Monthly Archives: December 2018

Below Grande’s “Thank U, Next,” Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the first top-five holiday hit on the Hot 100 in 60 years. Plus, three more seasonal classics hit the top 10 for the first time.

Ariana Grande‘s “Thank U, Next” tops the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Jan. 5, 2019) for a seventh week.

Meanwhile, a record four holiday songs infuse the Hot 100’s top 10 simultaneously, led by Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which dashes from No. 7 to No. 3, becoming just the second yuletide tune ever to hit the Hot 100’s top five, and the first in nearly 60 years. It also takes over as the first holiday No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, with a record weekly sum for a seasonal song.

Plus, Bobby Helms‘ “Jingle Bell Rock” claims the record for the longest ride to the Hot 100’s top 10 (60 years and two weeks), jumping 13-8 after it first appeared on the chart in 1958; Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” rolls 11-9, becoming her first top 10 since 1963, as she ends the longest break between top 10s for a female artist; and, Burl Ives returns to the Hot 100’s top 10 after an overall record-breaking gap of 56 years, seven months and two weeks, as “A Holly Jolly Christmas” rises 12-10.

Let’s sleigh ride through the top 10 of the newest Hot 100, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 2).

Grande’s “Next,” released on Republic Records, and which debuted atop the Nov. 17-dated Hot 100, becoming her first No. 1 on the chart, rebounds 4-3 on the Digital Song Sales chart (which it led for two weeks), up 86 percent to 43,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 27, according to Nielsen Music; all but two titles on the 50-position Digital Song Sales tally show gains, thanks to robust holiday shopping (both before Christmas Day and likely helped after by gift card redemptions).

“Next” holds at No. 5 on Radio Songs (90 million audience impressions, up 4 percent, in the week ending Dec. 30) and tumbles to No. 9 on Streaming Songs, after seven weeks at No. 1 (37.9 million U.S. streams, down 13 percent, in the week ending Dec. 27).

Halsey‘s “Without Me” spends a third week at its No. 2 Hot 100 high. It leads Digital Song Sales for a sixth week (47,000, up 27 percent); repeats at No. 4 on Radio Songs (91.8 million, up 4 percent); and drops 8-12 on Streaming Songs (32 million, essentially even week-over-week).

The gap again narrows between the Hot 100’s top two songs, as “Next” increases by 2 percent in overall activity, while “Without Me” gains by 5 percent.

First top-five Hot 100 holiday hit in 60 years / First holiday Streaming Songs No. 1: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which two weeks earlier became the highest-charting holiday season-themed hit on the Hot 100 in almost 60 years, now becomes the first such song to reach the top five in that span, jingling 7-3, passing its prior No. 6 peak. The carol joins “The Chipmunk Song,” by David Seville & The Chipmunks, which spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning Dec. 22, 1958, as the only two top-five holiday hits in the Hot 100’s 60-year history.

“Christmas” rules the Holiday 100 (for a 35th week of the chart’s 40 weeks of existence, since its 2011 launch) and becomes the first holiday hit ever to reach No. 1 on Streaming Songs (which began in January 2013). Winning the Hot 100’s top Streaming Gainer award, it pushes 3-1 on Streaming Songs, up 49 percent to 51.9 million U.S. streams in the week ending Dec. 27, a new record weekly total for a seasonal song.

“Christmas” also gains on Digital Song Sales (16,000, up 13 percent, although it falls 11-17), while plunging 18-43 on Radio Songs (24.2 million, down 41 percent), as the latter chart’s tracking week covered five full days after Christmas (Dec. 24-30); conversely, all holiday titles sport gains on Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales, both of which reflect the Dec. 21-27 tracking week.

“Christmas” first appeared on Carey’s 1994 album Merry Christmas, which concurrently makes its first appearance in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 since its original season of release.

Meanwhile, thanks to Grande, Halsey and Carey, women in lead roles monopolize the Hot 100’s top three simultaneously for the first time in over four years; on the Nov. 29, 2014-dated chart, Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” rose 3-1, supplanting her own “Shake It Off” (1-3), marking the first self-replacement at No. 1 by a female artist, and Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” held at No. 2.

Travis Scott‘s “Sicko Mode,” which topped the Dec. 8-dated Hot 100, drops 3-4, while leading the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a 10th week each. Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, Post Malone and Swae Lee‘s “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” slips a spot from its No. 4 high to No. 5.

Panic! at the Disco‘s “High Hopes” holds at No. 6 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 5, and rules Hot Rock Songs for a ninth week and Radio Songs for a sixth frame (124.6 million, down 1 percent). Marshmello and Bastille‘s “Happier” drops 5-7 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 3, as it tops Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for a 15th week.

Longest trip to Hot 100’s top 10: Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” sets the record for the longest ride to the Hot 100’s top 10: 60 years and two weeks. It jingle-hops 13-8 after first appearing on the Hot 100 dated Dec. 22, 1958, just after the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, origin; Helms first released the song for the 1957 holiday season. It surges 11-2 on Streaming Songs, up 53 percent to 44.2 million U.S. streams.

Helms, who died in 1997, appears in the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time. He charted two other titles: “Borrowed Dreams” (No. 60 peak, August 1958) and “The Fool and the Angel” (No. 75, January 1959). As “Dreams” debuted on the third Hot 100 ever (dated Aug. 18, 1958), Helms ends the longest wait for an artist’s first top 10: 60 years, four months and two weeks.

Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” two-steps 11-9 on the Hot 100, also reaching the top 10 at last; originally released in 1958, it first appeared on the Hot 100 dated Dec. 12, 1960, reaching No. 14 two weeks later, its best rank until last week. On Streaming Songs, “Tree” rises 12-3 (44.9 million, up 50 percent).

Lee, who celebrated her 74th birthday Dec. 11, adds her 13th Hot 100 top 10 and first since 1963, when “Losing You” reached No. 6. Her 55-year and seven-month break between top 10s is the longest among women and second overall to the song that enters the region directly below …

Longest break between Hot 100 top 10s: Burl Ives returns to the Hot 100’s top 10 after a record-breaking 56 years, seven months and two weeks, as “A Holly Jolly Christmas” climbs 12-10. The track bounds 9-4 on Streaming Songs (42.6 million, up 36 percent).

Ives, who passed away in 1995, rewrites the mark for the longest wait between Hot 100 top 10s held … for a week by Andy Williams, who last week posthumously ended a 47-year, eight-month and three-week break between top 10s, when “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” rose 13-10 (before retreating to No. 13 this week).

Ives had last hit the Hot 100’s top 10 in 1962, with his sole two other top 10s: “Funny Way of Laughin’ ” (No. 10 peak that May) and “A Little Bitty Tear” (No. 9, that February).

All-time holiday top 10s on the Hot 100: Helms, Lee and Ives add just the seventh, eighth and ninth yuletide hits ever to reach the Hot 100’s top 10 (with the rise of streaming assisting their, and Carey’s, ascents).

Highest-Charting Holiday Songs in the Hot 100’s History
No. 1, four weeks, beginning Dec. 22, 1958, “The Chipmunk Song,” by David Seville & The Chipmunks
No. 3, Jan. 5, 2019, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey
No. 7, Jan. 8, 2000, “Auld Lang Syne,” Kenny G
No. 7, Jan. 6, 1990, “This One’s for the Children,” New Kids on the Block
No. 8, Jan. 5, 2019, “Jingle Bell Rock,” Bobby Helms
No. 9, Jan. 5, 2019, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee
No. 9, Feb. 21, 1981, “Same Old Lang Syne,” Dan Fogelberg
No. 10, Jan. 5, 2019, “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Burl Ives
No. 10, Dec. 29, 2018, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Andy Williams

As for holiday songs and their eligibility, or lack thereof, for the Hot 100 over the years, chart historian Joel Whitburn notes in his book Christmas in the Charts, “From 1963 through 1972, and from 1983 through 1985 [with minimal exceptions], Billboard published a seasonal Christmas Singles chart and did not chart Christmas singles on the Hot 100.” Per current Hot 100 rules, in place in recent years, older songs, including seasonal titles, can rank in the top 50 if experiencing significant multi-metric gains, and multiple holiday standards re-enter or debut each season.

(Meanwhile, as noticed by Billboard senior director of charts Keith Caulfield, thanks to the influx of holiday titles, no artists sporting a featured billing appear in the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in over four years, since a two-week span of only lead acts on the charts dated Nov. 29 and Dec. 6, 2014.)

Find out more Hot 100 news on Billboard.com this week, and, for all chart news, you can listen (and subscribe) to Billboard‘s Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast and follow @billboard and @billboardcharts. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 2), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.

Source: billboard.com

Plus, Nat King Cole & Mariah Carey send holiday sets to the top 10.

21 Savage scores his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the chart-topping bow of I Am > I Was. The set was released on Dec. 21 via Slaughter Gang/Epic Records and launches with 131,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 27, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 18,000 were in traditional album sales, as the bulk of the album was driven by streaming activity.

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 are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Jan. 5, 2019-dated chart (where I Am bows at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019.

I Am is 21 Savage’s second solo studio effort, and marks his first leader on the Billboard 200 and his fourth entry overall. He previously hit the list with Without Warning (with Offset and Metro Boomin, peaking at No. 4 on the Nov. 18, 2017-dated chart), his debut solo studio set Issa Album (No. 2; July 29, 2017) and Savage Mode (with Metro Boomin, No. 23; Feb. 4, 2017).

21 Savage has also collected five top 10-charting hits on the Hot Rap Songs chart, through the most recently published list dated Dec. 29, 2018. Among those hits is Post Malone’s chart-topping “Rockstar,” featuring 21 Savage, which also led the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight weeks. The track also recently scored 21 Savage his first two Grammy Award nominations, for best rap/sung performance and record of the year.

I Am boasts guest turns from Travis Scott, Post Malone, Childish Gambino, Offset and others. None of those acts, however, are credited as artists on the album. (I Amis the latest rap album to top the Billboard 200 without assigning artist credit to its guest artists. It follows Scott’s chart-topping Astroworld did not assign artist credit to any of its guests, which included Drake, Stevie Wonder, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd and 21 Savage.)

Rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie earns his highest charting album yet on the Billboard 200, his new effort Hoodie SZN starts at No. 2. The set, his second full-length studio project, tallied 90,000 equivalent album units, with 6,000 of that sum coming from album sales. He previously visited the top 10 with his debut full-length studio release, The Bigger Artist, bowing and peaking at No. 4 on the Oct. 21, 2017-dated chart.

The rest of the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 is filled with a blend of holiday favorites and former No. 1s.

