USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'Choosin' Texas' returns to No. 1 for an 8th week
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Ella Langley's “Choosin’ Texas” rebounds a spot for an eighth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song became Langley’s first Hot 100 leader and stakes its fifth distinct stay

at No. 1, previously leading on charts dated Feb. 14; March 7 and 21-28; and April 11-25. It ties for the most separate No. 1 stays over a single release cycle, matching those for Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” in 2023 and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” in 2022. Overall, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” leads with eight ascents to No. 1 in 2019-25. “Choosin’ Texas,” on Sawgod  / Columbia Records, with Triple Tigers promoting it to country radio, drew 26.6 million official streams (down 5% week over week) and 44.7 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 1%) and sold 8,000 (down 8%) in the United States April 24-30. The single rebounds one place for a ninth week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart; holds at its No. 6 high on Radio Songs; and keeps at No. 2 after five weeks atop Digital Song Sales. Langley’s “Be Her” is steady at No. 5 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 4, and her “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” with Morgan Wallen, debuts

at No. 7. The duet, released April 24, arrives with 16.7 million streams, 10.8 million in radio reach and 10,000 sold. Langley adds her third Hot 100 top 10, and first to debut in the region. With all three in the top 10 together, she becomes the first artist that has primarily recorded country music to chart three initial career top 10s in the bracket simultaneously. In part reflecting Langley and Wallen’s high profiles, “I Can’t Love You Anymore” makes a historic start: It’s the first song by two core-country acts each with lead billing to debut in the Hot 100’s top 10. The last such top 10 at all (regardless of debut rank)? Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s iconic “Islands in the Stream.” The Bee Gees-written duet dominated for two weeks in 1983. Noah Kahan’s “Doors” debuts at No. 9 on the Hot 100, led by 17.8 million first-week streams. The song is the singer-songwriter’s third Hot 100 top 10, after “The Great Divide” (No. 6 peak in February) and “Stick Season” (No. 9, 2024). “Doors” and the former are from his new album, The Great Divide, which blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with the biggest week for a rock album, by equivalent album units (389,000), since the chart began measuring by that metric in 2014. Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might” rises 3-2 after three weeks atop the Hot 100 in January to mid-March. It tops Radio Songs for an 11th week, with 78.1 million in audience (up 1%). Like Langley, Olivia Dean charts multiple songs in the Hot 100’s top 10: “Man I Need” lifts 4-3, off its No. 2 peak, and “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” rebounds a spot to its No. 6 best. Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead” falls to No. 4 on the Hot 100 a week after it debuted at no. 1. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” dips 6-8 on the Hot 100 after 10 weeks at No. 1 last June-August. It spends a 52nd week in the top 10, becoming just the fourth song to reach the milestone; Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” leads with 80 top 10 weeks in 2024-25. Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Kehlani’s “Folded” keeps at No. 10 after reaching No. 6. For a seventh consecutive week, seven songs by women place in the Hot 100’s top 10. It’s the longest streak of seven or more concurrent top 10s by women acts since an eight-week stretch in August-October 2014, which was highlighted by No. 1s for Taylor Swift (“Shake It Off”) and Megan Trainor (“All About That Bass”) and featured women monopolizing the top five for a record five consecutive weeks. Noah Kahan achieves his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as The Great Divide debuts atop the list dated May 9. The set, Kahan’s fourth full-length studio project, earned 389,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending April 30, according to Luminate. That marks Kahan’s biggest week by units, the largest week for a rock album by units since the chart began measuring by units at the end of 2014 and the third-biggest week of 2026 among all albums. Of The Great Divide’s 389,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, SEA units comprise 212,000 (equaling 215.37 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks, Kahan’s best streaming week and the biggest streaming week of 2026; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 175,000 (his best sales week; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 2,000. With 389,000 equivalent album units earned, The Great Divide scores the biggest week for a rock album since the Billboard 200 began measuring by units in December 2014. It surpasses the previous high by a rock set in that span, by the No. 1 debut of Dave Matthews Band’s Come Tomorrow, with 292,000 units (June 23, 2018). Plus, with 175,000 copies sold in pure album sales, the set notches the largest sales week for a rock album in nearly seven years, since Tool’s Fear Inoculum bowed at No. 1 with 248,000 (Sept. 14, 2019). Vinyl purchases comprise 118,000 of The Great Divide’s first week, which is both Kahan’s best week ever on vinyl and the best sales week on vinyl for a rock album in the modern era. A pair of former No. 1s follows Kahan on the latest Billboard 200, as Ella Langley’s Dandelion drops a spot to No. 2 (112,000 equivalent album units, up 6%) and Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem dips 2-3 (81,000, down 3%). Kehlani captures her fourth top 10-charted album on the Billboard 200 as her self-titled set debuts at No. 4 with 69,000 equivalent album units earned — the biggest debut for an R&B album by a woman in 2026. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 45,000 (equaling 45.37 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 5 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 24,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. BTS’ former No. 1 Arirang falls 4-5 on the latest Billboard 200 (56,000 equivalent album units, down 8%), while Justin Bieber’s Swag slips 5-6 (47,000, down 22%). Michael Jackson’s Thriller re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 7 with 45,000 equivalent album units earned (up 425%), following the April 24 release of the Michael biopic in movie theaters and its blockbuster opening weekend at the U.S. and Canada box office. Thriller, which spent 37 weeks at No. 1 in 1983-84 — the most weeks at No. 1 for an album by a singular artist — was last in the top 10 on the Dec. 3, 2022-dated chart, when it jumped 115-7 after its 40th anniversary reissue. Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving falls 6-8 on the latest Billboard 200 (43,000 equivalent album units, down 7%), Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time drops 10-9 (39,000, down 2%) and Kahan’s Stick Season steps 11-10 (38,000, down 2%).

