-16) to 103,000 streams (Sept. 20-23). Overall, streams for Milli Vanilli’s entire catalog leapt 114% after the release of Menendez Story, crossing 552,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of Sept. 20-23. – KYLE DENIS
‘Perfect Couple,’ Perfect Synch: Nicole Kidman Helps Meghan Trainor Dance Up in Streams
The Perfect Couple, the latest bestselling book-turned streaming series starring Nicole Kidman, has been a smash hit for Netflix since premiering earlier this month — and while the mystery involves a murder taking place at a posh wedding, the opening of each episode showcases a much lighter mood than the high-stakes family drama. Kidman, along with costars like Liev Schreiber and Meghann Fahy, spend the theme performing a full-cast, choreographed dance routine on a beach, turning in slow motion and clapping as a voice sings, “Anything that feels this good / Well, it must be illegal, it must be illegal.”
That voice belongs to Meghan Trainor, whose track “Criminals” serves as the theme song for The Perfect Couple after being featured on the deluxe edition of her June album Timeless. And the streaming synch has already helped “Criminals” triple up in streams compared to its pre-Perfect Couple numbers: after earning 263,000 U.S. on-demand streams the week prior to the show’s Sept. 5 premiere, according to Luminate, the song earned 972,000 streams during the week ending Sept. 19, along with 2,400 in weekly digital sales.
While “Criminals” has yet to hit the Hot 100, the song’s rise is arriving at an enjoyable moment for Trainor, who’s celebrating the 10-year anniversary of “All About That Bass,” and performing at New York’s Madison Square Garden tonight. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Fraternity Rush Season Revives Freak Nasty’s “Da’ Dip”
It’s still early in the school year, which means that rush season is in full effect. In a natural progression of the undergraduate fraternity rush process, many pledges now document their journeys to brotherhood on TikTok. Part of that process now includes filming adorably dorky TikTok dance trends – including the latest viral choreography to Freak Nasty’s 1997 smash “Da’ Dip.”
The dominant choreography template was originated by user @varsnikk earlier this year (Aug. 14), but as is the case with most TikTok dance trends, the moves have become more simplified as the trend became more viral. That original clip boasts over 700,000 views, while the official “Da’ Dip” TikTok sound now plays in nearly 350,000 posts. Several major stars have hopped on the trend – including Matthew Morrison and Ice Spice – but the recent uptick in engagement has been spurred in large part by “#pledgetok” videos. Essentially, pledges (prospective members of a fraternity) execute the dance trend while commenters around the world cheer on their awkward moves and laud their favorite “divas.” Normally, the young men are dressed in some combination of a navy sports jacket and khakis, and they execute the dance with fellow members of their pledge class.
According to Luminate, “Da’ Dip” earned over 320,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of Sept. 13-19. That marks a 95% increase in streaming activity from three weeks prior (Aug. 23-29), when the beloved Miami bass track pulled in just over 165,000 streams. “Da’ Dip” has ballooned in streams for each of the past few weeks, helping the track notch a No. 16 debut on the Billboard TikTok Top 50 (chart dated Sept. 21). Should “Da’ Dip” continue its streaming revival, Freak Nasty could add a few more chart accolades to the No. 15 Hot 100 peak the track earned back in 1997. – KD
Numbers Going Strong: Odetari Manages to ‘Keep Up’ Momentum With New Viral Hit
In January, Billboard Dance editor Katie Bain wrote a digital cover story about Odetari (along with frequent collaborator 6arelyhuman) asking if they were the future of dance music; eight months later, the former is providing further evidence that he just might be. His adrenalized new single “Keep Up” – which sounds like the perfect gamer soundtrack, down to its verses even lifting a bit of the melody from the classic Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone theme – has been steadily taking off since its July release.
Sonic edits have actually played a big part in the song’s viral success on TikTok – including a couple posted by the producer himself – to the point where a Change.org petition to get the song included in the third Sonic the Hedgehog movie is just a few hundred signatures away from its 5,000 goal. An associated dance has also played a major part in the song’s social media proliferation, with the song’s rapid pace making it a particular degree-of-difficulty challenge.
