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Beyoncé has a massive week on Billboard’s charts, thanks to her latest LP, Cowboy Carter. Along with charting 23 songs from the album on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated April 13), she ups her career total from 85 entries to 106. As such, she becomes the 17th artist, and only the third woman, to have logged 100 or more titles since the chart began in 1958.
Cowboy Carter debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (and the Top Country Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts) with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the March 29-April 4 tracking week, according to Luminate – the biggest one-week total of 2024. She also becomes the first Black woman to lead Top Country Albums.
Here’s a look at all 23 of Beyoncé’s entries on the latest Hot 100, all of which are debuts except where noted. (The 27-track Cowboy Carter also includes four mostly spoken-word interludes.)
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No. 2, “Texas Hold ‘Em” (up from No. 11; peaked at No. 1 for two weeks)No. 6, “II Most Wanted,” with Miley CyrusNo. 7, “Jolene”No. 16, “Levii’s Jeans,” with Post MaloneNo. 26, “Bodyguard”No. 27, “Blackbiird,” with Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna RobertsNo. 30, “Ameriican Requiem”No. 31, “Spaghettii,” with Linda Martell & ShaboozeyNo. 37, “Daughter”No. 38, “16 Carriages” (re-entry; returns to its peak)No. 39, “Ya Ya”No. 42, “Protector,” with Rumi CarterNo. 44, “Tyrant,” with Dolly PartonNo. 51, “Riiverdance”No. 52, “Alliigator Tears”No. 54, “My Rose”No. 59, “Just for Fun,” with Willie JonesNo. 60, “II Hands II Heaven”No. 61, “Sweet * Honey * Buckiin’ ” with ShaboozeyNo. 63, “Flamenco”No. 65, “Desert Eagle”No. 70, “Oh Louisiana”No. 87, “Amen”
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Beyoncé’s 106 career Hot 100 hits are the 13th-most overall and the third-most among women, after only Taylor Swift (232) and Nicki Minaj (148). (She charted 14 additional hits as a member of Destiny’s Child in 1997-2005, and five as half of The Carters in 2018.)
Here’s a look at all 17 artists in the 100 Hot 100 Hits club:
329, Drake232, Taylor Swift207, Glee Cast186, Lil Wayne185, Future157, Kanye West148, Nicki Minaj138, Lil Baby117, Chris Brown115, Travis Scott109, Elvis Presley (whose career start predated the Hot 100’s inception)108, Lil Uzi Vert106, Beyoncé105, Justin Bieber105, Jay-Z104, YoungBoy Never Broke Again103, 21 Savage
Notably, Beyoncé (106) surpasses the total Hot 100 hits of her husband, Jay-Z (105). They have harmoniously charted three songs together, led by her first entry, “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde” (billed as by Jay-Z featuring Beyoncé Knowles), which hit No. 4 in December 2002.
Of Beyoncé’s 106 career Hot 100 hits, 61 have reached the top 40; 24 have hit the top 10; and nine have gone to No. 1.
Thanks to their guest appearances on Cowboy Carter, eight artists earn their first Hot 100 entries: Tanner Adell, Willie Jones, Tiera Kennedy, Linda Martell, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey, Brittney Spencer and Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi Carter. At six years old, Rumi is now the youngest-charting female artist in Hot 100 history. She breaks the record previously held by her sister, Blue Ivy Carter, who was seven when she debuted as featured on Beyoncé, SAINt JHN and Wizkid’s No. 76-peaking “Brown Skin Girl” in 2019.
At this point in his career, Keith Urban is a singing competition pro. He was a vocal coach on three seasons of the Australian edition of The Voice, and spent four seasons as a judge on American Idol.
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That’s why he was the perfect selection for a mega mentor on season 25 of NBC’s The Voice, helping the contestants prepare for the Knockout Rounds starting on April 8. “It’s such a family vibe on The Voice,” the “Blue Ain’t Your Color” singer tells Billboard, noting that he loved working with coaches Chance the Rapper and John Legend, as well as his fellow country stars Reba McEntire and Dan + Shay.
As a veteran of the singing competition space, he knows that mentorship is personal, opting against “blanket advice” for the contestants. “You have to meet each artist where they’re at. What’s consistent is knowing what advice to take or to discard,” he explains. “I’m sure the coaches would agree that nobody has all the answers. Particularly, if you’re doing something unique, chances are that nobody understands yet. A lot of artists get a lot of ‘You have to change this and change that.’ Sometimes, you don’t have to change anything at all. You have to keep working and make a better version of what already is.”