Michael Bublé’s Christmas climbs 4-3 with 75,000 units (up 19 percent). The set was released in 2011 and spent five weeks atop the list between Dec. 10, 2011 and Jan. 7, 2012. Christmas, like the rest of the holiday titles on the chart, is getting one last punch of holiday gains this season, as the latest tracking week (Dec. 21-27) included the four days leading up to Christmas (Dec. 21-24) and Christmas Day (Dec. 25).

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack moves 3-4 (62,000 units; down 2 percent). The former No. 1 is followed by another former chart-topping soundtrack, as The Greatest Showman rises 10-5 (56,000 units; up 29 percent, likely a beneficiary of last-minute gift-giving purchases).

Meek Mill’s former No. 1 — Championships — slides 2-6 with 54,000 units (down 34 percent) in its fourth chart week.

Nat King Cole notches his first top 10 album since 1965, as The Christmas Songascends 15 (its prior peak) to No. 7 (a little over 52,000 units; up 40 percent), powered by streaming activity of the set’s familiar holiday tunes. The collection includes Cole’s seasonal favorite “The Christmas Song” as well as other oft-heard Cole holiday recordings like “O Holy Night,” “Caroling, Caroling” and “Silent Night.” The late legend was last in the top 10 with Ramblin’ Rose, which collected its final week in the top 10 on the tally dated May 1, 1965 (also at No. 7).

Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas visits the top 10 for the first time since January of 1995, its first season of release, as the album — featuring Carey’s ever popular “All I Want for Christmas Is You” — jingles 14-8 (52,000 units; up 33 percent). Like Cole’s album, Carey’s Merry also gets a big boost from streaming activity of its songs.

Merry Christmas, Carey’s first holiday album, was released in 1994 and peaked at No. 3 on the chart dated Dec. 17, 1994. It spent six weeks in the top 10 (before this week), with its final frame in the top 10 coming on the list dated Jan. 7, 1995 (No. 6).

Rounding out the new top 10 are a pair of former leaders: Kodak Black’s Dying to Live (falling 1-9 in its second week, with 51,000 units; down 43 percent) and Travis Scott’s Astroworld (6-10 with 49,000 units; up 2 percent).

Source: billboard.com

Plus: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” soundtrack debuts in top 5.

Rapper Kodak Black scores his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, as Dying to Live debuts atop the tally.

The set, which was released on Dec. 14 via Dollaz N Dealz/Atlantic Records, earned 89,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 20, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 5,000 were in traditional album sales — as the bulk of the album’s units were driven by streaming activity.

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 are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Dec. 29-dated chart (where Dying to Live debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Tuesday, Dec. 25.

Dying to Live’s opening frame is largely pushed by streams, as the set garnered 82,000 SEA units, which translates to 114.2 million on-demand audio streams for the album’s tracks during the tracking week (which also makes Dying the most-streamed album of the week).

Dying to Live marks the third top 10 effort for Kodak Black (real name: Bill Kapri), as he previously logged visits to the region with Project Baby Two (No. 2 debut and peak on the Sept. 9, 2017-dated chart) and Painting Pictures (No. 3 debut and peak, April 22, 2017). Earlier in 2018, the 21-year-old notched a top 40-charting album with Heart Break Kodak (No. 25), a set which came out while he was in jail. Dying is the rapper’s first album since being released in August.

Kodak Black is currently basking in the success of his biggest hit single yet “ZEZE,” featuring Travis Scott and Offset. The track — which is among the 16 songs on Dying— earlier debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, and at No. 1 on Streaming Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs (all charts dated Oct. 27). The tune has also given Kodak Black his first top 40-charting effort on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. On the most recently published tally, dated Dec. 22, the track rose 30-23.

The rest of the new Billboard 200’s top four are rounded out by former No. 1s: Meek Mill’s Championships holds at No. 2 (83,000 units; down 36 percent), Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack climbs 4-3 (64,000 units; up 16 percent) and Michael Bublé’s Christmas slips 3-4 (63,000 units; up 10 percent).

The Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack debuts at No. 5 with 52,000 units (14,000 in album sales). The hip-hop collection — which boasts new tracks from acts such as Post Malone, Juice WRLD, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne — benefits from buzz generated by its parent film, which arrived in U.S. movie theaters on Dec. 14 (the same day as the soundtrack’s release). The animated film was the highest-grossing movie at the U.S. and Canada box office in its opening weekend, earning $35 million. The warmly reviewed film currently has a 97 percent Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes, and in its first 10 days has earned an estimated $65 million.

Travis Scott’s former No. 1, Astroworld, is steady at No. 6 with 48,000 units (up 9 percent), Pentatonix’s Christmas Is Here! rises 11-7 with 45,000 units (up 12 percent) and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack jumps 13-8 with a little more than 43,000 units (up 14 percent).

Drake’s Scorpion, which topped the list earlier in 2018 for five weeks, ascends 10-9 with 43,000 units (up 3 percent). The Greatest Showman soundtrack (another former No. 1) moves 12-10 with 43,000 units (up 12 percent). (Unit figures are rounded to the nearest thousand for the purposes of this story.)  

Source: billboard.com

Plus: Lil Baby, The 1975 & Ski Mask the Slump God bow in the top 10.

Meek Mill is a winner on the new Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Dec. 15), as his new release Championshipsdebuts at No. 1. The set earned 229,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 6, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 42,000 were in traditional album sales. The album was released on Nov. 30 via Maybach/Atlantic Records and is the hip-hop artist’s second chart-topper, following 2015’s Dreams Worth More Than Money.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Championships is Meek Mill’s first full-length album since his release from prison in April. In July, he dropped the four-song EP Legends of the Summer, which debuted and peaked at No. 9 on the July 21-dated tally.

