USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Ella Langley takes Top 2 on Billboard Hot 100
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Ella Langley makes more chart history as “Choosin’ Texas” continues for a ninth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “Be Her” ascends to a new No. 2 high. Langley becomes the

first woman known for primarily recording country music to claim the Hot 100’s top two spots simultaneously over the chart’s 67-year history. Among all core-country acts, only Morgan Wallen has also achieved the feat, for a week last May. “Choosin’ Texas,” on Sawgod / Columbia Records, with Triple Tigers promoting it to country radio, totaled 26.6 million official streams (essentially even week over week), 47.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 7%) and 8,000 sold (down 2%) in the United States May 1-7. The single, which became Langley’s first Hot 100 No. 1 in mid-February, adds a 10th week atop the Streaming Songs chart; holds at its No. 6 best on Radio Songs; and rebounds one place for a sixth week atop Digital Song Sales. Below “Choosin’ Texas,” Langley’s follow-up single “Be Her” bursts 5-2 for a new Hot 100 high. Tame Impala and Jennie jump 18-10 on the Hot 100 with “Dracula.” The song improved to 12.1 million streams (up 5%),

23.1 million in radio reach (up 20%) and 2,000 sold (up 25%) in the tracking week. “Dracula,” originally released by Tame Impala solo last October — while its duet version arrived in early February — becomes each act’s first Hot 100 top 10. The act’s Kevin Parker previously hit the chart’s top 15 twice as a cowriter and coproducer, of Dua Lipa’s “Houdini” (No. 11, 2023) and Lady Gaga’s “Perfect Illusion” (No. 15, 2016). Similarly, Blackpink, with Jennie as a member, has come close to the top 10, reaching No. 13 in 2020 with “Ice Cream,” with Selena Gomez. Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead” rises 4-3 on the Hot 100, two weeks after it debuted at No. 1. Olivia Dean continues to chart two songs in the Hot 100’s top 10: “Man I Need” falls 3-4, after hitting No. 2, and “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” is steady at its No. 6 high. Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might” descends 2-5 after three weeks atop the Hot 100 in January to mid-March. It tops Radio Songs for a 12th week, with 76.1 million in audience (down 3%). Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” pushes 8-7 on the Hot 100 after 10 weeks at No. 1 last June-August. Langley lands a third Hot 100 top 10 for a second week, as “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” with Morgan Wallen, ranks at No. 8 a week after it debuted at No. 7. Kehlani’s “Folded” lifts 10-9 after reaching No. 6 on the Hot 100. Noah Kahan'’s The Great Divide spends a second week atop the Billboard 200 (dated May 16) following its debut a week ago. The set earned 163,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending May 7 (down 58% compared to its opening of 389,000), according to Luminate. The Great Divide is the first rock album to spend at least two weeks at No. 1 in nearly three years. Zach Bryan’s self-titled set was the last rock set with two weeks at No. 1, in September 2023. (Rock albums are defined as those that are eligible for, or have charted on, Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart.) Of The Great Divide’s 163,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, SEA units comprise 137,000 (down 35%, equaling 139.5 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks; it spends a second week at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 26,000 (down 85%; it falls 1-2 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise the remainder (down 66%). Ella Langley’s former leader Dandelion holds at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 103,000 equivalent album units earned (down 8%). Kacey Musgraves’ Middle of Nowhere debuts at No. 3 with 100,000 equivalent album units earned, her best week ever by units. It’s the singer-songwriter’s sixth top 10, all of which have debuted in the top five. Of the album’s starting figure, album sales comprise 64,500 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 35,000 (equaling 35.54 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs, it debuts at No. 10 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 500. Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1 I’m the Problem falls 3-4 on the latest Billboard 200 with 83,000 equivalent album units earned (up 3%). Michael Jackson has a pair of albums in the top 10 as the buzz generated from the Michael biopic continues to resonate on the chart. His chart-topping Thriller climbs 7-5 (62,000 equivalent album units, up 36%) and best-of set Number Ones, released in 2003, reaches the top 10 for the first time, rising 13-6 (62,000 units, up 65%), becoming his 11th top 10. With Number Ones’ ascent, Jackson, who died in 2009, has now claimed at least one new top 10 album in every decade from the 1970s onwards as a soloist. And, he’s only the fifth act overall to do so, joining Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and James Taylor. Jackson found two new top 10s in the 1970s (first with Ben peaking at No. 5 in 1972 and then with Off the Wall, which reached the top 10 in September 1979 and peaked at No. 3 in February 1980); two in the ’80s (Thriller, No. 1 for 37 weeks in 1983-84; Bad, No. 1 for six weeks in 1987); two in the ’90s (Dangerous, No. 1 for four weeks in 1991-92, and HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book 1, No. 1 for two weeks in 1995); two in the 2000s (Invincible, No. 1 for one week in 2001, and his first posthumous top 10, the soundtrack to Michael Jackson’s This Is It, No. 1 for one week in 2009); two in the ’10s (Michael, No. 3 in 2011 and Xscape, No. 2 in 2014); and now one in the ’20s with Number Ones. BTS’ chart-topping Arirang falls 5-7 on the latest Billboard 200 (49,000 equivalent album units earned, down 13%), Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving is steady at No. 8 (42,000, down 3%), Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 9 (40,000, up 3%), and Bad Bunny’s former No. 1 DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS climbs 12-10 (37,000, down 3%).

