Music

21 Nov 2023

Daddy Yankee to Livestream His Farewell Tour’s Final Show

Daddy Yankee is closing out his farewell tour, La Última Vuelta, with a series of four back-to-back shows, dubbed “La Meta,” in his beloved Puerto Rico kicking off Nov. 30. The last show, however, will be live-streamed globally.

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Taking place Sunday, Dec. 3, at the Coliseo, the final concert, which, according to a press release, will be a “totally new show,” will be able to be streamed by fans who purchase a $20 ticket. The live stream event will be powered by streaming company Kiswe with a “state-of-the-art technology will guarantee that fans worldwide experience the passion and thrill of Daddy Yankee’s final show.”

Yankee’s La Última Vuelta trek, which kicked off last year following his retirement announcement, landed at No. 13 on the Top 40 Tours of 2022 with a total gross of over $125 million, according to last year’s Year-End Boxscore charts.

The Puerto Rican hitmaker announced March 2022 that he was retiring and would culminate his decades-long career with a world tour and his new album Legendaddy, which he dropped that same month. The set peaked at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart (dated April 9, 2022).

“This career, that has been a marathon, I finally see the finish line. Now I get to enjoy what you all have given me. They say that I made this genre global but it was you guys that gave me the key to open the doors to make this the biggest genre in the world,” Daddy Yankee said in a statement then. “I confess that it’s the biggest treasure I can have in my career. I always worked so I didn’t fail you, so I didn’t get into problems, with much discipline, to inspire the new generation to be leaders. Today, I’m announcing my retirement from music by giving you my best production and my best concert tour.”

Born Raymond Ayala, his career exploded with 2004’s breakthrough hit “Gasolina,” launching a genre that altered the sound and business of Latin music and became a global phenomenon.

“This historic night will mark the end of a three-decade journey for one of the most iconic Latin American artists of our time,” said Glenn Booth, CEO of Kiswe. “We are thrilled that we have been chosen to help millions of fans experience Daddy Yankee’s final performance on a touring stage and witness his heartfelt farewell.”

21 Nov 2023

Tracy Chapman, Hillary Lindsey, George Clinton & More 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Nominees (Full List)

Less than two weeks after she won a CMA Award for song of the year for her classic “Fast Car,” Tracy Chapman was nominated to join the 2024 class of inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF). Twelve performing songwriters and 10 non-performing songwriters are nominated. Three songwriters from each of those categories will be inducted at the 2024 SHOF Induction & Awards Gala in New York City in June 2024.

Hillary Lindsey, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022, is nominated here, as is Dean Dillon, a 2002 inductee into the Nashville SHOF.

Seven of this year’s SHOF nominees are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic went into the Rock Hall in 1997); Donald Fagen & Walter Becker (Steely Dan was honored by the Rock Hall in 2001); Debbie Harry, Chris Stein & Clem Burke (Blondie got the Rock Hall nod in 2006); Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills & Michael Stipe (R.E.M. was honored by the Rock Hall in 2007); Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson (Heart was saluted by the Rock Hall in 2013); Chuck D and Flavor Flav (Public Enemy went into the Rock Hall in 2013); and Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons & Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers got the Rock Hall nod in 2020).

Becker, who died in 2017, is this year’s only posthumous nominee.

Kenny Loggins and Dean Pitchford, who collaborated on Loggins’ 1984 smash “Footloose,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, are separately nominated.

Fourteen songwriters are nominated as individuals. Five two-member teams are nominated, as are two three-member teams and one four-member team (the former members of R.E.M.)

A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first significant commercial release of a song. Eligible voting members have until midnight ET on Dec. 27 to turn in ballots, with their choices of three nominees from each category.

Here’s the complete list of SHOF’s 2024 nominees. The SHOF supplied the five song titles that are listed after each songwriter’s name. The organization stresses “Please note that the five songs listed after each nominee are merely a representative sample of their extensive catalogs.” In many cases here, that’s an understatement.

