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Travis Kelce is interested in joining the DJ scene — and he knows exactly who he’d open for if he does. On the latest episode of New Heights posted Wednesday (June 4), he conversed with this week’s guest, Shaquille O’Neal, about wanting to get behind the turntables, with both athletes agreeing that the tight end would be the perfect “hype man” at Taylor Swift‘s concerts.
The topic first came up shortly after Travis and his brother/cohost, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, introduced the basketball icon. Praising Shaq for his DJing skills, the Grotesquerie star asked him to “teach me your ways.”
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“Bro, I got you,” replied O’Neal, who performs under the moniker DJ Diesel. “You know what [would be] crazy? You opening up with your girlfriend. Bro, you’d be a f–king star. Ten minutes hyping up the crowd, oh my God.”
Travis then laughed with excitement at the prospect. “Come on, you know I’m a hype man,” he said as Jason cackled. “You know I’m a hype man. Get it rocking in there. Have the Swifties bouncing off the walls before T gets out there.”
With the “Fortnight” singer’s global Eras Tour ending last December, the Kansas City Chiefs star will have to wait until the next time she hits the road to put his own DJ skills to the test. He did, however, get a taste of what it’s like to perform alongside Swift before her last tour wrapped, making a surprise onstage cameo during one of her Wembley Stadium shows in June last year.
As far as being Swift’s “hype man” goes, Travis has plenty of experience in that department. The NFL star often publicly praises his famous girlfriend, from celebrating the release of her Billboard 200-topping The Tortured Poets Department album in April 2024 to commending her athleticism on the Eras Tour.
The latest episode of New Heights was also no exception. Following their chat about his DJ ambitions with O’Neal, Travis later celebrated the 14-time Grammy winner’s recent headline-making purchase of the master recordings to her first six albums, finally securing ownership of her back catalog after years of fighting to do so. After Shaq played Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” on his phone, the football player cheered, “Shout-out to Tay Tay!”
“Just got that song back, too,” he added with a big smile. “Just bought all her music back. So it’s finally hers.”
Watch Travis and Shaq’s conversation on New Heights above.
In the animated realm of Toca Boca World, anything is possible — from changing your hair color at the drop of a hat to becoming the next member of KATSEYE.
As announced Wednesday (June 4), the six-piece girl group is joining the digital universe of the Swedish children’s game, where the band’s signature diversity will go hand-in-hand with Toca Boca‘s mission to encourage play through imagination, creativity and self-expression. With members Manon, Sophia, Daniela, Lara, Megan and Yoonchae each getting their own avatars within the game, EYECONS who play along will be able to unlock a KATSEYE style pack, download the band’s music, and win free digital gifts once the partnership launches on Tuesday (June 10).
In an exclusive interview with Billboard‘s Delisa Shannon celebrating the collaboration, Sophia said her favorite part is how fans will be able to combine their favorite traits of each KATSEYE member to become an honorary member of the squad. “When you’re creating your character, you get to take different parts of us and also parts of you — you can literally make it look exactly like you — and I think it’s so beautiful,” she gushed over Zoom as her bandmates nodded.
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“Just like how we always say with KATSEYE, the beautiful part of it is the diversity and the global-ness of it, and the ability to see yourself in us,” Sophia continued. “Whether it be, ‘Oh, I love Dani’s style, but I look like Sophia’ — you can fully become that in this world. It’s kind of like becoming a seventh member of KATSEYE.”
“I think it’s very cool that within this game, we’ve been able to express our diversity and the difference and uniqueness between all six of us,” added Lara. “But then also being in this one world together, being friends, being sisters, I think that’s so beautifully reflected in the game.”
The ways in which each KATSEYE member is unique will be represented down to small details in their avatars, from Lara’s bindi to the birthmark above Daniela’s eyebrow. Serving as Toca Boca World‘s first-ever “guest characters,” the ladies will also contribute music to the game; a custom player will let fans listen to tracks “Touch,” “Debut” and “I’m Pretty,” as well as new single “Gameboy” after it drops later this summer.