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Navigating advice from all directions is a “challenge” Urban himself experienced throughout his career, adding that it’s important to be selective with your inner circle. “You can be really stubborn and immovable on certain things but that’s going to keep you stuck. Then, other times, you’d hear someone’s advice and think maybe that’s what you should do and you do it and then you find yourself to be lost and that the advice didn’t work for you,” he says. “For me, the most important thing was having people around me that I trust. Honestly, even family and friends will often have a little bias — positive or negative. You can have some friends that are super jealous or they might have a bias and they’ll give you advice that’s actually not very good. Having people around me that I really, really trust their opinions helped the most in my career.”
As for McEntire and Dan + Shay’s country takeover on The Voice, Urban isn’t surprised. “It’s reflective of the growing popularity of country music as a genre, not just nationally but all around the world,” he says proudly. “It’s extraordinary watching it take off like it’s doing.”
While he’s helping aspiring artists at the beginning of their careers, the four-time Grammy winner is continuing his own illustrious career, as he’s slated to soon release a new album, which will include the songs “Straight Line” and “Messed Up As Me.”
“It’s always fun for me,” he says when asked how he stays passionate about making music after all these years. “I know it sounds crazy, but I get more excited now to write a song than I ever did. Even making the current record was a crazy mix of fear, excitement, discovery, curiosity, passion — just everything. I went through everything with this record, because I’ve never made this record. I’ve never seen this day. We’ve had plenty of fun but we’ve never had this one. And that’s just how I live my life. Every single day is a brand new blank canvas.”
He also stressed the importance of staying in touch with how he felt when he was first beginning his journey in music. “A quick example is when I went into the record company to play my new album the other day for about 50 people,” he recalls. “I wanted to print out the lyrics to every song and while it was a lot of work, I didn’t want to have somebody do it and I wanted to do it myself. So, I stapled all the lyrics together and put together this massive presentation. It felt like putting up my own posters at the beginning of my career. If you lose that feeling, you do start to become jaded and you get bored and your passion just disappears. For me, my passion stays so long as I keep doing the things I did at the beginning and it keeps it exciting.”
Catch Urban during The Voice Knockouts, which begin on Monday (April 8) at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, before it streams the following day on Peacock.
Kelsea Ballerini took the stage at the 2024 CMT Music Awards on Sunday night (April 7) to perform her throwback hit, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” but not everyone was a fan of her bold fashion choice. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The 30-year-old country […]
When Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles was asked on the the red carpet at Sunday night’s (April 7) 2024 CMT Music Awards if she’d listened to Beyoncé‘s Billboard 200 No. 1 album Cowboy Carter the answer was a no-brainer. “Of course! Who hasn’t?” Nettles said in mock horror about the country-leaning collection that secured Bey’s eighth […]
Azealia Banks is never one to mince words, and she’s revived a decade-old feud with Lily Allen as she came to Beyoncé’s defense.
The “212” rapper took to her Instagram Stories over the weekend to call out the British pop star for her criticism of Bey’s Cowboy Carter album, and she recalled a play-by-play of an alleged phone call between herself and Allen that took place a “few years ago.”
“Okay @lilyallen you’re going to stop right there and sit this one out,” Banks wrote over an accompanying Billboard story regarding Allen framing Bey’s country pivot as “quite calculated.” Banks also brought up an alleged phone conversation between the two.
“Shall we discuss that phone call to me – a few years ago – obviously off your face – crying and sobbing asking me to forgive you for randomly being racist?” she wrote in part.
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Billboard has reached out to Allen for comment.
Allen name-dropped Banks on the April 4 episode of her Miss Me? podcast while dissecting Beyoncé’s Dolla Parton “Jolene” cover.
“I read a comment from Azealia Banks where she was like, ‘Stop talking about Jay-Z as if anyone wants to f–k him,” Allen said, laughing. “Literally, no one’s even looked at him for about 10 years, relax.”
Co-host Miquita Oliver then asked Allen if she found the Brooklyn rap mogul attractive, and she replied, “I mean, I’m attracted to power, so yes? But maybe not physically,” said the singer, who is married to Stranger Things star David Harbour. “I don’t want my current husband to get upset, but it’s not really the physical I go for.”
Allen continued to dig into Beyoncé’s decision to explore a country album with Cowboy Carter.
“It’s very weird that you’d cover the most successful songs in that genre,” Allen mused. “I just feel like it’s quite an interesting thing to do when you’re like trying to tackle a new genre and you just choose the biggest song in that genre to cover. I mean, you do you, Beyoncé, and she literally is doing her. Or is she doing Dolly?”
Allen continued: “The front cover is her in a cowboy hat, riding on a horse. She was wearing a blonde wig and a cowboy hat [at the Grammys]. It’s a bit about challenging these institutions that have thus far rejected Beyoncé as the icon and institution she is herself.”
Azealia Banks’ and Lily Allen’s history runs deep, as they previously feuded in 2013 while engaging in a Twitter beef that ended with Banks dissing Allen’s ex-husband Sam Cooper and saying he looked like a “thumb.”
