Global Chart Report
----------------------------------
'Die With A
Smile' scores 2025 chart
Sunday, January 4, 2026
by Fred Chuchel, Dresden
28 years held Elton
John's 'Candle In The Wind 1997' - a
tribute to Diana, Princess Of Wales
who had died in an auto crash on
August 31, 1997 - the top position
of Media Traffic's
ALL TIME CHART.
Four years ago The Weekend's
'Blinding Lights' came very close to
being the new number one. But it
finally worked out some weeks ago: 'Die
With A Smile' by Lady GaGa & Bruno
Mars is the new leader! Released on
August 22, 2024, it generated a
total of 21,992,000 points so far.
On the Countdown Chart 2024 the song
ranked at no.5 with 8,166,000
points. And now on the Year-End
Chart 2025 it's the clear winner
with massive 13,703,000 points, the
highest level since The Weeknd's
'Blinding Lights' topped the
Countdown Chart 2020 with 15,302,000
points. 'Die With A Smile' was
placed in all 52 calendar weeks of
2025 on our tally, nine of it at
no.1. The other big smash of the
year was 'Apt.' by Rosé & Bruno
Mars, it ranks at the runner-up slot
of the Year-End
Chart with 12,947,000
points. The song was also placed on
last year's hitlist at no.15 with
5,275,000 points. 25 year-old
American singer / songwriter Alex
Warren brings the biggest release of
the year 2025, his chamber-pop smash
'Ordinary' was published on February
7 and became a huge success, lands
at no.3 globally in 2025 with a
total of 10,238,000 points. Here are
the complete
YEAR-END CHART.
Now back to our current weekly
tally: It's the most turbulent week
of the year, of the 29 carols from
last week's tally, only two remain.
As a result, we have 23 re-entries
(!!) and 4 new-entries this week.
Taylor Swift's 'The Fate Of Ophelia'
jumps back to the top for a fifth
non-consecutive with 372,000 points,
that's a 9% increase compared to the
previous week. Broken down by
sectors the song gets 211,000 points
by streaming (up 5,5%), 59,000
points by sales (up 48%), and
102,000 points by airplay (up 1%).
Also 'Golden' by the fictional girl
group Huntr/x - leading track from
the soundtrack to the American
animated musical fantasy film 'K-pop
Demon Hunters', released by Netflix
- storms back from no.6 to the
runner-up spot with 339,000 points
(up 5% with 225,000 points by
streaming, 36,000 points by sales,
and 78,000 points by airplay).
Olivia Dean's 'Man I Need' catapults
back from no.20 to no.3, a new peak
for the pop/soul smash. It generates
exactly 200,000 points this week (up
10,5% with 117,000 points by
streaming, 25,000 points by sales,
and 58,000 points by airplay). The
23 re-entries are led by Djo's 'End
Of Beginning', which returns at no.7
with 149,000 points. The synth-pop /
baroque pop song was originally
released in March 2024 and peaked on
the Global Top 40 at no.3 in the
calendar week 14, 2024. It gained
renewed popularity through its use in
Netflix’s Stranger Things
and
global
advertising clips. By the way, more
and more older songs are entering
the charts, on the current hitlist
there are three tunes from the 1980s
and another two from the 1990s. Six
songs are older than three years and
13 songs were published before 2025.
Outside
our current Top 40 waiting among
other 'Ghera Hua' by Shashwat
Sachdev | Arijit Singh | Irshad
Kamil | Armaan Khan at no.42, 'I
Thought I Saw Your Face Today' by
She & Him at no.45, and 'Folded' by
Kehlani at no.53 for
their first appearance on the
hitlist. Taylor Swift's 12th studio
album 'The Life Of A Showgirl'
leads the Global Album Chart 2025
far away from the competition with a
total of 7,586,000 equivalent sales,
the lion's share of it was generated
in its first week at retail with
stellar 5,371,000 consumption week.