In total, Championships is Meek Mill’s sixth consecutive top 10 effort — the entirely of his charting albums.

Championships also logs the ninth-largest streaming week of 2018 for an album, the sixth-largest debut streaming frame of the year for an album, and Meek Mill’s best streaming week ever. The album bows with 235.4 million on-demand audio streams tallied for its tracks in the week ending Dec. 6. The largest streaming week of 2018 (and of all time) for an album is owned by Drake’s Scorpion, which clocked 745.9 million on-demand audio streams for its tracks in its first week (July 14-dated chart).

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Lil Baby notches his highest-charting album, as his third release of 2018, Street Gossip, starts with 88,000 equivalent album units (with 5,000 of that sum in album sales). The set was largely driven by streaming activity, as it logged 82,000 SEA units, which translates to 114.2 million on-demand audio streams for its tracks in its opening week. Street Gossip follows Drip Harder(with Gunna, peaking at No. 4 on the Oct. 20 chart) and the solo effort Harder Than Ever (No. 3, June 2).

6ix9ine’s Dummy Boy is at No. 3 with 83,000 units after its first full tracking week. The album debuted on the chart a week ago from only three days of tracking activity, after it was released on Tuesday, Nov. 27, instead of the previous Friday, Nov. 23, as originally planned.

Rock band The 1975 bows at No. 4 with its new album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, as the set begins with 66,000 equivalent album units. Of that sum, 48,000 were in album sales, which also makes the set the top-selling album of the week. The new album is the group’s second top 10 effort and follows the chart-topping 2016 release I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful, Yet So Unaware of It (chart dated March 19, 2016).

Michael Bublé’s ever-popular Christmas is at No. 5, as the former No. 1 album, released in 2011, earns 55,000 units (18,000 in album sales).

Rapper Ski Mask the Slump God starts at No. 6 with his debut full-length set, Stokeley, which earned 51,000 equivalent album units (5,000 in album sales). Like many hip-hop releases, the set is powered by streaming activity: 45,000 in SEA units, equaling 71.5 million in on-demand audio streams for the album’s tracks. Stokeley is the artist’s second chart effort on the Billboard 200, following Beware of the Book of Eli, which debuted and peaked at No. 50 (May 26).

Rounding out the new top 10 at Nos. 7-10, respectively: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack (48,000 units), Travis Scott’s Astroworld (47,000 units), Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack (a little more than 40,000 units) and Pentatonix’s Christmas Is Here! (40,000 units).

Source: billboard.com

The song surges after its video premiere. Plus, Meek Mill earns his first top 10 and Drake adds his 33rd with ‘Going Bad’ while Mariah Carey’s ‘Christmas’ dashes to No. 7, a new high.

Ariana Grande‘s “Thank U, Next” tops the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 15), returning for a fourth week at No. 1 following the Nov. 30 arrival of its retro-2000s-themed official video.

The song reigns in large part due to its 93.8 million U.S. streams in the week ending Dec. 6, according to Nielsen Music, the biggest weekly total ever for a song by a female artist. It passes the 84.5 million that Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” logged in its first week (as reflected on charts dated Sept. 16, 2017).

“Next” debuted atop the Nov. 17-dated Hot 100 and spent its first three weeks at No. 1 before falling to No. 2 a week ago.

Plus, Meek Mill earns his first Hot 100 top 10, as “Going Bad” blasts in at No. 6. For featured artist Drake, the track is his 33rd top 10, extending his record for the most among solo males.

Meanwhile, Mariah Carey‘s 1994 holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” jingles 14-7 for a new Hot 100 high. The song hit the top 10 for the first time last holiday season, reaching No. 9.

Let’s run down the top 10 of the newest Hot 100, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 11).

Record streams: Grande’s “Next,” released on Republic Records, rebounds to the Hot 100’s summit with a 121 percent gain to 93.8 million U.S. streams in the week ending Dec. 6, encompassing the first full tracking week for its official video. On the Streaming Songs chart, the song reigns for a fifth week.

“Next,” whose official clip broke 24-hour views records on YouTube and Vevo following its arrival, boasts the best streaming week ever for a song by a woman and the seventh-biggest sum overall:

Total Weekly U.S. Streams, Title, Artist, Chart Date
116.1 million, “In My Feelings,” Drake, July 28, 2018
106.2 million, “In My Feelings,” Drake, Aug. 4, 2018
103.1 million, “Harlem Shake,” Baauer, March 2, 2013
101.7 million, “God’s Plan,” Drake, March 3, 2018
97.6 million, “Harlem Shake,” Baauer, March 9, 2013
95.4 million, “In My Feelings,” Drake, Aug. 11, 2018
93.8 million, “Thank U, Next,” Ariana Grande, Dec. 15, 2018
92.8 million, “God’s Plan,” Drake, March 10, 2018
92.7 million, “In My Feelings,” Drake, Aug. 18, 2018
84.5 million, “Look What You Made Me Do,” Taylor Swift, Sept. 16, 2017

“Next” jumps 5-2 on the Digital Song Sales chart with a 146 percent burst to 43,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 6. On Radio Songs, it zooms 23-11 (57 million audience impressions, up 44 percent).

