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Grammy award-nominated singer-songwriter Tayla Parx has always been country. Hailing from Dallas, the 30-year-old multihyphenate became just the fourth Black woman in history to write a Country Airplay No. 1 with Dan + Shay’s “Glad You Exist” (2021), and a few months ago, Parx moved to Nashville.
There, she has been developing a sustainable ranch while prepping her forthcoming third album, Many Moons, Many Suns (out on her TaylaMade Records), which explores the unexpected end of her engagement and combines country, rock, house, soul and contemporary pop. “I’m buying goats, sheep and cows,” she says of her new home. “I’m already excited about the songs that I’ll create just being here.”
Below, Parx previews her new album and reflects on queer pop stardom.
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What’s the first thing you did when you woke up today?
The first thing I did when I woke up today was load a tractor. I got a tractor to live in and my friend just dropped it off. I’ve been working on my little ranch.
What drew you to Nashville?
I started to come down here last year, but maybe three or four months ago, I officially was [here] full time. I’m still in Los Angeles once or twice a week, but this is my home.
What was a key moment on the journey to your new album?
Being able to take four years, I finally was like, “I feel new again.” [We] go through these feelings of breaking down and building up and breaking down your new version of yourself … I’m in that moment now. [That’s] when it’s the right time for me to create, or finish, the album.
Last year you co-wrote on Troye Sivan’s “Got Me Started” and Janelle Monáe’s “Water Slide.” Did you carry any inspiration from those sessions into your own?
We have a problem in the songwriting world where you’ll see a queer artist and they have only straight writers on the project, and that’s a bit weird. Or we see a woman artist and they only have straight men as writers, and that’s also a bit weird. I’m not saying we can’t have that perspective, because I’ve written for a lot of different people and I haven’t experienced their version of life. However, it’s always important to have at least somebody be a part of the project that can see you in a very different way — and maybe that’s because they’re queer. So I’ve been choosing to write with a lot of artists [with whom] I can write from that perspective. I’ve been a lot more selective these days.
“Era” has heavy ballroom energy, as does “10s.” How did examining your relationship affect your influences while recording?
We have that ballroom energy, New Orleans energy, all the things that I’ve experienced in my life that are such a huge part of queer culture. With “10s,” I played a lot with pulling from my community, the different sounds that inspire us and make us move. I really wanted to go to the extreme. A lot of the music that is the most groundbreaking is ballroom. We’ve been forced to be out of the boundary, or seen as that, for so long that it was like, “F–k it. Well, I might as well be the best version of me — and do me to the max.”
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When you were coming up, who were the songwriters that made you feel most seen?
I feel like I’m just now having an opportunity in the past few years to have artists that actually make me feel seen. Around 2015, I was listening to Marika Hackman’s “Boyfriend,” and it’s a queer song and I had never heard something lyrically like [that.] That’s not to say that there [aren’t] any queer artists that have been out there being very forward, I’m just saying what spoke to me. Being born in ‘93 and a teenager in the 2000s, it’s a very different thing.
If you had to pick three essential tracks from the new record, what would they be?
I would say, “Standing Up to the Wind,” “Gentlewoman” and “I Don’t Talk About Texas.”
Beyond the album, what are your plans for the rest of the year?
We are getting back on the road. I’m super excited because it’s been a minute since I’ve been on the road. I went from consistently touring to taking a break and really allowing the music to come. We got some crazy sustainable and biodegradable merch coming, which is really cool. And more behind the scenes of the process — I’m making sure that everything within the TaylaMade world reflects [my] values.
A version of this story originally appeared in the June 22, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Wake us up when June ends, because Good Morning America‘s annual Summer Concert Series is returning in July, and the ABC morning show is sharing the lineup exclusively with Billboard first. This year’s genre-spanning lineup includes rockers Green Day celebrating the 30th anniversary of Dookie and the 20th anniversary of “American Idiot,” country star Carrie […]
Shifty Shellshock, the frontman of rap rock band Crazy Town, has died at 49, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. The musician died at home on Monday (June 24), and the cause of death is still pending investigation.
Shellshock was born Seth Binzer on Aug. 23, 1974. He met Crazy Town co-founder Bret Mazer in 1992, and the band went on to add various members, including Adam Goldstein (better known as DJ AM, who died from an accidental overdose in 2009), Rust Epique, Antonio Lorenzo Valli, James Bradley Jr., among others. The band released its debut album The Gift of Game in November 1999. It peaked at No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard 200 on the chart dated March 3, 2001, and remained on the tally for 34 weeks.
