Table of contents for October 5, 2024 in Billboard Magazine

MC HALE’S BAR & GRILL, a pub in Midtown Manhattan, bills itself as “the best Irish bar in NYC.” It opens bright and early at 10 a.m. on weekdays; it also happens to be right around the corner from Warner Music Group’s New York offices. And on Sept. 19, it was crammed with Atlantic Music Group (AMG) employees who were holding a wake for colleagues who had been laid off earlier that day. Several staffers clambered onto chairs to deliver speeches about their time at the storied label. At the impromptu gathering, “Lots of people who have been at Atlantic for 10- or 20-plus years said they loved being able to work with everyone,” says one employee who survived the cuts. “People were feeling supported since a lot of…

ON A BALMY recent August evening, Gustavo Dudamel strode onto the stage of the Hollywood Bowl wearing a huge golden gauntlet on his left hand. He wouldn’t get to use it. Dudamel is dramatic, but he’s no comic book villain; he’s the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he was there to conduct the orchestra for the world premiere of Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga Concert Experience. So instead of wielding the power of assorted Infinity Stones to change the world, Dudamel accepted the “vibranium baton” presented to him by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige (a reference to the fictional metal of the Marvel universe) and performed some magic of his own, conducting two-plus hours of raucous music from 25 different Marvel movies, backed by gigantic video screens…

IT WAS A HISTORIC TRIP to the Grammy stage for Taylor Swift on Feb. 4, when she accepted her second and final award of the evening: album of the year, for her 2022 blockbuster set, Midnights. The win was her fourth in the category, breaking her out of a four-way tie and leaving her alone in the record books as the performing artist with the most album of the year wins in Grammy history. But by that point in the evening, Swift had already ensured that her fans were thinking more about the future — and perhaps AOTY trophy No. 5. “I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years — which is…

“I TRY NOT TO listen to pop radio, ever,” Amy Allen proclaims as she scrolls through Spotify on her phone. The singer-songwriter is recapping her recent listening: She has been on a Vince Gill kick; she always has The Cardigans in rotation; she recently discovered Donna Summer’s 1974 single “Lady of the Night”; she’s a fan of indie star Adrianne Lenker of the band Big Thief. Allen goes for early-morning runs on the boardwalks of Venice Beach in Los Angeles near her home, and while she used to soundtrack them with a classic rock playlist, for the past six months she has been blasting ABBA’s greatest hits, starting each morning jogging to “Dancing Queen” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).” Allen has plenty of pop radio classics…

ON A DENSELY landscaped block in Miami, a stone’s throw from the Biscayne Bay coastline, a canopy of banyan trees, royal palms and bullet trees eventually gives way to a cave. At least, that’s how Pablo Díaz-Reixa, the musician-producer known as El Guincho, likes to describe his home studio in the city’s Coconut Grove area. A dark, squat room tucked directly underneath his bedroom, the cave is where Díaz-Reixa spends most of his waking moments. Sometimes, he’ll notch 12 hours a day there noodling on potential beats, tinkering with the drums or listening through stacks of vinyl records he keeps by the mixing board. “The sensation I get when I’m in the studio, making music, is incomparable,” he tells me on the muggy September day when I visit his…

How well do the winners at the Grammy Awards coincide with Billboard chart success? When it comes to trophy recipients reaching the top 10 of both the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, the answer is, perhaps expectedly, very closely, as history shows. Billboard looks at the intersection of critical and commercial achievements over the last 10 years, and beyond, for chart-based insights into what to possibly expect on music’s biggest night on Feb. 2, 2025. 95% Of the 66 album of the year winners, 63 — or 95% — have hit the Billboard 200’s top 10 (two of which did so for the first time following their Grammy victories). Twenty-six in a row did so from 1996 to 2021, the longest streak of…

Taylor Swift tallies her milestone 25th top 10 on the Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart as “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” ascends a spot to enter the region. She trails only Rihanna, with 30 top 10s, for the most since the list began in October 1992. The track previously became Swift’s record-extending 32nd top 10 on Adult Top 40. (Maroon 5 ranks second with 27 top 10s.) Swift boasts two top 10s from her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, on both radio rankings. Lead single “Fortnight” (featuring Post Malone) became her 13th No. 1 — the most among soloists — on Adult Top 40 and reached No. 5 on Mainstream Top 40. Through unsolicited airplay, another song from the album appeared on the charts dated…

