Chart Beat
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Coldplay’s sprawling Music of the Spheres World Tour – 156 shows on four continents over two and a half years so far – continues, taking the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the Brits brought in $72.2 million and sold 575,000 tickets over 11 shows in July.
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It’s the fourth time that Coldplay has led the monthly review, all of which happened during its current tour (the monthly Boxscore charts launched in February 2019), following victories in July 2022, March 2023 and January of this year. The first of those was while the band played in Europe. The second was for shows in South America, and the third in Asia.
The Music of the Spheres World Tour clinches its most recent monthly victory with a return to Europe, marking the third continental leg of the tour. Stops in Rome, Dusseldorf and Helsinki packed the July calendar, peaking in the former with $29.4 million and 252,000 tickets at Stadio Olimpico July 12-13 and 15-16. That’s enough to take the No. 1 spot on Top Boxscores as well.
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Beyond the chart triumph on July’s Boxscore report, Coldplay’s tour has now reached record-breaking heights. Since its kick-off in March 2022, it has eclipsed $1 billion in concert grosses and sold almost 9.3 million tickets through Aug. 25. That makes it the highest grossing and bestselling rock tour in Boxscore history, surpassing Elton John in the former metric and U2 in the latter.
Four dates remain to be reported in Dublin, plus 11 in Oceania later this fall. Having averaged more than 50,000 tickets on all nine legs of the world tour so far, it’s likely that the Music of the Spheres World Tour will surpass 10 million tickets.
The $1 billion gross and 10 million ticket thresholds are both unprecedented in Boxscore’s almost 40-year history. The obvious asterisk is unreported figures for Taylor Swift’s ongoing The Eras Tour, likely closer to $2 billion than one now that its own 48-date European leg has wrapped, and approaching 10 million tickets itself.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are No. 2 on July’s Top Tours ranking, pulling in $65.4 million from 500,000 tickets over nine shows. The Boss also earns his chart rank from shows in Europe, specifically playing in Belgium, Denmark, Germany and others, before closing out the run with two shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Springsteen’s London dates grossed $25.2 million and sold 154,000 tickets, mirroring his No. 2 rank over on Top Boxscores. A double header at Friends Arena in Solna, Sweden followed with $9.7 million and 108,000 tickets, landing further down the list at No. 23.
Since kicking off in May, the ’24 European leg of Springsteen’s tour brought in $158.5 million and sold more than 1.2 million tickets over 22 concerts. Though he has wrapped overseas, The Boss made his way over the pond, launching another leg of U.S. shows last week and ensuring a return on the August recap.
Europe fills out the top four spots, with Travis Scott and P!nk at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. It was the first extended European tour for Scott, who was met with a well of pent-up demand. From June 28 through Aug. 4, he grossed $58.9 million and sold 520,000 tickets in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Portugal, and more. It’s the most that a solo rapper has earned on tour outside of the United States.
Combined with the North American shows from autumn 2023 and winter 2024, the Utopia Circus Maximus Tour has brought in $154.7 million and sold 1.2 million tickets over 63 shows. Scott has a slate of shows in Latin America and Oceania before closing for good on Halloween in Auckland, New Zealand.
For P!nk’s part, the Summer Carnival Tour continued with a second leg of European stadiums. Reaching a monthly high at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruyff Arena, she totaled $46.8 million and 377,000 tickets during July. Since its launch last June, the entire tour has grossed $469.3 million and sold 3.6 million tickets – not including the Trustfall Tour, which interrupted the stadium run with a swing of North American arenas, adding $60.8 million and 257,000 tickets to Pink’s enormous post-pandemic return to the stage.
On Top Boxscores, Europe takes up the top six spots with engagements from Karol G and Metallica in addition to Coldplay and Springsteen. There’s two more in the top 10 (Luis Miguel and P!nk), and eight more on the chart, including The Killers with six shows at London’s O2 Arena and Ed Sheeran at Polsat Plus Arena in Gdansk, Poland.
On Top Stadiums, European venues make up seven of the 10 spots, including the entire top five. Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabeu rules with $37.2 million and 309,000 tickets, thanks to two shows from Luis Miguel ($13.6 million on July 6-7) and four from Karol G ($23.6 million on July 20-23). The latter closed out her yearlong world tour at the chart-topping stadium, re-setting her own records among women in Latin music.
Stateside, Las Vegas dominates the biggest and smallest venue charts. Sphere is No. 1 among rooms with a capacity of 15,001 or more (excluding stadiums), while the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas is tops among venues with a cap of 2,500 or less.
A version of this story appears in the Aug. 31, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Number_i’s “INZM” blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Aug. 28.
