Chart Beat
BTS Challenging For U.K. No. 1 Album With ‘BE’
BTS have a mountain to climb if they’re to snag a third U.K. No. 1 album. Consider it a challenge for the K-pop group and their loyal ARMY. On the midweek chart, BTS come in at No. 2 with their fifth Korean-language studio album BE (BigHit Entertainment). It’s the most downloaded and streamed album of the week so far, the Official Charts Company reports, though its well adrift of the pace-setter, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe’s Together at Christmas (Decca). Ball and Boe’s holiday set is the best-selling CD in the first half of the week, and races to No. 1 on the Official Chart Update with a lead of 7,000 combined sales. If it holds its ground, Together at Christmas will be the pair’s third U.K. No. 1 album. {“nid”:”9487403″,”type”:”post”,...
Phoebe Bridgers & Maggie Rogers Each Earn First Career Hot 100 Hit With Goo Goo Dolls’ ‘Iris’ Cover
Phoebe Bridgers and Maggie Rogers each earn their first career entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (chart dated Nov. 28), as their duet cover of Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” debuts at No. 57 after just one day of sales availability. The remake, billed to Phoebe & Maggie, also opens as the top-selling song of the week with 38,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 19, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, and debuts as each singer-songwriter’s first No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart. The track was released as a pay-what-you-want one-day exclusive on Bandcamp on Friday, Nov. 13 (with its sales total noted above, which exceeded initial reports, encompassing purchases in line with Billboard’s minimum pricing rules for chart eligibility). {“nid”:”9...
AC/DC’s ‘Power Up’ Charges In at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
AC/DC’s Power Up debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, giving the legendary rock band its third chart-topping set. The new studio effort was released via Columbia Records on Nov. 13 and starts with 117,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 19, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. AC/DC previously hit No. 1 with 2008’s Black Ice and 1981’s For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). All told, Power Up is AC/DC’s 26th charting album, and 10th top 10. Also in the top 10, Future and Lil Uzi Vert’s first collaborative album, Pluto x Baby Pluto, debuts at No. 2, Chris Stapleton’s Starting Over enters at No. 3, Queen’s Greatest Hits reaches the top 10 for the first time and the prolific YoungBoy Never Broke Again clocks his fourth top 10 of 2020 wit...
Pop Smoke’s ‘Shoot for the Stars’ Has Most Weeks at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Since 2012
As Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon leads Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for an 11th week, the late rapper’s debut studio set becomes the longest-running champ in nearly a decade and posts the third-longest stay at No. 1 for a rap album in the chart’s history. Shoot for the Stars rebounds from No. 2 on the list dated Nov. 21 to capture an 11th frame in charge. The project, released July 3 (four-and-a-half months after Pop Smoke’s death on Feb. 20), debuted at No. 1 in July and has reigned for 11 of its first 19 weeks on the list. Since its arrival, Shoot has yet to fall below No. 3 on the weekly rankings. {“nid”:”9471110″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Inside The Remarkable Success of Pop Smoke\u2...
Gucci Mane vs. Jeezy: Before Verzuz, Check Their Chart Battle
After a two-month break, Verzuz kicks off its second season with a battle between two Atlanta rap titans: Gucci Mane and Jeezy. The match-up initially pitted T.I. against Jeezy, but the new configuration adds extra intrigue as Gucci Mane and Jeezy have engaged in a long-standing feud filled with multiple diss tracks, physical altercations and even a murder charge against Gucci Mane in the 2005 shooting death of Jeezy’s friend and former labelmate Henry “Pookie Loc” Clark III. (The rapper was later acquitted of the charges.) Adding to the intrigue, the rappers will conduct the battle live from the same room. Ahead of Verzuz’s return Thursday night (Nov. 19), Billboard recaps the rapper’s biggest songs on our charts, many of which are likely to show up during the showdown. ...
Wolfgang Van Halen’s Tribute to Late Dad Eddie Set to Rock on Billboard Charts
The legacy of the late rock god Eddie Van Halen will be felt on Billboard’s charts next week, as “Distance,” a tribute song to him by his 29-year-old son Wolfgang Van Halen, is set to impact a number of tallies. Billed as by Mammoth WVH, “Distance” was released on Nov. 16 and has sold 9,000 downloads in the U.S. through Nov. 17, according to initial sales reports to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The track could debut in the top five of the Rock Digital Song Sales chart (dated Nov. 28) and also bow on the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart (which blends sales, streams and airplay). Eddie Van Halen died on Oct. 6 of cancer at age 65. Proceeds from “Distance” will be donated to The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which Wolfgang tweeted was his father’s favorite charity. The song was...