The set’s first two singles, “Toxic” and “Darkside,” failed to chart, but the third time was the charm for Crazy Town. “Butterfly” — which sampled the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Pretty Little Ditty” — arrived in October 2000 as the album’s third single and climbed to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, where it held the top spot for two weeks with its catchy chorus: “Come my lady, come come my lady / You’re my butterfly, sugar baby/ Come my lady, you’re my pretty baby/ I’ll make your legs shake, you make me go crazy.”
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In all, the track remained on the chart for 23 weeks and is the group’s biggest hit to this day. (The track made Billboard‘s One-Hit Wonders of the 2000s list in 2014; the band did not land another song on the tally during its career.)
Sophomore album Darkhorse was released in November 2002 and debuted at No. 120. It failed to reach any higher, and fell off the chart after one week. The band broke up shortly after.
Binzer was open about his struggles with substance abuse. He appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew in 2008, and VH1’s Sober House from 2009 to 2010.
He is survived by his kids Halo, Gage and Phoenix.
It’s a circus out there! Corey Feldman has dropped a colorful ’80s inspired music video for his latest single, “The Joke,” and Billboard is premiering the visual directed by Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst.
“‘The Joke’ is more than just a song — it’s a statement. For years, I’ve faced criticism from those who want to undermine my dedication to music. This single is my way of reclaiming the narrative and showing that my commitment to my art is unshakeable,” Feldman tells Billboard. “Fred and I have a long history of working together. We originally recorded ‘Seamless’ as a feature in 2016 on my Angelic 2 The Core album, which will be re-released digitally on July 4th weekend. We co-wrote and co-produced that song, but working with Fred Durst as a director on the music video has been an incredible experience. He had a clear concept in mind and I relinquished the creative to him, and although it wasn’t how I saw it, his version surprised me and delivers the laughs. I can’t wait for my fans to see the energy and vision we’ve brought to life”
The video kicks off with actor-singer on stage bouncing around to circus music, his dancers and band behind him, everyone dressed in the decade’s brightest duds. The tune then takes a creepy turn as Feldman laughs like a maniac before the band — complete with headbands and hair inspired by the likes of Robert Smith and Alice Cooper — begins to jam.
The video slows down during the bridge, when The Lost Boys actor rips open his multicolored tracksuit’s jacket to reveal the Goonies T-shirt underneath, paying homage to the 1985 Steven Spielberg-directed classic in which he starred as he sings, “Maybe there are times, I second guess myself/ The pain outweighs the wealth?/ Maybe it is time, to crawl back in my shell, contemplate farewell?/ Well …”
A familiar “hee hee!” is heard as the former child star covers his eyes, then re-emerges dressed as his late friend Michael Jackson. “Let’s give ’em hell!” Feldman sings as he busts out some moves by the King of Pop.
The Limp Bizkit frontman makes a cameo at the end, clapping as the video ends and Feldman — still dressed as Jackson — joins him on the set. “Fantastic!” the rocker praises, but the actor has a few concerns about the video they just filmed.
“Listen, I love that you’re directing this. I think it’s gonna be amazing; everything looks great,” Feldman starts before gesturing to his sequined Michael Jackson outfit. “I really don’t know about this whole thing, though.”
The rocker assuages his fears by saying, “Brother, look at me. It’s not going in the video.” Guess “The Joke” is on Feldman!
Ahead of the video’s premiere on Billboard.com, the singer-actor performed the song on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast and talked to the host about his music and influences. “I grew up studying from Michael. I learned from Michael,” he shared. “So a lot of the stuff I design musically … has gotta have that same kind of drive, it’s gotta have that thing that makes me dance, that makes me want to move so that it comes alive when I perform it.”
Watch the music video for “The Joke” above, and check out Corey Feldman when he joins Limp Bizkit on the Loserville tour, which kicks off July 16 in Somerset, Wis.
“I’m trying to get you hyped and excited,” exclaimed theater director Lileana Blain-Cruz at the Minnesota State Theatre in Minneapolis on Saturday (June 22). “I’m trying to get a motorcycle on stage!”