Regardless of any critique, Beyoncé galloped to the No. 1 album in the country — her eighth in her discography — with Cowboy Carter topping the Billboard 200 with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 4, according to Luminate.
Tanner Adell is just a few years into her country career, but on Sunday night (April 8) at the 2024 CMT Music Awards she was elated to celebrate her first chart-topper on the Billboard 200. When Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly mentioned that Adell was featured on Beyoncé‘s eighth No. 1 album, Cowboy Carter, the Kentucky native could not suppress a giant smile as she said, “apparently.”
Adell — who sings alongside Bey on the interpretation of the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” (which in Beyoncé’s version is titled “Blackbiird”) — said “it feels incredible. Congratulations to Bey, she’s worked so hard — especially just… Act I, now we’re Act II and I can’t wait for Act III. I’m just starting out and it feels pretty amazing to have one of my… not even one of my, my favorite artist on the planet know my name, put me on this album and now it’s debuted at No. 1. It’s very special.”
Pitching things forward a bit to the 2025 Grammy Awards, Kelly noted that if Cowboy Carter is nominated for the elusive album of the year prize that Beyoncé — the most-decorated artist in Grammy history — has never yet won, Tanner could get a major moment in the sun. Rendered speechless, Tanner smiled and said, “I guess?”
“I’m an independent artist, it’s been a grind and just to have someone of that caliber reach down and lift us up it’s really, really special and i’m just very honored,” said the singer who released her debut album, Buckle Bunny, last summer.
Cowboy Carter debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart dated April 13, debuting with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 4 according to Luminate; the album marks the singer’s eighth No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Cowboy Carter also has dibs on the biggest week of 2024 to date, marking the largest opening frame since Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) bowed with 1.653 million units in November.
Another contemporary Black country act who had high praise for Bey on Sunday was Reyna Roberts, who also lends her voice to “Blackbiird,” along with Brittney Spencer, Adell and Tiera Kennedy. “Absolutely! I believe it. I’ve always believed that I was going to history, not sure in what capacity,” said “Stompin’ Grounds” singer Roberts of possibly being part of a major moment if Bey is finally fitted for the AOTY crown next year. “I’m just grateful that Beyoncé allowed us to be part of her dream and her project. This is phenomenal, I can’t even describe how excited and happy I am.”
On the CMT red carpet, tAdell also showed of the new “Blackbiird”-inspired tattoo on her arm, noting that Roberts got her own version as well to commemorate their unexpected place in the Bey universe. “We all did it in our own style kind of how we wanted to,” she said showing off the bird image ink on her right forearm. “We just felt like this is a really big moment and something to commemorate the experience of being able to work together with someone that we all look up to very much.”
“Flower Shops” singer-songwriter Ernest took to Instagram on Monday morning (April 8), good-naturedly heckling his friend, labelmate, “Flower Shops” collaborator and frequent co-writer Morgan Wallen, following the latter’s arrest on Sunday night (April 7). Wallen was arrested after allegedly throwing a chair off the roof of Eric Church’s six-story Chief’s bar that just opened in downtown Nashville.
Ernest posted a video on Instagram with the caption, “Alexa, play ‘The Chair’ by George Strait,” while the video showed him in a car, slightly shaking his head, while the video was emblazoned with the words, “When Morgan asks me if I wanna go to Broadway…” Ernest’s song “I Would If I Could” with Lainey Wilson plays, featuring the lyrics, “I would if I could, I can’t, so I won’t, but I want to…”
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“I Would If I Could” is featured on his upcoming album Nashville, Tennessee, which releases Friday (April 12).
Worrick Robinson of Worrick Robinson Law confirmed the country star’s arrest to Billboard on Monday (April 8). “At 10:53 p.m. Sunday evening, Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct,” the country star’s attorney said in a statement. “He is cooperating fully with authorities.”
Wallen’s publicist also confirmed to Billboard that Wallen had been released from jail.
Ernest has been promoting his upcoming album by launching the humorous website ernestformayor.com and posting humorous “campaign trail” videos on social media. He also responded to Country Central‘s Instagram post about Wallen’s arrest, commenting, “I’ve been needing a chairman for my mayor campaign…found my guy.”
Ernest is a co-writer on some of Wallen’s biggest hits, including “You Proof,” “Wasted on You,” “More Than My Hometown” and “This Bar.” His upcoming album also features another collab with Wallen, on the song “Hangin’ On.”
Notably, The Wallen/Church duet of “Man Made a Bar” is currently at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart. However, the song isn’t an Ernest co-write; instead, the radio hit comes courtesy of songwriters Brett Tyler, Jordan Dozzi, Larry Fleet and Rocky Block.
