genre pop
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“As the volume of digital distribution reaches new heights, a new Billboard chart will better detail how songs are competing in that emerging market,” read a story on page six of the Jan. 22, 2005, print issue, announcing the arrival of the Digital Song Sales chart.
Two weeks later — as we were fervently filling up our iPods with up to thousands of favorites, and taking music on-the-go more easily than ever before — paid downloads first contributed to the multimetric Billboard Hot 100.
Sales of songs had impacted the Hot 100 dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, start (then via retailers’ self-reported ranked lists. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, however, singles — which had evolved from 7-inch vinyl to cassettes and CDs — were disappearing from the marketplace, as labels began holding back song releases to entice consumers to buy (more expensive) full albums instead. The shift resulted in the Hot 100 in that period increasingly reflecting radio airplay reach.
The launch of the iTunes Store, among other digital retailers, brought single sales back, and by the mid-2000s, Billboard’s charts reflected the trend. For more than a decade beginning in the mid-2000s, the No. 1 sales hit each week regularly sold more than 100,000 downloads in the U.S., according to Luminate. In December 2015, Adele’s “Hello” ran up a weekly-record 1.1 million in digital sales.
While streaming has since taken over as the most accepted currency of on-demand song consumption — and vinyl, cassette and CD singles are again among consumer offerings — paid downloads remain a part of the Hot 100’s formula 20 years on.
As Billboard celebrates the top-performing artists, albums and songs of the first 25 years of the century since 2000, browse below, the acts with the most No. 1s on the Digital Song Sales chart in that span.
Plus, check out Top Artists of the 21st Century, Top Billboard 200 Albums of the 21st Century and Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century charts, as well as all coverage of Billboard’s 21st Century charts here.
Billboard’s Top Artists, Top Billboard 200 Albums and Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century recaps reflect performance on weekly charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024. The Top Artists category ranks the best-performing acts in that span based on activity on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100. (Titles released prior to mid-1999 are excluded, although such entries that appeared on the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 in that span contribute to the calculation of the Top Artists chart.)
29, Taylor Swift
After taking over Genesis frontman duties for the gone-solo Peter Gabriel in the mid-’70s, drummer-singer Phil Collins had gradually built up his popularity, his industry renown and his pop songwriting prowess over the course of a decade. He’d become a solo star after breaking off from his group in the early-’80s, but continued to gather momentum with the band as well, and also emerged as a go-to collaborator for much of the era’s pop and rock aristocracy. By 1985, it would all come together in one year that saw Collins absolutely flood the zone with hit singles, big collaborations, bigger performances, headline-capturing pop culture moments and even an acting turn on TV’s hottest primetime drama.
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On this Vintage Pop Stardom episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, we look back at Collins’ singular 1985, and examine how an unassuming, plain-looking drummer became one of the most ubiquitous pop stars of the MTV generation. Host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Chris Molanphy of Slate and the Hit Parade podcast to talk all things Phil Collins, as Molanphy shares his memories of becoming a devout (if occasionally slightly abashed) Phil fan as a teen, and Unterberger explains how an unofficial New York-celebrated holiday — one coming up very soon on the calendar — expanded his own love for Phil as a young adult.
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We then dive all the way into the deep end on Collins’ 1985, which started with hits, peaked with hits and ended with even more hits — but in between, also included a gig on Miami Vice as Phil the Shill, appearances on both coasts’ Live Aid festivities (including with a quasi-reunited Led Zeppelin), and an Oscars snub so galling it still rankles the nice-guy pop star to this day. And of course, we do get into those hits, including the agony and the ecstasy of “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” the possibly purloined groove and confusing (in more ways than one) title of “Sussudio,” and the underappreciated knife-in-the-gut divorce rock of “Separate Lives.” We end with the unlikely question: Was Phil Collins actually the Greatest Pop Star of 1985?
Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most memorable moments of Phil’s 1985, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!
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Halsey announced the dates for her upcoming spring/summer 2025 Halsey: For My Last Trick tour. The 32-city Live Nation-promoted outing in support of last year’s The Great Impersonator album is slated to kick off on May 10 at the Toyota Pavilion at Concord in Concord, CA and criss-cross the country for shows in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Dallas, Nashville, Tampa, Charlotte, Toronto, Chicago and St. Louis, before winding down on July 6 at the Yaamava’ Theater in Highland, CA.
They’ll have plenty of friends along as well, with Del Water Gap, The Warning, Evanescence, Alvvays, Hope Tala, Royel Otis, Sir Chloe, flowerlove, Magdalena Bay and Alemeda joining on select dates. On Thursday morning (Feb. 13), the singer released a playful, minute-long trailer for her first headlining tour in three years.