Luke Combs claims a second week at No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart with “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma.” The song, from the soundtrack Twisters: The Album, is the 13th of his 18 leaders to hold the top spot for multiple weeks and marks another notable achievement: Combining all his No. 1s, he has now spent over a year — 53 weeks — at the summit. “I’m really blown away,” Combs says. “I never thought I would get one week at No. 1, but when I did, I felt like I had won the lottery.” According to Tom Oakes, SummitMedia operations manager/program director of Country Airplay reporter KTTS Springfield, Mo., Combs’ success “is a testament to his ability to relate to the audience. It comes through his songs,…

GloRilla nabs her second No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay as “TGIF” rises from No. 2. The single’s coronation, in its 13th week on the chart, follows a 3% gain to 16.9 million in format audience in the United States in the tracking week of Sept. 20-26, according to Luminate. “TGIF” gives GloRilla her second No. 1 on the chart after her first, the Cardi B collaboration “Tomorrow 2,” reigned for five weeks in December 2022 and January 2023. The Memphis rapper nearly added another chart-topper twice this summer — previous singles “Yeah Glo!” and “Wanna Be” (with Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B) both peaked at No. 2 in June and August, respectively. In addition to topping the audience-based R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, “TGIF” rebounds 2-1 for a second week…

Eight weeks after Elena Rose earned her debut entry on a Billboard songs chart, the Venezuelan singer-songwriter scores her first top 10 on a ranking thanks to “Orion,” her collaboration with Boza (above, right). Released May 29 on Sony Music Latin, the song flies 17-4 on the Latin Pop Airplay chart after a 217% surge in audience impressions, to 2.1 million, on U.S. monitored stations during the Sept. 20-26 tracking week, according to Luminate. Boza celebrates his second radio top 10 following the Silvestre Dangond and Reik team-up “Sé Que Estás Con Él,” which took them to No. 6 on Latin Rhythm Airplay in June 2023. The Panamanian’s first appearance on a Billboard chart dates back to 2020. The new chart achievement follows Elena Rose’s three Latin Grammy Award…

As the calendar flips to October, Charli XCX’s brat spends its 16th consecutive week atop the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, taking its season-defining “Brat summer” energy into the fall. (“Brat autumn,” anyone?) Not only has brat reigned supreme on the album chart, but its tracks continue to populate Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. On the latest 50-position list, Charli logs 11 songs, including half of the top 10. Dating to the chart’s 2013 launch, only four acts have concurrently held at least half of that region — but Charli has done it the most times. She has claimed five top 10 spots in eight separate weeks, while Drake has done it five times, Rihanna twice and Lady Gaga once. “360” leads the pack (No. 2), followed by “Guess,” featuring Billie Eilish…

WEEKS ON CHART 24 Roan reaches No. 1 on the Artist 100 for the first time, concurrent with the arrival of new vinyl variants and a cassette tape to celebrate the first anniversary of her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (see page 246). Meanwhile, on the Billboard Hot 100, her “Good Luck, Babe!” holds at its No. 4 high. —KEITH CAULFIELD NO. 19 Lil Tecca’s ‘A’ Game Lil Tecca bursts back onto the Artist 100 at No. 19 thanks to chart activity surrounding his new album, Plan A, which launches at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 with 42,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending Sept. 26, according to Luminate. Plan A gives 22-year-old Lil Tecca his fourth…

WITH AUTUMN officially in progress and Charli XCX’s 21-city North American tour entering its second month, it’s time to look back and ask, how much was Brat Summer worth? Billboard crunched the numbers around a few deals and estimates that Charli took home $9.7 million, which, once merchandise sales and royalties earned through the end of the year are factored in, should put her well over $10 million. Brat, which debuted at No. 3 on the June 7-dated Billboard 200, is the dance-pop singer’s most commercially successful album by far. Its lime green cover art and Charli’s candid, sometimes vulnerable lyrics resonated with audiences, putting her at the center of the cultural conversation with everyone from Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign to a vegan sausage company interpreting and…

A COLLABORATION between Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga was always going to have lofty expectations, but when the two wrote and recorded “Die With a Smile” at the latter’s Los Angeles studio earlier this year, there was no talk of topping the charts. They only wanted to follow where the song was naturally taking them, remembers hit-making songwriter-producer Andrew Watt, who previously worked with Gaga on The Rolling Stones’ 2023 Hackey Diamonds track “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” “This was a pure, organic thing that both these artists who respect each other so much wanted to do together,” says Watt, who helped with the hit alongside D’Mile and James Fauntleroy. “This was about the love of making great music.” That desire led to a sweeping, cinematic duet that has spent…