Plus, the animated KATSEYE avatars will also take part in an in-game Voxella Festival Stage Takeover, descending one-by-one on the virtual venue and unlocking a song after they’re united. For Yoonchae and Daniela, however, the most exciting parts of the game are its opportunities for self-expression and customization.
“I would change my face every day,” the former gushed when asked how she’d spend her time in Toca Boca World if it were a real place, while the latter said, “I would just go shopping and buy the whole mall, and just customize different outfits.”
KATSEYE’s partnership with Toca Boca comes as the group is bigger than ever before. In the months since dropping debut EP SIS (Soft Is Strong) in August, the sextet has amassed millions of listeners and scored its first-ever Billboard Hot 100 hit with the viral single “Gnarly,” which debuted at No. 92 in May.
As hype around the track continues to heat up in tandem with the temperatures outside, the members of KATSEYE — who also have a new EP, Beautiful Chaos, coming June 27 — think it’s pretty clear what this year’s song of the summer is going to be. “It’s a ‘Gnarly’ Summer,” said Megan, as her bandmates smiled in agreement.
But after Brat Summer and Hot Girl Summer, what does a “Gnarly” Summer entail? “Not being afraid of being cringe … letting your intrusive thoughts win,” Megan elaborated, while Lara said it’s all about “being very wild — and a little bit messy.”
ABBA‘s Björn Ulvaeus is working on a new musical using artificial intelligence. According to Variety, during a talk at SXSW London on Wednesday (June 4), the 80-year old Swedish pop legend said he’s tapping into AI because he believes it is an excellent creative tool.
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“Right now I’m writing a musical, assisted by AI,” Ulvaeus said, noting that he’s about three-quarters of the way through the creative process on the unnamed project, the follow-up to the hugely successful pop quartet’s avatar stage show, Voyage.
“It’s fantastic. It is such a great tool,” Ulvaeus raved of AI. “It is like having another songwriter in the room with a huge reference frame. It is really an extension of your mind. You have access to things that you didn’t think of before.” Unlike many in the industry who fear that AI is an existential threat to their existence and the traditional creative process, Ulvaeus is aware of the bugs in the system, which he said have helped him to merge AI with his already formidable songwriting skills.
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“It’s lousy at [writing a whole song]” and “very bad at lyrics,” he said about his AI helpmate, which has allowed him to navigate through some creative dead-ends. “You can prompt a lyric you have written about something, and you’re stuck maybe, and you want this song to be in a certain style,” he said. “You can ask it, how would you extend? Where would you go from here? It usually comes out with garbage, but sometimes there is something in it that gives you another idea.”
Ulvaeus is part of an eclectic lineup for 2025 SXSW London, whose lineup includes Erykah Badu (as DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown), Tems, Mabel, Alice Glass and many more. Penske Media Corporation (which also owns Billboard) and the film and production company MRC invested in SXSW in 2021 following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic; two years later, Penske took majority ownership of SXSW.
The AI project, whose ultimate form has not yet been announced, is part of Ulvaeus’ ongoing partnership with Pophouse Entertainment, the company behind the ABBA Voyage production. The Voyage virtual residency opened in London in May 2022 and is slated to run through January 2026. The show is a combination of 10 live performers and digital avatars of the four ABBA members, who have not performed live since their split in December 1982; the group, which also features Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, released their first album in 40 years, Voyage, in November 2021.
Though Ulvaeus is happy to use AI in the creative process, he is also adamant about fighting for artists’ rights in the rapidly evolving digital age. “These AI models wouldn’t exist without the songs that we wrote,” he said.