Hot off directing a visually extravagant, emotionally stirring production of John Adams’ El Niño at the New York Metropolitan Opera (she’s the resident director at Lincoln Center Theater), Blain-Cruz has proven she’s adept at helming massive, complicated productions. But in spring 2025 at the State Theatre, she’s facing an audience even more passionate and exacting than New York City theater critics – Prince fans.
On Saturday, a theater full of the “purple fam” were treated to the first public preview of an upcoming stage musical adaptation of Prince’s Purple Rain film as part of the five-day Celebration 2024 event in the Purple One’s hometown. And with Blain-Cruz – who repeatedly hopped out of her chair and solicited audience feedback while flaunting a flashy purple blazer – directing, it’s clear this stage musical has an advocate who can match the enthusiasm of Jerome Benton hyping up Morris Day during a performance by The Time.
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Joining Blain-Cruz during the preview – a panel discussion that boasted a work-in-progress look at three of the musical’s stage numbers – were book writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, fresh off a Tony win for Appropriate; music director Jason Michael Webb, whose credits include the Broadway hit MJ The Musical; and Bobby Z., who drums in The Revolution and recently joined the production as a music adviser alongside fellow Prince associate Morris Hayes. (Tony-winning producer Orin Wolf appeared at the tail-end of the hour-long panel, too.)
“This is not Hamilton,” joked Jacobs-Jenkins, who assured the audience of diehards that his book will draw on the 1984 film’s screenplay (written by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn) without radically reworking it. Even so, he said he intends to further develop the character of Apollonia and make some necessary pacing changes to fit a stage production: “A play is a play, and a movie is a movie.”
While the director is hellbent on getting that motorcycle on stage (she says the image of Prince “staring into her soul” on the Purple Rain bike is one of her earliest memories of the genius), she acknowledges some limitations of the medium. “I can’t get a Lake Minnetonka that isn’t actually Lake Minnetonka on stage,” she jested, while still promising to bring the “epic” nature of a Met Opera production “to something as sublime as Purple Rain.”
“It is an opera — it’s a tragedy and a triumph,” agreed Bobby Z. “I got to see Prince build a revolution from 1977 to the Parade album [in 1986].” Similar to many operas that have stood the test of time, Purple Rain comes complete with an unforgettable villain – Morris Day, Prince’s real-life friend and colleague who played a deliciously narcissistic version of himself in the 1984 film. For the world’s first musical preview of the Purple Rain musical, attendees of Celebration 2024 got to see performers portraying Day and Benton preen and camp it up in character before playing a solidly grooving version of The Time’s “Jungle Love” and “777-9311.” (Morris Day himself hit that same stage later on Saturday to perform an assortment of The Time classics and bust out some dance moves.)
“There only so many of these Black icons that we have,” mused Webb. “Working with the Michael [Jackson] legacy prepared me for the one I really wanted — which is this one.”
Explaining that he was looking to present some of the songs through a different lens, the multi-talented Webb brought out a performer (introduced only as Rachel) to portray Apollonia and duet with him on “Take Me With U.” The song is bombastic and string-drenched on the album, but this teaser version – which started out in an elegant, stripped-down vein before working up to a full-band sound – demonstrated that these songs can soar in a variety of stylings (something hardcore Prince fans already well know).
Acknowledging that the soundtrack’s nine songs are not enough material for a Broadway musical, they also revealed that the Purple Rain stage musical will draw on Prince’s full catalog, including songs that didn’t even appear in the film. Case in point: Before the event wrapped, the Apollonia performer returned to the stage with two others to perform “The Glamorous Life” as Vanity 6. While that Prince-penned song is certainly well-suited to the time period – it came out in 1984 and reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 that fall – it’s not a Vanity 6 number at all, but rather a hit performed by Sheila E.
But why not take some creative liberties? The team behind this production is openly gunning for a Broadway run after debuting Purple Rain in Minneapolis, so the bar is high. As long as the songs are a sonic and thematic match for the realm of Purple Rain, who cares whether a tune appeared in the film? Broadway is a tough market, and success is far from guaranteed for musicals based on the works of pop hitmakers (though that isn’t stopping plenty of artists from trying). Prince’s rich, rewarding catalog deserves a wide audience, so it only makes sense for the team behind this production to put their best high-heeled boot forward as they reimagine his magnum opus for the stage.