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It opens with a blue-haired Halsey hopping out of a golf cart as a harried assistant comments on the singer’s Smurf-colored locks and they respond, “I always said I’d be buried in this wig and, figured I probably should be.” The frenzied walk-and-talk then finds them rejecting a selection of black suits and enthusiastically greeting her hair and make-up person before making the executive guest list decision that Joe Jonas is not among the JoBros who will make the cut.
“Joe cannot come honey,” they say while making nice with an adorable grade school choir singer, only to walk away and whisper, “lose the kid, it’s way too sad.” She then spots her photo shoot set-up — an open coffin surrounded by three gigantic bouquets of flowers — dubbing it “perfect! It’s exactly how I pictured it,” before taking a phone call informing her that the whole thing has been called off.
Fans can sign up for the artist presale now through Monday (Feb. 17) at 11:59 p.m. ET here, with an artist presale kicking off on Feb. 19 at 10 a.m. through 10 p.m. local that day. More presales will run throughout the week in the lead-up to the general on-sale beginning on Feb. 21 at 10 a.m. local time here.
Check out the tour promo video and dates below.
Halsey
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Fountains of Wayne are reuniting for their first full performances since the passing of founding member Adam Schlesinger in 2020.
The power pop band—best known for hits like “Stacy’s Mom”—has announced appearances at Milwaukee’s Summerfest over the July 4 weekend and the Oceans Calling Festival in Ocean City, Maryland, on Sept. 26. Eve 6’s Max Collins will step in on bass for the performances.
The upcoming shows mark the band’s first proper reunion in over a decade. Before this, the remaining members—Chris Collingwood, Jody Porter, and Brian Young—briefly came together for a one-off performance (their first in seven years) to pay tribute to their late band member Adam Schlesinger, who passed away due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 52. Prior to Schlesinger’s passing, the band’s last official tour wrapped in 2013.
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Fountains of Wayne formed in 1995 and gained a cult following, their mainstream breakthrough came in 2003 with “Stacy’s Mom,” which peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned them a Grammy nomination and became a pop culture staple. The track also reached No. 3 on Alternative Airplay in 2003, while their album Welcome Interstate Managers reached No. 115 on the Billboard 200.
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Despite the song’s success, Schlesinger downplayed its impact in a 2007 interview with The A.V. Club, saying, “Most people in the world still don’t have any idea who sang ‘Stacy’s Mom.’ Everybody knows that song, but most people don’t know who we are.”
Beyond his work with Fountains of Wayne, Schlesinger had a prolific career in film, television, and theater, writing songs for That Thing You Do!, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Music & Lyrics, among many others. His unexpected passing due to complications from COVID-19 in 2020 was a devastating loss for the music community, prompting an outpouring of tributes from artists across the industry.
Following his death, Saving for a Custom Van, a 31-track tribute album, was released in 2020, featuring covers of Schlesinger’s work from artists such as Nada Surf, Motion City Soundtrack, Rachel Bloom, and Sarah Silverman. The album raised funds for COVID-19 relief efforts through the MusiCares Foundation.
While it remains unclear whether these upcoming performances will lead to further touring or new music, fans eager to celebrate Schlesinger’s legacy will finally have the chance to see Fountains of Wayne live again.
The Jonas Brothers are feeling nostalgic, with a sweet note to their fans about upcoming plans momentarily leading to fears of an impending split.
The familial trio are diving headfirst into a big 2025, with their 20th anniversary bringing with it some rather sizable plans. On Wednesday (Feb. 12) however, the group shared a lengthy post to their social media accounts, with its formal nature swiftly causing panic that their 20th year may be their last.
“To our incredible fans, as a family, we have been reflecting a lot lately,” the post began. “It’s been 20 years since we started this journey together. To us, it feels like just yesterday we were loading up our family mini-van with a couple of guitars and copies of It’s About Time CDs, en route to an afternoon performance at a local to play for anyone who would listen.
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“We were chasing our dream to play music and connect with others in a deep way that only music can provide,” they added. “We were teenagers then.. actually, Nick wasn’t even old enough to get into a PG-13 movie.”
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Understandably, the opening lines were enough to add some fears into the mix. As it stands, the top comments on their posts all relate to unfounded fears the note was a farewell to their fans.
As their message continued though, it was made clear that the Jonas Brothers weren’t intending to break some hearts, instead they were sharing an appreciation post to the fans that had allowed them to continue their journey for these past two decades.