Mariah Carey likes living on the edge. In a teaser announcing her new single Wednesday (June 4), the Songbird Supreme beats around no bushes when describing her type: dangerous. In a video posted to her social media accounts, Mimi sits behind the wheel of a luxurious car and poses in a “Type: Dangerous” tank top […]
KATSEYE, which recently notched their first Billboard Hot 100 hit with “Gnarly,” is set to perform that feisty song on the 2025 Kids’ Choice Awards. The show, with Tyla hosting, is set to air live on Saturday, June 21, at 8 p.m. ET/PT from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.
KATSEYE, a Los Angeles-based girl group (Daniela, Lara, Manon, Megan, Sophia and Yoonchae), has been steadily building its fanbase over the past two years. With members from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland and the U.S., KATSEYE is often described as a “global girl group.”
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The group first formed through HYBE and Geffen Records’ The Dream Academy competition and artist development program, later chronicled in the Netflix docuseries Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE.
The group received two nominations at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards: favorite K-pop dance challenge for “Touch” and favorite on screen for Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE.
The group made Billboard’s 21 Under 21 list for 2025 and has been named an Artist to Watch for 2025 by VEVO, DSCVR and TIDAL.
In September, KATSEYE attended New York Fashion Week for the first time. In November, joined by the L.A. Rams Cheerleaders, they performed on the MAMA Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. In December, they performed on select dates of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball concert. This year, they were added to the performance lineups for L.A.’s Wango Tango in May and Lollapalooza, scheduled for August in Chicago.
“Gnarly” is set to appear on KATSEYE’s second EP, Beautiful Chaos, which is due June 27 via HYBE x Geffen Records. The group’s first EP, SIS (Soft Is Strong) — which featured contributions from such A-listers as Ryan Tedder, Omer Fedi and Blake Slatkin — reached No. 119 on the Billboard 200.
Now, they’re the first performers announced for an awards show whose young teen fanbase will overlap to a large degree with their own EYEKON fan army.
Nickelodeon is calling the show the biggest party of the summer. It is certain to have more epic slimings than any other show. Kids’ Choice Awards 2025 will simulcast across Nickelodeon, TeenNick, Nicktoons, the Nick Jr. channel, MTV2 and CMT, and also air on Nickelodeon channels around the world.
Leading the pack with four nominations each are Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar, followed by Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Selena Gomez and Jelly Roll with three apiece.
First-time nominees include Gracie Abrams, Zach Bryan, Jordan Chiles, Frankie Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Doechii, Keith Lee, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, Shohei Ohtani and Florence Pugh, among others.
Swifties aren’t the only ones celebrating the news that Taylor Swift purchased the masters to her Big Machine albums last week. Less than a week after the singer bought back the rights to her first six studio albums from Shamrock Capitol — the private equity firm that purchased them from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in late 2020 — for what sources told Billboard was around $360 million, her longtime boyfriend Travis Kelce weighed in on the news.
In a trailer for Wednesday’s (June 4) new episode of his New Heights podcast with brother Jason Kelce, the siblings host former NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, who just can’t help himself when Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” comes on. Playing the Red hit on his phone and mouthing along to the lyrics “Once upon a time/ A few mistakes ago/ I was in your sights/ You got me alone,” Shaq was clearly feeling the news.
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As the hardcourt legend enthusiastically lip synchs to the tune, Travis and Jason bop along and smile, with Travis matching Shaq’s hand gestures. “That’s my favorite song in the world brotha,” Shaq tells the duo. “I love it.”
Both Kelces clap and laugh at the news. “You know it,” Shaq adds. “Shout out to Tay Tay,” Travis says with a big smile on his face. “Just got that song back, too,” he adds as Jason fist-pumps and shouts “Hell yeah!”
“Just bought all her music back. So it’s finally hers too man. I appreciate that dog,” Travis tells Shaq. It was the first public comment from Travis since the news broke last week via a letter from Swift about regaining control of Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014) and Reputation (2017).
In her note, Swift wrote, “I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away. But that’s all in the past now. I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words: All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me.”