It’s all added up to help “Keep Up” increase by millions of streams over the past few weeks. The song racked up 4.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending Sept. 19, which is up 91% from where it was three weeks earlier, according to Luminate. It’s already on No. 21 on the Bubbling Under chart – so if it keeps it up, Odetari might not be too far away from his first-ever Hot 100 hit. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Season’s Gainings: “September,” Remembered Once More
If you missed observing September Day this year, you’d probably be forgiven – it came over the weekend, and once again with no Demi Adejuyigbe celebratory viral video, with the writer/comedian having retired from his once-annual duties in 2021. But fear not, plenty still remembered the 21st night of September: Earth, Wind & Fire‘s signature 1979 smash racked up a little over 1.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams on Saturday, a 144% gain from the previous week. That is down just a little from the nearly 1.8 mil the song pulled on Sept. 21, 2023, though – so if anyone wants to pick up the torch from Adejuyigbe before the song really starts to reverse momentum and risk losing its perennial status, you’ve got a year to figure out how. – AU
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the Billboard 200 dated Oct. 4, we look at a pack of new releases, led by Future’s Mixtape Pluto set, which could make him just the second artist this decade to notch three No. 1 albums in a calendar year.
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Future, Mixtape Pluto (Freebandz/Epic): Six months after helping to fire the opening shot that set off the hip-hop World War that was the Kendrick Lamar-Drake feud, with the Lamar-featuring “Like That” single off his and producer co-star Metro Boomin’s first of two We Still Don’t Trust You sets, rap superstar Future is back with his third all-new album of 2024. Mixtape Pluto debuted on Friday (Sept. 20), though with no big-name guests throwing down gauntlets for the rest of the rap world to respond to – no guests of any kind, actually, as the set features Future as the lone credited performer on all 17 of the tracks on its streaming release.
Nonetheless, the set has performed predictably well on streaming – particularly on Apple Music, where it blanketed the top of the real-time charts upon its Friday release, and still claims the entire top five as of Wednesday. (It’s been a little less prolific on Spotify, where it currently holds just five spots in the entire Daily Top Songs USA top 200, and none in the top 40.) Unlike some other recent Future releases (and despite its mixtape billing), however, this album has the advantage of a physical release to go with it – which is only 11 tracks long, but is available on both CD and vinyl on his webstore and at some brick-and-mortar stores.
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If Future debuts atop the Billboard 200 with Mixtape Pluto, it would mark his eighth consecutive official solo album to do so, dating back to DS2 – as well as his 11th No. 1 album overall, moving him into a five-way tie with Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Ye and Eminem for the fourth-most such albums in Billboard 200 history. It would also be his third No. 1 of 2024 alone, after We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You, which would make him just the second artist this decade to score three No. 1 albums in the same calendar year – following (of course) Taylor Swift, who pulled off the achievement in 2021 with Evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) — and the first to debut three albums there in one year (Evermore having previously topped the chart in 2020).
Katy Perry, 143 (Capitol): It’s been one of the most buzzed-about promo campaigns of 2024, although not always for the best reasons: Katy Perry’s 143 debuts this week after months of lead-up, kicked off by the release of July lead single “Woman’s World,” which drew negative reviews and lasted just one week on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequent advance tracks were less coldly received but made minimal commercial impact, though Perry’s career-spanning performance while receiving the Video Vanguard award at the MTV Video Music Awards two weeks ago (Sept. 11) was well-received.
The set is finally out now, and features guest turns from hitmakers 21 Savage, Kim Petras, JID and Doechii, the latter of whom appeared on stage with Perry at the VMAs to perform their Crystal Waters-lifting “I’m His, He’s Mine.” While the set does not appear to be generating any significant streaming hits, it will have the sales advantage of an array of physical releases – with eight vinyl variants (including some retail exclusives, as well as a signed edition exclusive to her d2c), a couple CD variants (including a signed edition exclusive to her d2c and a deluxe-packaging edition with collectible ephemera) and even a cassette.
Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (KRA/Amusement/Island/Republic): Speaking of the VMAs: One of its other most notable performers and winners is also in the hunt for the No. 1 spot this week. Chappell Roan, who took home best new artist and delivered a memorable medieval performance of standalone single “Good Luck, Babe!” at the ceremonies, recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her slow-developing blockbuster The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess with a new physical reissue of the set, including multiple new vinyl variants.
It could be the best chance that the set, which climbed all the way to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 after 20 weeks on the chart, has to get that final boost that it needs to reach No. 1 – though with Future’s combined streaming and sales numbers, it might be a tough week for it to finally get over the top. However, the album has been hanging in the top five for months now, with no real signs that its streaming dominance is coming to an end, so count it out at your own peril.
IN THE MIX
Lil Tecca, Plan A (Galactic/Republic): While he hasn’t had a major Hot 100 hit since 2019’s “Ransom,” Lil Tecca has proved himself a fairly reliable performer on streaming in the years since – and scored an impressive slow-burner last year with the “500 Lbs” single. His three official studio albums to date have all bowed around the border of the top 10 (No. 10 for 2020’s Virgo World, No. 10 for 2021’s We Love You Tecca 2 and No. 11 for 2023’s Tec), and this month’s Plan A will likely be shooting for roughly the same range – with strong streaming performance and multiple digital variants available for sale on his webstore, including one digitally signed version and one with two bonus tracks.
Keith Urban, High (Capitol Nashville / Hit Red): Keith Urban’s first album in four years features the top 20 Country Airplay hit “Messed Up as Me,” and is available in four vinyl variants and three CD variants, including a couple retail exclusives with exclusive branded paper merch. Urban has a streak of eight consecutive top 10 studio albums on the Billboard 200 to protect, a run which dates back to Be Here in 2004.
In each of the past four weeks, Sabrina Carpenter has placed three songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. On the latest Sept. 28-dated chart, “Espresso” rebounds to its No. 3 high, having become her first top 10; “Taste” ranks at No. 8, after it debuted at its No. 2 best; and “Please Please Please” places at No. 9, after it became the ascendant pop star’s first No. 1 in June.
Thanks to her trio of buzzy hits, all from Short n’ Sweet, her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Carpenter is the first artist to notch a run of as many as four weeks with at least three simultaneous Hot 100 top 10s this decade.
Drake last scored such a hat trick, posting nine consecutive weeks with three Hot 100 top 10s in April-June 2018, all from his Billboard 200 No. 1 Scorpion.
Notably, Carpenter ties Cardi B for the longest such streak among women, as the rapper claimed three concurrent Hot 100 top 10s for four weeks in January 2018.
Overall, 50 Cent has linked the longest run of three or more Hot 100 top 10s, having tripled (or quadrupled) up for 11 straight weeks in February-April 2005.
As with many Hot 100 achievements, The Beatles did it first. For 10 weeks in a row, on the charts dated Feb. 29 through May 2, 1964, they tallied five weeks with three top 10s; three weeks with a fab four top 10s; and two frames with five top 10s.
Meanwhile, Carpenter, Justin Bieber (10 weeks, 2015-16) and The Beatles are the only artists to earn such a streak in the Hot 100’s top 10 for four or more weeks consecutively with no other billed acts on their songs.
Below, browse through a rundown of every act, spanning from early Beatlemania to Carpenter’s now lengthy (n’ sweet) success, that has earned three or more simultaneous Hot 100 top 10s for four or more consecutive weeks.
Sabrina Carpenter
Image Credit: Bryce Anderson
Playboi Carti snatches his first top 10 as the sole lead artist on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as “All Red” arrives at No. 3 on the list dated Sept. 28. The track rides a massive streaming wave to the top tier and extends his streak of consecutive top 10s – either in lead or […]
Mexican group Los Ángeles de Charly earn their first No. 1 on a Billboard radio chart – and any Billboard song ranking – with “El Primer Tonto,” which climbs 7-1 on the Regional Mexican Airplay ranking (dated Sept. 28). The Carlos Becies-led ensemble previously hit No. 1 on Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums in 2001 with its third studio album, Te Voy a Enamorar.