“Next” sweeps the Hot 100’s Greatest Gainer awards for all metrics (streaming, sales and airplay). It’s the first song to claim all three titles at No. 1 since Drake’s “In My Feelings,” which tripled up atop the charts dated July 21 and 28, powered heavily at the time by the “In My Feelings” viral challenge. Before that, Drake’s own “God’s Plan” took all three trophies at No. 1 (on March 3) following the arrival of its official video.

“Hello” to a four-week No. 1 by a female: “Next” is the first four-week Hot 100 No. 1 by a female artist in a lead role in over two years, since Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” (featuring Sean Paul), which led for four weeks in August 2016. Earlier that year (beginning March 5), Rihanna’s “Work” (featuring Drake) dominated for nine frames.

“Next” is the longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1 by a woman with no accompanying artists since Adele’s “Hello,” which ruled for 10 weeks starting Nov. 14, 2015.

“Next” controls the Hot 100 with nearly a 2-to-1 points lead over Travis Scott‘s “Sicko Mode,” which last week became his first No. 1 on the chart. The latter track dips to No. 2, although it gains in all metrics, holding at No. 2 on Streaming Songs (43.3 million, up 16 percent); backtracking 2-3 on Digital Song Sales (25,000, up 5 percent); and bulleting at No. 8 on Radio Songs (65.7 million, up 1 percent).

The track, on which prominent guest vocalist Drake does not officially receive an artist billing, leads the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a seventh week each.

Halsey‘s “Without Me” hits a new Hot 100 peak, pushing 4-3. It paces Digital Song Sales for a third week (50,000, up 75 percent) and rises 6-4 on Streaming Songs (32.7 million, up 29 percent) and 9-6 on Radio Songs (71.7 million, up 10 percent).

Marshmello and Bastille‘s “Happier” retreats to No. 4 after reaching its No. 3 Hot 100 high, as it tops Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for a 12th week, and Panic! at the Disco‘s “High Hopes” holds at its No. 5 Hot 100 peak, while ruling Hot Rock Songsfor a sixth week. Panic posts its first No. 1 on the Pop Songs airplay chart with “Hopes” (2-1); the act had hit a previous No. 2 Pop Songs high with “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” in 2006.

Meek Mill notches his first Hot 100 top 10, as “Going Bad,” featuring Drake, bows at No. 6. The track is from the former’s new album Championships, the rapper’s first full-length since his April release from prison. “Bad” begins at No. 3 on Streaming Songs (36 million U.S. streams) and No. 6 on Digital Song Sales (17,000).

Among his prior 29 Hot 100 entries, dating to his 2011 debut, Meek Mill had previously peaked as high as No. 21, with “All Eyes on You,” featuring Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj, in 2015. His only other top 40 hit until this week: “R.I.C.O.,” featuring Drake, also in 2015.

As for Drake, he collects his 33rd Hot 100 top 10, extending his record for the most among solo males. Among all acts, only Madonna (38) and The Beatles (34) have more. Below Drake are Rihanna (31 top 10s), Michael Jackson (30) and Carey and Stevie Wonder (28 each).

Drake also extends his record for the most Hot 100 top 10s in a single year to 13. In October, when he posted his 12th top 10 of 2018, Bad Bunny’s “MIA,” on which he’s featured, Drake bested The Beatles for the yearly mark.

Speaking of Carey’s 28 top 10s…

…”All I Want for Christmas Is You” dashes 14-7 on the Hot 100 for a new high, topping its prior No. 9 best reached a year ago when it entered the top 10 for the first time. The song tops the Holiday 100 chart (for a 32nd of 37 total weeks since the chart launched in 2011) and is the top seasonal hit in all metrics; it keeps at No. 8 on Streaming Songs (28.5 million, up 29 percent) and No. 9 on Digital Song Sales (15,000, up 28 percent) and ascends 41-32 on Radio Songs (30.4 million, up 11 percent).

Kodak Black‘s No. 2-peaking “Zeze,” featuring Scott and Offset, retreats 7-8 on the Hot 100 and Lil Baby and Gunna‘s “Drip Too Hard” drops 8-9, after peaking at No. 4.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Maroon 5‘s former seven-week No. 1 “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B, falls 9-10. The song logs a 27th week in the top 10, becoming just the 10th single in the chart’s 60-year history to reach that marker. Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” holds the record with 33 weeks in the top 10 in 2017.

Find out more Hot 100 news on Billboard.com this week, and, for all chart news, you can listen (and subscribe) to Billboard‘s Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast and follow @billboard and @billboardcharts. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 11), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The next issue of Billboard magazine is on sale Friday (Dec. 14).

Source: billboard.com

The ongoing Divide Tour grossed $429 million in the 2018 chart year, setting all-time records for the highest-grossing solo tour and highest year-end gross ever.

99 shows and $429 million later, Ed Sheeran walks away with Billboard‘s Top Tour of 2018 (see Top 25 Tours chart, below), according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. The British singer’s eye-popping total follows the $122 million he grossed in 2017, having begun the tour on March 16, 2017 in Turin, Italy.

Billboard’s Year-End Boxscore charts are based on engagements that played between Nov. 1, 2017 and Oct. 31, 2018

The year-over-year increase from $122 million to $429 million is particularly remarkable when considering that Sheeran played 105 shows in the 2017 chart year, compared to 99 shows in 2018. The introductory legs of the tour focused on arena dates, hitting certain major markets two consecutive nights (three at London’s O2 Arena, Los Angeles’ Staples Center, and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center). But multiple arena shows can’t stack up to a worldwide stadium run. This year, Sheeran scaled his tour globally, delivering 2018’s top boxscore grossing $28 million over four nights at London’s Wembley Stadium, compared to $5 million over three nights at the same city’s O2 Arena on May 1-3, 2017. Similarly, he leapt from grossing $3.6 million at the Staples Center on Aug. 10-12, 2017 to $6.3 million from one night at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl on Aug. 18. Elsewhere, Sheeran leveled up to stadiums across Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore, and markets throughout the U.S.