AC/DC’s ‘Power Up’ Is Thundering to Big First-Week U.K. Sales
AC/DC is all charged-up for another U.K. chart title. The Aussie rock legends lead the midweek albums chart with Power Up (Columbia), their first LP in six years. At this stage, it’s no contest. AC/DC’s 17th album is outselling the rest of the Top 5 combined, and is on track to become the year’s fastest-selling album. With 47,000 chart sales, look for Power Up to eclipse the year’s best, set last week (54,905 combined sales) by compatriot Kylie Minogue’s Disco (BMG), which dips 1-4. {“nid”:”9483673″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Kylie Minogue's 'Disco' Blasts to No. 1 In U.K.”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/news\/9483673\/kylie-minogue-disco-no-1-uk\/”,”media”:{“widthR...
Maluma Soars to New Hot 100 High With ‘Hawái,’ Thanks to The Weeknd Remix
Maluma bounds to his highest rank on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as “Hawái,” newly remixed with The Weeknd, surges from No. 60 to No. 12. Maluma, from Colombia, earns his first top 40 Hot 100 hit as a lead artist and second overall, after his featured turn, with Swae Lee, on XXXTentacion and Lil Pump’s “Arms Around You,” which reached No. 28 in November 2018. The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Nov. 21) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 17). {“nid”:”9482508″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Black Eyed Peas & Maluma\u2019s \u2018Feel The Beat\u2019 Hits No. 1 on Latin Airplay Chart”,”rela...
Star-Studded BBC Charity Single ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ Is Racing to No. 1 In U.K.
One of the most star-stacked pop songs of the year — or any year — is on track for the U.K. No. 1. The likes of Cher, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Mel C, Bryan Adams, Lenny Kravitz and Nile Rodgers performed on the BBC Children In Need single “Stop Crying Your Heart Out,” an Oasis cover which dropped last Friday (Nov. 13). Based on sales and streams over the weekend, the BBC Radio 2 Allstars number leads the way and is on course to become the eighth Children In Need single to reach No. 1, the Official Charts Company reports. {“nid”:”9483617″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”BBC\u2019s All-Star Charity Single \u2018Stop Crying Your Heart Out\u2019 Is Here: Stream It Now”,”relative_path”:”\/article...
Kylie Minogue’s ‘Disco’ Blasts to No. 1 In U.K.
Kylie Minogue is queen of the U.K.’s album chart, and she sets some impressive records along the way. The Australian pop icon’s 15th studio album Disco (BMG) dances in at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, her eighth leader and third in as many years. {“nid”:”9481149″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Kylie Minogue's 'Disco' Dances to Lead on Midweek U.K. Chart”,”relative_path”:”\/articles\/news\/9481149\/kylie-minogue-disco-lead-midweek-uk-albums-chart\/”,”media”:{“width”:”1548″,”height”:”1024″,”extension”:”jpg”,”mime_type”:”image\/jpeg”,”type”:”image”,&#...
Ariana Grande’s ‘Positions’ Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200
Ariana Grande’s Positions spends a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set earned 82,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 12 (down 53%), according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It bowed atop the list a week ago with 174,000 units earned. It’s Grande’s second chart-topping album to spend two weeks at No. 1, following Thank U, Next, which spent a total of two weeks in the lead (its debut week, and second week – Feb. 23 and March 2, 2019). Positions is Grande’s fifth No. 1 album overall. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit eq...
Phoebe Bridgers & Maggie Rogers’ ‘Iris’ Cover Sells 28,000 in Paid Downloads in One Day of Availability
It started with a Twitter guarantee — acclaimed indie singer/songwriter Phoebe Bridgers promising to cover the Goo Goo Dolls’ minivan rock classic “Iris” if Donald Trump lost the presidential election. It was taken to the next level with a response by fellow alternative star and critics’ darling Maggie Rogers, who responded by asking if Bridgers could use some backup harmonies on her rendition. And now, it’s set to be one of the week’s best-selling songs. Bridgers and Rogers’ “Iris” cover — credited to “Phoebe & Maggie,” and sold as a pay-what-you-want one-day exclusive on Bandcamp — sold 28,000 copies this Friday (Nov. 13) in the U.S., according to initial reports to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. (Bandcamp o...