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“Thank, thank you, thank you,” Becies tells Billboard. “I’m a bit nervous and super grateful with all the support with this song and all the people who were part of this beautiful project. It’s a beautiful surprise for us a group that motivates us to keep on going.”
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“El Primer Tonto,” originally composed and released by Mexican group Los Freddy’s in 1980, was later popularized by Joan Sebastian who secured a No. 7 high with the song on Regional Mexican Airplay in January 2002.
With its romantic cumbia turn, “El Primer Tonto,” released June 7 via VMG/Colmena/Azteca Records, takes Los Ángeles de Charly to their first No. 1 on a radio ranking thanks to a 47% surge in audience impressions, to 6.6 million, earned in the U.S. for the tracking week of Sept. 13-19, according to Luminate.
Thanks to “El Primer Tonto,” imprints VMG and Colmena secure their first No. 1 on any Billboard chart. In addition to the two imprints, the “El Primer Tonto” triumph also gives Azteca Records its second champ as a label, following La Fiera de Ojinaga’s one-week reign on Regional Mexican Airplay with “La Luna de Miel” in August 2022.
Los Ángeles de Charly’s first champ on Regional Mexican Airplay arrives 20 years after their last top 10, when “Y Qué” reached No. 10 high in May 2004. In sum, the Mexican cumbia group have logged six top 10s since 1999, with the No. 4-peaking “Un Sueño” in 2001 their highest-charting song until now.
Elsewhere, “El Primer Tonto” advances to its No. 3 peak on the overall Latin Airplay tally, where Los Ángeles de Charly earn their first top 10 to date.
The song is part of the group’s forthcoming studio album to be released in December 2024.
After a week in which the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 was the No. 21 bow of Linkin Park’s “The Emptiness Machine,” this week, three new entries on the chart grace the back half of the top 20.
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The highest of the three comes from the most established pop star: The Weeknd, whose new Hurry Up Tomorrow gets underway with the No. 14 debut of its lead single “Dancing in the Flames.” Then comes rap star Playboi Carti, whose much-anticipated new song “All Red” lands at No. 15. And finally, Tate McRae’s well-received new single “It’s OK, I’m OK” enters at No. 20.
Which of the three songs will have the longest legs? And why have we had so few top 10 debuts on the Hot 100 of late? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
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1. “Dancing in the Flames,” the first taste from The Weeknd’s alleged final chapter Hurry Up Tomorrow, bows at No. 14 this week. Is that higher, lower or about where you would have expected for the song?
Rania Aniftos: Definitely lower, but I can’t figure out why. Was it because there wasn’t enough build-up between the announcement and release, perhaps? I was expecting the lead single of the project to at least debut in the top 10, especially given how record-breaking After Hours was. Maybe the rest of Hurry Up Tomorrow’s rollout will boost the track.
Katie Bain: I’m not surprised to see The Weeknd’s first solo track of the year debut higher than his recent The Idol-bred group efforts, and 14 feels like a good starting point for the song, which I think is one that grows on the ears with each listen. And in that sense, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one keep climbing from here, especially that given his history, we know he’s the king of keeping songs on the Hot 100 for the long run.
Jason Lipshutz: Maybe a little lower, considering The Weeknd’s track record of top 10 debuts on the Hot 100 and the relative radio silence preceding this much-hyped new single. To me, the No. 14 debut speaks less to the long-term chart potential of “Dancing in the Flames,” and more about how static the top of the Hot 100 is currently — as Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” spends an 11th week at No. 1 and radio-boosted hits by Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Kendrick Lamar and Morgan Wallen have logged months in the upper frame, new tracks like “Flames” have a tougher time trying to break through in their first weeks of release. If I’m Team Weeknd, I’m cool with a No. 14 debut, with an impetus on trying to push upward this fall.
Michael Saponara: First off, solid lead single from Abel. Although, I did think it would debut higher than No. 14 on the Hot 100 with the anticipation heading into the final chapter feeling palpable combined with the fact he released an EP version of the single featuring nine different versions had me believing XO was looking for even more commercial dominance out of the gate.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s low for a new Weeknd single… but about right for this new Weeknd single, in my opinion. It’s a fine song, it’s just not exciting or new-sounding enough to me for it to force its way into the top 10, especially not at a time when nothing in the top 10 seems to want to budge for anyone new.