“How do you think my life has been these past few months?” Shaboozey asks with a wry smile. The 29-year-old multihyphenate artist — one of 2024’s biggest breakout acts — has twisted my question and flipped it back on me, his measured poker face masking the tornado of emotions he’s feeling. There’s no hiding that he’s tired; we’re speaking the day after September’s MTV Video Music Awards, where he snagged two nods (including best new artist), and its star-studded afterparty, where he mingled with the likes of Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter. Some hours later, he went to Brooklyn for his Billboard cover shoot, soundtracked by Zach Bryan and Chris Stapleton. Now we’re grabbing lunch in a hotel restaurant, where Shaboozey has finally settled down with a half-dozen Prince…

HIDDEN UP A WOODED hill in the sprawling backyard of his suburban Los Angeles estate, Dijon “Mustard” McFarlane is on the tennis court, perfecting his forehand. “I’m an extremist,” the 34-year-old producer explains as he warms up his top spin. “I play every day, sometimes two times a day.” The L.A.-born musician, who shot to prominence at 21 when he produced Tyga’s 2011 hit “Rack City,” beckons his coach to serve again. After some rallying, Mustard slices a ball that nearly hits the Billboard cameraman kneeling beneath him, trying to get a close-up shot. “Oh, sorry! Man, you’re brave for sitting there,” Mustard says. “I play, too; it’s cool,” the photographer replies, unfazed. “Aight, you’re one of us,” Mustard says with a grin, pointing at the man with his…

WHEN remembering his late sister SOPHIE, music producer and engineer Benny Long constantly comes back to one idea. “I think her brain was just ahead of the technology,” he tells Billboard, a tender smile crossing his face. It’s a recurring theme in conversations about SOPHIE, the visionary pop producer who died Jan. 30, 2021, at age 34, after falling from a balcony in Athens, Greece. During her life, SOPHIE persistently forged her own path, crafting industrial electronic soundscapes on early breakthroughs like 2015’s “BIPP” and “HARD” that laid the foundation for today’s growing hyperpop scene. After her death, artists, fans and industry professionals of all stripes celebrated her impact on both pop and avant-garde music. “[Some of] the most influential pop stars in the world are using SOPHIE as…

“Lose Control” by Teddy Swims dominates Adult Contemporary for a 10th week. The singer-songwriter becomes the first soloist to reign for double-digit weeks with an initial entry in a lead role since Phillip Phillips, who won American Idol in 2012, arrived with the 12-week No. 1 “Home” in 2013. Meanwhile, familiarity abounds on the chart thanks to multiple remakes, led by Luke Combs’ No. 3-peaking cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” at No. 6; the original hit No. 7 in 1988. Melinda Lindner’s “Even Now” holds at its No. 15 high; the ballad updates Barry Manilow’s classic, which led for three weeks in 1978, marking the ninth of his 13th No. 1s. Plus, duo for King + Country and Michael W. Smith’s “Place in This World” rises 24-23. Smith’s…

Linkin Park doubles up atop Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay with “The Emptiness Machine,” the band’s first No. 1 on both charts with new co-lead singer Emily Armstrong. The song is Linkin Park’s 13th Alternative Airplay leader, tying the group with Green Day for the second-most in the chart’s 36-year history; Red Hot Chili Peppers lead all acts with 15. Linkin Park’s first 12 No. 1s feature vocals from late lead singer Chester Bennington, who died in 2017. On Mainstream Rock Airplay, “The Emptiness Machine” is the band’s 11th chart-topper, placing the group in sole possession of the ninth-most since the list launched 43 years ago. “The Emptiness Machine” is the lead single from Linkin Park’s eighth studio album, From Zero, due Nov. 15. The group’s first full-length…

As if the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake wasn’t already historic, the feud’s biggest track, Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” captures a 20th week at No. 1 on Hot Rap Songs, tying Lil Nas X’s 2019 juggernaut, “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus), for the most among all songs since the chart began in 1989. “Not Like Us,” released in May, remains a top performer in the chart’s three contributing metrics: It claims a 19th week at No. 1 on Rap Streaming Songs, slides to No. 2 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and holds at No. 5 on Rap Digital Song Sales, having previously topped the latter two lists. The single extends Lamar’s near-monopoly on Hot Rap Songs since April, with the rapper in the No. 1 spot for 26…