Performing Songwriters

Bryan Adams – “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” “Heaven,” “All For Love,” “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?,” “Summer of ’69”

Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings – “These Eyes,” “American Woman,” “Laughing,” “No Time,” “No Sugar Tonight”

Debbie Harry, Chris Stein & Clem Burke p/k/a Blondie – “Call Me,” “Heart of Glass,” “Rapture,” “One Way or Another,” “Sunday Girl”

Tracy Chapman – “Fast Car,” “Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution,” “Give Me One Reason,” “Baby Can I Hold You,” “Sing for You”

George Clinton – “Atomic Dog,” “Flashlight,” “(Not Just) Knee Deep,” “P-Funk,” “Give Up the Funk”

Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons & Michael McDonald p/k/a Doobie Brothers – “Listen to the Music,” “Long Train Runnin,’” “What a Fool Believes,” “China Grove,” “Black Water”

David Gates – “Everything I Own,” “Make It With You,” “Baby I’m-a Want You,” “The Guitar Man,” “If”

Ann Wilson & Nancy Wilson p/k/a Heart – “Barracuda,” “Crazy on You,” “Dog and Butterfly,” “Straight On,” “Even It Up”

Kenny Loggins – “Danny’s Song,” “Footloose,” “Celebrate Me Home,” “Return to Pooh Corner,” “What a Fool Believes”

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour p/k/a Chuck D, William Jonathan Drayton p/k/a Flavor Flav, p/k/a Public Enemy – “Fight the Power,” “Bring the Noise,” “Don’t Believe the Hype,” “Can’t Truss It,” Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos”

Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills & Michael Stipe, p/k/a R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts,” “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” “Radio Free Europe,” “The One I Love”

Donald Fagan & Walter Becker p/k/a Steely Dan – “Reelin’ in the Years,” “My Old School,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Black Friday,” “Kid Charlemagne”

Non-Performing Songwriters

L. Russell Brown – “Sock It to Me – Baby!,” “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” “C’mon Marianne,” “Knock Three Times,” “Use It Up and Wear It Out”

Dean Dillon – “Tennessee Whiskey,” “Ocean Front Property,” “Here For a Good Time,” “The Chair,” “I’m Alive”

Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter – “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got),” “Don’t Pull Your Love,” “Nightshift,” “One Tin Soldier (Theme from Billy Jack),” “We Built This City”

Hillary Lindsey – “Jesus Take the Wheel,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” “Girl Crush,” “Always Remember Us This Way,” “Million Reasons”

Tony Macaulay – “Baby Now That I’ve Found You,” “Build Me Up Buttercup,” “Don’t Give Up On Us,” “Last Night I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All,” “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”

Timothy Mosley p/k/a Timbaland – “Sexy Back,” “Get Yer Freak On,” “Pony,” “Big Pimpin,’” “The Way I Are”

Roger Nichols – “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “I Won’t Last a Day Without You,” “Out in the Country,” “Times of Your Life”

Dean Pitchford – “Footloose,” “Fame,” “Holding Out for a Hero,” “All the Man That I Need,” “Let’s Hear It for the Boy”

Maurice Starr – “Candy Girl,” “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever),” “Is This the End,” “Step by Step,” “Popcorn Love”

Narada Michael Walden – “How Will I Know,” “Freeway of Love,” “Who’s Zoomin’ Who,” “I Don’t Wanna Cry,” “I Shoulda Loved Ya”

21 Nov 2023

Sorry, Travis Kelce: Eagles Playfully Brag About Victory Over Chiefs With Taylor Swift Friendship Bracelet

The Kansas City Chiefs may soon have bad blood with the Philadelphia Eagles, who playfully bragged about their recent victory over Travis Kelce‘s team with a Taylor Swift-themed jab on Twitter.

Shortly after beating the Chiefs 21-17 at Arrowhead Stadium Monday night (Nov. 20), the Eagles’ official team Twitter account shared a photo of a green and silver handmade bracelet, complete with lettered beads that spelled out: “Eagles Win.”

“In our winning era,” boasted the team, which is home to Kelce’s older brother Jason Kelce, who plays center.

Fans were quick to jokingly call out the Eagles for invoking Swift in order to more personally tease Travis’ team of reigning Super Bowl champions. Not only are friendship bracelets a key hallmark of the “Karma” singer’s Eras Tour, but the younger Kelce himself notably tried unsuccessfully to give Swift his phone number via friendship bracelet at an Eras stop in Kansas City weeks before the pair started dating.

“OH THIS LEVEL OF SHADE IS ASTRONOMICAL,” commented one fan on the Eagles’ post, adding a slew of crying face emojis.

“First class Trolling!!” wrote another person.

