The Billboard charts are topped by two of 2024’s biggest breakthrough artists, as Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” holds at No. 1 on the Hot 100 — for a 13th nonconsecutive week — and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet returns to the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart after two weeks away. But a few acts with longer chart pedigrees are making their move as fall rolls on.
TOP ALBUMS
Last week, three new albums stormed onto the top 10: Future’s Mixtape Pluto (No. 1), Katy Perry’s 143 (No. 6) and Lil Tecca’s Plan A (No. 9). This week, two of those records take precipitous plunges: Perry falls to No. 76 — more on that below — while Tecca drops to No. 63. Such is life for most upper-echelon Billboard 200 debuts.
Future also slips — modestly, it turns out, as he lands at No. 3 this week — while Sabrina Carpenter resumes her position at the top of the chart. Short n’ Sweet climbs from No. 3 back to No. 1, and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess sits at No. 2 for yet another week. (She’s now been blocked from No. 1 by four different artists: Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Post Malone and Future.) Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time ticks up from No. 5 to No. 4, while Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft rises from No. 8 to No. 5. It’s a big week all around for Eilish, who’s reaping the benefits of a recent tour launch, as well as the release of an official video for “Birds of a Feather.”
The Top 10’s bottom half is full of old reliables: Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion dips from No. 4 to No. 6, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department holds at No. 7, Noah Kahan’s Stick Season climbs from No. 10 to No. 8, Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene rises from No. 11 to No. 9, and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album ticks up two spots to No. 10.
In less-auspicious chart news, the new album by country singer Luke Bryan — not to be confused with country singer Zach Bryan — enters the Billboard 200 at No. 51. Mind of a Country Boy has time to rise, of course, but Bryan’s last album (2020’s Born Here Live Here Die Here) hit the Top 5, and he’s landed his last six studio albums in the Top 10, with three chart-toppers. Bryan’s still a live draw, as well as a long-running American Idol judge — and “Love You, Miss You, Mean It” is a hit on the country charts — but his first-week numbers look grim this time around.
TOP SONGS
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” remains unstoppable, holding at No. 1 for a 12th consecutive week (and 13 weeks overall). It’s long since cemented its status as 2024’s biggest chart hit, but more milestones loom: It’s now had the third-longest chart-topping run of the decade so far, trailing only Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” (16 weeks last year) and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (15 weeks in 2022). Even as strong competition emerges this week, it’s entered truly select company as one of only 16 songs in chart history to post a 13-week run at No. 1.
The rest of the Top 10 sees a bit of motion after a few weeks of near-total stasis. Buoyed by the release of its official video, Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” leaps from No. 6 to a new peak, at No. 2. And the Top 10 finally gets a fresh debut in the form of The Weeknd and Playboi Carti’s “Timeless” at No. 3. Given that the song tops this week’s streaming chart, and that it’s already been added to many radio playlists, it promises to stick around a while — especially given the way streaming algorithms (and radio stations, for that matter) tend to feed listeners more of what they’ve already sought out.
It’s hard to imagine The Weeknd posting a new chart milestone, given how high his previous songs have set the bar, and given the fact that he remains the biggest artist on Spotify in terms of monthly listeners. But “Timeless” does mark the highest chart debut of any song in his career. And, yes, that includes “Blinding Lights,” which debuted at No. 11 in late 2019 en route to a chart run that spanned an incredible 90 weeks — including a record-setting 57 weeks in the Top 10. “Timeless” is The Weeknd’s 19th Top 10 hit, and the first from the forthcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow. (The album’s first single, “Dancing in the Flames,” peaked at No. 14 a few weeks ago and now sits at No. 37.)
From there, the Top 10 mostly shuffles last week’s deck. Thanks to the arrival of “Timeless” and the jump of “Birds of a Feather,” Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” which features Morgan Wallen, slides from its long-held No. 2 spot to No. 4. Sabrina Carpenter becomes one of only seven artists ever to place three songs in the Top 10 for six straight weeks, as “Espresso” dips from No. 3 to No. 5, “Taste” holds at No. 9 and “Please Please Please” slips from No. 8 to No. 10. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” (No. 5 to No. 6), Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” (No. 4 to No. 7) and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (No. 7 to No. 8) fill out the rest of the Top 10.
WORTH NOTING
Luke Bryan isn’t the only veteran chart-topper to experience a bit of humbling chart news this week. Lady Gaga’s Harlequin — a jazz- and standards-filled companion album to the maligned supervillain musical Joker: Folie à Deux — enters the Billboard 200 at No. 20, marking the lowest chart peak of any album in Gaga’s discography (excluding remix collections and compilations). Granted, jazz and standards aren’t typically chart-toppers, but Gaga’s two album-length collaborations with Tony Bennett (2014’s Cheek to Cheek and 2021’s Love for Sale) peaked at No. 1 and No. 8, respectively. As noted above, “Die With a Smile” remains in the Top 10, so she’s hardly in free fall, but October 2024’s box office and streaming news has not been kind to Lady Gaga.
Nor has it been a banner year for another one of 21st century pop music’s most decorated hit-makers. Katy Perry’s new album, 143, has spawned three singles so far, and only the first — the dreadful “Woman’s World” — has cracked the Hot 100, posting a solitary week at No. 63. Now, after a so-so debut at No. 6 last week, 143 tumbles a whopping 70 spots, landing at No. 76. There’s still time for a rebound, especially as Perry prepares for a world tour in 2025, but momentum isn’t on her side.
Copyright 2024 NPR
