Music News

02 Sep 2023

Jimmy Buffett Mourned by Kenny Chesney, Elton John, Alan Jackson & More: ‘Sail on Sailor’

Musicians are mourning the loss of legendary singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who has died following an undisclosed illness.

Superstar artists like Kenny Chesney, Elton John, Alan Jackson and many others took to social media to honor the “Margaritaville” singer, who passed Friday night (Sept. 1), according to a post on his website. He was 76.

“Jimmy passed away on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” the statement reads. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Sitting on a beach in Key West, Fla., Chesney paid tribute to Buffett by singing the first verse and chorus of Buffett’s 1974 track “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” He also shared a video of himself performing “Margaritaville” — which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977 — alongside the late singer-songwriter.

“So goodbye Jimmy. Thanks for your friendship and the songs I will carry in my heart forever. Sail On Sailor,” the country star captioned the post on Instagram.

Chesney and Buffett teamed up for a remake of Buffett’s “Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season,” which was featured on Chesney’s 2018 album, Songs for the Saints. Chesney also appeared with Buffett on the star-studded track “Hey Good Lookin’,” alongside Jackson, Keith, Clint Black and George Strait. The Hank Williams cover was part of Buffett’s 2004 album, License to Chill.

Jackson took to X (formerly Twitter) to honor Buffett, quoting lyrics from “Boats to Build,” another song he sang with Buffett for License to Chill. The post also featured a snapshot of the pair at the 2003 CMA Awards, where they took home vocal event of the year for “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.”

Keith added on Instagram, “The pirate has passed. RIP Jimmy Buffett. Tremendous influence on so many of us.”

Renowned for his wildly enthusiastic audiences, known as “Parrotheads,” Buffett — a former correspondent for Billboard magazine — charted 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. After tallying five top 40 entries in the 1970s, reaching No. 8 with his signature anthem “Margaritaville,” he tallied other hits thanks to turns on Jackson’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (No. 17 in 2003) and Zac Brown Band’s “Knee Deep” (No. 18 in 2011). Buffett also scored 40 entries on the Billboard 200 albums chart during his lengthy career.

In addition to music, Buffett also built a billion-dollar personal fortune with a series of Margaritaville and LandShark Bar & Grill restaurants across the U.S., as well as licensing agreements for Margaritaville tequila, shoes, cruises, pre-packaged food items and an Atlantic City casino.

Below, find more tributes to Buffett:

Elton John via Instagram Story: “Jimmy Buffett was a unique and treasured entertainer. His fans adored him and he never let them down,” he said in an Instagram story. “This is the saddest of news. A lovely man gone way too soon. Condolences to (his wife) Jane and the family from (my husband) David (Furnish) and me.”

Oak Ridge Boys via X: “Rest Easy Jimmy … Thanks for the fun …”

Hillary Clinton via X: “Fair winds and following seas, dear Jimmy.”

02 Sep 2023

The Latin Recording Academy’s Leading Ladies Announced & More Uplifting Moments in Latin Music

From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and those little, important moments, Billboard editors highlight uplifting moments in Latin music. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.

The Latin Recording Academy Announces 2023’s Leading Ladies of Entertainment 

On Tuesday (Aug. 29), the Latin Recording Academy announced their 2023 Leading Ladies of Entertainment honorees. This year includes Latin Grammy winner, Chilean singer-songwriter Mon Laferte; RondenePR founder Róndine Alcalá; Grammy-nominated engineer and vocal producer Simone Torres; and Ana Villacorta López, SVP of Marketing and Promotion at Sony Music México. 

“This diverse group of outstanding and successful women have made great contributions to Latin music,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, in a press release. “We are proud to celebrate them with this and other initiatives that seek to promote gender parity and honor the important role women play in the entertainment industry.” 

The initiative was created in 2017 to recognize the “professional and socially conscious” ladies in the music field who have made “significant contributions and inspired the next generation of female leaders,” states the press release. The accompanying luncheon and private ceremony will be held in Sevilla, Spain on Monday (Nov. 13) as part of Latin Grammy Week. 

The Return of RBD

Latin music’s biggest pop group breaks its 15-year silence. For Billboard Español‘s latest cover, RBD — composed of Anahí, Dulce María, Maite Perroni, Christian Chávez and Christopher von Uckermann — talks all things tour, new music and shares the story behind their highly-anticipated reunion.

