USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Ella Langley's 'Choosin' Texas' rises to No. 2
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Harry Styles earns his third Hot 100 leader, and second to debut in the top spot, after “As It Was” arrived at No. 1 in April 2022 to begin a 15-week reign. His first No. 1, “Watermelon Sugar,”

spent a week atop the chart in August 2020. Released at 7 p.m. ET Jan. 22, followed by the premiere of its official video Jan. 23, “Aperture” arrives on the Hot 100 with 18.2 million official streams and 27.1 million radio airplay audience impressions and sold 4,000 in the United States in its first full week of release (ending Jan. 29). The single launches at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, where it’s Styles’ second leader, after “As It Was”; No. 19 on Radio Songs, tying “As It Was” for his highest start; and No. 4 on Digital Song Sales. “Aperture” instantly develops as the 1,186th Hot 100 No. 1, and the 88th to debut in the top spot. Reflecting warm welcomes for new music in 2026, Styles’ “Aperture” is the second Hot 100 No. 1 debut so far this year. It dethrones Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might,” which spent its first two weeks on the chart at No. 1 the previous two frames; this week, it drops to No. 6. This year marks the earliest that two songs have debuted at

 No. 1 on the Hot 100. It surpasses 2024 by three days, as Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?” debuted atop the Jan. 27 chart that year, followed by Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hiss” on the Feb. 10 survey. Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” rises 3-2 for a new Hot 100 high. Notably, Columbia Records holds the chart’s top two places, with Styles’ “Aperture” on Erskine/Columbia and “Choosin’ Texas” on Sawgod / Columbia / Triple Tigers. Columbia is the first label in 2026 to claim the Hot 100’s top two rungs, after being the last to do so in 2025, when Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” both on Columbia / Legacy, were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the Dec. 13 chart. As Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” slips to No. 3 on the Hot 100 from its No. 2 best, it becomes the most prominent song on radio, rising a spot to No. 1 on Radio Songs (63.2 million, up 1%). “Man I Need” supplants Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” atop Radio Songs, after the latter led for a record-tying 27 weeks. On the Hot 100, “Ordinary” backtracks 5-7 after 10 weeks at No. 1 beginning last June. Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, Huntr/x’s “Golden” holds at No. 4, after eight weeks at No. 1 beginning last August. It won at the 68th annual Grammys ceremony for best song written for visual media, marking the first Grammy victory for a song associated with Korean pop. Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” falls 3-5 on the Hot 100 after 10 weeks at No. 1. Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, sombr’s “Back to Friends” descends to No. 8 from its No. 7 high, Kehlani’s “Folded” slides 8-9 after hitting No. 6; and Swift’s “Opalite” keeps at No. 10, after reaching No. 2. After a nearly 40-year wait, Megadeth achieves its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. The metal band’s new self-titled set, which also marks its expected final studio album, debuts atop the list dated Feb. 7. Megadeth made its Billboard 200 chart debut in 1986 and has placed 23 albums on the ranking through its career. Until this week, the band had gone as high as No. 2, with 1992’s Countdown to Extinction. The new self-titled album earned 73,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending Jan. 29, according to Luminate — marking the act’s best week, by units earned, since the chart began ranking by units in December 2014. The bulk of that sum was driven by pure album sales (purchases of physical and digital copies of the album), totaling 69,000. That’s the biggest sales week for any Megadeth album since 1999, when Risk opened with 74,000 sold. The new album was released on Jan. 23, a day after the documentary Megadeth: Behind the Mask was released in movie theaters. The band’s farewell tour kicks off on Feb. 15 in Victoria, British Columbia. Of Megadeth’s 73,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, album sales comprise 69,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 4.23 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Sales of the album got a boost from its availability across more than a dozen vinyl variants, a Target-exclusive CD with a bonus track, and the mid-week release of deluxe digital download version of the album with another bonus track. Megadeth’s debut of 73,000 units marks the lowest sum at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since last May, when SZA’s SOS returned to No. 1 on the May 3-dated chart with 52,000 units. Dating to Megadeth’s debut on the Billboard 200, the band’s 39-year, three-month and one-week wait for its first No. 1 is the longest any act has waited for a first No. 1 since 2016. That January, David Bowie hit No. 1 for the first time with Blackstar (released two days before he died). Blackstar debuted at No. 1 on the Jan. 30-dated chart, nearly 43 years and 10 months after Bowie charted his first album in April 1972 with Hunky Dory. Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1 I’m the Problem climbs 4-2 on the latest Billboard 200 with 69,000 equivalent album units earned (though down 7%). Olivia Dean's The Art of Loving bumps 7-3 (51,000, down 9%), Zach Bryan’s chart-topping With Heaven on Top moves 5-4 (49,000, down 30%) and A$AP Rocky’s Don’t Be Dumb falls to No. 5 (46,000, down 63%) after debuting at No. 1 last week. Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 The Life of a Showgirl steps 8-6 (45,000 equivalent album units earned, down 15%) and YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Slime Cry slips 6-7 in its second week (41,000, down 42%). Three former No. 1s round out the rest of the top 10: the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is up a spot to No. 8 (40,000, down 14%), Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS dips 3-9 (36,000, down 70%) and SZA’s SOS rises 11-10 (35,000, down 6%).