It's the fourth year in a row, that
Taylor Swift tops the Year-End
Chart, a new alltime record! The
current album is also on the way to
a 10-million classic, it would be
her seventh (!!) effort which breaks
though this border. Previously the
following albums achieved this:'1989
(incl.Taylor's Version)' with 24,5
million, 'Midnights' (13,2 million),
'Lover' (13,0 million), 'Folklore'
(12,8 million), 'The Tortured Poets
Department' (11,5 million), and
'Reputation' (10,8 million). Back to
our Year-End Chart, where SZA's
'SOS' ranks a third year in a row on
that list with 4,887,000 equivalent
sales at the runner-up slot.
Released three years ago in December
2022, it was placed at no.4 on the
Countdown Chart 2023 with 4,255,000
sales, one year later it ranked at
the same position with 2,931,000
sales. Bad Bunny's 'Debí´Tirar Más
Fotos' rounds out this year's top
three with 4,377,000 consumption
units. He's now the biggest
latin-star of our time and his
legendary 'Un Verano Sin Ti' set
from 2022 gets a total of 10,5
million so far. Here's the complete
YEAR-END CHART. On the weekly tally
Taylor Swift's 'The Life Of A
Showgirl' defends the pole position of the
Global Album Chart for an eighth
non-consecutive week with another
131.000 equivalent sales (down 34%
with 79,000 points by streaming +
52,000 points by sales). Olivia
Dean's 'The Art Of Loving' rises
from no.5 to no.2 with 94,000
consumption units, despite a 7%
decline, with 74,000 points by
streaming + 20,000 points by sales).
The 'K-pop Demon Hunters' soundtrack
rounds out the current top three
with 91,000 equivalent sales (down
11% with 70,000 points by streaming
+ 21,000 points by sales). And now, as every week,
additional stats from outside the
current Global Album Top 20 in
alphabetic order. The first figure
means last week's sales, the second
figure the total sales: '1989' by
Taylor Swift 14,000 / 17,188,000,
'1989 (Taylor's Version)' by Taylor
Swift 14,000 / 7,365,000, '21' by
Adele 12,000 / 34,235,000, '25' by
Adele 10,000 / 25,993,000, '30' by
Adele 9,000 / 7,133,000, 'After
Hours' by The Weeknd 33,000 /
11,771,000, 'Borondo' by Beéle
35,000 / 1,466,000, 'Brat' by Charli XCX
20,000 /
4,375,000, 'Chromakopia' by Tyler,
The Creator 22,000 / 2,688,000, 'Cowboy Carter' by
Beyoncé 10,000 / 2,332,000, 'Divide'
by Ed Sheeran 19,000 / 22,604,000,
'Eternal Sunshine' by Ariana Grande
36,000 / 5,205,000,
'Evermore' by Taylor Swift 11,000 /
6,982,000, 'Fireworks &
Rollerblades' by Benson Boone 24,000
/ 3,929,000, 'Folklore' by Taylor
Swift 29,000 / 12,869,000, 'From Zero' by Linkin
Park 14,000 / 1,934,000, 'Future
Nostalgia' by Dua Lipa 18,000 /
10,116,000, 'GNX' by Kendrick Lamar
22,000 / 3,947,000, 'Guts' by Olivia
Rodrigo 20,000 / 5,522,000,
'Hurry Up
Tomorrow' by The Weeknd 26,000 /
2,620,000, 'I've Tried Everything
But Therapy' by Teddy Swims 29,000 /
4,067,000,
'Incómodo' by Tito Double P 14,000 /
2,769,000, 'Lux' by Rosalíá 42,000 /
549,000, 'Mayhem' by Lady GaGa
41,000 / 2,785,000,
'Mi Vida Mi Muerte' by Neton Vega
13,000 / 1,748,000,
'Midnights' by Taylor Swift 24,000 /
13,212,000, 'Muse' by Jimin 13,000 /
2,670,000, 'One Thing At A Time' by
Morgan Wallen 22,000 / 10,170,000,
'Red (Taylor's Version)' by Taylor
Swift 10,000 / 7,058,000, 'Rosie' by
Rosé 22,000 / 2,360,000, 'Ruby' by
Jennie 27,000 / 1,767,000, 'Starboy'
by The Weeknd 34,000 / 10,181,000,
'Stick Season' by Noah Kahan 35,000
/ 5,962,000, 'Swag' by Justin Bieber
22,000 / 1,569,000, 'The Highlights' by The
Weeknd 25,000 / 10,621,000, 'The Rise
And Fall Of A Midwest Princess' by
Chappell Roan 28,000 / 4,654,000, 'The
Secret Of Us' by Gracie Abrams
34,000 / 3,862,000, 'The Tortured
Poets Department' by Taylor Swift
42,000 / 11,584,000, 'Tropicoqueta'
by Karol G 30,000 / 1,226,000, 'Utopia' by
Travis Scott 11,000 / 5,847,000, and
'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do
We Go?' by Billie Eilish 15,000 /
13,269,000.