The jump from 2017 to 2018 is to say nothing of Sheeran’s skyrocketing star power since his last tour around the world. Sheeran has grossed more than half a billion dollars while touring in support of Divide, absolutely dwarfing the $63.8 million he earned in 2014-2015 on the Multiply Tour.

Not only does Sheeran easily claim the year’s biggest tour, The Divide Tour’s $429,491,502 is the biggest year-end total in the history of Billboard Boxscore (dating back to 1990). Twelve years after the fact, he narrowly eclipses The Rolling Stones’ 2006 total of $425.1 million from A Bigger Bang Tour. Far past the $400 million mark, The Divide Tour is one of only six treks to gross more than $300 million in one year, following The Rolling Stones in 2006, U2 in 2009 and 2017, Guns N’ Roses in 2017, and Taylor Swift in 2018 ($315.2 million, The Reputation Stadium Tour).

At the close of the 2018 year-end tracking period, The Divide Tour has grossed $551.8 million, making it the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist in the history of Billboard Boxscore, handily defeating Roger Waters’ The Wall Live, which grossed $459 million between Sept. 15, 2010 and Sept. 21, 2013.

Sheeran is scheduled to continue his expansive trek throughout 2019 before wrapping up on Aug. 26 at Chantry Park in Ipswich, England. After three shows Nov. 3 -9, 2018 (these grosses will count toward the 2019 year-end charts), $171.4 million separates The Divide Tour and U2’s 360 Tour, which remains the highest-grossing tour of all time. With 50 dates on the books next year, Sheeran needs to average $3.4 million per show to break U2’s record, significantly less than his 2018 average of $4.3 million. Come next fall, we could have a new reigning Boxscore champion.

Swift, Bey & Jay, Bruno and P!nk Were Powerhouses on the Road: Taylor Swift follows at No. 2 on the year-end Top 25 Tours tally with $315.2 million in the bank. As previously reported, the Reputation Stadium Tour became the most successful U.S. tour of all time but she adds almost $50 million to her domestic total with shows in England, Ireland, Canada, and Australia (not to mention additional shows in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan that fell outside of the 2018 reporting period). Swift’s international appeal hit a feverish peak in London, grossing $12.2 million over two nights at Wembley Stadium on June 22-23, 2018.

The Carters, or, Beyoncé and Jay-Z ($253.5 million), Bruno Mars ($237.8 million), and Pink ($180.4 million) round out the year-end top 5. The Top Tours list is headlined by relatively young pop stars causing commotion across the 2018 year-end charts, a marked shift from the overbearing presence of legacy acts like U2, Guns ‘N Roses, Depeche Mode, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen in previous years.

Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars extended their 2017 tours into 2018 with stellar results, ranking among the Top 10 Tours for the second year in a row. They are joined in the top 10 by other 2017 headliners U2 (No. 1 in 2017; No. 7 in 2018) and The Rolling Stones (No. 7 in 2017; No. 8 in 2018).

The rest of the overall top 10 is filled with touring veterans. It’s Taylor Swift’s fourth appearance in the year-end top 10 and Kenny Chesney’s tenth. Beyoncé and Jay-Z have individually graced the top 10 in 2011 (Jay-Z), 2013, and 2016 (Beyoncé) and ranked No. 8 in 2014 as a pair on the original On the Run Tour. This is the third top 10 placement for Pink (2009; 2013) and Justin Timberlake (2007; 2014).

Journey and Def Leppard both make their year-end top 10 debut, joining forces to push their co-headline tour to No. 10.

Notably, after the 2017 Top 25 Tours ranking featured no women among the top 10, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Pink all storm this year’s top tier, with Celine Dion, Shania Twain, and Lady Gaga close behind.

2018 TOP 25 TOURS

Rank; Act; Total Gross; Total Attendance; Number of Shows
1; Ed Sheeran; $429,491,502; 4,800,441; 99
2; Taylor Swift; $315,186,362; 2,636,355; 48
3; Beyoncé and Jay-Z; $253,514,983; 2,177,049; 48
4; Bruno Mars; $237,770,168; 1,929,456; 100
5; Pink; $180,402,074; 1,271,730; 88
6; Justin Timberlake; $149,277,272; 1,175,216; 76
7; U2; $119,203,900; 840,151; 55
8; The Rolling Stones; $117,844,618; 750,874; 14
9; Kenny Chesney; $114,333,176; 1,298,089; 42
10; Journey & Def Leppard; $97,095,894; 1,003,198; 60
11; Eagles; $93,454,297; 574,721; 34
12; Drake; $81,446,702; 693,189; 44
13; Depeche Mode; $78,804,765; 926.682; 54
14; Foo Fighters; $77,750,695; 930,310; 47
15; Celine Dion; $76,465,107; 376,431; 51
16; Billy Joel; $70,227,385; 589,813; 24
17; Luke Bryan; $67,572,102; 935,668; 50
18; Luis Miguel; $64,935,983; 612,818; 72
19; Harry Styles; $61,073,923; 774,473; 65
20; Dead & Company; $56,220,873; 689,783; 42
21; Andre Rieu; $55,933,149; 640,284; 88
22; Elton John; $55,387,328; 351,817; 45
23; Shania Twain; $52,587,060; 630,44; 55
24; Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $50,228,977; 864,132; 86
25; Jay-Z; $45,496,805; 401,921; 30