2. “All Red” is already Playboi Carti’s top-charting song as a lead artist on the Hot 100, debuting at No. 15. Does the song mark a big step forward for him artistically or commercially, do you think, or is its high debut mostly the climax of the few years’ worth of momentum he’s built up through high-profile guest appearances and general cult-building?
Rania Aniftos: Huge step forward! Rap fans already knew Playboi Carti is a force to be reckoned with. While mainstream music fans knew his talents as a collaborator, it’s about time he’s getting appreciated as a solo star. I feel like this is just the beginning for Carti on the Hot 100.
Katie Bain: To my ears, this is one of the catchiest and most accessible songs of the Carti catalog thus far, so I have to believe this debut is a synergistic function of the song working for and across more listener bases, along with general cult-building.
Jason Lipshutz: The latter. “All Red” doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to Playboi Carti’s signature approach, but after months of anticipation for his next solo era, the single arrived on a mountain of hype and scored enough immediate streams to notch his career-best solo debut. Whenever Carti does drop the follow-up to Whole Lotta Red, I’d expect more of the experimental streak that made his last album so compelling; for now, “All Red” is a warning shot aimed at the mainstream, and it accomplished its job.
Michael Saponara: King Vamp is back. It’s a major statement for him commercially, but this is also due to the build-up surrounding the fact Carti hasn’t released any music officially on streaming services since 2020. Whether you like it or not, he’s the king sitting atop the throne for rap’s Gen-Z fans. Just take a look around the industry and you’ll see plenty of artists attempting to dress like him, mimic his cryptic persona and match the chaotic production he amplified on 2020’s Whole Lotta Red. Cash Carti is the guy right now.
Andrew Unterberger: I think it’s more about Carti and the cult he’s amassed than about this song in particular — though this song does do its job fairly well. It’s always more about the albums than the individual songs with him anyway, so I think we’ll see the true impact of his ballooning stardom if and when the Whole Lotta Red follow-up drops.
3. Tate McRae’s “It’s OK, I’m OK” bows at No. 20 on the Hot 100 — the highest-debuting song of her career. Has she proven to you yet that she belongs on pop’s A-list, or does she still have some distance to go there?
Rania Aniftos: She’s right there, but I think she needs one more “Greedy” level hit to push her over into the A-list pop category. She certainly has all the traits of a main pop girl, and I would love to see her have a Sabrina Carpenter-level breakthrough year.
Kaite Bain: She’s obviously hustling towards the A-list and I’m not surprised to see her gaining traction given how hard she’s working. This song certainly gets her closer, if not all the way there yet. More so it makes me curious about/excited for what she might do next.
Jason Lipshutz: The idea of “Tate McRae, A-lister” would have seemed far-fetched a year ago… but since then, she’s scored a legitimate pop smash in “Greedy,” a top 10 album with Think Later, performed on SNL, headlined Madison Square Garden, and now earned the first top 20 Hot 100 debut of her career. “It’s OK, I’m OK” isn’t quite as immediate as “Greedy,” but McRae’s trajectory has continued pointing upward as she’s sunk deeper into her choreo-ready rhythmic pop identity. If she’s not on the A-list yet, she’s striding towards it with confidence.
Michael Saponara: Tate McRae’s next album will vault her firmly into pop’s A-list. Coming off her first tour performing in arenas, the Canadian singer’s arrow is clearly pointing up as she soars into further stardom at just 21 years old. By the time her next LP rolls around, we can probably point to “It’s OK, I’m OK” and her summer as the start of her journey making the quantum leap into pop lore.
Andrew Unterberger: It feels like only a matter of time, doesn’t it? The bar for breakout pop stars assuming the A-list has obviously been raised this year with the ascents of Roan and Carpenter (and the comeback of Charli XCX), so I don’t think she’s quite there yet — but damn if she isn’t starting to check those boxes left and right at this point. Why wasn’t she performing on the VMAs, again?