The lead single off the three-man group’s first full album called No.Ⅰ, due Sept. 23, was downloaded 54,560 times during the chart week to hit No. 1 for the metric, while also dominating radio airplay and video views. “INZM” is Number_i’s second No. 1 on the tally following “GOAT,” and the former No. 1 single climbed 78-58 after seeing increases in streaming and video. The group’s previous single “BON” also moved 53-40, with increases in downloads on top of streams and video views.
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Bowing at No. 2 is Nogizaka46’s “Cheat Day.” Released on Aug. 21, the group’s 36th single sold 651,536 copies in its first week to hit No. 1 for sales, while coming in at No. 11 for downloads and No. 17 for radio.
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TREASURE’s “KING KONG” is at No. 3, launching with 178,091 CDs (No. 2) and coming in at No. 3 for radio and No. 48 for streaming.
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After holding at No. 2 for five weeks, Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” slips two notches to No. 4 this week. The track is slowing down slightly overall, with downloads at 77% week-over-week, streaming 98%, radio 81%, video 96%, and karaoke 95%. The pop-rock band’s “familie” also falls 3-5, but increased in streaming (118%) and video (137%), and these two songs are dominating the top two spots on the streaming list this week.
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Kenshi Yonezu’s “Garakuta – JUNK” debuts at No. 10. The hitmaker’s latest single is the theme song for the movie LAST MILE and is included in his new album LOST CORNER, which topped this week’s Japan Hot Albums chart. With 11,286 downloads in its first week, the track hits No. 2 for the metric and also comes in at No. 6 for radio, No. 18 for video, and No. 26 for streaming.
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The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Aug. 19 to 25, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Falling in Reverse hits No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart for the first time, bowing atop the Aug. 31-dated survey with Popular Monster.
The set starts with 31,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending Aug. 22, according to Luminate. That sum breaks down to 18,000 in album sales and 13,000 streaming equivalent units.
The Ronnie Radke-led band charted four prior entries on Top Hard Rock Albums, all of which debuted and peaked at No. 2: The Drug in Me Is You (2011), Fashionably Late (2013), Just Like You (2015) and Coming Home (2017).
Although the group logged a seven-year break between albums, some of the music on Popular Monster was released before 2024, dating as far back as the title track in 2019.
Concurrently, Popular Monster launches at No. 5 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums; all of Falling in Reverse’s albums have reached the top five, led by The Drug in Me Is You (No. 3). On the all-genre Billboard 200, the new release debuts at No. 12, the band’s highest rank; its previous top-charting title, Fashionably Late, hit No. 17.
Falling in Reverse also occupies the top four spots on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart and five of the top six. Current single “All My Life,” a co-bill with Jelly Roll, claims a ninth week at No. 1, with 2.8 million radio audience impressions, 2.2 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 sold in the week ending Aug. 22. The song led Mainstream Rock Airplay for five weeks (it’s currently No. 5) and jumps 30-27 on Alternative Airplay.
“Prequel,” the album’s opening track, follows on Hot Hard Rock Songs as the week’s top debut at No. 2 via 2.4 million streams and 2,000 sold.
Six songs from Popular Monster have hit No. 1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs, a record haul for an album. (Bring Me the Horizon’s Post Human: Survival Horror ranks second with three leaders in 2020.) The Popular Monster title cut led upon the chart’s inception, followed by “Zombified” and “Voices in My Head” (both in 2022), “Watch the World Burn” (2023) and “Ronald” (this May-June) prior to “All My Life.”
Clams Casino doesn’t believe in the age-old adage of having to finish what you start — at least in a single recording session. Born Michael Volpe (no relation to the New York Yankees shortstop and fellow New Jersey native Anthony Volpe), he rose to prominence serving as the sonic architect behind a majority of A$AP Rocky’s seminal 2011 Live. Love. A$AP mixtape, which ushered in a new era of NYC rap and kicked off the A$AP Mob frontman’s Harlem Renaissance.
But nearly 15 years later, Volpe’s atmospheric beats has continue to leave an impact on the next generation of artists. Being a fan of his work with Rocky, Clams Casino was already on The Kid LAROI’s radar when a mutual collaborator, Billy Walsh, connected the producer to the Australian musician when he was just 17 years old. Though nothing came of the initial studio session link-up, a year-and-a-half later, Clams Casino cooked up another intoxicating beat that he felt matched the vibe LAROI was looking for, and he turned out to be right.
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“I hadn’t spoken to LAROI in a long time and I just had a feeling,” he tells Billboard. “I sent him that one and he immediately responded that he loved it and went right in, recorded it on his own and sent it back in like a day.