While it took a few days for Kelce to weigh in, Swifties wasted no time in celebrating the news. Billboard reported that following the 11:30 a.m. ET announcement on Friday, early data showed U.S. activity around the singer’s whole catalog — her six Big Machine albums, her subsequent albums and re-recordings on Republic — jumped to averaging nearly 35,000 consumption units for that day and Saturday (May 31), a 72.3% increase from the average daily activity in the previous 12 days from an average of 20,000 units.
Watch the New Heights preview below.
Netflix has released the first official video of Lady Gaga’s spine-tingling Tudum 2025 performance — and it’s as theatrical as fans would expect from the 14-time Grammy winner.
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The newly released clip, filmed at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday (May 31), captures a snippet of Gaga’s eight-minute Wednesday-themed set, which saw her end the set in an upright coffin emblazoned with the words “Here Lies the Monster Queen.”
Backed by Addams Family-inspired dancers, she launched into a medley that included Mayhem album standouts “Zombieboy,” “Bloody Mary” and “Abracadabra.” The performance was part of Netflix’s Tudum 2025: The Live Event, a star-studded celebration of fandom and pop culture.
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The moment came directly after Netflix premiered the first six minutes of Wednesday Season 2. During the event, the streamer also confirmed that Gaga will appear in the upcoming season as Rosaline Rotwood, a mysterious Nevermore teacher who crosses paths with Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega).
According to Netflix, Gaga’s character will feature in Part 2 of the new season, which premieres Sept. 3. Part 1 arrives on Aug. 6.
Wednesday is the latest acting credit for the singer, who led the films Joker: Folie à Deux, A Star Is Born and House of Gucci, and was in two seasons of FX’s American Horror Story. Gaga won an Oscar for best original song and was nominated for best actress for A Star Is Born in 2019.
Gaga’s album Mayhem, released in March, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has remained in the top 10 for 11 consecutive weeks.
Tudum 2025 featured an all-star lineup, with appearances from Daniel Craig, Ben Affleck, Teyana Taylor, Jenna Ortega, Mia Goth, and rapper Hanumankind, alongside previews for Frankenstein, Happy Gilmore 2, Squid Game, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and more.
Lady Gaga’s full performance is now available to watch via Netflix.
British singer Jessie J has revealed that she had been recently diagnosed with “early breast cancer.”
The musician (born Jessica Cornish) shared the health update on social media on Tuesday (June 3), telling her followers that the diagnosis came shortly before the release of recent single “No Secrets” in April. “I’m highlighting the word ‘early,’” she explained. “Cancer sucks in any form but I’m holding on to the word ‘early.’”
As she continued, she revealed that she’s been “in and out of tests” in the time since, but has decided to share her story with the world in an attempt to be more open about her journey, and also to give herself a chance to process the reality of her situation.
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“I also know how much sharing in the past has helped me with other people giving me their love and support, and also their own stories,” she explained. “I’m an open book. It breaks my heart that so many people are going through so much – similar and worse.”
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“I’m getting to keep my nipples, that’s good,” she continued. “It’s a weird topic and a weird situation. And I know the press are going to say crazy stuff but you know what, to get diagnosed with this as I’m putting out a song called ‘No Secrets’ right before a song called ‘Living My Best Life,’ which was all pre-planned before I found out about this, I mean, you can’t make it up.”
Indeed, Jessie J’s news comes shortly after the release of her single “Living My Best Life,” which arrived on May 16. In the caption to her Instagram post, the singer added levity to her situation, writing “No (more) Secrets and is it too soon to do a remix called ‘Living my breast life’?”
In closing her video to fans, Jessie J explained that she will “disappear for a bit” to undergo surgery following her performance at the Summertime Ball in England on June 15.
Jessie J’s decision to be open and honest with her health journey aligns with her comments from July, in which she revealed a recent diagnosis of obsessive compulsive behavior (OCD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD).
“It’s empowered me and honestly sometimes has overwhelmed me all at the same time,” she explained, noting that the information had made her think about her life in a whole new way. “If there is one thing social media has given me, it’s the chance to relate, connect and heal with strangers that have kind hearts and are going through a similar thing.