4. Of the three songs, which do you see having the most endurance on the chart? Will any of them still be on the Hot 100 ten weeks from now?
Rania Aniftos: I feel like I’m being cynical, but none of them have longterm potential for me. Maybe “All Red” depending on what he releases in the next few months, but I feel like all three of these artists have something better on the way.
Katie Bain: The Weeknd to me has the strongest chance here, given his massive global star power, the fact that this is a buzzy moment in terms of the song marking the start of a new chapter and the fact that “Dancing In th Flames ” is just catchy and kind of broadly palatable.
Jason Lipshutz: I refuse to underestimate a big, mainstream-ready single by The Weeknd — a man who, by his own admission, comes alive in the fall time. “Dancing in the Flames” won’t reach “Blinding Lights” levels of commercial success, but The Weeknd has the cross-platform pedigree to power a lead single into hit status, and I think “Flames” contains the hook necessary to endure on the Hot 100 for a while. When we start switching our playlists over to Christmas music, I’d bet that “Flames” is among the non-holiday singles populating the chart.
Michael Saponara: The Weeknd and Tate McRae will still be holding strong on the Hot 100 with “Dancing in the Flames” leading the pack. There’s a chance Carti is hanging around too, but let’s see if he actually ends up delivering on his long-awaited WLR follow-up, which has been rumored to finally arrive in the coming weeks.
Andrew Unterberger: I think it’s “It’s OK, I’m OK” — that seems to be the song that’s getting the best fan response, and it seems like it’s hitting at the right time in the right post-Short N’ Sweet spot to get picked up on radio. I don’t know if it’ll have “Greedy”-like legs but I think it’ll be around for a bit.
5. While all three songs make strong bows, none of them reach the top 10 — and indeed, the only new top 10 hit we’ve gotten this month has been Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste.” After such a competitive period on the Hot 100 this spring and early summer, why do you think activity at the top has really slowed to a crawl in the late summer and early autumn?
Rania Aniftos: Not to bring TikTok into this, but the same few songs have been circulating the platform for the past few months, and it’s the songs that are currently in the Hot 100 top 10. I fear it’s going to take a new round of viral hits on TikTok for us to see some shake-ups on the Hot 100, which typically happens toward the end of the year anyway.
Katie Bain: There’s been so much hype and kismet around the Sabrina, Shaboozy and Chapell juggernauts, not to mention the barrage of hits by mainstays like Jelly Roll, Morgan Wallen, Kendrick, etc. that just seems hard to match, despite the caliber of the names involved in this week’s chart.
Jason Lipshutz: We were gifted a generally excellent slate of summertime singles in 2024, with songs like “Espresso,” “Good Luck, Babe!,” “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and “Not Like Us” all ranking among the most memorable hits of the year. And once they landed in the top 10, they kept going within the upper tier of the chart — and many weeks later, pop listeners still aren’t sick of them. That will change in due time, as we receive a new crop of fall hits, but the static top 10 speaks to the quality of the current biggest hits, songs designed to entertain for multiple months instead of a couple weeks.
Michael Saponara: With a flurry of superstars dropping throughout the first half of the year, they took up a lot of oxygen on the Hot 100 to the point I think we just reached a point of saturation with some of these anthems being such dominant forces that just refuse to give up chart real estate. I believe it will eventually cycle through and there will be newcomers in quarter four.
Andrew Unterberger: Carpenter’s album has been the only really splashy album debut this month (not counting Travis Scott’s reissued mixtape), and too many big songs right now have maintained their streaming numbers while amassing major radio support — making it tough for anything new without major, major momentum behind it to break through. We could really use a left-field viral smash or two this autumn, but it appears we may have run dry on those for the time being.
Zach Top charts his first song on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Sept. 28) as “I Never Lie” debuts at No. 95.
Released in April on Leo33, the song enters with 4.9 million U.S. official streams (up 16%), 261,000 radio audience impressions and 1,000 downloads sold in the Sept. 13-19 tracking week, according to Luminate.