“All five of us have very different personalities, and with the years, we’ve learned to embrace our differences. But in the end, it’s when we come back together that this grows and this magic explodes,” Maite said. “The key is, back then, we came together as the result of an audition; this time, it’s something we chose to do.”

Special Awards at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards

The Icon and Lifetime Achievement Awards recipients have been unveiled. At the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Ivy Queen will be honored with the Icon Award. Meanwhile, Los Ángeles Azules will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was also announced that Ivy Queen and Los Ángeles Azules will perform during the awards ceremony, set to take place Thursday, Oct. 5.

Besides airing live on Telemundo, the show will air simultaneously on the Hispanic entertainment cable channel, Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional. 

Bad Bunny’s Billion Spotify Streams

Bad Bunny is the latest artist to celebrate their streaming success by visiting Spotify’s newly launched Billions Club series. The Grammy-winning global superstar stopped by the series to enjoy a “Billions Brunch” with some of his closest friends and collaborators. “The feeling of having 1 billion streams for this song right now is the same emotion I felt when I got 5,000 plays for the first time,” Bad Bunny said. “For me, it’s just as big knowing that there are people who want to listen and want to enjoy what you make.”

“Tití Me Preguntó,” a track from his historic Un Verano Sin Ti album, officially reached 1 billion Spotify streams on Jan. 23. According to Spotify, Bad Bunny has 12 songs with more than 1 billion streams each on the platform — more than any other artist in Spotify history. He has accumulated 58 billion streams on the service, reigning as Spotify’s most-streamed artist of the year for the past three years.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=29R34Hd-PHc&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

02 Sep 2023

Jimmy Buffett, ‘Margaritaville’ Singer-Songwriter and Entrepreneur, Dies at 76

Jimmy Buffett, the easygoing “Margaritaville” singer/songwriter who transformed his no-worries, beachy lifestyle into a five-decade endless road trip as a performer and entrepreneur, has died at age 76. The news, announced on his website and social media accounts, follows Buffett’s May cancelation of a show in South Carolina to get treatment for an undisclosed illness.

“Jimmy passed away on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” the early Saturday morning (Sept. 2) post reads. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Renowned for his wildly enthusiastic audiences — known as “Parrotheads” — Buffett parlayed his cheeky, rum-soaked songs about pirates (“A Pirate Looks at Forty”), boozy beach bums (“It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere”), captains and sand-caked rogues (“The Captain and the Kid”) into a permanent vacation journey where every port of call was loaded with fruity drinks, colorful summer-themed outfits and precisely no cares in the world.

With a laconic songwriting style that leaned into his guy-you-wanna-have-six-beers-with persona (and vice versa), Buffett penned such memorable lines as “I took off for a weekend last month just to try and recall the whole year,” from 1977’s “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitude” single. The primary thrust of his career could be summed up by the title of his 1992 box set: Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads.

In addition to his 13 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles — including seven top 40 hits and one top 10 — as well as 40 entries on the Billboard 200 album chart, Buffett’s no-worries mien belied a killer business instinct that parlayed the popularity of his island-spiked bar band folk rock anthems into a billion-dollar personal fortune. His sprawling ancillary business org chart included a series of Margaritaville and LandShark Bar & Grill restaurants across the U.S., as well as licensing agreements for Margaritaville tequila, shoes, cruises, pre-packaged food items and an Atlantic City casino.

There were also his personal Margaritaville and Mailboard Records imprints, a trio of charitable organizations that funded personal growth through music and manatee rescue, as well as a pair of musicals (1997’s Don’t Stop the Carnival and 2017’s Escape to Margaritaville), his signature LandShark lager beer and three Latitude Margaritaville retirement communities in Daytona Beach, Hilton Head and Watersound, FL.

Born James William Buffett on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, MS, and raised in Mobile, Alabama, the singer was one of three children born to James Delaney Buffett Jr. and Mary Loraine (Peets), who both worked for the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding company. He grew up listening to his grandfather steamship captain J.D. Buffett’s tales of high seas adventure, to whom he paid homage in “Son of a Son of a Sailor.” The latter features the memorable, salt-caked lines, “I’m just a son of a son, son of a son/ Son of a son of a sailor/ The sea’s in my veins, my tradition remains/ I’m just glad I don’t live in a trailer.”