Swift herself wasn’t in attendance at the Eagles-Chiefs showdown, instead spending Monday making up an Eras concert in Rio de Janeiro that had been postponed due to extreme temperatures. The pop star’s weekend dates in Brazil were also marked by the death of Ana Clara Benevides Machado, a 23-year-old fan who passed away after attending Friday’s show at Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos.

Still, one Kansas City fan made sure Swift was at the game in spirit by bringing a homemade sign referencing the 12-time Grammy winner’s “Karma” lyric change at an Argentina concert earlier this month: “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs.” In a TikTok posted by ESPN, Travis waves at the fan and seemingly smiles at her poster.

See the Eagles’ Swift-inspired friendship bracelet diss below:

21 Nov 2023

Lana Del Rey Offers Up Current Heart Status After Recent Break-Up: ‘Absolutely Not in Love’

Love is wonderful and exciting and disappointing, often all at the same time. And, every once in a while just plain confusing. That’s the state Lana Del Rey says she’s been in recently after a break-up she just can’t understand.

In a cover story for Harper’s BAZAAR in which the singer looks back on the difficulty of the critical pile-on early in her career and how that scorn has magically turned into praise for the singer’s influence on a new generation of stars such as Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, LDR also tackles love. Or the lack of it.

Hanging in her modest home with the writer, Lana opened up about how despite creating what she thinks of as a welcoming, mellow environment, her latest unnamed beau just couldn’t hang in her sacred space. “I feel like even the most chill guy doesn’t really want to chill here,” she said. “Sadly, part of you knows … that ain’t it.… That one shocked me. I won’t name names and whatever, but that one really shocked me, that person. That was actually the end of a relationship.”

She said the recent love interest wanted more from her, but what exactly that was wasn’t clear. “That’s a tough nut to swallow,” she said of the man who seemed enamored with the “idea of her,” but maybe not actually her. “In that person’s case, there was something going on with them, like a little bubble ego. See, I don’t get to have one anymore. It’s been smashed to …  what do you call it? Smithereens. I’m sure it’s somewhere in my toe. That’s it. I’d love to grow one. I’m learning how. I’m learning. I know what I want.”

Del Rey also made one thing perfectly clear about her current dating status.

“I’m definitely not in love right now. No,” she “firmly” told her interviewer. “Absolutely not in love. Have been, but no.” Asked if she wishes to be in love at some point in the future, Del Ray shrugged and said the thought hadn’t actually crossed her mind over the last five months on the road in support of her most recent Grammy-nominated album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. “But give it a week. My history, sure, it’s coming for me at some point. Yeah. It would be interesting if it didn’t. It would be interesting if it didn’t.”

Del Rey — who People magazine reported earlier this year was in a relationship with house musician Jack Donoghue of Salem that began in early 2022 — has been linked to a number of musicians and photographers over the years. After several years with Scottish singer/songwriter Barrie-James O’Neill of Kassidy, the magazine said Del Rey began dating Italian photographer Francesco Carrozzini in 2014, before a reported brief dalliance with rapper G-Eazy, followed by a year with cop Sean Larkin and an engagement to musician Clayton Johnson.

Billboard reported in March that Del Rey was engaged to Range Media Partners’ Evan Winiker; it was unclear at press time if the break-up referenced in the Harper’s story referred to Winiker.

After this latest break-up, Del Rey said some things would have to seriously shift for her to open her heart to someone else. “I think I would have to get my orientation toward where I want to be geographically stronger in my solar plexus, like a knowingness there, before I could tune into a stronger desire romantically,” she said. “Because if you don’t feel a connection necessarily to the pavement you’re walking on, the love thing stays over there.”

Check out the Harper’s cover below.

Lana Del Rey, Harper’s BAZAAR

Collier Schorr

21 Nov 2023

Jessie Murph on Creating the Country-Rap Hit ‘Wild Ones’: ‘I’ve Always Been Attracted to Chaos’

In 2020, Jessie Murph began regularly posting covers to YouTube and TikTok. They quickly gained a following, and ever since she’s been scoring one win after the next. She parlayed her early success with covers of Ariana Grande, Fleetwood Mac, Post Malone and others into a label deal with Columbia Records the following year. By the end of 2021, “Always Been You” — the lead single from her debut mixtape — became her first hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Since then, the 19-year-old singer-songwriter has tallied three more entries on the chart: “Pray”; her Diplo and Polo G collaboration, “Heartbroken”; and most recently “Wild Ones” with Jelly Roll. The latest has already become her biggest hit to date, reaching a No. 42 high in six weeks on the ranking.