GLOBAL NO.1 - 20
YEARS AGO
...
"Hung Up", initially used in a number of television
advertisements and serials, was released on October 17, 2005 as the lead
single from Madonna's tenth studio album Confessions On A Dance Floor
(2005). The song prominently features a sample from the instrumental
introduction to Abba's hit single "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After
Midnight)", for which Madonna personally sought permission from Abba's
songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulaeus. Musically the song
influenced by pop from the 1980s, with a chugging groove and chorus and
a background element of a ticking clock that suggests the fear of
wasting time. Lyrically the song is written as a traditional dance
number about a strong, independent woman who has relationship troubles.
"Hung Up" reached only the no.7 position in the United States, but in
almost all other countries it went to number one. With a total of
8,698,000 points it was the second most successful single release of
2005, after James Blunt's 'You're Beautiful' with 9,527,000 points.
USA
Billboard Report
(excerpt)
'The Fate Of Ophelia' leads
a ninth week
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
by Keith Caulfield & Gary
Trust, Los Angeles
Taylor Swift's
“The Fate of Ophelia” tops
the Billboard Hot 100 for a
ninth week, besting
“Anti-Hero” as the sole
longest-leading hit among
her 13 career No. 1s. “The
Fate of Ophelia”
surges back to the Hot 100’s
summit from No. 28 as
holiday hits recede from the
chart’s upper reaches, a
week after they claimed a
weekly-best top 24 positions.
The lead single from Swift’s
album The
Life of a Showgirl reigned
in its first eight weeks on
the ranking, dating to its
mid-October debut.
“Anti-Hero” claimed its
eight-week No. 1 run upon
its start in November 2022.
“The Fate of Ophelia” drew
18.3 million official
streams (up 9%
week-over-week) and 60.7
million radio airplay
audience impressions (up
12%) and sold 30,000 (up
779%) in the United States
Dec. 26-Jan. 1. The single
adds an eighth week at No. 1
on the Streaming Songs chart;
falls to No. 3 from its No.
2 high on Radio Songs;
and lifts 5-4 on Digital
Song Sales after
six weeks at No. 1. It’s the
highest-selling song of the
week overall, with 26,000 in
physical singles, via vinyl
versions that shipped during
the tracking week, and 4,000
downloads. Ella Langley
achieves her first Hot 100
top 10, as “Choosin’ Texas”
soars 48-5 (topping its
prior No. 11 peak before the
holidays). It totaled 15.7
million streams (up 5%), 25
million in radio reach (up
2%) and sold 5,000 (up 1%)
in the tracking week. The
trad-country single rebounds
4-1 for a second week atop
Digital Song Sales, as it
leads the multimetric Hot
Country Songs chart for a
sixth week, dating to its
first in early December.
Huntr/x’s “Golden,” from
Netflix’s KPop
Demon Hunters,
flies 28-2 on the Hot 100,
after eight weeks at No. 1
beginning in August. Alex
Warren’s “Ordinary,” which
ruled the Hot 100 for 10
weeks starting in May,
returns at No. 3, tying for
the highest reentry in the
chart’s archives (reflecting
rules related, in part, to
the fall of holiday songs).