“I have always been honest in the journey I’m going through in life.”
Taylor Swift is enjoying quite the sales boost following her Friday (May 30) announcement that she had purchased the masters of her first six albums. Based on preliminary data from Luminate, we’re starting to get a sense of which albums Swifties are turning to most frequently to celebrate.
Looking at her Republic Records studio catalog, not including the Taylor’s Version re-recordings, all those albums experienced gains from Friday-Saturday (May 30-31), ranging from the slight 5.6% gain that The Tortured Poets Department experienced in sales when compared to the daily average of the preceding 11-day period, to the 21.9% increase her Evermore album enjoyed when comparing those periods, according to Billboard‘s calculations based Luminate’s on preliminary sales and streaming activity data.
Meanwhile, the Taylor’s Version albums almost all outperformed the Evermore increase, except for the 1989 re-record, which just missed out by growing 21.3% in the two-day average after the announcement versus the previous 11-day average: Red (Taylor’s Version) grew by 23.2%, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) by 27.5% and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) by 27.9%, per preliminary data from Luminate, Billboard calculates.
Moving over to Swift’s Big Machine albums, the original 1989 album had the least amount of growth but even its percentage increase of 41.2% swamped the percentage gains posted by all the Republic albums. Leading the growth charge, Taylor Swift’s eponymous first album enjoyed a 484.4% increase, followed by Speak Now with a 343.9% increase in the two days after the announcement versus the 11 days prior; Reputation, up 328%; Red at 173.7% greater; and Fearless with a 140.4% rise when comparing the two periods, Billboard further calculates.
However, even with the original whopping percentage gains on a unit count basis for the two periods, none of those albums outperformed the Taylor’s Version albums in absolute sales for the post-announcement two-day period. For example, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) averaged a few hundred above 2,000 album consumption units for the two-day period, while the original version’s total album consumption was a few hundred over 1,000 units.
Even the original Speak Now, which saw a 343.9% increase, fell 10 units shy of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), when looking at the average total consumption units for the two-day period.
On a unit basis, Reputation the biggest gain — nearly 6,000 units — to bring total sales on average for the two-day period to nearly 8,000 units, versus the nearly 2,000 units the album averaged in the 11 days prior to the announcement. In fact, that album was by far the best performing album in the Swift catalog over the two-day period.
It’s all been out of the ordinary for Alex Warren since his breakthrough hit started climbing the Billboard Hot 100 in February. Since then, the influencer-turned-singer-songwriter has conquered streaming and sales and gotten closer and closer on radio — to the point that now, he has the No. 1 song in the country.
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“Ordinary” rises to the Hot 100’s apex this week (chart dated June 7), in its 16th frame on the listing — replacing Morgan Wallen’s Tate McRae-featuring “What I Want,” and making Warren the second artist in 2025 to top the Hot 100 for the first time, after McRae. At the same time, he debuts at No. 32 with “Bloodline,” a teamup with country star Jelly Roll.
How did “Ordinary” end up going all the way? And will be “Bloodline” be following it to the chart’s top tier? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
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1. “Ordinary” reaches the Hot 100’s apex in its 16th week on the chart. Are you surprised it was able to get all the way to the top spot, or did you see this coming for It once it started climbing?
Katie Atkinson: Once it started climbing, No. 1 seemed very possible — having seen some similar trajectories for other big-voiced male ballads in the last year-plus — but while “Lose Control” and “Too Sweet” hit the summit in 2024, “Beautiful Things” never made it, so “Ordinary” wasn’t a lock. And then when it overcame the 13-week run of Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” last week only to be kept out of No. 1 by a deluge of new Morgan Wallen songs, it felt like there was a world where it might not happen. So this has to feel extraordinary for Warren that his breakthrough hit muscled through.