Dave Grohl may be getting himself into hot water with Swifties.
The Foo Fighters frontman poked fun at Taylor Swift‘s blockbuster The Eras Tour while onstage with his rock band at London Stadium on Saturday (June 22). The Foos’ concert happened to coincide with the pop superstar’s nearby show at Wembley Stadium.
“I tell you, man, you don’t want to suffer the wrath of Taylor Swift,” Grohl told the crowd after mentioning that Swift’s tour was also passing through London. “So we like to call our tour the ‘Errors Tour.’ We’ve had more than a few eras, and more than a few f—ing errors as well. Just a couple.”
The rocker jokingly added, “That’s because we actually play live. What?! Just saying. You guys like raw, live rock ‘n’ roll music, right? You came to the right f—ing place.”
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Saturday also marked Swift’s second of three sold-out concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium as part of her record-breaking Eras Tour. Some the “Anti-Hero” hitmaker’s fans didn’t take kindly to Grohl’s comments on social media.
“I love Foo Fighters but that was very bad out of Dave Grohl to say that and so unnecessary?” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I’ve seen both them are Taylor live and both do equally as good of a live show in their own genres. Completely out of character for him to act like this, disappointing to see.”
Another user added, “ngl dave grohl is the last artist i expected that from, he’s usually so kind, positive and a good force in the music industry, feeling dissapointed.”
Others online observers came to the Grohl’s defense and dismissed his words as playful onstage banter.
“I’ve loved Dave Grohl essentially my whole life. I don’t agree with what he said, however Foo Fighters and Taylor have two completely different music shows. Rock and Roll shows are very different than her incredible pop shows. I dont think he meant to be rude,” a fan wrote on X.
Another added, “After watching the video, I don’t think Dave Grohl was saying Taylor didn’t sing live. I think he was just making a joke about how when you sing live there will be errors.”
Grohl, who is known for his humor and down-to-earth personality, has been a champion of Swift in the past. In 2016, he told a story of the time the 14-time Grammy winner saved him from utter embarrassment in front of Beatles legend Paul McCartney at a party. He also previously praised her decision to re-record her entire catalog in a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone.
Watch Grohl’s onstage remarks about Swift’s Eras Tour on TikTok here.
Krist Novoselic is reviving a Nirvana favorite with his new band.
On Friday (June 21), the former Nirvana bassist appeared alongside his latest group The Bona Fide Band at Make Music Day in Aberdeen, Wash., the town where he and Kurt Cobain grew up and formed the iconic grunge band.
During Friday’s free performance, The Bona Fide Band — comprising Novoselic (bass), Screaming Trees’ Mark Pickerel (drums), Jillian Raye (vocals), Jennifer Johnson (vocals) and Kathy Moore (guitar) — performed a cover of Nirvana’s “Love Buzz,” which appears on the group’s 1989 debut album, Bleach.
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“Love Buzz,” with its catchy opening bass line, was released by Sub Pop in 1988 as the first single from Bleach. The track was originally recorded by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue in 1969.
The Bona Fide Band, which is “playing mostly Giants in the Trees and 3rd Secret songs,” according to a website link shared through Nirvana’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, has a handful of live appearances lined up in Washington through late July, including stops in Seattle and Tacoma. The five-piece made its live debut at Easy Street Records in Seattle on Thursday (June 20).
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Giants in the Trees and 3rd Secret both featured Novoselic as a member. 3rd Secret was a supergroup consisting of Pearl Jam/Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil. The band released its self-titled debut in 2022.
Novoselic formed The Bona Fide Band in an effort to raise awareness for his new political party in Washington, the Cascade Party.
“It’s not just a run-of-the-mill party,” Novoselic told Seattle’s KOMO News. “We’re trying to do something different, we’re trying to be seminal, we’re trying to break ground. I’m also looking for something like that.”
The bassist, who serves as the party’s chair, says that in order to establish the Cascade Party, he needs to host conventions and run a presidential ticket. That’s where the Bona Fide Band’s live appearances come in.
“Need to get 1,000 valid signatures to qualify as a bona fide party, so these shows are actually political conventions, but there’s not going to be hardly any speeches from the stage,” Novoselic told KOMO. “We’re not going to go up there and clobber people with a bunch of rhetoric. Basically, please sign the petition if you want to see a new party in Washington State.”