“He used the MP3 I sent him as-is,” he continues. What came out was pretty much the original demo, which is cool about.” That result is the euphoric “Nights Like This,” which ended up landing on The Kid LAROI‘s debut album, The First Time, last November. And while it didn’t take off immediately, the track would slow-burn to success with the help of TikTok and break through in July on the Billboard Hot 100, where it has remained for the summer and currently sits at No. 67 in its ninth week on the chart.
The 37-year-old producer and LAROI then continued their magic with “Nights Like This Pt 2,” a heart-racing second installment that on The First Time‘s deluxe edition, released in August.
Below, Clams Casino breaks down all things surrounding “Nights Like This,” what stood out to him about The Kid LAROI and working with A$AP Rocky throughout his career.
How did “Nights Like This” come together? How did you originally get onto The Kid LAROI’s radar?
Clams Casino: It was a few years in the making. LAROI first reached out to me online when he was like 17. He was in the studio working with a mutual collaborator, Billy Walsh — I think he played him some of my stuff, and they were brainstorming and brought me out to [Los Angeles]. LAROI knew a lot of the music that I had done. Later on, he told me he was a big fan of the [A$AP] Rocky stuff. I went out to L.A. and we met up in the studio and we talked and played some stuff, but nothing really came out of that first time we met up. I kept it in the back of my mind.
I think it was a year-and-a-half later, and I was at my own studio in New York making beats. That [beat] came up, and I just thought this was the one to send to him. This is kind of what they were talking about what they wanted [during the initial session] and the sound they were referencing. I just sent that one beat. He was excited about it. I had a feeling this was the one and it worked out. Once it happened, it was quick, but the roots were a long time in the making.
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Do you remember actually cooking up that specific beat before getting it into his hands?
I had the melodic stuff sitting around a little bit. I knew it was a special one. I didn’t really know what to do with it. I had half of the beat kind of put away. I was like, “When the time is right, I’ll come back to it.” I don’t do full things in one sitting. A lot of stuff, I’ll come back to it months or years later. I messed around trying to do a different arrangement, and I think he was just stuck on the original demo. There was something about it; he kept going back to that. He was right about it. I tried some other things out, but he just wanted that original version, which is cool looking back on it.
What stands out about his artistry?
What’s exciting for me when I hear his music is that he has a very unique sense of melody — his delivery and his vocals. There’s something melodically that just feels like he’s delivering in the tones of his voice [with] a genuine feeling and it connects with his music because of that.
“Nights Like This” was teased back in 2022 and released in November. What do you think about its slow burn onto the charts?
It spread around very organically and I think that’s the best way it could happen. There was like zero push from the label at the beginning — they thought, like, “This is a little interlude or something.” I don’t think anyone took it seriously. From the beginning, I knew it was a really special thing and he did too. He was really excited about it. We had the freedom to do exactly what me and him wanted to do. People really connected with that.
Was there a moment you realized the record was taking off, and saw the fan reaction really moving?
I started seeing headlines, and all of a sudden, it was getting jumps in streams. I started seeing things online with people saying it was going crazy on TikTok. It just slowly started building. That’s how it really happened. I’m glad everyone’s hearing it now and they got around to it because that’s how I felt about it when it came out. I was happy and really excited and proud of that. Even just for it to come out in the first place I was happy, but I’m glad it got to that point. I always knew it was special. I’m glad it really connected with everybody else.
How did this lead into “Nights Like This Pt 2”?
The beginning of that idea came from something I made for myself. An instrumental solo project — that was the first thing when I was starting on my own new stuff. When I was listening back, I was going to save it for myself, and I was like, “Something about it feels like this should be the part two.” This was in March or earlier this year. So, a few months after the first was released. I sent LAROI not the full beat or anything, but melody stuff and it was a start.
He loved it, and he immediately started teasing it online. Ten minutes after I sent it to him, he was on Twitter saying, “Part two coming!” I was laughing about that — he was real excited about it. There was a little bit of back-and-forth after that. Him and [co-producer] Dopamine recorded it and did some other production and sent it back to me. We sent it back a few times. Dopamine did a lot of work on it and we went back a few times. We got it finished up.
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When did The First Time track “Strangers (Interlude)” come into play?
I actually didn’t know about that. I had no idea about that until the album came out. They had done that on their own. I felt like it set up [“Nights Like This”] really nicely. I love how it sounds sequenced on the album. It’s a clip from “Nights Like This” — just the intro to it and filtered out a little and a little skit on it.
Is there more to come from you guys?
Yeah, it feels like we’re just starting to figure it out. We’re both really excited. I’m like such a fan of his music and I’m happy that I’m able to bring what I bring to it. It just makes sense and it’s a beautiful thing. I’m always working on more that I want to send to him and we got some other stuff that we’re going to keep going [at] hopefully.