Kyle Denis: Once “Ordinary” started climbing, I did think it would reach the top spot, given how stagnant the Hot 100 is right now and the lack of new 2025 releases cementing themselves as bonafide hits. Nonetheless, I’m still a bit surprised that it hit No. 1 because I don’t rate it as one of the more interesting pop songs we’ve gotten this year.
Lyndsey Havens: Shocked! But just momentarily — as I was quickly reminded that this song has been everywhere. I think this song has enjoyed a nice and steady climb, and as the song of summer conversation is just kicking off, it’s possible “Ordinary” snuck in just in time before a new hit, or longer-loved contender, knocks it from the top.
Jason Lisphutz: I’m somewhere in the middle: when “Ordinary” first reached the top 10, I was a little dubious of its longterm prospects, but for about six weeks or so I was convinced that it would eventually take over the top spot. With a pretty staggering global listenership, unflagging U.S. streams and increasing radio buy-in, “Ordinary” has been a multi-platform smash for a while now, and its rise to No. 1 is no chart fluke.
Andrew Unterberger: If you had told me four months ago, I would’ve been pretty surprised — but this is the kind of hit song that, as soon as it reaches a certain escape velocity, feels almost guaranteed to make it all the way to the moon. So once it jumped into the top 40 on the Hot 100 and started to catch on radio, a No. 1 peak felt practically pre-determined.
2. What do you think is the biggest reason why “Ordinary” was able to really break containment and become one of the year’s biggest hits?
Katie Atkinson: While his first-ever awards show performance at last week’s AMAs was perfectly timed with the song’s ascent, I’m going to nod to radio for this one. If you turn on the radio across pop, adult pop and AC right now, you will hear “Ordinary” within the hour. Maybe within a half-hour, really. This song has felt as inescapable as songs come these days, so with its 15% bump across radio last week (plus no major new album releases), that was the final push it needed.
Kyle Denis: “Ordinary” largely operates in the same vocal and guitar-driven pop-rock space that’s housed recent Hot 100 chart-toppers like Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” and Hozier’s “Too Sweet.” With Myles Smith (“Stargazing”), Benson Boone (“Beautiful Things”) and Shaboozey (“Good News”) all earning hits with different takes on the sound, consumers clearly haven’t gotten tired of it yet. Of course, it also helps that TikTok has latched onto the song, with the official “Ordinary” sound playing in over 573,000 posts on the platform.
Lyndsey Havens: Omnipresence. I turn on the TV and “Ordinary” has a major synch. I turn on the radio and “Ordinary” is playing — and if I change the station, it will be on at least one other at the same time. I walk into a store and “Ordinary” is blasting. The song is connecting across every medium, yet Warren and his team aren’t only banking on this one hit: At the same time that he’s enjoying breakout success — with the song topping both the Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200 — the artist also teamed up with Jelly Roll for their collab, “Bloodline,” which is already trailing behind “Ordinary” on the Hot 100.
Jason Lipshutz: A little over a year after Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” and Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” became inescapable hits — and pretty much remain so today — a market still exists for brash, soulful sing-alongs from full-throated male pop vocalists. Alex Warren likely would have found success with a song as rousing and crowd-pleasing as “Ordinary” regardless of pop trends, but the song certainly hit streaming services at the exact right moment to reach its commercial ceiling.
Andrew Unterberger: America loves us some big-voiced singers and acoustic guitars at the moment! But also, with everything from pop 10 years ago seemingly huge again, a song that splits the difference between Hozier and wedding-ballad Ed Sheeran was probably always going to hit extra hard.
3. At the same time “Ordinary” snags the top spot, Warren’s new Jelly Roll collab “Bloodline” debuts at No. 32 on the Hot 100. Do you think it will grow into another big hit for Warren, or will its momentum get curtailed by how big “Ordinary” still is?
Katie Atkinson: I would not be surprised at all if “Bloodline” — with a jangly sea-shanty melody that is undeniable catnip for AC radio and two newly minted hitmakers at its helm — also climbs to the Hot 100 top 10 over time. That would give Jelly Roll his first hit in the region, which is really the one thing missing from the country star’s meteoric rise to pop culture ubiquity. The virality of both “Ordinary” and Jelly Roll himself could combine for an obvious smash.