Record Of The Month
'I Just Might' by Bruno Mars is the first big global release of 2026
and also the first sign of his new album 'The Romantic', available February 27.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
'Raindance' takes over the crown
Monday, February 2, 2026
by Alan Jones, London
 
Twelve weeks after debuting at No.5, Raindance edges 2-1 for Dave & Tems on consumption of 50,474 units (318 digital downloads, 50,156 sales-equivalent streams). Ending the two-week reign of Djo’s End Of Beginning – which mirrors its activity, falling 1-2 (45,325 sales) – Raindance is the fourth

Aperture is the introductory single from Harry Styles’ upcoming fourth solo album, Kiss All The Time: Disco Occasionally, and makes an emphatic debut atop the chart, with first week consumption of 70,498 units (1,739 digital downloads and 68,759 sales-equivalent streams). It is the first single to debut at No.1 since The Fate Of Ophelia opened at the summit for Taylor Swift on consumption of 132,501 units last October. The third No.1, eighth Top 10 hit and 17th Top 75 entry of the solo career of Styles, who turns 32 on Sunday (February 1), it is his eighth No.1, 23rd Top 10 and 46th Top 75 hit in all, including his 2011-2015 output as a member of One Direction. The release of Aperture triggers increased consumption of Styles’ entire oeuvre, with his three solo albums hitherto all reaching their highest chart placing for more than two years, while his last No.1 single – As It Was, which spent 10 weeks at the summit in 2022 – enjoys a 50.31% rise in

unadjusted consumption and escapes ACR to re-enter the chart at No.28 (11,986 sales). It has now spent 66 weeks in the Top 40, more than all but nine other songs in chart history, and has accumulated consumption of 3,384,118 units – the highest of his career, even beating One Direction’s top tune, What Makes You Beautiful (2,535,868 units). Aperture is the only new arrival in the Top 10, and bumps former incumbent, Raindance – which finally reached the apex last week for Dave & Tems – down to No.2 (45,377 sales). Zara Larsson’s Lush Life continues its viral re-emergence, holding at No.7, while achieving its highest weekly consumption (31,140 units) since 2016, when it peaked at No.3. The gap between it and her new hit – the title track of latest album, Midnight Sun – continues to shrink, with the latter track jumping 29-26 (12,245 sales). The rest of the Top 10, all of which suffer reduced consumption greater than the overall market, are: End Of Beginning (2-3, 42,164 sales) by Djo, Where Is My Husband! (3-4, 41,156 sales) by Raye, The Fate Of Ophelia (4-5, 36,196 sales) by Taylor Swift, I Just Might (5-6, 32,317 sales) by Bruno Mars, So Easy (To Fall In Love) (6-8, 30,745 sales) by Olivia Dean, Rein Me In (8-9, 28,574 sales) by Sam Fender & Olivia Dean and Die On This Hill (9-10, 27,324 sales) by Sienna Spiro. Overall singles consumption is down 0.14% week-on-week to 31,443,504 units, 4.87% above same week 2025 sales of 29,982,061 units. Paid-for sales are up 9.41% week-on-week at 271,061, 6.76% above same week 2025 sales of 253,900. Ten years to the month since the band went on indefinite hiatus, the chart’’s first ever One Direction solo double sees Louis Tomlinson open atop the album chart with How Did I Get Here?, while Harry Styles debuts at No.1 on the singles chart with Aperture. How Did I Get Here? is Tomlinson’s third solo studio album, and his second to reach No.1, although its first week consumption of 28,416 units (15,535 CDs, 6,851 vinyl albums, 1,208 cassettes, 2,578 digital downloads and 2,244 sales-equivalent streams) is 19.6% below the 35,239 units his last album, Faith In The Future, achieved on its 2022 No.1 debut. It is, however, 92.93% more than the 14,729 units Tomlinson’s introductory solo album, Walls, achieved when it debuted and peaked at No.4 in 2020. Consisting entirely of new songs co-penned by Tomlinson, How Did I Get Here? has already spawned three singles though none of them have made the Top 75, with the first, Lemonade, proving the most visible, peaking at No.89 last October. Going out in style: Megadeth’s self-titled 17th and final studio album debuts at No.3 (14,294 sales). Their fifth Top 10 and 15th Top 75 entry, it thus matches their all-time highest-chart position, as set by their most recent album, 2022’s The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead!, on much lower first week sales of 5,441 units. It is their highest weekly sale surpassing the 13,373 tally achieved on debut by their sixth studio album Youthanasia in 1994. The thrash metal legends’ lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter, 64-year-old Californian Dave Mustaine, is the only member to have been with the band since its 1983 inception – before current guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari was even born. With current single Pins And Needles receiving considerable support from BBC Radio 2, Scottish singer/songwriter Callum Beattie’s new album, Indi, secures the 36-year-old from Musselburgh his first Top 10 entry, debuting at No.4 (9,183 sales). He previously reached No.68 with 2020 album People Like Us and No.22 with 2023 release Vandals but failed to make much of an impression with 2012 debut, This Time This Place, which has to-date consumption of just 238 units. All but one of the 12 songs on Indi were co-written by Beattie and David Sneddon, who had a No.1 single in 2003 with Stop Living The Lie, and also co-wrote four songs on the new No.1 album by Louis Tomlinson. The rest of the Top 10: The Art Of Loving (2-2, 15,994 sales) by Olivia Dean, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (5-5, 8,636 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, The Highlights (7-6, 7,469 sales) by The Weeknd, +-=÷× Tour Collection (12-7, 6,510 sales) by Ed Sheeran, Man’s Best Friend (9-8, 6,130 sales) by Sabrina Carpenter, The Life Of A Showgirl (13-9, 5,888 sales) by Taylor Swift and The Essential (15-10, 5,818 sales) by Michael Jackson. Overall album sales are down 1.05% week-on-week at 2,570,936 units, 1.76% above same week 2025 sales of 2,526,353. Physical product accounts for 305,739 sales, 11.89% of the total.