Outside of those collabs, what else are you working on?
I’ve been working on different stuff, like getting into scoring things. I worked on some original music for an independent movie that premiered at Cannes a few months ago. [It’s called] It Doesn’t Matter and the director is Josh Mond. I’ll definitely be doing more of that. In the meantime, I really have been having fun getting in with a lot of young producers and young people I’m inspired by. A lot of them have been inspired by me since they were younger, and now they’re coming up doing their own thing. It’s really crazy. I just been having fun getting in with all these new guys and seeing what happens. Producers [like] Evilgiane, who did the Earl Sweatshirt song recently. [I] been working with other guys like Ok. I did some stuff on the JT album with Aire Atlantica. I’m always experimenting and having fun doing stuff I haven’t done before. That’s what keeps me going.
Did you work on A$AP Rocky’s upcoming album?
We did work [on Don’t Be Dumb]. I don’t know what’s going to be used or not. It always seems up in the air until the last minute. We definitely had some things in the works. I don’t know what’s going to be released or not.
Can you speak to Rocky’s influence and his enduring legacy as a 2010s rap titan?
I’m just happy to be part of his story and the ride of his career. Seeing it from the beginning when we first met to where he’s at it now, it’s an amazing story. Remembering where it started and seeing where he’s at now, it’s awesome. I’m just happy to be able to see some of that and some of the behind-the-scenes things.
What do you think makes him special as an artist?
Overall, he has a clear sense of vision for everything. All aspects of it. The music, visuals and everything else. He’s always developing and sharpening that. I don’t really know what it is, but he’s got it.
Do you have a favorite collaboration over the years?
All of the first mixtape stuff [Live. Love. A$AP] is super important to me. That whole time, we weren’t really working in the studio. I was sending stuff, but then I’d come meet up with him every couple weeks and he’d play me what he did, but he was recording it [on his own]. The first song we officially did together was “Wassup.” Then we did “Bass” and “Palace” and all that stuff. It was happening one at a time over the spring and the summer leading up to the mixtape. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew something good was happening. Those songs are really special. There was an energy there that something was happening. For me, it was exciting and I didn’t know what was going to happen, and we just kept following it.
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For me, I think I gotta go “LVL.”
That was a little bit after the mixtape. That’s another special one doubling down on the sound that we started. That’s when it went from this internet mixtape thing to a major label and we were doubling down on the sound like, “This is what we’re doing.” That’s one of my favorites too.
A version of this story appears in the Aug. 24, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Elevation Worship’s “Praise,” featuring Brandon Lake, Chris Brown and Chandler Moore, reaches a milestone 25th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs survey (dated Aug. 31).
“Praise,” co-penned by Elevation Worship frontman Brown with Lake and Moore, as well as Pat Barrett, Cody Carnes and Steven Furtick, becomes just the sixth title to have dominated Hot Christian Songs for 25 frames or more over the survey’s 21-year history.
When “Praise” initially topped Hot Christian Songs in March, Brown told Billboard, “We’re blown away by what God has done with ‘Praise,’ and we’re thankful for everyone who has streamed, tuned in and shared the song. We hope it is a great reminder of all the reasons to praise God not just for what He’s done, but for who He is.”
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“Praise” drew 13.8 million airplay audience impressions and 3.4 million official U.S. streams and sold 1,000 Aug.16-22, according to Luminate.
Here’s a look at the longest-leading Hot Christian Songs No. 1s:
132 weeks, “You Say,” Lauren Daigle, beginning in July 2018
61 weeks, “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” Hillsong United, beginning in June 2013
37 weeks, “What a Beautiful Name,” Hillsong Worship, beginning in February 2017
28 weeks, weeks, “Gratitude,” Brandon Lake, beginning in February 2023
26 weeks, “Something in the Water,” Carrie Underwood, beginning in October 2014
25 weeks (to date), “Praise,” Elevation Worship, Brandon Lake, Chris Brown, Chandler Moore, beginning in July 2024
Dillard Has a ‘Hold On’ Radio
Singer-songwriter Ricky Dillard scores his fourth Gospel Airplay No. 1 with “Hold On.” The song advanced by 10% in plays during the tracking week.
“Hold On,” which Dillard wrote with Duane C. Shipley and produced with Zeke Listenbee and Quadrius Salters, is his third straight No. 1, after “All of My Help” led for a week in July 2022 and “Release,” featuring Tiff Joy, ruled for a week in August 2020.
Dillard, and his choir, New G, first commanded Gospel Airplay with “Amazing Light,” for 30 weeks starting in July 2014, the chart’s second-longest command, after Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It” (46 weeks starting in August 2007).
