February 2014 - Chris Molanphy

Why This Year’s Best Original Song Oscar Could Make Chart History

17 February 20142 February 2019

When it comes to winter and popular music, you might as well call it Event Season—the Billboard charts are shaken and stirred almost weekly by a series of major televised happenings. Just as we’re coming down from the momentary high of the Grammys, the Super Bowl comes along and sends a pair of albums by halftime [...] Read more

Katy Perry’s Spinal Tap–worthy performance of “Dark Horse” on last week’s Grammys. Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Slate Why Is This Song No. 1?

Why Is Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” No. 1?

4 February 20142 February 2019

Before we talk about the new No. 1 song in America—Katy Perry’s latest in a hit-packed, half-decade career—here’s a quick pop-music pop quiz. In 2010–11, Perry tied an impressive chart record when her album Teenage Dream generated five No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Hot 100. She matched a 23-year-old mark set by Michael Jackson, whose [...] Read more