Billboard Magazine May 13, 2023

ON MAY 6, NEARLY 2,000 FANS and hundreds of executives flocked to Miami’s Watsco Center for a very special new Billboard event: a celebration of Latin music’s most influential women, with compelling performances and riveting speeches delivered almost completely in Spanish. Millions more fans followed the action on social media or tuned in on Telemundo and Peacock to watch the program, Mujeres Latinas en la Música, which honored Shakira as Woman of the Year in her first public appearance since she moved to the United States. The event also saluted iconic singer-songwriter Ana Gabriel, up-and-coming Argentine songwriter Emilia, YouTuber-turned-singer Maria Becerra, Venezuelan sensation Evaluna, Afro-Colombian singer-activist Goyo and global powerhouse Thalia. Ivy Queen, the godmother of reggaetón, hosted the show and premiered her own new single, “Toma,” while Gabriel…

REMA AND SELENA GOMEZ’S “Calm Down” rises to a new No. 5 high on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated May 13), marking multiple unprecedented chart feats. The song ascends with 78.9 million in radio airplay audience (up 19%), 15.7 million official streams (up 1%) and 5,000 sold (up 3%) in the United States April 28-May 4, according to Luminate. Rema released the original version of “Calm Down” in February 2022 as a single from his debut solo album, Rave & Roses. Its remix with Gomez arrived last August, and that version’s official video premiered in September. Rema hits the Hot 100’s top five with his first entry on the chart. Gomez adds her fourth top five hit and first since “Lose You To Love Me” became her first No.…

What has surprised you about the longevity of “Tennessee Orange”? A lot of people in the beginning were like, “This is only going to be a football song, and people are only listening to it because it’s football season.” Since then, it’s still streaming like crazy and getting played on the radio. I don’t think some people were expecting it to outlive football season, but most people don’t look at it as a football song — they look at it as a love song. How have fans interacted with the song since its release in September? When it came out, I was on tour with Jamey Johnson. For the first two weeks, I didn’t play it because I thought nobody would know it. Now, that’s the loudest song everyone…

4 SZA SOS As SOS rules Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for an 18th week, it breaks Aretha Franklin’s record for the longest-leading No. 1 by a woman (set by Aretha Now in 1968, with 17 weeks). 8 Jack Harlow Jackman. Harlow scores his first No. 1 on Top Rap Albums as Jackman. jumps in with nearly 36,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending May 4, according to Luminate. 28 Grateful Dead Dave’s Picks Volume 46 The latest in the Grateful Dead’s long-running archival concert series marks the band’s 56th top 40-charting release, bringing it closer to the record of 58, shared by Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. 1 Morgan Wallen One Thing at a Time Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at…

SOUTH KOREA’S FIFTY FIFTY reaches the Billboard Global 200’s top five for the first time with its breakthrough hit, “Cupid.” The song shoots 8-5, bounding by 38% to 77.7 million streams and 54% to 4,000 downloads sold worldwide April 28-May 4, according to Luminate. The quartet — Aran, Keena, Saena and Sio — becomes the third K-pop group to have hit the Global 200’s top five, joining BTS (eight top five hits) and Blackpink (three). Meanwhile, “Cupid” sparks history on the Official U.K. Singles chart: It surges 18-9, making Fifty Fifty the first all-women K-pop group to have hit the top 10. On the Billboard Hot 100, “Cupid” flies 41-19, with top Streaming and Sales Gainer honors. It vaults 26-10 on Streaming Songs (16.1 million U.S. streams, up 41%)…

Seventeen notches its highest-charting album, and third top 10, on the Billboard 200 as its 10th Mini Album: FML debuts at No. 2. The set starts with 135,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States April 28-May 4, according to Luminate. It also launches at No. 1 on Top Album Sales (132,000 sold). —KEITH CAULFIELD NO. 12 A Monstrous Debut The National (above) rules the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart for a fifth total — and consecutive — time with its new set, First Two Pages of Frankenstein. The Matt Berninger-fronted band’s streak dates to May 2010’s High Violet. Frankenstein debuts with 32,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week, including 24,000 album sales. The set also debuts atop Vinyl Albums (with 15,000 format copies),…