It’s a third win for breakout singer-songwriter Xavi, as he achieves his third No. 1 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart with latest single “#OOTD,” as the song speeds 6-1 to lead the Aug. 31-dated ranking. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news For those not familiar with […]
Oasis are reuniting in 2025 for a tour that promises to make dreams come true for hordes of fans around the globe.
If you lived in the U.K. in the 1990s, a time when rave culture collided with indie and Britpop, Oasis was a force to be reckoned with. Record and ticket sales, newspaper column inches, Oasis hogged all of it.
When Noel and Liam Gallagher, the combative Manchester siblings, called time on their band in 2009, they walked away with an impeccable chart record.
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All seven of Oasis’ studio albums went to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, from their 1994 debut Definitely Maybe through to 2005’s Don’t Believe The Truth. A year after the split, in 2010, the compilation Time Flies – 1994-2009 hit the summit, giving Oasis eight leaders.
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The manner in which the group dominated the national tally is worth exploring.
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Definitely Maybe became the fastest-selling debut album in British history – and has passed 5 million sales in the U.K., where it’s 17-times platinum certified, according to the Official Charts Company.
Their sophomore effort from 1995, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, is the fifth best-selling album of all time in the U.K.
And their third record, 1997’s Be Here Now, was a weapon. To this day, it’s the fastest-selling album of all time, shifting 696,000 copies in just three days of its first chart week.
It’s a similar tale on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, on which Oasis landed eight No. 1s.
“Wonderwall,” their signature song, is not one of them. The most-streamed song in Oasis’ catalog in the U.K., with 397,100,000 plays, according to the OCC, “Wonderwall” peaked at No. 2 on the weekly chart back in 1995.
That domination extended to awards ceremonies, as Oasis snagged six BRIT Awards, including the Outstanding Contribution to British Music, two Ivor Novellos, and 17 NME Awards.
The group enjoyed success around the globe, including Australia, where “Wonderwall” came in at No. 1 on triple j’s Hottest 100 songs of the past 20 years, which counted down in 2013, and was voted No. 1 on the “Hottest 100” for 1995.
“Wonderwall” spent 11 consecutive weeks in the ARIA Top 10, and is certified 12-times platinum in these parts, ARIA reports.
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? is certified eight-times platinum in Australia, having clocked up four consecutive weeks at No. 1 and 24 consecutive weeks in the top 10.Be Here Now is platinum certified, and one of the band’s six top 10 efforts on the ARIA Chart.
Oasis’s blockbuster success didn’t translate in the United States. Just three Oasis songs impacted the Billboard Hot 100, including a single top 10 for “Wonderwall” (peaking at No. 8 in 1996).
On the Billboard 200 albums chart, 11 Oasis titles have made their mark, including three top 10s, with a No. 2 best for Be Here Now in 1997.
Oasis will make their long-overdue comeback in 2025, when the band performs a run of concerts in the U.K. and Ireland, their first dates there in 16 years.
The OASIS LIVE ’25 world tour will stretch out. “Plans are underway for OASIS LIVE ’25 to go to other continents outside of Europe later next year,” reads a statement, issued Tuesday morning.
The news has lit the fuse with Oasis’ long-suffering fans in the U.K., proof of which can be seen on the midweek albums chart.
Oasis will “no doubt see a huge surge in sales this week,” according to the charts compiler, as three records get set to blast into the top 40: Time Flies… (1994-2009) (at No. 14), (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (at No. 26) and Definitely Maybe (No. 31), which celebrates its 30th anniversary this week.
Sabrina Carpenter is on the verge of a major career milestone as her sixth album, Short n’ Sweet, races toward the top spot on the U.K. Official Albums Chart.
“Taste” singer is outselling her nearest competitor by 2-to-1 at the midweek mark, putting her in prime position to secure her first-ever No. 1 album in the U.K.
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This potential chart-topping success would be a huge breakthrough for Carpenter, whose previous albums have yet to make a major impact on the U.K. charts. Now, with Short n’ Sweet, she’s not only aiming to crack the Top 40 for the first time but to do so in spectacular fashion.
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However, the chart battle is far from over. Following their much-anticipated reunion announcement, Oasis is experiencing a resurgence that could shake up the rankings.
The Gallagher brothers’ iconic band has three albums set to re-enter the Top 40 this week: their former chart-leading greatest hits compilation Time Flies… (1994-2009) at No. 14, the legendary (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? at No. 26, and their seminal debut Definitely Maybe, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, at No. 31.
With the hype surrounding their reunion tour, these albums are expected to climb even higher as the week progresses, making Oasis a strong contender in this week’s chart race.