Record Of The Month
'Fever Dream' by Alex Warren is his new smash and the first sign of a new album?

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
'Rein Me In' rules a ninth week
Monday, May 4, 2026
by Alan Jones, London
 
It’s another banner week for Olivia Dean who topples one namesake, draws level with a long-standing record by another, and racks up another hit. Not to be reined in yet, Dean, alongside Sam Fender, reclaims the No.1 slot with Rein Me In. Increasing consumption 3.40% to 58,189 units (44 7-inch vinyl,

658 digital downloads and 57,487 sales-equivalent streams), the track benefits from a slump by Drop Dead, which debuted at No.1 last week for Olivia Rodrigo but now slips to No.2 with a 39.99% dip in consumption to 39,276 units. On its 28th week in the Top 10 and 45th consecutive week in the Top 40, Rein Me In secures its ninth week at No.1, equalling the record for a sung male/female duet, set way back in 1978 by You’re The One That I Want by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John. Umbrella by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z spent 10 weeks at No.1 but Jay-Z, who goes Awol after 33 seconds, only raps, not sings. Dean’s other former No.1, Man I Need re-enters the Top 10 (11-9, 25,730 sales) on its 37th straight week in the Top 40, and is the only other track in the top tier to increase consumption. So Easy (To Fall In Love) also increases consumption, as it falls (22-24, 15,451 sales). Meanwhile, Baby Steps – which, under primary artist rules, has been ’starred-out’ in