He also hopes The Bona Fide’s shows will bring a sense of nostalgia to those in attendance.
“If it brings back memories and feelings for people, that’s the magic of music,” the musician said. “We’re not going to contaminate that with politics. We’re not going to make these political speeches.”
This year marked the 30th anniversary of Cobain’s death. The Nirvana frontman was found dead by suicide on April 8, 1994.
Watch Novoselic’s The Bona Fide Band cover Nirvana’s “Love Buzz” here.
“We’re missing our commander in chief,” guitarist Wendy Melvoin told Billboard ahead of Celebration 2024, a five-day event in Minneapolis that marks the 40th anniversary of Prince & The Revolution’s Purple Rain. “It’s a little strange to do those things without him there,” keyboardist Lisa Coleman softly echoed.
The Revolution — Wendy, Lisa, Bobby Z., Brownmark and Dr. Fink – disbanded in the mid ‘80s, reunited briefly in 2012 and has been back together since 2016, the year Prince unexpectedly died at age 57. But even eight years into their reunion, it felt like the band had something to prove on Friday (June 21) night. First Avenue was where the jaw-dropping musical sequences for 1984’s Purple Rain movie where filmed, and next Thursday (June 25) will be the 40-year anniversary of the blockbuster LP that made the Purple One an international pop star. (Purple Rain was his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, where it reigned for 24 weeks, gave Prince the first two of his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s, “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy,” and saw him earn biggest-selling single of 1984 with the former.)
So expectations for the Revolution’s Friday (June 21) concert were high. When a screen rolled up to reveal the ready-to-roar quintet, the audience cheered (and whipped out their phones – the revolution will be televised) as the Revolution opened the night with “Let’s Go Crazy.” Melvoin and Brownmark traded lead vocals, letting the crowd (one well-versed in the Purple catalog) chip in exactly where you would want to sing along anyway. They followed it with “Computer Blue,” and while Melvoin’s guitar work felt every bit as incendiary as on the studio recording, the absent of Prince undoubtedly hung large over the first couple songs. That was hardly a shock to anyone — after all, Prince was the mastermind, the maestro and the electric centerpiece of the band – but it was, as Coleman put it to Billboard ahead of the show, “a little strange.”
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But when they hit “Crazy” B-side “Erotic City” for the fifth song in the setlist, something shifted. Digging into the robo-funk, sensual synths and licentious lyrics, the Revolution locked into those curious, off-kilter grooves that helped them elevate Prince to his commercial peak so many decades ago. And perhaps more importantly, they seemed to draw strength and confidence from the audience, a crowd of long-time fans who grew more enthusiastic with each number, easily falling into the rhythm of singing choruses (such as “Raspberry Beret”) or shouting them when necessary (“Take Me With U”).
By the time special guest Judith Hill – a singer-songwriter whose 2015 debut album was co-produced by Prince – joined them on stage, the Revolution was undeniable. Taking lead on the yearning, lusty vocal showcase “The Beautiful Ones,” Hill offered up effortlessly silky runs and skyscraping, soulful peaks, absolutely dominating a song that’s near impossible to cover. She also shone on “When Doves Cry,” particularly during the ad-libs, which felt loose and unpredictable in the best possible way – nothing too far afield from the studio original, but distinctive enough that it felt fresh.
By that point, the Revolution was on fire – even when they played a lesser hit single like “America” from Around the World in a Day, they gave it an urgency and bite that made it even more exciting than some of the bigger hits. That being said, the hits still sounded great – particularly “1999” (which featured lead vocals from Coleman on the original), which had First Avenue dancing like it was two thousand-zero-zero, party over, oops, out of time. But the band’s time wasn’t up – at least not until the requisite three-song punch of “I Would Die 4 U” (yes, plenty of folks in the crowd recreated the hand choreo from the film), “Baby, I’m a Star” — which gave keyboard player Dr. Fink his moment to shine in those scrubs – and “Purple Rain.”
Before wrapping the set with that romantic, elegiac ballad, Melvoin took a moment to address the crowd candidly. “Thank you for the beautiful night. We love doing this for you guys,” she said. “For real, we’re missing him here a lot. No one is trying to be him on this stage. We’re just trying to do him proud.” Wiping away some tears from her eyes, Melvoin noted the night was a bit of a full-circle moment given that the first time she ever played “Purple Rain” was at First Avenue when she was just 19 years old. “It’s a bit of a — do I dare say — mind f-ck. Sorry. You know me, he knows me,” she said, tipping to the absent Prince, who despite his famously filthy lyrics rarely used profanity. “This is cognitive dissonance for me.”