“In the years that followed, you’ve given us a thousand lifetimes of incredible memories. We wake up each day filled with gratitude that you’ve been on this 20-year journey with us,” they continued. “Together, we have celebrated wins, made mistakes, overcome obstacles, and grieved losses. Put simply: we’ve all grown up together.
“It’s seemingly impossible to put our appreciation into words. None of this would have been possible without you. You’ve shown up for us. Rooted for us. Encouraged us. And inspired us. We’ve made memories with you at shows, bumped into you on the street, run into you at airports, and read your amazing stories on socials. We treasure our connection with you as much today as we did when we played our first show. We are celebrating this wild 20-year journey by doing what we love, and we can’t wait to share it with you.”
Wrapping up their post, the group promised that the coming year will be “a year of music”, teasing new music from the Jonas Brothers, a live concert album, a soundtrack, and solo music.
“Nick returns to Broadway this spring for The Last Five Years. And we are nearly wrapped on our holiday movie that we can’t wait for you to see this fall,” they added.
Initial fears of a split wouldn’t have been unfounded for fans of the Jonas Brothers. After all, 2013 brought with it the news that after eight years together as a band, and four albums, the brothers would be calling it quits.
While Joe and Nick launched solo careers in the interim, Kevin found himself working on music production, appearing in reality television, and even getting involved in a handful of business ventures. The brothers would reunite officially in 2019, however, relaunching their music career and issuing two new records, including 2019’s Happiness Begins and 2023’s The Album.
Having previously teased big plans during their appearance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest in New York City on Dec. 31, the Jonas Brothers closed out their latest message to fans by promising that formal announcements would be made in the coming days and weeks. Currently, the band’s website boasts a countdown clock which is set to conclude on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14).
“From the bottom of our hearts: thank you!” they wrote. “Here’s to the next 20 years, and here’s to doing it together. The best is yet to come.”
Millie Bobby Brown wasn’t just an eager participant when Sabrina Carpenter faux-arrested her at a Short n’ Sweet Tour stop October; the bit was the Stranger Things star’s idea, she revealed in a new interview.
Months after a video showing the “Espresso” singer detaining Brown for being “too hot” at the former’s Atlanta concert went viral, the actress told Vanity Fair in a new cover story published Wednesday (Feb. 12) that she had actually been the one to initially message Carpenter before the show.
“Can you arrest me?” she’d asked
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The Grammy winner — who has also performed “arrests” on Margaret Qualley and Saturday Night Live‘s Marcello Hernández at other Short n’ Sweet shows — obliged. “I would love to arrest you,” Brown recalls Carpenter replying.
Fast-forward to the actual show, and Brown’s big smile at Carpenter’s shout-out was one of the most talked-about moments of the Oct. 22 show at State Farm Arena. “I’m really distracted right now because I see this gorgeous girl,” the Girl Meets World alum said at the time, as the Enola Holmes star’s face came on over the jumbotron. “It’s so unfortunate we have to arrest you because you’re so beautiful, that sucks.”
The Short n’ Sweet show isn’t the only recent concert Brown is still thinking about, though. The Florence by Mills founder also saw Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stop in Cincinnati in 2023, about which Brown raved to VF, “It was amazing, it was unbelievable.”
Brown also now knows the live choreography to Swift’s “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” number, which she learned with husband Jake Bongiovi, who is the son of Jon Bon Jovi. The Damsel star married the actor in May 2024, before once again exchanging vows in Tuscany four months later — a ceremony that she says included the newlyweds performing a six-minute Grease dance routine “that we choreographed ourselves.”
“We started with leather jackets and glasses, then took them off,” she recalled, noting that “Summer Nights,” “You’re the One That I Want” and “We Go Together” were all part of the show. “I was in my Sandy jumpsuit, and he was in this cool T-shirt, pants, and really shiny shoes.”
See Brown on the cover of Vanity Fair below.
Lady Gaga is the latest star to take on First We Feast’s Hot Ones challenge, and the superstar deals with an uncomfortable wardrobe choice in a teaser for the upcoming episode. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In the one-minute clip, Gaga rocks a dress with a […]
Sam Asghari’s relationship with Britney Spears was never going to be normal, given the fact that Spears is one of the most famous women on the planet. But on top of all of that, the singer was famously under a conservatorship for about 13 years — something Asghari says was “strange” for him before their split in 2023.
On the latest episode of The Viall Files posted Wednesday (Feb. 12), Asghari opened up about his relationship with Spears — whom he started dating in 2016 after co-starring in her “Slumber Party” music video — as well as the way her legal predicament affected him as her partner. “She was under the conservatorship, and that was very strange for me to deal with,” he told host Nick Viall. “I got hit with that at the beginning.”