each of the previous 30 weeks that have elapsed since its release on Dean’s The Art Of Loving album – finally makes its debut (No.31, 13,527 sales), becoming her 12th hit, after being released on 7-inch vinyl (525 sales). With to-date consumption of 423,506 units, it is the 10th song by Dean to go gold. Although the Coachella effect is fading, Justin Bieber continues at No.3 (35,168 sales) with Beauty And A Beat (feat. Nicki Minaj), while there is a dip for Daisies (5-6, 31,272 sales) and a re-entry, also on falling consumption, for Yukon (No.27, 14,098 sales) as it eclipses Baby to become Bieber’s third most-consumed track this frame. There’s jockeying for positions but no new peaks in the Top 10, the rest of which reads: Dracula (4-4, 34,831 sales) by Tame Impala, Fever Dream (6-5, 32,545 sales) by Alex Warren, Homewrecker (7-7, 20,689 sales) by Sombr, Lush Life (9-8, 26,290 sales) by Zara Larsson and Babydoll (10-10, 25,409 sales) by Dominic Fike, whose other hit, White Keys (8-11, 25,215 sales) is the only track to lose its Top 10 status this week. Overall singles consumption is up 3.03% week-on-week to 33,723,786 units, 6.18% above same week 2025 sales of 31,760,641 units. That’s its highest tally since it reached the all-time high of 34,498,059 units 18 weeks ago, in the week ending on Christmas Day last year. Paid-for sales are down 19.20% week-on-week at 269,905, 3.15% above same week 2025 sales of 261,654. Bridging the great divide between our two nations, Noah Kahan becomes the first American to top the UK album chart thus far in 2026, with more than a third of the year already gone. Kahan’s fourth studio album, The Great Divide cruises to a No.1 debut after achieving the second-highest first-week sale of the year, with consumption of 55,826 units (16,967 CDs, 16,351 vinyl albums, 612 digital downloads and 21,896 sales-equivalent streams). Only Kiss All The Time: Disco, Occasionally by Harry Styles has done better in 2026, with an opening frame of 183,045 when it debuted at No.1 seven weeks ago. The 29-year-old from Vermont wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on The Great Divide, which has already spun-off three Top 20 hits – the title track, Porch Light and Doors, the latter making its debut this week. Kahan’s breakthrough third album, Stick Season, also reached No.1…eventually, doing so 69 weeks after its release, and 35 weeks after it first charted, on the day its title track was No.1 single for the seventh week in a row, and the day after he completed a UK tour in February 2024. Stick Season had first week consumption of 775 units, achieving its highest weekly tally (21,145 units) as it topped the chart for the first and only time. Present in the chart for 151 consecutive weeks since its debut, the album has filled every position in the Top 25, and accumulated consumption of 818,095 units – the 28th highest of any album in the 2020s – including 5,327 in the latest frame as it dips 14-20. Kahan’s 2019 debut album, Busyhead, has never made the Top 200, but has to-date consumption of 91,746 units, while 2021 follow-up I Was/I Am made its only Top 200 appearance in the wake of Record Store Day in 2024, reaching No.70 after being issued in a limited coloured vinyl edition. Its to-date consumption: 35,404 units. Considerably more popular here than in their US homeland where none of their studio albums to date has charted higher than here, Foo Fighters might have hoped for their seventh UK No.1 with 12th studio set, Your Favorite Toy. It was never really in the race against Kahan but debuts at No.2 (15,980 sales) nevertheless, earning them a creditable 14th Top 10 and 18th Top 75 entry across studio, live and hits sets. Topping the box office chart despite a critical drubbing, Michael Jackson biopic Michael has reignited massive interest in the late ‘king of pop’, who died nearly 17 years ago. The official soundtrack set, Michael: Songs From The Motion Picture leads the way, debuting at No.4 (13,244 sales). 2003 compilation Number Ones re-enters at No.5 (9,267 sales), while 1982’s Thriller surges 65-8 (7,251 sales), and 1987’s Bad rockets 52-13 (6,302 sales). The only Jackson album in the chart heading the wrong way is 2005 compilation The Essential, which spent six weeks at No.1 following his death in 2009, but which slides 5-14 (6,268 sales) this week. The cause of that blip is the complicated relationship between the track listings of Michael, Number Ones and The Essential, with pure sales order dictating where the streams from common tracks (both solo and Jacksons/Jackson 5 material) are directed for chart purposes. In this particular case, The Essential is the loser. For the record, with pure sales of 4,124, all of the soundtrack’s 13 tracks contributed to its streams. With 1,151 pure sales, Number Ones came next but was denied streaming points from the nine tracks the two albums share. With 388 pure sales, The Essential is the last of the three, and was not allocated streams from any tracks it shared with either of the other two. All former No.1s, Thriller and Number Ones are both at their highest chart positions since just after Jackson’s death in 2009, while Bad was last higher in 2012, immediately after the release of a 25th anniversary edition. Rounding out the Top 10: The Art Of Loving (3-3, 14,546 sales) by Olivia Dean, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (7-6, 8,287 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, You’ll Be Alright, Kid (10-7, 8,204 sales) by Alex Warren, +-=÷× Tour Collection (11-9, 6,903 sales) by Ed Sheeran and Kiss All The Time: Disco, Occasionally (9-10, 6,817 sales) by Harry Styles. Overall album sales are down 1.04% week-on-week to 2,692,340 units, 2.90% above same week 2025 sales of 2,616,587. Physical product accounts for 314,604 sales, 11.69% of the total.