Inspired by the attention a college fraternity brother earned from women for playing guitar, Buffett began his first band and quickly graduated from street busking to playing six nights a week at Bourbon Street clubs in New Orleans and then working as a correspondent for Billboard magazine in Nashville from 1969-1970; he was the reporter who broke the news that legendary bluegrass duo Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs were breaking up in 1969.

He released his debut album, the country-leaning folk collection Down to Earth, in 1970, followed by 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, which featured the fan-favorite novelty song “Why Don’t We Get Drunk (and Screw),” as well as “He Went to Paris” and “Grapefruit Juicy Fruit.” The singer finally hit the top 40 with the No. 30 Hot 100 swaying single “Come Monday” from his third album, Living and Dying in 3/4 Time which contained another live staple, “Pencil Thin Mustache.”

The release of his sixth album, Havana Daydreamin’, in 1976, marked Buffett’s highest Billboard 200 album chart placement to date — at No. 65 — but it was the next year’s Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes that proved to be his best-selling breakthrough album thanks to the “Margaritaville” single. The song features a kind of shorthand for the Buffett way of life (and the origins of his fans’ nickname) courtesy of the sand-packed first verse, “Nibblin’ on sponge cake/ Watchin’ the sun bake/ All of you Parrotheads covered with oil,” which flip-flops into the iconic chorus: “Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville/ Searchin’ for my long lost shaker of salt.” That song, which spent 22 weeks on the singles chart, topped out at No. 8 on the Hot 100 in July 1977, marking Buffett’s highest charting career single.

His hot streak continued on 1978’s Son of a Son of a Sailor, which featured another iconic laid-back hit, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” (No. 32 on the Hot 100), as well as “Livingston Saturday Night” (No. 52) and “Mañana” (No. 84). In all, Buffett released 29 studio albums and 14 live albums over his career, including his final studio collection, 2020’s fan-curated B-sides, Songs You Don’t Know By Heart; at press time Buffett had been teased his 30th studio album, Equal Strain on All Parts, though a release date had not yet been set.

Buffett’s career peak on the Billboard 200 album chart came in 2004 when License to Chill hit No. 1, besting his previous career high on the album tally, 1996’s Banana Wind (No. 4); his 2020 collection, Life on the Flip Side topped out at No. 2. The singer also crossed over onto the country charts with 20 songs, including 2003’s ACM-winning No. 1 Alan Jackson duet “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” as well as 2011’s No. 1 hit “Knee Deep” with the Zac Brown Band and 2004’s “Hey Good Lookin’,” a Hank Williams cover that hit No. 8 with some help from Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and George Strait. In addition, Buffett landed 15 entries on the Adult Contemporary charts — including a No. 1 with Margaritaville in 1977 and 17 entires on the top country albums chart, with eight top 10s and a No. 1 with License to Chill.

While Buffett’s album and single sales later waned, he remained a huge live draw, playing an endless series of tours with his beloved Coral Reefer Band to his legion of colorfully dressed fans, whose devotion rivaled that of the Grateful Dead’s indefatigable “Deadhead” followers. He also launched the Radio Margaritaville channel on SiriusXM and spun off a series of best-selling books, including the short story collection Tales From Margaritaville (1989), his first fiction novel, Where Is Joe Merchant? (1992), the 1998 memoir A Pirate Looks at Fifty and the novels A Salty Piece of Land (2004) and Swine Not? A Novel Pig Tale.

According to the New York Times, he was one of only six writers — along with Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and William Styron — to top both the Times’ fiction and nonfiction best-seller lists. Buffett also dipped his toes into two children’s books written with his daughter, Savannah Jane, The Jolly Mon (1988) and Trouble Dolls (1991).

Over the years, Buffett also contributed original songs to a number of movies, including Summer Rental, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Urban Cowboy, Jurassic World and FernGully, as well as filming cameos for Repo Man, Hook, Congo and Rancho Deluxe.

01 Sep 2023

Nelly Furtado Says She’s ‘Happier Than Ever’ in Her Career: ‘It’s Just Pure Inspiration Every Day’

Nelly Furtado is back and better than ever, and in celebration of her reunion with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake on “Keep Going Up,” she sat down with Billboard‘s Jason Lipshutz to discuss where she’s at in her career at the moment.