It adds a 24th week at No. 1
on Radio Songs (67.8
million, up 24%). Olivia
Dean’s “Man I Need” blasts
back, from No. 36, to its
No. 4 Hot 100 high.
Kehlani’s “Folded” rises to
a new No. 6 Hot 100 best,
from No. 51. Sombr’s “Back
to Friends” bounds 52-7 for
a new Hot 100 high. Swift’s
“Opalite” revisits the Hot
100’s top 10 (54-8), after
hitting No. 2, and two more
songs reenter the chart in
the tier: Leon Thomas’
“Mutt,” at No. 9 after
reaching No. 6, and Justin
Bieber’s “Daisies,” at No.
10 after peaking at No. 2.
Taylor Swift's
The Life of a Showgirl nets
a 12th nonconsecutive week
at No. 1 on the Billboard
200 albums chart (dated Jan.
11, 2026) with 81,000
equivalent album units in
the United States in the
week ending Jan. 1 (down
42%), according to Luminate.
The Life of a Showgirl marks
Swift’s sole second-longest
run at No. 1. It surpasses
the 11-week reigns of 1989
(2014-15) and Fearless
(2008-09). Only The Tortured
Poets Department, with 17
weeks at No. 1 in 2024, has
more weeks atop the list
among Swift’s 15 No. 1
albums, the most leaders
among soloists. Of The Life
of a Showgirl’s 81,000
equivalent album units
earned in the latest
tracking week, SEA units
comprise 47,000 (up 10%,
equaling 61.58 million
on-demand official streams
of the set’s tracks; it
rises 16-2 on Top Streaming
Albums), album sales
comprise 33,000 (down 66%;
it notches a 7th
nonconsecutive week at No. 1
on Top Album Sales) and TEA
units comprise 1,000 (up
25%). The top 10 of the
latest Billboard 200 gets
shaken up by the exodus of
most holiday titles, as the
new chart reflects the
tracking week of Dec. 26
through Jan. 1. In turn,
many non-holiday titles
surge up the list, even with
declines in overall
activity. Morgan Wallen’s
I’m the Problem climbs 6-2
with 69,000 equivalent album
units earned (down 8%),
...while fellow former No. 1
the KPop Demon
Hunters soundtrack sails
10-3 with 51,000 (down 18%).
Olivia Dean’s The Art of
Loving reaches a new high as
it vaults 14-4 (surpassing
its No. 5 peak in November)
with 50,000 (down less than
1%). Sabrina Carpenter’s
chart-topping Man’s Best
Friend rallies 19-5 with
40,000 (but down 5%). Peso
Pluma and Tito Double P’s
DINASTÍA debuts at No. 6 on
the Billboard 200, scoring
the former his third top 10
and the latter, his first.
The set launches with 33,000
equivalent album units
earned, of which SEA units
comprise essentially all
(equaling 45.29 million
on-demand official streams
of the set’s songs; it
debuts at No. 5 on Top
Streaming Albums). The album
was preceded by the single
“Intro,” which debuted at
its No. 8 high on the Hot
Latin Songs chart (dated
Dec. 6). Rounding out the
rest of the top 10 of the
new Billboard 200 are four
former No. 1s: SZA’s SOS
shoots 24-7 (32,000
equivalent album units, down
11%), Tate McRae’s So Close
To What jumps 27-8 (nearly
32,000, up 2%), Morgan
Wallen’s One Thing at a Time
drives 36-9 (27,000, up 1%)
and Sabrina Carpenter’s
Short n’ Sweet zooms 30-10
(nearly 27,000, down 8%).
Record Of The Month
As the first salvo from her
new album, Lux, Spanish
reggaeton and flamenco
artist Rosalíá has uncorked
a dazzling opus featuring
Björk, Yves Tumor and a
full-on symphony orchestra.