Over an inescapable country-driven groove, Murph and Jelly Roll romanticize risk-taking, rule-breaking daredevils with an affinity for fast cars and lifting their middle fingers high in the air. “Say you wanna get dangerous/ Now you’re speaking my language,” Murph sings.

The two musicians share a connection in more ways than one. Both are Nashville-area natives — though Murph’s family moved to Alabama when she was a child, she recently moved back to the Music City — and have continued to explore different genres throughout their careers, including country, hip-hop, pop and rock. For Jelly Roll (real name: Jason DeFord), “Need a Favor” and “Son of a Sinner” have been genre-fluid mainstays over the past year and have helped fuel a best new artist Grammy nomination and a win as new artist of the year at the recent CMA Awards.

“I think something that’s so special about him is he’s so always just so grateful,” Murph says of Jelly Roll. “You can tell he’s such a gratitude-based person and it’s beautiful. Jelly Roll has just been so positive and every time I’m around him I leave feeling so happy.”

How did this song come together?

It was such a long process. I feel like I made it months before it came out, and I never planned on having a feature on it. I was just going to put it out. But [at the] last minute, Jelly heard it and he was like, “I have a verse for this,” and I’m a huge fan of him. I went to one of his shows and sang a cover of “Simple Man” with him. Then I guess he heard “Wild Ones” and I was like, “Oh my God, please be on this.”

What inspired the song?

I’ve always been attracted to crazy things or chaos. That’s where the song came from. I don’t normally write fun songs, so it’s one of my first songs like that — really cool and different. I had been in a session all day and we had gotten nothing. In the last 30 minutes, I remember Gitty [producer/co-writer Jeff Gitelman] played this guitar lick and we ended up writing it super fast.

Once you were in the studio, were there any big changes made to the song?

We might’ve sped it up during the process to make it a little bit more groovy. But I really wanted country elements for this song — that was the palette I wanted to stay with. Stylistically, especially lately, I’ve been a little bit country leaning. I’m really inspired by country music, and I feel like it has found its way into my sound.

How did you first hear Jelly Roll’s music?

My older brother is really into country [music], so he listens to a lot of that kind of stuff. I feel like we were just in the car and he had it on. I was like, “Whoa, this is insane.” But the craziest thing was seeing Jelly live. I was just blown away. 

It feels like country music is everywhere this year, in different variations. Genres keep melding together in different ways. What is your take on that?

I think it’s beautiful. That has always been my thing as an artist: I don’t ever want to have a genre because I feel that boxes you in. As you get older and grow as a person, you listen to different types of music, and I think it’s beautiful when those things mix and intertwine. It creates a whole new vibe that people haven’t even heard. But I agree, country is exploding right now.

Who else would you want to collaborate with?

My dream collaboration is Lil Baby. I’ve always wanted to [make a song with him], and it’s going to happen at some point. I’m manifesting it. I’ve been obsessed with his music since I can remember. He’s just such a real person. I feel like he sings about real sh-t. I love his melodies, his flows.

A version of this story originally appeared in the Nov. 18, 2023, issue of Billboard.

21 Nov 2023

Hear Exclusive Escape Halloween 2023 Sets From Patrick Topping, K?d & Armin van Buuren

Insomniac’s annual Halloween bash Escape brought the spooky vibes to the dancefloor Oct. 27-28. Taking place at Southern California’s NOS Events Center, festival headliners included Above & Beyond, Afrojack, DJ Snake, Kaskade, Malaa, Rezz, Slander, Tchami, Three 6 Mafia and Zedd, with artists playing across five stages, and tens of thousands of fans turning out in costume for the party.

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Whether you were in the crowd or not, you can get in on the Escape action with these exclusive sets from Dutch legend and festival headliner Armin van Buuren, English house fav Patrick Topping and U.S. experimental producer K?d.

Turn up the volume on the nearly four hours of music presented here.

Armin van Buuren

One of the undisputed masters of big room and trance did what he does best with an hour and 15 minutes of relentless and deliciously oversized builds and releases that includes cuts by Binary Finary, Kryder and van Buuren’s own work including “God Is in the Soundwaves,” “Space Case” and IDs from his iconic A State of Trance mix series. Prepare your Kleenex for the 54-minute mark when he drops a triumphant edit of Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved.”