“[Britney] didn’t explain,” Asghari continued, sharing how he learned about the conservatorship through an unnamed third party. “Somebody called me and said, ‘Oh, just so you know, this is this. Make sure you’re obeying by our rules.”
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Wanting to be as supportive as possible, the actor added that he “didn’t go look up what’s happening on the news” and instead tried to understand on a personal level why the conservatorship was “ever in place to begin with.” “You don’t get much to say, especially if you’re just a boyfriend or someone that’s just there,” Asghari noted. “Maybe I was afraid they were going to make me not see her. So you have to be gentle and provide as much support as you can.”
The pop star was first put under a conservatorship in 2008, when a judge gave her father, Jamie Spears, legal control over her life and career. Following a yearslong, fan-led “#FreeBritney” movement, the musician was finally able to get the conservatorship officially dismissed in November 2021, a few months before which Brit and Asghari got engaged after about five years together.
On Viall Files, Asghari recalled that the proposal was “overdue.” “We wanted to get married way before, and because of everything and the situation, we had to wait,” he added. “I was holding her hand when she was speaking to the judge and talking about, she wanted the conservatorship to be done with. The second that happened, that’s when it was the right time to propose.”
The couple eventually got married in a star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles in June 2022. And though the relationship would come to an end the following year, with Asghari filing for divorce that August, the model/actor only has fond memories of the superstar. “I always say, even though it’s over now, I’m never sad it’s over,” he said. “I’m grateful it even happened.”
As for the headline-making video Spears posted of herself dancing with knives shortly after the split — the one that led to the police performing a welfare check on the star, after which she assured fans the cutlery had been fake all along — Asghari shared that he wasn’t fazed. “I’m not someone that’s [like], ‘Let me take your phone from you and not allow you to do anything and restrict you from posting your own content,’” he said of the clip.
“She’s a genius artist,” he added. “What’s in her head is gold, and it’s what made her who she is.”
Listen to Asghari’s full interview on The Viall Files below.
Chappell Roan used her speech at the 2025 Grammys to call on powerful figures within the music industry to better support up-and-coming artists’ need for health coverage. Now, her labelmate Sabrina Carpenter is heeding the call.
According to public donation records from We Got You, the new fundraising partnership between Roan and industry non-profit group Backline, the “Espresso” singer matched a donation from her fellow Island Records artist, giving $25,000 to the initiative’s efforts to “supporting accessibility of health care for artists,” and to “create a safer and more supported industry for artists to thrive.” Backline confirmed to Billboard the receipt of Carpenter’s donation.
Billboard has reached out to representatives for Carpenter for comment.
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The Short n’ Sweet star’s donation also matches those of fellow pop stars Charli XCX and Noah Kahan, both of whom publicly supported Roan’s call for industry-wide health support by contributing $25,000. “I’m inspired by you. Happy to help get the ball rolling. Money where mouth is,” Kahan wrote on his Instagram Stories, prompting Charli to follow suit by adding in her own post: “your speech at the grammys was inspiring and thoughtful and from a genuine place of care. happy to help get the ball rolling too.”
Roan started her partnership with Backline shortly after former A&R executive Jeff Rabhan criticized the singer’s Grammys speech in an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter, saying that Roan was both “too green and too uninformed to be the agent of change she aspires to be today.” In response, Roan publicly invited Rabhan to match her $25,000 donation to support artists in need of health insurance. “I love how in the article you said ‘put your money where your mouth is,’” she wrote at the time. “Genius !!! Let’s link and build together and see if you can do the same.” (Rabhan’s name is not listed amongst the public donors to the We Got You campaign).
In a follow-up post, Roan made it clear that she never intended for her Grammys speech to bring about a “crowdfunded bandaid” to the issue, but rather for it to serve as a “call to action” for industry executives to change labels’ current policy of not providing healthcare to their signed artists.
“My mind will not be changed about artists deserving more than what’s standard in the industry,” she said in the statement. “Random dudes are allowed to criticize my Grammy speech, but they best put their money where their mouth is, otherwise MOVE out the way.”
The singer also told her fans in the statement that she did not expect them to “donate a damn penny” to the We Got You campaign — she instead highlighted the fundraiser as “one of many opportunities for the industry powers to show up for artists.” Despite her statement, a number of the singer’s fans have publicly contributed to the campaign, with one writing in their donation “I know she said not to but I’m gonna donate anyway.”
Dua is mourning Duo. Language learning app Duolingo announced the devastating news on Tuesday (Feb. 11) that its mascot, the green bird known as the Duolingo Owl, has died. “Authorities are currently investigating his cause of death and we are cooperating fully. Tbh, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what […]