United Kingdom
Music Week Report
(excerpt)
Raye's 'Where Is My
Husband!' catapults at
no.1
Monday, January 5, 2026
by Alan Jones, London
I don’t know if Raye is partial to Christmas but
there’s good reason to believe that she is a fan of the annual
post-Christmas chart readjustment, which conspires to secure her a
second No.1 this week, exactly three years after it helped her to score
her first.
Twelve
weeks after it was released,
six weeks after it
debuted at No.31 and four weeks after its previous peak of
No.2, Raye’s 19th hit, Escapism (feat. 070 Shake) became her first No.1
this week in 2023, jumping from No.13 to the summit on consumption of
45,570 units.
In a very similar scenario, her 30th hit, Where Is
My Husband! rockets 48-1 in the latest frame, 15 weeks after its
release, 14 weeks after it debuted at No.4 and five weeks after its
previous peak of No.2, on consumption of 43,910 units (478 7-inch vinyl,
2,225 12-inch vinyl, 1,581 digital downloads and 39,626 sales-equivalent
streams).
All of the Top 20 and 57 of the Top 75 were
seasonal songs last week. This week, without exception, all have melted
away from the Top 20, although 18 remain in the Top 75, where there are
37 re-entries to the Top 75 and two new entries.
Nine of the Top 10 are returnees - the only song
to make the Top 10 for the first time is I Run, which previously peaked
at No.14 for Haven feat. Kaitlin Aragon, and now dashes
39-10 (21,239
sales).
Nine weeks after debuting at No.5, Raindance
reaches a new peak for Dave & Tems, jumping 27-3 (34,418 sales). Despite
this, it is the only song in the Top 10 to have reduced consumption
week-on-week.
Olivia Dean, who returns to the top of the album
chart with The Art Of Loving, simultaneously regains three berths in the
Top 10 of the singles chart, with So Easy (To Fall In Love) (78-4 28,084
sales), Rein Me In (with Sam Fender, 34-5, 26,676 sales) and Man I Need
(35-6, 26,467 sales). Of the three, Man I Need is the only one on ACR,
without which it would be No.1 on consumption of 52,073 units, while
Golden (42-8, 22,939 ACR units) by Huntr/X, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami &
KPop Demon Hunters Cast would be No.2 (44,890 sales), with Raye third.
Strange things happen in the first chart of the
year, and even stranger things happen when a streaming sensation which
frequently features period music comes to an end. Both of these factors
coincided this week with the last episode of the fifth and final series
of Netflix’s sci-fi drama Stranger Things dropping. Although it is not
in the programme, the biggest beneficiary is End Of Beginning, the 2022
recording which reached No.4 in 2024 for Djo – actually Stranger Things
star Joe Keery – catapulting 56-7 (24,202 sales). Running Up That Hill –
a 1985 No.3 hit for Kate Bush, which topped the chart in 2022 after
featuring in multiple episodes of the show – bounces 94-16 (15,481
sales).
Swedish singer Zara Larsson’s 2016 No.3 hit Lush
Life’s current viral revival – Larsson has been singing the track on her
current tour, being joined onstage by fans to perform a dance routine,
which has since spawned thousands of TikTok imitators – reaches new
heights, with the track surging 50-9 (21,320 sales) a week after it
overtook her Clean Bandit collaboration Symphony (3,036,561 units) to
become her top track, with to-date consumption of 3,066,802 units.
The only Top 10 song not mentioned so far is The
Fate Of Ophelia, which rebounds 40-2 (43,432 sales) for Taylor Swift –
and would be No.1 had it not been for Raye’s new vinyl drop.
All of last week’s Top 10 remain in the Top 75 but
fall anywhere between 20 and 63 places. They are: Last Christmas (1-21,
12,905 sales) by Wham!, XMAS (4-22, 12,776 sales) by Kylie Minogue, All
I Want For Christmas Is You (2-31, 10,310 sales) by Mariah Carey,
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (3-32, 9,724 sales) by Brenda Lee,
Underneath The Tree (6-44, 8,172 sales) by Kelly Clarkson, Fairytale Of
New York (5-45, 8,149 sales) by The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl, Jingle
Bell Rock (8-49, 7,707 sales) by Bobby Helms, Step Into Christmas (7-50,
7,670 sales) by Elton John, Merry Christmas Everyone (9-55, 7,416 sales)
by Shakin’ Stevens and Driving Home For Christmas (10-73, 6,610 sales)
by Chris Rea.