Kyle Denis: I think listeners will probably remain focused on “Ordinary” since it’s still relatively fresh, but, as they say, a rising tide lifts all boats!
Lyndsey Havens: I think because you have Jelly Roll on the song, and because the country star is currently on a massive tour with Post Malone, that “Bloodline” could grow into a nice follow-up hit for Warren. But does he need it? No way. If “Bloodline” climbs higher or if it gets curtailed by “Ordinary,” it’s a win for Warren either way.
Jason Lipshutz: Releasing a follow-up single with Jelly Roll was a smart move by Warren, who can now promote both a pop and country track to different audiences without deflating either of their performances. “Bloodline” will likely not become nearly as big as “Ordinary,” but it doesn’t need to — as long as it can expand his listenership and keep his momentum up beyond just one song, the follow-up should be viewed as a success.
Andrew Unterberger: I don’t see it reaching the top 10 — maybe not even the top 20 — but I could see it hanging around the Hot 100 for 30 weeks or so and establishing Warren as officially Not a One-Hit Wonder. Which is all he really needs to do.
4. We’ve seen a trend lately of songs that make it to the chart’s top tier – particularly if they had a long journey of climbing that high – lasting in or around the top 10 for a year or longer. Do you see “Ordinary” becoming one of those songs?
Katie Atkinson: Absolutely. Like “Lose Control” before it, this song will not be vacating its spot for months. It just fits too comfortably and too unassumingly in too many spaces to go anywhere anytime soon.
Kyle Denis: Unfortunately, yes. This is the kind of song destined for extended stays on a litany of radio formats, which will help it stick around on the Hot 100 even once it’s reached its sales and streaming peaks.
Lyndsey Havens: Totally. And that’s because of its omnipresence — and the reasons why it’s everywhere. “Ordinary” is the perfect type of hit that’s equal parts catchy, soaring and safe. It sounds just as great soundtracking a Golden Buzzer moment on America’s Got Talent as it does playing from a car radio with the windows rolled down. Its breezy balladry and luck-to-be-in-love lyrics share roots with a song like Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” — and we all know how well that’s worked out.
Jason Lipshutz: Definitely. Every piece of empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that “Ordinary” is not slowing down whatsoever, despite already being on the Hot 100 for months on end. While I could see Warren being supplanted at No. 1 on the chart in the near future, “Ordinary” is acting like the type of song that will still be in the top 10 when the weather starts to turn cold — and possibly for much longer after that.
Andrew Unterberger: Teddy Swims is already looking over his shoulder tbh.
5. Who’s another past or present influencer who you could see scoring a No. 1 hit?
Katie Atkinson: I wouldn’t bet against Addison Rae. Her first album arrives Friday, and while lead single “Diet Pepsi” topped out at No. 54 on the Hot 100, it was a top 10 hit on Pop Airplay, peaking at No. 9 in February. And starting her career making dance videos on TikTok sets her up perfectly for a hypervisual pop career. Plus, only our finest pop stars hail from Louisiana, and Addison was born and raised less than two hours from Britney Spears’ hometown.
Kyle Denis: Addison Rae.
Lyndsey Havens: I’m always rooting for jxdn. But, given the current week, let’s go Addison.
Jason Lipshutz: Does Addison Rae count? Every pop single she’s released to date has been good-to-excellent, and my expectations for her imminent debut album are sky-high. A world in which “Headphones On” grows into a late-breaking No. 1 hit is one I want to inhabit.
Andrew Unterberger: Addison Rae feels like the logical call — but I’ll swerve and say Mr. Beast. No I don’t know of any musical ambitions harbored by the man, but it feels near-certain to me that he’ll be involved with leading an influencer all-star charity single at some point. Would you bet the under on that chart debut? I certainly wouldn’t.