Wallen just launched his One Night at a Time 2024 World Tour in Indianapolis on April 4, and is slated to perform at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on May 2-4. Wallen’s next court date is also set for May 3 in Nashville.
See Ernest’s post joking about Wallen’s arrest below:
Morgan Wallen was arrested and jailed on Sunday night (April 7) in Nashville after the chart-topping country singer allegedly hurled a chair off the six-story roof of a popular bar on the city’s bustling Broadway street. On Monday morning (April 8), Billboard received a statement from Wallen’s attorney, Worrick Robinson of Worrick Robinson Law, confirming […]
Little Big Town will use their performance at the 2024 CMT Music Awards as a launch pad into a full-blown national tour.
The Grammy Award-winning country act kick-off their Take Me Home U.S. tour Oct. 24 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC, in support of their new single, and as a celebration of the band’s 25-year milestone.
As it stands, the trek will wrap-up Dec. 13 with a special homecoming date at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN, their first in Music City since 2017’s sold-out 10-night stand at Ryman Auditorium.
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The four-piece — comprised of Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook — teamed up with longtime friends and collaborators Sugarland at Sunday night’s (April 7) CMT Music Awards at Moody Center in Austin, Texas, for the world premiere performance of “Take Me Home,” a cover of the Phil Collins song released back in 1985.
Sugarland is special guest on the forthcoming tour, with support from The Castellows. Live Nation and Sandbox Live are producing the trek.
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“Last night felt like a real homecoming for us and a full circle moment. When we toured with Sugarland last, we would all be backstage harmonizing different cover songs to try and surprise the audience every night,” reads a statement from Little Big Town. “There’s something about this song that feels so nostalgic of that time. It really is like coming home.”
Little Big Town and Sugarland last shared the CMT Music Awards stage 15 years ago, when they were joined by Jake Owen for a rendition of “Life in a Northern Town,” originally released by the Dream Academy in 1985.
On Sunday, Little Big Town chalked up their 13th CMT Music Awards performance.
The upcoming tour, says the band, “feels like a celebration of being a band for 25 years and we’re so excited to throw this party with our great friends Sugarland. We’ll both be playing all our biggest hits and then some. Can’t wait to see everyone.”
The general onsale begins Friday, April 12 at littlebigtown.com.
Little Big Town’s 2024 U.S. Take Me Home Tour:
Oct. 24 — Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, SC
Oct. 25 — PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
Oct. 26 — Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Oct. 31 — TD Garden, Boston, MA
Nov. 1 — PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 2 — KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY
Nov. 7 — Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Nov. 8 — Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 9 — Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI
Nov. 14 — T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO
Nov. 15 — Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, Sioux Falls, SD
Nov. 16 — Vibrant Arena at The MARK, Moline, IL
Nov. 21 — Moody Center, Austin, TX
Nov. 22 — Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, TX
Nov. 23 — BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
Dec. 11 — Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, MS
Dec. 12 — Gas South Arena, Duluth, GA
Dec. 13 — Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
To hear Jelly Roll tell it, the three prizes he took home at Sunday’s (April 7) 2024 CMT Music Awards don’t hold a candle to his ultimate reward: seeing Bunnie XO, his wife of eight years, getting all the shine she deserves.
In an interview with Billboard News’ Tetris Kelly on the CMT red carpet Sunday, Jelly Roll beamed when asked about how amazing it was to see Bunnie doing a hosting gig backstage and her other solo endeavors.
“The coolest moment I’ve had this entire process is … when I walked out, they had a placard with my name for where my seat was and then her placard,” Jelly said proudly. “I was like, ‘You’re not a plus-one no more, baby! You’re a seat!’”
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Jelly was the biggest winner at Sunday night’s CMT Awards, heading into the show with a leading three nominations and leaving with all three awards — his second year in a row to take home a trio of hardware at the CMTs. The singer/songwriter was especially honored to be facing some very friendly competition for video of the year in Cody Johnson and Kelsea Ballerini, the night’s host; Jelly Roll eventually took home the fan-voted top prize, for “Need a Favor.”
“The coolest part is, Kelsea’s my friend. Cody’s my friend,” he told Billboard News. “And I don’t mean in the way we say friends in the industry – because we’re all ‘friends’ here, right? – but in a real way, of like, I’ve spent real time with them. I’ve spent hours on the phone with Cody, multiple dinners, hung out with him multiple times. I’ve spent real time with Kelsea and Chase,” he said, referencing Ballerini’s Outer Banks star boyfriend Chase Stokes. “These are my friends. So it’s cool.”
Before setting out for his triple-win night, Tetris asked Jelly to describe his breakthrough year in one word.
“Unbelievable,” he said without hesitation. “I’m going to look back one day on all this and be like, ‘What the f— was going on in that decade?’”
Watch Jelly Roll’s interview below:
