Thanks to streaming, the Billboard 200 is working just like it did in the ’80s, and Views is this year’s Purple Rain. Nick Jonas. Paul Simon. Dierks Bentley. Blake Shelton. Beyoncé. What do these music stars, ranging in age from 23 (Jonas) to 74 (Simon), have in common? In the last month, Drake has robbed [...] Read more

Hey, have you heard this song, “Bad Blood,” that topped Billboard’s Hot 100? What a hater’s anthem! You have to marvel at the nerve of this pop star. The lyrics are a parade of she-can’t-be-trusted sneers; the music is lurching, glossy strut-pop; and the high-pitched chants in the chorus are all sass. And can we [...] Read more

Maybe you can go home again. Maybe the world would actually prefer that you went home again. That’s the conclusion one draws from the explosive debut at the top of the Hot 100 by “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”—a buoyant pure-pop single by Justin Timberlake. It’s his lightest confection since the peak of his boy-band days with ’N Sync, and [...] Read more

The titular subject of Keanu, the just-released film debut by comedy duo Key and Peele, is an adorable kitten, battled over by warring drug gangs. But arguably, the movie’s spirit animal—and for music geeks, perhaps the best reason to see this charming, uneven film—is a British singer who peaked on the charts three decades ago. [...] Read more

While you were busy mourning Prince last week and playing “Purple Rain” for the 50th time, Billboard announced a new No. 1 single on its flagship Hot 100 chart. On the surface, “Panda” by Desiigner couldn’t have less to do with the purple god of self-contained, self-powered musical creativity. It’s by a neophyte Brooklyn rapper, [...] Read more

Thirty years ago—practically to the day, on a chart dated April 19, 1986—America’s top two singles were a No. 1 song named “Kiss” and a No. 2 called “Manic Monday.” In the pages ofBillboard magazine, on that week’s Hot 100, the chart-topping “Kiss” sported credits of exceptional consistency: artist, producer, and writer were all listed as “Prince and [...] Read more

Gibberish: For many, that’s what Rihanna’s “Work” sounds like the first half-dozen times. “Work work work work work work”—it starts off intelligibly enough, like she’s channeling a rough day for the Seven Dwarves. But before the song is even 25 seconds in, it’s hard to tell what she’s saying. Is that “La la la la [...] Read more

Here’s a fun trivia question: In terms of Billboard chart history, what do Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen, and Ed Sheeran have in common? I mean besides the fact that these quirky, downcast geeks became unlikely pop stars in the first place. Give up? Here’s the answer: These four troubadours have all scored No. [...] Read more

The pop star is deeply repentant for the grievous offense he caused us. He acknowledges that he behaved badly. If you were offended, he wants to offer you—all of you, the whole nation, really—a heartfelt apology. Here, he’s even captured his plea in melodic form, for posterity, expressing sincere remorse and a pledge to do [...] Read more

In the spring of 1983, as David Bowie’s 15th studio album Let’s Dance began its charmed climb up the charts, the album’s producer, Chic bandleader Nile Rodgers, was receiving regular phone calls from his friend and client. “David might not want me to say this,” Rodgers told Rolling Stone in 1989, for the magazine’s feature [...] Read more