Caleb & John’s “Somebody Like Me,” featuring CAIN, climbs to No. 1 on both the Christian Airplay and Christian AC Airplay charts. It leads the former with 5.4 million audience impressions earned Sept. 20-26, according to Luminate. The duo of Caleb Crino (above, right) and John Secker (above, left) collects its first chart-topper with its second entry. “Hallelujah Feeling” hit No. 5 on Christian Airplay and No. 8 on Christian AC Airplay in November 2023. Featured act CAIN claims its third leader on each list; the trio last led with “Yes He Can” in 2021. Caleb & John co-wrote “Somebody Like Me” with Colby Wedgeworth. “We could not have picked a song with a better message to be our first No. 1,” the duo says. “We want the world…

Rüfüs Du Sol (above) scores its first Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1 as “Music Is Better” climbs from No. 3 to lead the latest list. In the tracking week ending Sept. 26, the song by the Australian band gained by 17% in plays, according to Luminate. Its ascent ends Charli XCX’s three-week reign with “360,” which switches places with “Music Is Better.” Dom Dolla’s “Girl$” stays sandwiched between the pair at No. 2. “Music Is Better” is Rüfüs Du Sol’s first Dance/Mix Show Airplay entry, though the act has an extensive history across Billboard’s dance/electronic charts. The group has notched four albums on Top Dance/Electronic Albums and 17 entries on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. On the latter, “Music Is Better” is one of three already-charted tracks from album Inhale/Exhale, due…

FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE MONTHS, Zach Bryan had the highest-grossing tour in the world. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, The Quittin’ Time Tour grossed $93.2 million and sold 467,000 tickets across 13 shows in August, prompting his return to No. 1 on Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart. Bryan kicked off the tour in March with a string of concerts at North American arenas. As May rolled into June, he began to sprinkle in stadium dates, multiplying his potential nightly audience by three or four and prompting his first monthly win. In August, stadiums made up the majority of his calendar: During the month, such venues accounted for 10 of his 13 shows, spread across major U.S. markets including Atlanta, Philadelphia and Minneapolis. Only his concerts…

HALFWAY THROUGH 2022, 85% of the top 10 hits on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart were releases from artists outside of the mainland United States. That number rose to 92% in 2023. But an unexpected transformation took place in the first six months of 2024: Global hits came primarily from one place — America. In that period, U.S. acts accounted for 60% of the top 10 hits on the Global Excl. U.S. chart. American artists were also responsible for the top eight songs on the Billboard Global 200 this summer. “American artists are crushing this year,” says Scott Cutler, co-CEO of Pulse Records, which has contributed to the surge. The company signed Tommy Richman, whose high-gloss “Million Dollar Baby” was No. 8 on the Global Songs of the…

AFTER THE BREAKTHROUGH year she has had, Sabrina Carpenter is likely to contend in multiple categories when Grammy nominations are announced Nov. 8. Her latest studio project, Short n’ Sweet, is considered a shoo-in for a best pop vocal album nod and could potentially be up for album of the year. And she could even land a nomination for best new artist — despite Short n’ Sweet being her sixth full-length. How can an artist who has released six albums be in the conversation for best new artist? Because, while the Grammys set a minimum number of releases an artist must have to qualify in this category (five singles/tracks or one album), there is no maximum. Instead, the Grammys’ rules and guidelines booklet says nominations for the honor hinge…

A CELEBRATORY MOOD usually prevails on Grammy night. Artists dance to their fellow stars’ rousing performances; epic speeches abound; cameras catch meme-worthy moments. And when it comes to the songs most likely to win trophies, dis tracks aren’t what come to mind. But this year, there’s Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” — the savage climax of his epic beef this spring with Drake, which despite its barbed bars became an ebullient summer anthem, blaring through car speakers and soundtracking block parties and barbecues. It’s also a contender for song and record of the year nominations — and if it wins on Grammy night, it could well bring that same energy to the evening’s festivities. Recording Academy president/ CEO Harvey Mason Jr. admitted as much in June, a few weeks…