Irish rockers Fontaines D.C. are also on fire with their new release, Romance, which is on track to debut in the Top 10, marking their fourth consecutive album to achieve this milestone in the U.K.
Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo is set to debut in the Top 10 at No. 6 after its release on streaming platforms for the first time. Meanwhile, country star Lainey Wilson is on track to secure her first U.K. Top 10 album with Whirlwind, reflecting the growing influence of country music across the pond.
Louis Tomlinson’s LIVE album, featuring recordings from his 2024 Faith In The Future and world tour shows, is expected to debut just outside the Top 10 at No. 11, adding yet another achievement to the former One Direction member’s solo career. Alt-pop artist Cassyette is also making a notable entry, with her debut album This World Fucking Sucks on track to debut at No. 22.
With Sabrina Carpenter leading the pack and Oasis making a strong comeback, this week’s U.K. Official Albums Chart is shaping up to be an exciting race to the finish.
Can Sabrina maintain her lead and claim the No. 1 spot, or will the legendary Oasis surge ahead? The countdown to the top continues.
“Die With a Smile,” which enters the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 3 this week, is the 14th collaboration involving Lady Gaga and/or Bruno Mars to reach the top 10 on Billboard’s flagship singles chart. The honor roll of their past collabs includes an Oscar winner for best original song (“Shallow” by Gaga & Bradley […]
Post Malone donned a cowboy hat and dominated the charts: on this week’s Billboard 200 (dated Aug. 31), new album F-1 Trillion blasts in at No. 1 with 250,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 22, according to Luminate. F-1 Trillion marks Post Malone’s third career No. 1 album, but notably, the full-length is a full-on country project that sounds far removed from his last two chart-toppers.
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A slew of country greats helped Post Malone with the project — several of which score debuts alongside Posty on this week’s Hot 100, where 18 songs from F-1 Trillion bow, including every collaboration. “I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen remains at the head of the pack, though, logging another week at No. 2 on the Hot 100, after previously spending six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.
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What’s the secret behind Post Malone’s country switch-up? And what genre should he explore next? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
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1. F-1 Trillion debuts with 250,000 equivalent album units — more than twice as many as the debut total for last year’s Austin album (113,000), although a far cry from 2019’s Hollywood’s Bleeding (489,000). On a scale of 1-10, how are you feeling about this debut if you’re Post?
Jessica Nicholson: An 8. With this being his first official foray into the country genre (he’s posted covers of country songs online over the past several years), this is a great accomplishment, especially given that the solo tracks on his Long Bed extension of the album lean into elements of Texas swing, honky tonk and 2000s country, rather than only the rock and hip-hop-inflected country of his Morgan Wallen collab. Still, one would think the numbers would be a bit higher, given the slate of big-name collaborations proliferating the album.
Jason Lipshutz: A 9. Simply put, Post Malone got his groove back with F-1 Trillion, following a pair of albums that produced some solid hits but didn’t do enough to iterate on his earlier success. This country album was boosted by a big hit in “I Had Some Help,” but a debut of 250,000 equivalent album units indicates that Posty’s country change-up conjured interest beyond its lead single — fans wanted to explore this new side of his artistry, and he scored one of the biggest debuts of 2024. Maybe he never returns to the commercial peak of his Hollywood’s Bleeding numbers, but the performance of F-1 Trillion suggests that Post Malone’s time in the spotlight will persist well past that peak.
Katie Atkinson: 10. He went outside his typical lane, assembled The Avengers of country music, and came in to release week with a six-week Hot 100 No. 1 lead single. Honestly, what’s not to be happy about? This country pivot has been received with open arms by the music-buying public, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Post’s country era extends beyond one album.
Lyndsey Havens: You could say I’d be feeling… 1 trillion out of 10. Metrics aside, this is an artistic project that Texas native Post Malone has wanted to make for most of his career. And yes, while he collaborated with superstars and legends alike on Hollywood’s Bleeding, helping the pop-rock-rap album score such an impressive first-week debut, you could argue the features on F-1 mean a bit more. To have almost every heavy hitter across country music – including the queen herself, Dolly Parton – was surely the best stamp of approval Post could desire. Even more so than his first foray into the genre debuting at No. 1, Post made an album that the country community not only rallied behind wanted to be a part of. And that is well worth celebrating.
Melinda Newman: An 8. A No. 1 album is a No. 1 album, no matter what the sales/streaming numbers are. And after missing the mark with both Austin and 2022’s Twelve Carat Toothache, Post has to be happy to reach the summit again, even if, to paraphrase a popular song, he had some help. At the same time, there has to be a nagging twinge of doubt questioning if he can hit No. 1 as a solo artist, though the popularity of F-1 Trillion will undoubtedly propel his solo numbers. Plus, all the tracks charted on the Hot 100, thanks to streaming. He’s got to be thrilled by that.