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“[Timbaland and Timberlake] had thought it out quite a lot,” she said of the new collaboration, which arrives more than a decade after the trio’s Billboard Hot 100 chart topper “Give It to Me” was released in 2007. “What’s great about them is they’re like, ‘We want you to do your thing.’ If the three of us are on a song, then we’re all equals, and that’s a really good feeling.”

As for how she’s feeling, the 44-year-old star said she’s more “grateful” than ever. “I feel like the place that I’m at is the same place I was at when I was like 20, when I first signed a record deal and spent all my time obsessing over music, listening to music, making music and collaborating with friends who make music,” she explained. “I’m there again, I’m in it for the craft. I’m in it for the right reasons and it’s so pure for me right now. It’s just pure inspiration all day.”

She continued, “I’m just happier than ever making music. I love my job more than I’ve ever loved it. I recognize that being onstage is like my home.”

Moving forward, Furtado is gearing up to release new music. “I have so many songs in the pipeline. I have so many new songs,” she assured.

Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Nelly Furtado above.

01 Sep 2023

Electric Zoo Cancels Day 1 in New York

The first day of the Electric Zoo Festival on New York’s Randall’s Island was abruptly canceled hours before it was set to start, organizers announced Friday (Sept. 1) on X (formerly Twitter).

In the statement, organizers cited “global supply chain issues” as the cause of the cancellation and promised to reopen Saturday. Acts scheduled to play Friday include Kx5, Galantis, The Chainsmokers, Excision and many more.

“Despite our tireless efforts and round-the-clock commitment, we have made the painful decision to cancel the first day of Electric Zoo,” organizers wrote. “This year has presented unparalleled challenges for everyone. The global supply chain disruptions have impacted industries worldwide, and, sadly, our beloved festival has not been immune. These unexpected delays have prevented us from completing the construction of the main stage in time for Day 1.”

Fans who bought tickets for Friday will receive a refund. Fans with multiday tickets “will receive credit for one of the days” to be applied to a future event. The festival will now open at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and “we look forward to uniting with all of you to celebrate life and music, and dance through the sunset with the iconic backdrop of the New York skyline, right in the heart of New York City,” organizers wrote.

“While words cannot fully express the depth of our remorse about Day 1, please know that this decision was not made lightly,” organizers wrote. “We ask for your forgiveness and understanding during this challenging time. We are profoundly sorry for all the inconvenience and disappointment this will cause.”

The festival’s social media pages announced the news just after 11:30 a.m. ET Friday, hours before doors for the event were set to open at 3 p.m.

Made Events, launched by Long Island City husband-wife team Mike Bindra and Laura De Palm and creators of the long-running Electric Zoo festival, was sold to an investment group that owns the Avant Gardner nightclub and venue in Brooklyn in July 2022 for $15 million.

In 2014, Made Event was acquired by Bob Sillerman‘s electronic dance music conglomerate SFX, which filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and eventually landed in the hands of senior creditor Andrew Axelrod. SFX was rebranded as LiveStyle by former chief executive Randy Phillips, who managed the festival properties for Axelrod and led efforts to sell off SFX’s assets to new buyers. Made Event was the last U.S. festival property held by LiveStyle to be sold.

01 Sep 2023

HYBE x Geffen’s ‘The Debut: Dream Academy’ First Episode Is Here: See the Girl Group Hopefuls Placed in Teams

The Debut: Dream Academy has arrived.

The first episode of the competition series aired on Friday (Sept. 1) featured all 20 contestants as they watched a conversation between HYBE Chairman Bang Si-Hyuk and Interscope Geffen A&M Records CEO John Janick, as they give advice on what it takes to succeed in a girl group. “If you don’t love music, you won’t succeed,” he explains.

Janick added, “I feel like to be a successful part of this group, it’s going to require a huge amount of creativity and passion. I think with every artist, that’s what we’re looking for.”

The duo then ran down the first mission of the competition series, a showcase that aims to “level up your skills as a global girl group,” in which the contestants are split into two dance teams and two vocal teams. The mission will result in two eliminations. “Team members are crucial business partners, and it’s important to know proper work etiquette with your business partner,” Bang Si-Hyuk explained.

The executives then explained the two other missions of the series. According to an explainer also shared to Dream Academy‘s YouTube page, in the team mission, the contestants will head to Korea to compete before another series of eliminations. The artistry mission will test the contestant’s “ability to pull off unique concepts” before the final girl group is revealed at the live finale on Nov. 17. 

