Taylor Swift’s album The Tortured Poets Department has remained at number one for eight consecutive weeks since debuting on May 4, giving it the most staying power of any release since Morgan Wallen topped the chart for 12 straight weeks last spring with One Thing at a Time. Swift’s previous albums 1989 and Fearless each held onto number one for 11 weeks, and folklore for eight. The singer-songwriter has topped the Billboard 200 a total of 77 times, placing her behind only The Beatles, with their record 132 times. Taking third, with 67, is Elvis Presley. Let’s take a look at the breakdown for Tortured Poets by week.
On the chart for the week of June 1, as TTPD triumphed over HIT ME HARD AND SOFT by Billie Eilish to stay on top for a fifth week, sales surged to nearly 400,000 units, but dipped below 200,000 the following week and has gradually dropped since, during which time the gap between Swift and second place has never been more than 20,000 or 30,000 units. Snagging number two in the following weeks were Eilish (June 8, 150,000), ATEEZ with GOLDEN HOUR: Part 1 (June 16, 130,000), and Eilish again (June 22, 110,000), making for a real nail-biter.
Since the chart dated May 25, the top spot on the Hot 100 has been held by “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen, the longest stretch since Miley Cyrus’s song “Flowers” spent its first six weeks there in early 2023. Here’s the weekly breakdown for Malone and Wallen’s track:
Debuting right out the gate at number one with over 70 million streams in its first week, “Some Help” may have ceded the streaming crown to the likes of “Not Like Us” (Kendrick Lamar), “Houdini” (Eminem), and “Please Please Please” (Sabrina Carpenter), but it nonetheless has held on tight as top dog overall. Strong streaming figures each week naturally played a part, but the song owes even more of its success to a rapid increase in radio airplay. In fact, it hit the radio top 10 in less time than any other song so far this year. Note that it already snagged a radio position on the May 18 chart because it received airplay from the 9th, a day ahead of its proper release. That also means it was already number 36 for radio airplay after a single day. Currently, it’s at number three for airplay. The track’s radio performance saw a roughly 10% jump on the June 22 chart versus the previous week, and if things continue at this pace, it could topple Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” the current champ of the airwaves. Unparalleled airplay propped up by good streaming numbers is the simple secret sauce that ensures a long reign on the Hot 100. Expect this song to hang around for a good, long while.
At last, “Espresso” singer Sabrina Carpenter is having her moment. Both “Espresso” and her latest song, “Please Please Please,” are on the Hot 100 dated June 22, at numbers two and three, respectively. The singer-songwriter released “Espresso” in April just before performing it live for the first time—at Coachella, where she wowed her audience. She’s also been showcasing “Please Please Please” at a number of other festivals, including the famous Governors Ball in New York. The music video for the song, which features her real-life boyfriend, Barry Keoghan, upped the stream count by more than 50 million in its debut week. The video plays on a joke about an incompetent criminal trying to duct-tape their hostage’s mouth shut, this time leaving her tied-up target with some of the most iconic lips since Heath Ledger’s Joker. And no doubt the music video, too, will go down as one of the most iconic of the year.
Carpenter set a record when the two singles reached the top three: She’s the very first solo artist where her first two top-three hits charted simultaneously and without sharing the bill with or as a featured artist. The only other artist in the club is The Beatles, who became the first and only group to do so when they made their US debut with “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.” Over on the Global 200, Carpenter’s pair of singles currently occupies the top two spots, setting very high expectations for her upcoming album, Short n’ Sweet, coming out August 23. Reflecting the heightened anticipation, her previous studio album, Emails I Can’t Send, has rebounded to number 34 on the Billboard 200, showing listeners are eagerly digging through her back catalog.
Jung Kook’s single “Never Let Go” debuted at number 97 on the Hot 100, marking his seventh song on the chart for his solo work.
Meanwhile, on the Billboard 200, ATEEZ’s album GOLDEN HOUR: Part 1 has moved down to number six this week from its previous position of number two. The album topped the Top Album Sales chart last week with 127,000 units, the highest weekly sales number for a K-pop album so far this year and fifth across all genres. Now in its second week, the album has racked up an additional 45,000 units and has moved to number three on the Top Album Sales chart. TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s EP minisode 3: TOMORROW sits at number 199 from a peak at number three, and has now spent a total of seven weeks on the chart.
Here’s a summary of how different K-pop artists are doing on the Global 200:
Jung Kook debuted “Never Let Go” on the Global 200 at number 20, giving a significant bump to streams of his previous songs “Seven” and “Standing Next to You.” Jimin’s track “Like Crazy,” meanwhile, also returned to the chart.
In addition to ATEEZ’s album sitting at number three, the Top Album Sales chart also lists minisode 3: TOMORROW (TOMORROW X TOGETHER) at number 11, Right Place, Wrong Person (RM) at 15, 17 IS RIGHT HERE (SEVENTEEN) at 19, ORANGE BLOOD (ENHYPEN) at 44, and With YOU-th (TWICE) at 48.
Finally, on Emerging Artists, BOYNEXTDOOR is charting at number 19, and ILLIT at 32. The Emerging Artists chart is calculated the same way as the Artist 100 chart, but it only includes artists who have never ranked in the top 25 of either the Hot 100 or the Billboard 200.