Patrick Topping

The Trick label boss delivered a throttling house and U.K. rave set packed deep cuts, remixes of artists like Migos, Future and Drake, fresh hits like Mochakk’s “Jealous” and his own tracks like “Whisper” and “Shake My Booty.” The 90-minute set closes with the positively undeniable DJ Tonka remix of Dominica’s 1994 Eurodance classic “Gotta Let You Go.”

K?d (Throwback Set)

The producer’s pummeling “throwback set” includes old-school (read: released roughly a decade ago) tracks by Daft Punk, Gessafelstein, Illenium, RL Grime and his own tracks such as “Lose Myself,” “Vindicta” and “Discover.”

21 Nov 2023

Big Wins for Kanye West, CeCe Winans and Maverick City Music on Year-End Gospel Charts

Multi-genre superstar Kanye West is Billboard’s Top Gospel Artist of 2023, marking three straight years that he claims the top honor. He’s the first act to be the year-end Top Gospel Artist in three years since 2017, when Tamela Mann claimed her third triumph.

On the Billboard charts dated Sept. 11, 2021, Donda started with a bang. It debuted in the penthouse on the all-genre weekly Billboard 200 plus Top Gospel Albums and Top Christian Albums with 309,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S., according to Luminate.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2023 Year-End Charts

It marked West’s 10th Billboard 200 leader and his second No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums (as well as Top Christian Albums).

Donda followed his first spiritual LP, Jesus Is King, which crowned both lists as well, plus the Billboard 200. King started with 264,000 weekly units in November 2019, which was a record at the time on the two faith-based lists.

On the Top Gospel Albums year-end tallies, Donda is No. 1 and Jesus Is King is No. 5.

Also, Donda has ranked at either No. 1 or No. 2 on the weekly Top Gospel Albums chart so far this year. Jesus Is King has also remained strong, holding in the Top Gospel Albums top 10 throughout 2023.

Since Top Gospel Albums launched in 1983, Donda is the longest running No. 1 (over 100 weeks), and Jesus Is King is second (over 65 frames).

Billboard’s top duo/group of 2023 and No. 2 among all acts is the Atlanta-based worship collective Maverick City Music. The popular act repeats from 2022 in the rankings.

Old Church Basement, the collaborative project with Christian act Elevation Worship, ranks as the Top Gospel Albums No. 2 LP of 2023. The set, which opened at No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums in May 2021 with 19,000 units and spent 17 frames at the summit, has been in the top five for all of 2023.

The Nos. 4, 6 and 10 albums of 2023 are also from Maverick City Music. At No. 4 is Kingdom: Book One, a collaboration with gospel star Kirk Franklin. The LP opened at its No. 2 peak in July 2022 with 8,000 units. Maverick City, Vol. 3: Part One is the No. 6 set of 2023; and No. 8 is Move Your Heart with Upperroom.

Maverick City Music finished 2023 with the release of The Maverick Way Complete: Complete Vol. 2 with Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine. It arrived atop the weekly Top Gospel Albums list dated Nov. 11 (which places it within the 2024 chart year) with 11,000 equivalent album units. Concurrently, it also crowned the weekly Top Christian Albums chart.

Also, the year-end No. 1 on Hot Gospel Songs is “Jireh,” a collaboration from Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music featuring Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine. The song debuted at No. 1 in April 2021 and has spent the sum of 2023 in the top three.

Gospel icon CeCe Winans is the leading woman of 2023, ruling the year-end Top Gospel Artists – Female tally, and No. 3 on the overall Top Gospel Artists recap. Her hit “Goodness of God” led Gospel Airplay for four weeks starting on the Feb. 18-dated tally, giving Winans her fourth leader. It’s No. 5 on the year-end Gospel Airplay Songs roundup. Plus, it’s the leading track of the year on Gospel Digital Song Sales.