2. With F-1 Trillion becoming Post Malone’s first No. 1 album since 2019 and “I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen leading the Hot 100 for six total weeks, are you surprised that his country pivot has been as successful as its chart rankings indicate?
Jessica Nicholson: No. He has made a strong showing of connecting with both the Nashville industry and with country music fans. His album includes collaborations with a range of country artists, highlighting his respect for the genre by including both modern-day hitmakers like Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen, but also legends including Dolly Parton and Hank Williams, Jr. He wrote with Nashville writers for the album, and has showed up at nearly every Nashville country music venue possible, from the Grand Ole Opry to the Bluebird Café. But he’s also connected with fans through appearances at Stagecoach and his recent Marathon Music Works show — and for the country music audience, that intentionality in connecting with fans still goes a long way.
Jason Lipshutz: Not if you actually listened to “I Had Some Help,” and heard how naturally Post’s voice adapted to a country-pop sound alongside a Nashville superstar like Wallen. The ease with which he entered that lane suggested that he could maintain that stance for a full country album, especially one where he’d be flanked by established genre stars. And sure enough, F-1 Trillion is rife with guest stars that Posty can play off of, as well as a handful of solo tracks that were saved for the deluxe edition of the album. It was a foolproof formula for this project, and I’m not surprised that listeners have embraced it.
Katie Atkinson: Absolutely not. I remember assigning a story back in 2021 about all the times Post had “gone country.” It’s quaint to look back at that list, because the genre lines are so very blurred now – especially with a borderless artist like Post Malone – that all his country moments were so obviously inherent to him then and now. I mean, he’s from Texas, for starters. But the smartest thing he did with his first country outing is to get more than a dozen of the genre’s biggest stars to collaborate with him and co-sign his Nashville bona fides. Like, are you going to say this man isn’t country – because he has face tattoos, because he’s made rap music, etc., etc. – when Hank Williams Jr. says he is?
Lyndsey Havens: Not at all. The one thing I have learned from my years as a Post Malone fan is that he can’t really surprise us – he’s shown his range from the start. Take his debut album Stoney, a project on which his breakout hip-hop hit “White Iverson” fits perfectly alongside a warbly acoustic ballad like “Feeling Whitney” (in which he sings of putting on “a little Dwight” Yoakam). Plus, the first and only video Post has uploaded to the YouTube account created under his birth name, Austin Post, is a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice.” But more than any one genre, the thing that most foreshadowed Post’s pivot to country is his songwriting. And now, after years of honing those chops and building a network of Nashville’s hottest names, it’s no wonder he’s having such success.
Melinda Newman: Not at all. Country is having a moment (which many of us hope becomes a movement), and Post Malone has now become part of that. His timing was perfect, but if you talk to anyone in Nashville who worked with him, he put in the work. He spent months in Nashville working with top songwriters and immersing himself in the scene, popping up at local clubs to play. Plus, as a Texas boy, he grew up on country (among other genres), and folks in Nashville talk about how he is a country music jukebox. He is steeped in the stuff.
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3. “I Had Some Help” is still going strong at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart, although plenty of F-1 Trillion tracks debut on this week’s chart. Which song from the album do you think has the highest potential as a follow-up hit to “Help”?
Jessica Nicholson: His Blake Shelton collaboration “Pour Me a Drink” is currently not far behind on the Hot 100, at No. 13. The song is also in the top 15 on the Country Airplay chart and is directly behind “I Had Some Help” on the Hot Country Songs chart, sitting at No. 3. Elsewhere, he recently released a video with Luke Combs for their collab “A Guy For That,” and that track is at No. 7 on the Hot Country Songs chart. However, his album also includes the Jelly Roll collab “Losers,” which could be primed to dominate as well.
Jason Lipshutz: “California Sober” with Chris Stapleton debuted at No. 34 on this week’s Hot 100, and I could see that reaching a higher peak in due time — that song is an absolute blast to yell along to in a windows-down situation, as Post Malone and Stapleton let their harmonies rip into the plucked guitar strings. Stapleton hasn’t had a true pop crossover moment in a minute, and “California Sober” might be his ticket to the Hot 100’s upper reaches. Get these two together on an awards show stage, pronto!
Katie Atkinson: The gritty opening track “Wrong Ones” with Tim McGraw has my vote for the chorus alone: “I’m just lookin’ for the right one/ But them wrong ones keep lookin’ at me.” That needs to be on country radio, stat. While McGraw has been making country music for 30 years now, 15 of his top 20 Hot Country Songs hits are from the last decade and he’s due for another.