Billboard’s Year-End Boxscore charts are based on engagements that played between Nov. 1, 2017 and Oct. 31, 2018

2018 Top Tour by Genre
Genre; Act; Total Gross
Country; Kenny Chesney; $114,333,176
Latin; Luis Miguel; $64,935,983
Pop; Ed Sheeran; $429,491,502
R&B/Hip-Hop: Beyoncé and Jay-Z; $253,514,983
Rock; U2; $119,203,900

While pop dominated 2018’s touring charts, The Carters’ On the Run II Tour emerges as the year’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Tour, followed by Billboard’s overall Artist of the Year Drake ($81.4 million), and Jay-Z himself, having pulled in $45.5 million on his solo headlining 4:44 Tour. Rounding out the genre’s top tier are J. Cole ($26.1 million) and Janet Jackson ($21.6 million).

For the eighth non-consecutive year, Kenny Chesney has the Top Country Tour. His biggest run yet brought in $114.3 million and sold 1.3 million tickets, making it the year’s fifth most attended tour overall. Next up are Luke Bryan ($67.6 million) and Shania Twain ($52.6 million), both of whom have claimed the Top Country Tour in years past, Bryan in 2016 and 2014 and Twain in 2004 and 1999.

Luis Miguel has a commanding lead as 2018’s Top Latin Tour with $64.9 million. Jennifer Lopez follows with $39.5 million from her residency at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Rounding out the top 5 are Romeo Santos ($38.4 million), Shakira ($28.2 million), and Bad Bunny ($19 million).

U2 claim the Top Rock Tour honor for the ninth time since 1992 with $119.2 million from their Experience + Innocence Tour. They narrowly squeeze by The Rolling Stones ($117.8 million), followed by Journey and Def Leppard ($97.1 million), Eagles ($93.5 million), and Depeche Mode ($78.8 million).

As a bonus, Andre Rieu, once again, has the Top Classical Tour for the tenth consecutive year, adding $55.9 million to his career total.

Source: billboard.com

Plus, Drake’s “God Plan” is the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 song for 2018.

Drake is king of Billboard’s 2018 year-end charts, as the superstar leads the year-end Top Artists ranking, thanks in large part to his Billboard 200-topping album Scorpion and its bevy of hit singles on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart, including the No. 1 Hot 100 song of the year, “God’s Plan.” Drake leads both year-end tallies for the first time.

The 32-year-old rapper-singer is the first rap act to be the overall top artist of the year since 2005 and just the third rap artist to lead the category. Only 50 Cent (in 2005 and 2003) and Nelly (2002) have managed the feat previously.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps are based on chart performance on Billboard’s charts dated Dec. 2, 2017, to Nov. 17, 2018. The year-end Top Artists category ranks the best-performing acts of the year based on activity on the Billboard 200 albums tally and the Billboard Hot 100 songs list, as well as streaming, social media and Billboard Boxscore data. Data registered before or after a title’s chart run is not considered in these standings. That methodology detail, and the December-to-November time period, account for some of the differences between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Nielsen Music.

Toronto-born Drake is also the first Canadian male to be the year’s top artist. The only other Canadian to take home the honor is singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, who was tops in 1996 following the success of her smash album Jagged Little Pill.

Following a male-dominated 2017, where no women ranked in the year-end top 10 overall artists (for the first time since 1984), a trio of leading ladies finish in the top 10 on the Top Artists tally.

This year, the year’s top female artist — Taylor Swift — ranks at No. 4 on the overall Top Artists tally. She’s joined by the year’s top new artist, Cardi B, at No. 5 and Camila Cabello at No. 10. Rounding out the six ladies in the top 20: Ariana Grande at No. 14, followed by Dua Lipa (No. 19) and Halsey (No. 20). In 2017, just two women were among the top 20: Grande (No. 15) and Rihanna (No. 19).

Swift tops the year-end Billboard 200 Albums recap with reputation, making her the first act to have the year’s top album with three different releases. She previously did it in 2015 with 1989 and in 2009 with Fearless. (Adele has claimed the year-end No. 1 Billboard 200 album three times as well, but with two albums: 25, in 2015, and twice with 21, in 2011 and 2012.)

Swift’s reputation took advantage of the full 2018 chart year, as the set premiered at No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200 chart dated Dec. 2, 2017 (the first week of the chart year). It spent four weeks at No. 1 and lingered in the top 40 for its first 48 weeks. Behind reputation on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums recap is Drake’s Scorpion. It bowed at No. 1 on the weekly chart dated July 14, 2018, seven months into the chart year, and spent its first five weeks atop the list.

Elsewhere in the top 10 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums tally, Post Malone claims two titles — the first time an act has doubled up in the top 10 since 2010, and the first time a hip-hop act has ever achieved the feat. Post Malone’s 2018 release beerbongs & bentleys ranks at No. 3, while his enduring 2016 set Stoney sits at No. 9. Back in 2010, two acts logged two albums in the year-end top 10: Justin Bieber and Swift. The former did so with My World 2.0 (No. 5) and My World (No. 8), while the latter finished with Fearless (No. 7) and Speak Now (No. 9).