“I Never Lie” also ascends 26-23 for a new high on the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart. It’s one of two Top songs on the survey, as “Sounds Like the Radio” rises 41-37, becoming his second top 40 hit.
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“I Never Lie” appears on Top’s debut full-length, Cold Beer & Country Music. In a February interview with Billboard, in which he was named Country Rookie of the Month, he explained co-writing the album with Carson Chamberlain, formerly the late Keith Whitley’s bandleader and steel guitar player. “How we met was kind of hilarious,” Top shared. “In late 2018, he emailed me and said he wanted to work with me. I had archived the email, and my girlfriend at the time – now my wife – called me a few weeks later and said, ‘Do you remember that email from this Chamberlain fellow? I’m sending you his Wikipedia link. I think we need to email him back.’
“I did and met him in early 2019, started flying to Nashville every month to do co-writes with him and then he’d set me up on other co-writes,” Top said. “It was full circle because I love Keith Whitley and he was best buds with Keith.”
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Cold Beer & Country Music jumps 111-90 on the Billboard 200, reaching the chart’s top half for the first time, and 21-18 on Top Country Albums.
Top, from Sunnyside, Wash., first appeared on Billboard’s charts in January, when “Sounds Like the Radio” debuted on Country Airplay. It holds at its No. 20 high on the latest list.
Both of Top’s breakout hits have benefitted from TikTok. “I Never Lie” has soundtracked over 25,000 clips on the platform to date, while “Sounds Like the Radio” has been used in over 3,000.
Top is currently supporting Lainey Wilson on her Country’s Cool Again Tour. He kicks off his headlining Cold Beer & Country Music Tour in January.
Blossoms are blooming on the midweek U.K. chart with Gary.
Hailing from Stockport, England, the indie-rock act leads the Official Chart Update with Gary (via Odd Sk Recordings), their fifth full-length album.
If it holds its course, Gary will give the band a fourth leader following their self-titled debut from 2016, Foolish Loving Spaces (from 2020) and Ribbon Around The Bomb (2022), while 2018’s Cool Like You peaked at No. 4.
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The strongest challenge comes from Chappell Roan and her former chart-leading debut album The Rise And Fall of a Midwest Princess (Island). Based on midweek sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, Midwest Princess is a little over 2,000 chart units behind Gary in second place.
Scottish singer and songwriter Tom Walker could complete the podium with I Am (Relentless), his sophomore album. It’s new at No. 3 on the chart blast. Previously, the Brit Award-winning artist led by chart in 2019 with his debut What A Time To Be Alive.
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Also eyeing a top 10 debut is Katy Perry with her sixth LP 143 (EMI). It’s set to start at No. 4 on the national tally, for what would be the U.S. pop star’s fifth top 10 title and highest-charting effort in the U.K. since Prism led the chart in 2013.
Meanwhile, the xx’s Jamie xx could nab a second solo top 10 with In Waves (Young). The followup to In Colour, which peaked at No. 3, the British producer’s latest is set to start at No. 6. As a member of the xx alongside Romy and Oliver Sim, Jamie has snared two U.K. No. 1s with Coexist (in 2012) and I See You (2017).
Further down the midweek chart, West Yorkshire rock act Terrorvision could nab a career high with We Are Not Robots (Total Vegas), set to bow at No. 7; Future could score a fifth U.K. top 10 with Mixtape Pluto (RCA), on track for a No. 9 bow; and post-punk Manchester outfit Ist Ist could land a first-ever top 10 appearance with Light A Bigger Fire (Kind Violence), new at No. 10 on the chart blast.
Over on the midweek singles chart, Sabrina Carpenter looks likely to extend her reign with “Taste” (via Island). Carpenter’s latest hit is heading for a fifth week at No. 1, which would extend her record as the solo female artist with the most combined weeks at No. 1 in a calendar year. Currently, her three leaders have notched a combined 16 weeks at No. 1. Chappell Roan could have something to say about it. The U.S. pop phenom is “closer than ever to her first UK No. 1 single,” the OCC reports, as “Good Luck, Babe!” sits at No. 2, fewer than 2,000 chart units from the leader.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Singles and Albums Charts are published late Friday, Feb. 27.