The No. 1 Gospel Airplay Song of 2023 is Erica Campbell’s “Feel Alright (Blessed),” which dominated the weekly version of the chart for two frames beginning July 29, 2023. Campbell, who has tallied three Gospel Airplay chart-toppers so far, comes in as the that chart’s leading artist of the year. In the top female category, Campbell finishes fourth. Billboard’s Top New Gospel artist of the year is the Hampton Roads, Va.-based choir Voices of Fire, which is led by Bishop Ezekiel Williams, who is Pharrell Williams’ uncle. Voices of Fire’s “Joy (Unspeakable)” featuring Pharrell Williams peaked at No. 7 on Hot Gospel Songs in July.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Nov. 19, 2022, through Oct. 21, 2023. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the November-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

21 Nov 2023

Morgan Wallen Is the Top Country Artist of 2023, Has Year’s Biggest Country Album & Song

Just as he did in 2021 and 2022, 30-year-old singer-songwriter Morgan Wallen is Billboard’s Top Country Artist. Concurrently, the Sneedville, Tenn.-born star is Billboard’s Top Country Artist – Male. He also wraps the year with No. 1 placings on the year-end recaps for Hot Country Songs, Hot Country Songs Artists, Country Airplay Artists, Country Airplay Songs, Country Digital Song Sales Artists, Country Streaming Songs, Country Streaming Songs Artists, Top Country Albums Artists and Top Country Albums.

Wallen won the day in plenty of categories in 2023, and if there’s one area where he added to his portfolio, it’s pop radio, where the country star is officially a crossover artist now on the strength of “Last Night,” which reached No. 5 on both Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2023 Year-End Charts

“Last Night,” which is the leading song of the year on the streaming-, airplay and sales based Hot Country Songs chart as well as the top Country Airplay track of the year, also became Wallen’s first song to top the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. It’s also the year-end No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs recap.

In March, “Last Night” — which was authored by John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin and Ryan Vojtesak — blasted from 5-1 on the Hot 100, marking the artist’s first leader on the all-format list. “Last Night” is from his 36-track album, One Thing at a Time, released March 3.

When “Last Night” led the Hot 100 for its first week on the March 18 dated tally, it was also stationed atop Hot Country Songs.

It marked the first track to lead both tallies since Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” on the charts dated Nov. 27, 2021 – and the first by a solo male unaccompanied by any other acts in more than 42 years, since Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night” ruled Hot Country Songs for a week in January 1981 and the Hot 100 for two weeks that February-March.

“Last Night” dominated Hot Country Songs for 25 frames commencing in February, becoming the fourth-longest-ruling title since the chart was launched in 1958. The longest is Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s crossover smash, “Meant to Be,” which spent a whopping 50 weeks in the penthouse beginning in December 2017.

“Last Night” is also the year-end No. 1 on Country Airplay Songs. It dominated the weekly chart for eight weeks starting in May, giving the artist his ninth of 10 No. 1s. He added his 10th in October with “Thinkin’ Bout Me.”

Wallen’s One Thing at a Time album, which houses 36 songs, opened atop Top Country Albums as well as the all-genre Billboard 200 with the largest streaming week ever for a country album, as well as the biggest week by equivalent album units (501,000 in the tracking week of March 3-9, according to Luminate) for any album, among all genres.

The artist made history that week by taking over Hot Country Songs with an unprecedented nine tracks in that week’s top 10.

One Thing at a Time is both No. 1 on the year-end Top Country Albums recap and the all-genre Billboard 200 Albums roundup.

Swift Leads Women: On the strength of her release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Taylor Swift is country music’s top woman of 2023. Speak Now is the No. 4 LP on the Top Country Albums list of the year.

Released July 7, the set — the third of Swift’s planned six re-recorded albums — arrived with 716,000 equivalent album units earned, with 507,000 in traditional album sales.

With Speak Now, Swift earned her eighth No. 1 on Top Country Albums. Also that week, Swift lobbed seven songs into the Hot Country Songs top 10.

Megan Moroney Shines: Singer-songwriter Megan Moroney, who hails from Savannah, Ga., scored her first top 10 on the weekly Top Country Albums chart in May when her first entry, Lucky, arrived at its No. 10 peak with 18,000 equivalent album units. 

The set marked the first top 10 debut for a woman’s first title on the chart since Gabby Barrett’s debut LP Goldmine arrived at No. 4 in July 2020.

Moroney, a graduate of the University of Georgia, also claimed her first top 10 on Country Airplay as well as Hot Country Songs with rookie appearance “Tennessee Orange,” which hit No. 4 on Country Airplay and No. 10 on Hot Country Songs.

There’s no doubt that 2023 was a huge year for country music.