Lyndsey Havens: While previous pop-leaning country singles like “Pour Me a Drink” or “Guy For That” feel like obvious picks, I’m rooting for the dizzying “California Sober” with Chris Stapleton. But then, there’s the downtrodden anthem “Losers” with Jelly Roll, who is no stranger to the Hot 100 himself… With so many songs to choose from, it’s still a toss-up for me which one will raise its hand next.
Melinda Newman: Both “Pour Me A Drink” with Blake Shelton and “Guy For That” with Luke Combs are already getting some airplay at country radio, and if you’re going with what fits right in with what else is on country radio right now in terms of tempo, I’d pick “Devil I’ve Been,” featuring ERNEST, or “Nosedive,” since he hasn’t had a ballad as a single yet and Lainey Wilson is so hot. However, I’d love to see “California Sober” with Chris Stapleton have a shot at radio. We placed it at No. 1 on our ranking of the album’s tracks, because it’s a fun rave-up where they both sound like they’re having a blast. Does it sound like most of what’s playing on radio right now? No, it does not. It’s a little more freewheeling and doesn’t have a structured chorus, but it sure sounds great in the car with the windows down.
4. Post Malone collaborates with over a dozen country artists on F-1 Trillion — but which one that isn’t on the album would you still love to hear him team up with someday?
Jessica Nicholson: He’s proven he knows his way around Texas swing and honky tonk, anthems thanks to songs on his F-1 Trillion: Long Bed deluxe project, thanks to songs like “Back to Texas” and “Who Needs You.” Adding his fellow Texans Miranda Lambert or “King George” Strait to a track would be superb.
Jason Lipshutz: Let’s go with Sam Hunt, a hook maestro who’s long been adept at nudging his country style into different sonic territories. Imagine Post Malone contributing verse to a soothing, snappy country anthem akin to “Body Like a Back Road” — pretty intriguing, right?
Katie Atkinson: I’m stunned that his fellow Texan Kacey Musgraves isn’t on this album, so I’m going to need that collab on the next one. Her syrupy-sweet vocals next to his gravelly vibrato would be the perfect yin and yang.
Lyndsey Havens: Right now, in this moment, I have to say Shaboozey. I think the two of them would emerge with an absolute smash that perfectly blends their voices and effortlessly fuses country and Americana with a hint of hip-hop.
Melinda Newman: Without a doubt, fellow Texan George Strait. I’m curious if they tried and it didn’t work out timing-wise or it just wasn’t George’s thing. It would also be a blast to hear him and Garth Brooks do a duet.
5. If you could offer Post Malone some advice on his next studio project — either continue exploring country music, return to rap, or try something new entirely — what would you tell him?
Jessica Nicholson: I think further exploring country music and cementing his place in the genre beyond one album would be a smart move, especially given the track record of artists such as Kenny Rogers, Conway Twitty, and Darius Rucker who have found longevity within the country genre after having previous indie-pop sounds. Additionally, the breadth of sounds under country’s present-day umbrella makes some modern country hits sound not that far removed from Post’s own indie-pop hits. Perhaps even a hybrid project of country songs and his more rock stylings wouldn’t be out of the question, a la HARDY’s The Mockingbird & The Crow.
Jason Lipshutz: I might go with the “try something new entirely,” simply because Post Malone has already mined hip-hop and country music to great success, and has demonstrated a chameleonic ability to blend into the scene around him. What other sounds could be conquer? Could Posty link up with his pal Andrew Watt for a full-blown rock opus, or crank out a pop classic alongside Max Martin? If Post Malone made a jazz album, or a metal album… they would be surprisingly good, right? He is one of the smarter shape-shifting popular artists of our time, and I would never want Posty to do anything other than chase his muse.
Katie Atkinson: Do whatever you want! This is a man of multitudes who is clearly a natural fit in a lot of different worlds, and I just want to be along for the ride wherever the chameleon shows up next.
Lyndsey Havens: I have long begged for Post to release a folk album as Austin Post. His Dylan cover has lived in my head rent-free for a decade, and whether he chooses to release a project of covers in the same lane or continue to explore a folk-pop sound like his labelmate Noah Kahan, with whom he has collaborated on a remix of “Dial Drunk,” I’d be happy with whatever direction he chooses. Fortunately, with an artist like Post, nothing ever seems off the table – especially if you can also play beer pong on it.
Melinda Newman: I’d be curious to see where he goes if he keeps exploring country. The nine songs he released the next day after F-1 Trillion’s release, under F-1 Trillion: Long Bed, are way more traditionally country than the duets on F-1 Trillion, both stylistically and in instrumentation. He’s got a fine voice for country (though it seems that no style is beyond his vocal capabilities). What happens if he keeps leaning in that direction?