Finally, the girls were split into their teams. The first dance team, which will be performing BLACKPINK’s “Pink Venom,” features Daniela, Megan, UA, Adéla and Hinari. The second dance team, which will be performing NewJeans’ “OMG,” features Emily, Ezrela, Marquise, Yoonchae and Mei. The first vocal team, which will be performing a mashup of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” and Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” features Karlee, Lexie, Iliya, Brooklyn and Manon. The second vocal team, which will be performing Paramore’s “Still Into You,” features Sophia, Lara, Celeste, Samara and Nayoung.

The diverse group of young women were selected from more than 120,000 submissions after HYBE and Geffen announced the joint venture — HYBE x Geffen Global Girl Group Audition — in November 2021.

Watch the full first episode below.

01 Sep 2023

Billboard Explains: The Women of Hip-Hop

For this latest episode of Billboard Explains, the topic of discussion anchors around the women of hip-hop. While names like Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott continue to cause waves in the landscape, it’s a golden age in the genre thanks to the plethora of female MCs wreaking havoc on the mic.

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Before the scorching success of Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion and more, many pioneers broke through the seams of hip-hop and paved the way for generations to come. Hip-hop’s first female artist was MC Sha-Rock, who originally started as a Funky 4 + 1 group member. Following Sha-Rock were MC Lyte and Roxanne Shanté, who further fortified the lanes of female hip-hop with their presence in the ’80s. Queen Latifah, Lil’ Kim, Salt-N-Pepa, Foxy Brown, Missy Elliott and Eve were among some of the thriving stars in the ’90s and ‘2000s who placed the welcome mat for women looking to step onto the scene.

Even with contrasting styles, their lyrics, individuality and unshakable confidence were the ingredients needed to step inside the lion’s den and prove to be fierce competitors alongside their male counterparts.

“It’s took years, but it’s just that time. They’re not going to be held back,” Nas tells Billboard regarding the feats of female rappers.

Today, sisterhood in hip-hop is at an all-time high, as many collaborations find female artists pairing together and, in some cases, legacy acts joining forces with rookie talents.

“We have our own fanbases, messages, shows — our own everything,” says Baby Tate. “I don’t really see any of this as a competition. Everybody has their own story.”

Watch the newest episode of Billboard Explains on The Women of Hip-Hop.

01 Sep 2023

U.K. Singer-Songwriter Faye Fantarrow Dies at 21 of Rare Brain Tumor

Faye Fantarrow, a U.K. singer-songwriter whose debut came out earlier this year, has died at age 21, her publicist confirmed. The rising neo-soul talent died on Aug. 26, and her death was first announced on social media on Aug. 31 by her mother, Pam.

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Fantarrow previously beat leukemia twice since being first diagnosed at eight years old. Nearly a year ago, doctors discovered a rare Glioma tumor in her brain. The release date of her debut EP, AWOL, was moved up to an earlier date (Feb. 10) to accommodate the grim prognosis; around the time of its release, Billboard hailed her distinctive vocal phrasing and the pulsing rhythm of the EP’s title track. AWOL came out on Dave Stewart’s Bay Street Records; following her passing, the Eurythmics member shared how “devastated” Fantarrow’s death left him in a statement.

“I can’t put into words how devastated I was when, just after spending an amazing creative time with Faye last summer making her debut album, Faye found out she had this very aggressive brain tumor,” Stewart said. “Faye was a joy to be around, full of fun, laughter and sharp as a razor — a true artist in every sense. Being with her and watching her at work is a diamond stuck in my head, moments I will never forget. I’m lucky to have met Faye and her Mum Pam, two humans together battling against all odds for Faye’s survival. It has been both traumatic and beautiful to witness their strength and dignity and I am so sorry the world only got to witness Faye’s genius for such a short time. She is one of the true greats, a northern girl on fire with her lyrics and melodies. I loved her deeply.”

“There is a gaping void in our lives that can never be filled, our beautiful, compassionate, intelligent and immensely talented girl has gone,” her mother Pam wrote in a social media post. “Faye fought with a strength and bravery that kept her with those she so desperately loved and who loved her beyond compare.”

Prior to her death, Fantarrow raised £235,000 (close to $300,000 USD) on Justgiving for an experimental treatment in California. She visited the U.S. for the first treatment but proved too sick for follow-ups. The extra money from the Justgiving campaign was “donated to a charity to fund further life-saving research in Faye’s memory,” per reps.