In July, country songs filled the top three rankings on the Hot 100: Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” topped the list, followed by Wallen’s “Last Night,” with Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” at No. 3.

It marked the first time that country hits occupied the Hot 100’s top three spots in a single week, dating to the chart’s inception in August 1958.

A little controversy also hovered over one of country music’s top stars. Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” created a stir when its video was pulled from rotation by CMT after just three days on the air, creating a firestorm of media coverage.

Aldean addressed the polarized response to the video during his Highway Desperado Tour stop July 21 at Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center. “It’s been a long week and I’ve seen a lot of stuff suggesting I’m this, suggesting I’m that,” he told the crowd. “I feel like everybody’s entitled to their opinion. You can think something all you want to; it doesn’t mean it’s true. What I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here … I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that, I can tell you that right now.”

The contention didn’t hurt sales. “Try That in a Small Town” is the No. 1 title for 2023 on Country Digital Song Sales. On the July 29 dated tally, “Small Town” hit No. 1 with 228,000 sold. It became Aldean’s first Hot 100 leader while also reigning on Hot Country Songs for two weeks, becoming the artist’s 10th No. 1 on the latter list.

Meanwhile, the No. 2 Hot Country Songs title of 2023 is Luke Combs’ version of Chapman’s Hot 100 top 10 from 1987, “Fast Car.”

Combs’ update of “Fast Car” led Hot Country Songs for its first of four weeks on the Sept. 30 dated survey giving the artist his sixth No. 1. Here’s what Combs told Billboard when he heard the news: “What an awesome way to end the ride for ‘Fast Car’,” said the artist. “It has been so cool to see everyone enjoying this song over the past few months, whether it was people who were hearing the song for the first time or people [for whom] it brought back memories of Tracy’s timeless recording. I’m just glad this song got another life because it deserves to be around forever; it will always be one of my favorites. I’m glad we got to park Tracy’s song at the top of the Hot Country Songs chart, where it should be.”

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Nov. 19, 2022, through Oct. 21, 2023. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the November-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

21 Nov 2023

Lauren Daigle Reigns as Billboard’s Top Christian Artist of the Year

Singer-songwriter Lauren Daigle is Billboard’s Top Christian Artist of 2023, plus the top female Christian Artist of the year.

“It’s been an incredible year,” Daigle tells Billboard after hearing that she earned the top honor.  “New creative collaborators, a new producer, new writers and most of all new friends. Our fans on the road have been so incredible and we can feel their love and their energy every single night, and for me that connection (to our music) is inspiring.  I am so unbelievably grateful to them, to be able to do what I love and look forward to so much more in ’24.”

Explore All of Billboard’s 2023 Year-End Charts

In 2023, we saw new music from Lauren Daigle for the first time since 2018. On May 12, Daigle released a 10-song self-titled album with the promise that the deluxe version with 10 more tracks would come later. The LP paired the 32-year-old Daigle with new producer Mike Elizondo and was also her first through Atlantic Records, which her longtime label, Centricity, formed a partnership with in January.

The new set was her first new music since Look Up Child, which opened at the Top Christian Albums summit in September 2018 and proceeded to ring up a record 102 frames at No. 1. It was bolstered by the crossover smash “You Say,” which dominated Hot Christian Songs for an also unprecedented 132 weeks starting in July 2018.

On Christian Airplay, “You Say” reigned for 18 weeks. It also crossed over, crowning Adult Contemporary for two weeks.

Plus, “You Say” is the No. 1 track of 2023 on Christian Streaming Songs.

Look Up Child remains strong, placing as the No. 2 LP of 2023 on Top Christian Albums, second only to Kanye West’s Donda, which is the lead LP of the year on the Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums tallies.

Daigle’s self-titled set launched at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums list dated May 27 with 25,000 equivalent album units, including 20,000 in album sales, in the May 12-18 tracking frame, according to Luminate. It marked Daigle’s fourth leader on the list.

Daigle returned to the Top Christian Albums penthouse on the May 16-dated survey. Her self-titled set, made available as a deluxe version, added 13 tunes to the original 10-song album.

After the deluxe edition was released Sept. 8, the set (with both versions combined into one chart listing) rebounded 5-1. It earned 13,000 equivalent album units (up 388%), with 8,000 in album sales. On the all-genre Billboard 200, it re-entered at No. 79, after it opened at its No. 21 high in May.