NEXT-GEN LEADERS Young but already established hit-makers, their big Hot 100 breakthroughs occurred within the past five years Rob Bisel The primary producer on SZA’s SOS, he’s charted 13 songs on the Hot 100 (12 by SZA, including “Kill Bill”); he’s also engineered big hits by Doja Cat, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, The Creator. Nik D Debuted on the Hot 100 in 2019 with Travis Scott’s No. 1 “Highest in the Room”; returned with hits by Drake and Metro Boomin before co-producing Jack Harlow’s No. 1 “Lovin on Me.” JACOB DURRETT Produced on seven Hot 100-charting songs — six of them by Morgan Wallen, including Durrett’s debut entry, the top 10 hit “Wasted on You” — all since 2021. Blake Slatkin Produced on 12 Hot 100-charting songs…

WHEN RAP PRODUCER Ron Browz crafted the ominous beat that would ultimately become Nas’ legendary 2001 dis track, “Ether,” he initially had a much different MC in mind: Nas’ rival, Jay-Z, who was offered the instrumental first. But Jay’s then-A&R executive, Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua, passed on the track, with no idea that it would later become the backdrop to one of rap’s most iconic dis records. “I get a phone call: ‘Nas wants you to come to hear what he did to the beat,’ ” recalls Browz, who had handed his CD to Nas’ travel agent months prior. “I go to the studio. Nas is in there eating fruit. Calm and no entourage. Just him and the engineer, and he’s like, ‘Yo. Play it for Ron.’ Then I hear…

“Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter stays hot at its No. 2 high on the Radio Songs chart. The single, which led Mainstream Top 40 for three weeks and Adult Top 40 for two, drew 62 million in all-format airplay audience Sept. 20-26, according to Luminate. Meanwhile, Carpenter boasts three songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth consecutive week, becoming the first woman in the chart’s 66-year history to establish such a run; she surpasses Cardi B, who charted three concurrent top 10s for four straight weeks in 2018. “Espresso” holds at its No. 3 best, having become Carpenter’s first top 10; “Please Please Please” places at No. 8, after it became her first No. 1 in June; and “Taste” ranks at No. 9, after…

Keith Urban notches his 11th top 10 on the Top Country Albums chart as High debuts at No. 10 with 17,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States Sept. 20-26, according to Luminate. The set sold 12,000 copies and also opens at No. 6 on the all-genre Top Album Sales chart. He debuted on Top Country Albums with his self-titled set in 2000, first hit the top 10 with Golden Road in 2003 and posted the first of his seven No. 1s with Be Here in 2004. “I love making music, and I’m as passionate about that [now] as I was when I started,” Urban says. “I love discovering new things. That, blended with my own well of influences and life experiences, is what comes out when I…

Gigi Perez’s viral hit “Sailor Song” spends a fifth week in the top 10 of Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, holding at its No. 8 high. In the week ending Sept. 26, the track tallied 10.3 million official U.S. streams, up 6%, according to Luminate. Released July 26, the song debuted at No. 24 on the Aug. 10-dated chart and was the top gainer in streaming in each of the five previous weeks (Aug. 31-Sept. 28). “Sailor Song” has also hit No. 15 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 and breaks into the top 40 (42-32) on the Billboard Global 200. Plus, it’s drawing early airplay on pop, alternative and triple A stations, led by SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio and Alt Nation. Perez self-released the song as a stand-alone single;…

Alfredo Olivas (above, second from right) and Banda MS take “Tengo Claro” to No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay. The coronation comes thanks to 6.4 million U.S. airplay audience impressions, up 12% from the previous week, in the week ending Sept. 26, according to Luminate. Both acts add their second chart-topper of 2024, and Banda MS collects its 21st No. 1 overall. The group remains the act with the second-most leaders since the chart launched in 1994, trailing only Calibre 50 with 25. Olivas ups his career count to five No. 1s. The song arrived July 5 through Lizos Music and marks the label’s 17th chart-topper. Lizos Music’s latest hit follows another Banda MS No. 1: “Tu Perfume” (one week in April). “Tengo Claro” also races 6-2 on the…

Transformation Worship’s new release, Thy Kingdom Come, enters the Top Gospel Albums chart at No. 6 and Top Christian Albums at No. 23. It earned 2,000 equivalent album units in the United States in its first week (Sept. 20-26), according to Luminate. The Tulsa, Okla.-based music collective began at the city’s Transformation Church with husband and wife Michael and Emily Todd, who have served as its pastors since February 2015. The act’s new seven-song set mixes live and studio tracks and features Christian and gospel music stars including Jekalyn Carr, KB, Tasha Cobbs Leonard and Kierra Sheard. Transformation Worship adds its third entry on each chart, all logged in just over four months. Overflow: The Album arrived atop both lists (dated June 1), while Dominion debuted at No. 1…