Dissonance be damned, the finale was everything the audience wanted. With a purple light drenching First Avenue, the Revolution and Hill offered up a faithful rendition (even the guitar solos were note-for-note) of “Purple Rain” at the exact venue Prince famously performed it 40 years ago. The man himself has been gone for eight years, but when a crowd are gathered together in his name and singing that sublime chorus, his spirit is there.
The Revolution plays First Avenue again on Saturday (June 22), with Morris Day and New Power Generation rocking the Minnesota State Theatre the same night. Celebration 2024 continues through Monday (June 24).
For the first time since 2017, Nothing More has a No. 1 song on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
“If It Doesn’t Hurt” climbs to the top of the June 29-dated ranking, becoming the Texas rockers’ second ruler. The band first led with “Go to War” for one week in December 2017.
In between “Go to War” and “If It Doesn’t Hurt,” Nothing More reached Mainstream Rock Airplay with five entries, including three top 10s, led by the No. 5-peaking “Tired of Winning” in 2022. The band first made the list in 2014 with the No. 2-reaching “Ballast.”
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Concurrently, “If It Doesn’t Hurt” leaps 14-10 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay survey with 2.6 million audience impressions, up 2%, in the week ending June 20, according to Luminate. It’s the band’s first top 10, exceeding the No. 12 peak of “Go to War.”
On the most recently published multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (dated June 22, reflecting data over June 7-13), “If It Doesn’t Hurt” ranked at No. 12 (after debuting at its No. 8 high in February). In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 550,000 official U.S. streams.
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“If It Doesn’t Hurt” is the lead single from Carnal, Nothing More’s seventh studio album, due June 28. Two other songs from the LP, “House on Sand” (featuring Eric Vanlerberghe) and “Angel Song” (featuring David Draiman), reached Nos. 11 and 15, respectively, on Hot Hard Rock Songs upon their debuts. Carnal is Nothing More’s first album since 2022’s Spirits, which bowed at No. 14 on the Top Hard Rock Albums tally and has earned 48,000 equivalent album units to date.
All Billboard charts dated June 29 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, June 25.
Nearly a decade after his first appearance on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, Hozier achieves his first No. 1 as “Too Sweet” lifts to the top of the June 29-dated ranking.
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Hozier first reached Alternative Airplay with his breakthrough single “Take Me to Church,” which debuted at No. 38 on the July 5, 2014, survey. The song eventually peaked at No. 2 that November.
Since “Take Me to Church,” Hozier had appeared on Alternative Airplay with two tracks prior to “Too Sweet.” “Nina Cried Power,” featuring vocals from Mavis Staples, peaked at No. 31 in 2018, and “Eat Your Young” reached No. 13 last year.
Concurrently, “Too Sweet” continues its reign on Adult Alternative Airplay, ruling for an eighth week. It’s Hozier’s longest running No. 1 among six on the survey and the chart’s longest leading hit since Death Cab for Cutie’s “Here to Forever” dominated for eight weeks in August-October 2022.
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“Too Sweet” also lifts to No. 1 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay tally thanks to 6.9 million audience impressions, up 5%, in the week ending June 20, according to Luminate. It’s likewise Hozier’s first leader; “Take Me to Church” peaked at No. 3 in 2014.
“Too Sweet” is the first song to top all three lists since The Killers’ “Boy” in September-October 2022. As “Boy” did not lead all three simultaneously, “Too Sweet” is the first to accomplish that particular feat since The Black Keys’ “Wild Child” in May 2022.
A multiformat hit, “Too Sweet” also rises to No.1 on Adult Pop Airplay, becoming Hozier’s second leader, following “Church” for a week in 2015, while ruling Pop Airplay for a second week. It also became his first No. 1 on the most recently published all-genre Radio Songs chart (dated June 22, reflecting data June 7-13) via 70.5 million audience impressions.
“Too Sweet” is from Hozier’s four-song EP Unheard, which debuted at No. 3 on the Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums rankings dated April 6 and has earned 277,000 equivalent album units since its release.
All Billboard charts dated June 29 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, June 25.