At an all-time high in the previous frame, overall singles consumption
slides 18.30% week-on-week to 28,183,511 units, a 51-week low but 6.08%
above same week 2025 sales of 26,568,005 units. Paid-for sales are down
3.39% week-on-week at 264,512, 3.70% below same week 2025 sales of
274,676.
Number two behind Kylie Minogue, Pink
Floyd and Michael Bublé for the last three weeks, The Art Of
Loving returns to pole position for Olivia Dean.
The album, Dean’s second, previously
topped the chart on debut 13 weeks ago, and again four weeks
ago, and has maintained an uninterrupted presence in the Top 5,
achieving overall consumption of 295,355 units, including 16,903
in the latest frame.
Comprising 1,050 CDs, 3,265 vinyl albums,
43 cassettes. 341 digital downloads and 12,204 sales-equivalent
streams, it is the lowest weekly tally for a No.1 album for 20
weeks, and extends to four the number of weeks in a row that
consumption of The Art Of Loving has fallen.
In the post-Christmas void, Sabrina
Carpenter’s latest album, Man’s Best Friend, is on the rise for
the fourth week in a row, and at a 13-week high, advancing 4-2
(11,309 sales). Number one on debut 17 weeks ago, it has
remained in the Top 10 ever since, and is joined in the top tier
this week by its 2024 predecessor Short N’ Sweet, which sprints
11-6 (6,512 sales).
At its highest position for 24 weeks,
Short N’ Sweet ends a 16-week absence from the Top 10. Man’s
Best Friend went platinum last week, while Short N’ Sweet will
go triple platinum next week, their lifetime consumption
currently standing at 315,926 and 897,535 units, respectively.
Both albums are being helped by strong vinyl sales – 2,667 for
Man’s Best Friend and 1,327 for Short N’ Sweet.
The opposite is true of Fleetwood Mac’s career-encompassing 2018
compilation, 50 Years: Don’t Stop, which sold the last of its
very limited vinyl run more than three years ago, yet still
springs 6-4, equalling the highest position of its career, as
previously achieved 36, 34 and 30 weeks ago, on consumption of
7,653 units – all from streaming apart from 48 CDs and one
digital download.
Its 124 weeks in the Top 10 represent the
longest tenure for any artist compilation in chart history. Its
latest fillip lifts it back above Fleetwood Mac’s indefatigable
1977 studio set, Rumours, which retreats from its 672-week high
of No.5 to No.11 (5,827 sales).
Sharing six of its 11 tracks with the most
generously proportioned version of 50 Years: Don’t Stop, its
retail profile is very different, with its latest tally
including 142 CDs, 1,951 vinyl albums, 45 digital downloads and
3,689 sales-equivalent streams. Given that Rumours is by far the
best-selling album on vinyl in the 21st century (350,719 sales),
it is surprising that 50 Years: Don’t Stop has been rationed to
just 2,721 sales in that format, and suggest that if and when it
is made available on vinyl again it could easily reach a new
peak.
The rest of the Top 10: The Life Of A
Showgirl (3-3, 8,976 sales) by Taylor Swift, The Highlights
(7-5, 6,956 sales) by The Weeknd, Diamonds (15-7, 6,206 sales)
by Elton John, So Close To What (12-8, 6,092 sales) by Tate
McRae, The Essential (14-9, 6,028 sales) by Michael Jackson and
+-=÷× Tour Collection (13-10, 5,859 sales) by Ed Sheeran.
Overall album sales are down 14.36% week-on-week at 2,486,707
units, their lowest level for 16 weeks but 4.67% above same week
2025 sales of 2,375,695. Physical product accounts for 426,530
sales, 17.15% of the total.