You can listen to her debut EP below.

01 Sep 2023

Meg Ryan’s Rom-Com Return Will Have to Wait Until After Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ Film

Taylor Swift is continuing to dominate theaters after announcing that she’ll be releasing her Eras Tour film on October 13. On Friday (Sept. 1), production company Bleecker Street Films announced that its film What Happens Later, starring and directed by Meg Ryan, will be pushing back its original Oct. 13 release date.

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“So we’ll take our time…Are you ready for it?” the announcement on X (formerly known as Twitter) reads, in reference to Swift’s “…Ready For It?” off her 2017 album Reputation. “Meg Ryan ends her 14-year rom-com hiatus and the #Megaissance begins with #WhatHappensLater, now happening…later,” they added. “Coming only to theaters November 3!”

According to a press release from AMC Theatres, Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has broken all existing records for single-day advance ticket sales revenue in the chain’s 103-year history with $26 million in the first 24 hours of on-sale. The $26 million figure also crushes the previous record for one-day sales for a single title, blowing by 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which racked up $16.9 million in its first 24 hours; according to AMC, The Eras Tour movie bested the the Spider-Man numbers in its first three hours of on-sale on Thursday.

Beginning October 13, every U.S. AMC Theatre location will run the movie at least four times per day on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sundays, with tickets for priced at $19.89 plus tax for adults and $13.13 for children and seniors plus tax (except for AMC’s branded premium large-format screens.) The film will be available in AMC theaters in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with tickets on sale now here and here.

Swift herself also posted a trailer for the film, writing, “The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, electric experience of my life so far and I’m overjoyed to tell you that it’ll be coming to the big screen soon. Starting Oct 13th you’ll be able to experience the concert film in theaters in North America! Tickets are on sale now at http://taylor.lnk.to/TSTheErasTourFilm…. Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged. 1, 2, 3 LGB!!!! (iykyk).”

01 Sep 2023

Luke Combs Makes History by Claiming Top Two Spots on Country Airplay Chart

Luke Combs’ rolls up his 17th No. 1 – and makes history in the top two – on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Sept. 9), as “Love You Anyway” climbs 2-1 and his former five-week leader “Fast Car” rebounds 3-2.

Combs is the first artist to hold the top two positions on Country Airplay without any other billed acts since the list launched in 1990. Only one other act has taken the two ranks simultaneously at all: On the charts dated May 31 and June 7, 2014, Luke Bryan’s “Play It Again” was No. 1 and Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll” featuring Bryan placed at its No. 2 peak.

In the Aug. 25-31 tracking week, “Love You Anyway” increased by 9% to 32 million impressions, according to Luminate. Combs wrote the song with Ray Fulcher and Dan Isbell.

Combs claims another Country Airplay record, as “Love You Anyway” reaches No. 1 after a mere four-week break since “Fast Car,” his update of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 Billboard Hot 100 hit, wrapped its reign. No artist had previously led with different songs in a lead role on both so quickly, as Combs passes Morgan Wallen, whose “You Proof” spent the last of its record 10 weeks at No. 1 this January, while he returned to the top after just a six-week gap with “Thought You Should Know” in February.

Counting featured roles, Tim McGraw wasted no time between No. 1s in March 2002: Jo Dee Messina’s “Bring On the Rain” featuring McGraw led for a week, and his “The Cowboy in Me” supplanted it at the summit the following frame.

Additionally, Combs rules Country Airplay just nine weeks after “Fast Car” topped the tally for the first time – also a record for the quickest turnaround among acts reaching No. 1 with different songs. Multiple artists led with new No. 1s 10 weeks apart (counting from their first weeks on top), most recently Shania Twain, from “You Win My Love” to “No One Needs To Know” in 1996.

Combs’ unprecedented achievements reflect the historically atypical release schedule for his two latest Country Airplay No. 1s, as “Love You Anyway” was intended to be his lone current promoted single but “Fast Car” went viral and they wound up scaling the survey in tandem.

Taste of the Top 10

Meanwhile, Lainey Wilson nets her fifth Country Airplay top 10 as “Watermelon Moonshine” rises 11-10 (19.3 million, up 22%). It follows her feature on HARDY’s “Wait in the Truck,” which peaked at No. 2 in April.

Additional reporting by Gary Trust.