On the 2018 year-end Hot 100 Songs roundup, Drake rules with “God’s Plan,” which spent 11 weeks leading the weekly Hot 100 tally. It was the first of three Hot 100 chart-toppers, thus far, from his Scorpion album. Drake followed “God’s Plan” with the No. 1s “Nice for What” and “In My Feelings,” spending a combined 29 weeks at No. 1 — breaking the record for the most weeks atop the list by an artist in a year. “In My Feelings” and “Nice for What” rank at Nos. 9 and 11 on the year-end Hot 100 tally.

Source: billboard.com

Plus: Michael Bublé has two albums in the top five, “Love” and “Christmas.”

Travis Scott’s Astroworld album takes advantage of a sleepy chart week in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, as his former leader returns to the No. 1 slot for a third nonconsecutive week in charge.

The set earned 71,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 29 (up 60 percent), according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 31,000 were in album sales (up 816 percent).

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 are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Dec. 8-dated chart — where Astroworld returns to No. 1 — will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Astroworld, which spent its first two weeks at No. 1 (Aug. 18-25), has yet to depart the top 10 in its 17 weeks on the list. Its move to No. 1 on the new chart was prompted largely by Scott releasing more than two dozen merchandise/album bundles for Cyber Monday (Nov. 26) through his official website. Each of items — including a keychain, hats, T-shirts, hoodies and so forth ­– came bundled with a digital copy of the Astroworld album.

Astroworld sold 31,000 albums in the latest tracking week — up 816 percent. Of that sum, 29,000 were in download sales (up 4,285 percent).

Also aiding Astroworld’s gain: the Nov. 28 arrival of a new Skrillex remix of the set’s smash single “Sicko Mode,” which held at its No. 2 high on the most recently published Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Dec. 1).

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, 6ix9ine’s Dummy Boy debuts from just three days of activity in the tracking week. The 13-track set was released on Tuesday, Nov. 27 and starts with 66,000 equivalent album units (of which 10,000 were in album sales).

The set was previously slated for release on Nov. 23, but was delayed due to 6ix9ine’s incarceration. On Nov. 18, 6ix9ine was arrested by ATF and Homeland Security agents on six counts of various racketeering, firearms, assault with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy murder charges. On Nov. 26, he pleaded not guilty to the charges and will face trial in September 2019.

Michael Bublé has a bountiful week on the Billboard 200, as he places two albums in the top five. His new studio set Love dips from No. 2 to No. 3 in its second week (58,000 units; down 48 percent) while his former No. 1 album Christmas, originally released in 2011, zooms from No. 20 to No. 5 (44,000 units; up 56 percent).

Bublé is just the second act in 2018 to chart two concurrent titles in the top five, following XXXTentacion, who logged a pair of albums in the region on the list dated July 7, following his death on June 18. On the July 7 chart, his former No. 1 album ?was No. 2, while his 17 album ranked at No. 5.

Christmas spent five weeks in a row at No. 1 on the Dec. 10, 2011 through Jan. 7, 2012-dated charts. The album has returned to the top 10 of the Billboard 200 every holiday season since its release. Christmas hadn’t ranked as high as it does this week since the Jan. 5, 2013 chart, when it also placed at No. 5.

Since December of 2016, only four acts have had two albums in the top five at the same time, as, in addition to Bublé and XXXTentacion this year, Future and Pentatonix also achieved the feat in that span.

Future did it twice (March 18 and 25, 2017) as a result of him releasing two new studio albums in back-to-back weeks, and both of them debuted at No. 1. His self-titled effort bowed atop the list dated March 11, 2017, while HNDRXX opened at No. 1 on March 18, 2017. On March 18, HDRNXX was No. 1, while Future was at No. 2. Then, on March 25, the Future album fell to No. 4, while HNDRXX dropped to No. 5.

Pentatonix also went two weeks in a row with two albums in the top five: Dec. 31, 2016 and Jan. 7, 2017. On the Dec. 31-dated list, the act’s then-new release A Pentatonix Christmas moved 3-2, while its 2014 holiday set That’s Christmas to Meclimbed 8-5. Then, on the Jan. 7-dated tally, A Pentatonix Christmas rose 2-1 (for its first of two weeks in charge), and That’s Christmas to Me held at No. 5.

Back in the top five of the new Billboard 200, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack stays steady at No. 4. The former No. 1 tallied 53,000 units (down 14 percent) in the latest tracking frame.

Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack is also a non-mover, as it holds at No. 6 with a little more than 43,000 units (down 11 percent).

Pentatonix collects its ninth top 10 album, as its new 2018 release Christmas Is Here! rises 17-7 with 43,000 units (up 38 percent). Pentatonix’s nine top 10 albums have come in just over five years, as the vocal group logged their first top 10 with PTX: Vol. II on the Nov. 23, 2013-dated list when it peaked at No. 10.

Rounding out the new top 10 are Drake’s former No. 1 Scorpion (holding at No. 8 with 39,000 units; down 10 percent), previous chart-topper The Greatest Showman soundtrack (climbing 19-9 with 35,000 units; up 22 percent) and Lil Baby and Gunna’s Drip Harder (up 12-10 with 34,000 units; down 10 percent).

The Showman album rises thanks to SEA and TEA units earned by a deluxe edition of the set that includes the new tracks from The Greatest Showman: Reimagined compilation (which falls 3-31 in its second week).

Source: billboard.com