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United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
'Rein Me In' rules a 10th week
Monday, May 11, 2026
by Alan Jones, London
 
On its 29th week in the Top 10 and 46th consecutive week in the Top 40, Rein Me In secures its 10th week at No.1 for Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – and it’s further ahead in percentage terms than at any time during its reign. Although its consumption slips 2.84% week-on-week to 56,538 units

(23 7-inch vinyl, 726 digital downloads and 55,789 sales-equivalent streams), it has a 65.79% lead over Dracula (4-2, 34,102 sales), which returns to peak for Tame Impala, although it has the lowest consumption for a No.2 for 60 weeks. Rein Me In’s lead is the biggest in percentage terms for a No.1 for 48 weeks. Four weeks after reaching its previous peak of No.12, Midnight Sun shines 19-7 (28,318 sales) for Zara Larsson, buoyed by streaming of the newly expanded version of the album of the same name. Eclipsing her viral revival Lush Life (8-9, 27,048 sales), which peaked at No.3 in 2014 and again this year, Midnight Sun is Larsson’s seventh Top 10 entry and becomes her 12th song to go gold, with to-date consumption of 416,717 units. For its part, Lush Life has spent 31 weeks in the Top 10 in all - a total exceeded by only seven songs in chart history - and is days away from going sextuple platinum (3,590,695 sales). Consumption of music by Michael Jackson

started to grow strongly after the screening of the BBC’s new three-part TV documentary An American Tragedy last month, and increased spectacularly following the release of his new biopic Michael, which sits atop the box office chart despite largely negative reviews from critics. Songs by Jackson solo, in collaborations and with the Jacksons/Jackson 5 achieved consumption of 428,066 units in the latest frame. The charge is being led by Billie Jean, which soars 13-4 (31,831 sales) this week, with Beat It (22-10, 25,404 sales) and Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (23-15, 23,491 sales) following in its wake. Top 10 hits not mentioned to this point: Drop Dead (2-3, 33,088 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo, Fever Dream (5-5, 29,240 sales) by Alex Warren, Beauty And A Beat (3-6, 28,959 sales) by Justin Bieber feat. Nicki Minaj and Homewrecker (7-8, 27,842 sales) by Sombr. Overall singles consumption is down 4.35% week-on-week to 32,258,059 units, 3.65% above same week 2025 sales of 31,122,520 units. Paid-for sales are up 1.54% week-on-week at 274,073, 4.05% above same week 2025 sales of 263,410. Michael Jackson is No.1 for the first time in more than a decade, with compilation The Essential stealing the honours from sales flashes leaders Melanie C and Kneecap. Last No.1 in 2014, when Xscape – a posthumous compilation of previously unreleased tracks – topped the chart, Jackson has three albums in the Top 10, and 12 in the Top 200 (including Jacksons/Jackson 5 releases), as the box office success of biopic Michael continues to fuel rapidly increasing consumption across his entire catalogue. Soaring 14-1 with 29,453 sales (397 CDs, 121 digital downloads and 28,935 sales-equivalent streams), the rise of The Essential – a No.2 album on release in 2005 which subsequently spent seven weeks at No.1 after his death in 2009 – contrasts starkly with the Top 75 exits of two Jackson albums that graced the top five last week - the Michael soundtrack (4-76, 2,333 sales) and Number Ones (5-127, 1,729 sales). That is because pure sales order dictated where the streams from common tracks (both solo and Jacksons/Jackson 5 material) were directed for chart purposes last week - but record companies have the option to ‘lock’ streams to a specific compilation, as long as the tracks are on it, and Sony has nominated to do that with The Essential this week. As a result, it vacuums up ALL of the streams that songs on Michael and Number Ones actually registered in the week, leaving them with only their pure sales, hence their sudden and dramatic decline. It is a quirk of the chart that streams can count towards both a studio album and a compilation, so although this decision had consequences for the compilations, it failed to stop the march of Jackson’s studio albums, with 1982 No.1 Thriller advancing 8-6 (10,640 sales), 1987 No.1 Bad moving into the Top 10 for the first time in 14 years (13-8, 8,790 sales), and 1979 No.3 album Off The Wall surging 80-47 (3,067 sales). Up against more experienced chart campaigners Melanie C and Michael Jackson in a terrific three-way tussle for No.1, controversial hip-hop trio Kneecap sales-flash supremacy evaporated as the week progressed, with their album, Fenian ultimately debuting at No.2, while securing higher consumption (23,983 units) than any album NOT to be No.1 for 27 weeks. Fenian is Kneecap’s second album: their eight-song, 30-minute 2017 mixtape 3CAG has only had its consumption tracked since last June by OCC, since when it has logged 96 units. The song of that title is not on that album, appearing instead as the introductory track of debut album proper Fine Art, which gave the band their UK breakthrough, reaching No.43 in 2024, and securing to-date consumption of 46,907 units. Middle Of Nowhere earns 37-year-old Texan singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves her sixth Top 75 and fourth Top 10 album, debuting at No.7 (9,267 sales). Her seventh studio album, it is the fifth country album to make the Top 10 already this year – a record for this stage – following earlier efforts from Zac Bryan, Luke Combs, Jane McDonald (sic) and Ella Langley. The rest of the Top 10: The Great Divide (1-4, 16,398 sales) by Noah Kahan, The Art Of Loving (3-5, 15,004 sales) by Olivia Dean, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (6-9, 8,095 sales) by Fleetwood Mac and You’ll Be Alright, Kid (7-10, 7,719 sales) by Alex Warren. The Art Of Loving revisits the lowest position of its 32-week chart career, but with its highest consumption for five weeks, and the highest for a No.5 since it occupied that rung itself 27 weeks ago. Overall album sales are down 3.71% week-on-week to 2,592,356 units, 3.09% above same week 2025 sales of 2,514,591. Physical product accounts for 310,228 sales, 11.97% of the total.