Daigle’s 2023 self-titled album finishes in the top 10. It’s No. 7 on the Top Christian Albums year-end ranking.

Meanwhile, lead single from Lauren Daigle, “Thank God I Do,” is No. 2 on the Hot Christian Songs year-end chart.

“Thank God I Do” became her fifth chart-topper on Christian Airplay, where it dominated for a week in July. On Hot Christian Songs, it awarded Daigle with her sixth No. 1, dominating for its first time in May.

Daigle is the only artist to date who has banked two Hot Christian Songs No. 1s that dominated for 20-weeks or more: “You Say” and “Thank God I Do.”

“Thank God I Do” is also tops on the year-end Christian Digital Song Sales tally.

Brandon Lake Leads: Singer-songwriter Brandon Lake wins a major category for the first time, crowning Billboard’s Top Christian Artists – Male roundup.

To say that Lake had a big year is quite the understatement, as he leads as the top Christian Airplay and Hot Christian Songs artist this year.

Lake’s hit “Gratitude” is the top song of 2023 on Hot Christian Songs. It gave Lake his second No. 1 in February and his first where he’s unaccompanied. Lake co-authored “Gratitude” with Dante Bowe and Benjamin Hastings, while Jacob Sooter produced it.

The artist added his third leader (among five top 10s) when “Praise You Anywhere” hit the Hot Christian Songs pinnacle in November.

On Christian Airplay, Lake added his second No. 1 and fourth top 10 this year. “Gratitude” led the list in March and “Praise You Anywhere” hit No. 3 on Oct. 7.

Elevation Worship Gets High Praise: 2023 marks the first time that Elevation Worship, the music collective based in Charlotte, N.C., leads Billboard’s Top Christian Artists – Duo/Group recap. The act places second in the overall Top Christian Artists category.

On the charts dated Jan. 21, the act earned its second leader on Hot Christian Songs and its third on Christian Airplay as “Same God” topped both surveys.

“Same God” is the No. 12 song of the year on Hot Christian Songs and No. 14 on Christian Airplay.

In June, Can You Imagine?, which includes eight songs, was co-produced by the collective’s frontman Chris Brown along with Steven Furtick. The LP was recorded in front of a live audience at Elevation Church in Charlotte Jan. 13.

Can You Imagine? awarded Elevation Worship with its seventh No. 1 among 13 top 10s on Top Christian Albums.

 ‘This Is’ Phil Wickham: No. 1 on the year-end Top Christian Airplay Songs tally is is Phil Wickham’s “This is Our God,” which led for two frames staring on the June 3-dated chart. It gave Wickham his fourth chart-topper among 10 top 10s.

The 39-year-old singer-songwriter from San Diego co-penned the song with Pat Barrett, Steven Furtick and Brandon Lake. It was produced by Jonathan Smith.

Wickham places as the No. 5 Top Christian Artists overall and No. 2 in the male category.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Nov. 19, 2022, through Oct. 21, 2023. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the November-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

21 Nov 2023

Ringo Starr Dispels ‘Terrible Rumors’ of John Lennon Not Singing on The Beatles’ ‘Now and Then’

The Beatles had one last hurrah earlier this month with the release of its final single, “Now and Then,” on Nov. 2. As with most releases from the Fab Four, the track proved to be a success for the group, and according to Ringo Starr, serves as a “nice way to finally close that door.”

Speaking with the AARP, the rocker gave a bit of detail on how the track came to be, noting that Paul McCartney had the idea to complete the track in 2022.

“Last year, Paul called and said, ‘You remember that unfinished song of John’s, ‘Now and Then’? Why don’t we work on that?’” he recalled. “He sent it to me, and I played the drums and sang. We had a great track of John [Lennon] singing and playing piano and George [Harrison] playing rhythm guitar.”

The famous drummer also took a moment to dispel some rumors about the track’s creation. “There were terrible rumors that it’s not John, it’s A.I., whatever bulls- - t people said,” she said. “Paul and I would not have done that. It’s a beautiful song and a nice way to finally close that door.”

Following the release of “Now and Then” — first recorded in 1977 as a demo by Lennon — the track debuted at No. 7 on the Nov. 18-dated Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Now and Then” marked the group’s 35th top 10 hit, which in turn, extended its record for the most among groups. “Now and Then” also became the group’s first top 10 since 1996.