Global Chart
Report
----------------------------------
'Billie Jean'
turns back to no.1
Sunday, May 24, 2026
by Fred Chuchel, Dresden
What a great
surprise!! 43 years after its seven
week run atop the Global Track
Chart, Michael Jackson's classic
'Billie Jean' returns to the summit
of the Global Track Chart for an
eighth week with 231,000 points. The
musical biographical film 'Michael'
ensures that many of Michael
Jackson's biggest hits returns to
the international hitlists. It's the
third time that 'Billie Jean'
reaches the top three, the song was
seven weeks at number one in March /
April 1983 and placed no.2 on the
Year-End Chart 1983. After Michael
Jackson's death it returned and
peaked at no.3 in the calendar week
28, 2009. With a total of 11,294,000
points 'Billie Jean' reaches no.52
on our historical
ALL TIME CHART.
Broken down by sectors the song gets
195,000 points by streaming (down
3,5%), 32,000 points by sales (down
11%), but only 4,000 points by
airplay (down 2%). Justin Bieber's 'Beauty And A
Beat', a collab with rapper Nicki
Minaj, ruled the Global Track Chart
the last four weeks
and sails now at no.3 with 215,000
points (183,000 points by streaming,
28,000 points by sales, and 4,000
points by airplay). Sandwiched
between 'Billie Jean' and 'Beauty
And A Beat' places 'Swim' by BTS
(Bangtan Boys) at the runner-up slot
with 217,000 points (down 5% with
166,000 points by streaming, 13,000
points by sales, and 38,000 points
by airplay). With the release of
three new albums by Canadian rapper
and singer Drake, six of his new
songs entering the Top 40, led by
'Janice STFU', which bows at no.5
with 202,000 points (170,000 points
by streaming, 30,000 points by
sales, and only 2,000 points by
airplay). Outside our Top 40
waiting among other 'Self Aware' by
Temper City at no.43, 'Bangaranga'
by Dara at no.51,
'Rein Me In' by Sam Fender & Olivia
Dean at no.59, and 'Be Her' by Ella
Langley at no.60 for their first appearance on
the hitlist. With three
simultaneously released albums in
the top five of our Global Album
Chart, Drake sets a historic record.
The 18-track effort 'Iceman' leads
the hitlist easily with 443,000
equivalent sales (222,000 points by
streaming + 21,000 points by sales).
'Habibti' follows at no.4 with
109,000 points (99,000 points by
streaming + 10,000 points by sales)
and 'Maid Of Honour' bows at no.5
with 108,000 points (99,000 points
by streaming + 9,000 points by
sales). Between these three sets are
last week's number one 'Cortis'
'GreenGreen' at the runner-up slot
with 135,000 consumption units
(5,000 points by streaming + 130,000
points by sales) and Noah Kahan's
'The Great Divide' at no.3 with
121,000 equivalent sales (104,000
points by streaming + 17,000 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
17,000 / 17,516,000, '1989 (Taylor's
Version)' by Taylor Swift 10,000 /
7,596,000, '21' by Adele 14,000 /
34,479,000, '25' by Adele 9,000 /
26,188,000, '30' by Adele 8,000 /
7,299,000, 'After Hours' by The
Weeknd 24,000 / 12,255,000,
'Cowboy Carter' by
Beyoncé 9,000 / 2,518,000, 'Divide'
by Ed Sheeran 19,000 / 22,973,000,
'Eternal Sunshine' by Ariana Grande
21,000 / 5,743,000, 'Evermore' by
Taylor Swift 8,000 / 7,160,000,
'Fireworks & Rollerblades' by Benson
Boone 14,000 / 4,282,000, 'Folklore'
by Taylor Swift 18,000 / 13,309,000,
'Future Nostalgia' by Dua Lipa
17,000 / 10,437,000, 'GNX' by
Kendrick Lamar 12,000 / 4,301,000,
'Guts' by Olivia Rodrigo 26,000 /
5,975,000, 'Hit Me Hard And Soft' by
Billie Eilish 49,000 / 8,318,000, 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' by
The Weeknd 17,000 / 2,999,000, 'I
Barely Know Her' by Sombr 40,000 /
2,240,000, 'I've
Tried Everything But Therapy' by
Teddy Swims 20,000 / 4,521,000, the
soundtrack to 'K-pop Demon Hunters'
47,000 / 4,818,000,
'Mayhem' by Lady GaGa
22,000 / 3,354,000, 'Midnights' by
Taylor Swift 13,000 / 13,522,000,
'One Thing At A Time' by Morgan
Wallen 32,000 / 10,723,000, 'Red
(Taylor's Version)' by Taylor Swift
9,000 / 7,242,000, 'Short n' Sweet'
by Sabrina Carpenter 43,000 /
7,478,000, 'So Close To What' by
Tate McRae 30,000 / 3,626,000,
'Sour' by Olivia Rodrigo 38,000 /
13,988,000, 'SOS' by SZA 50,000 / 14,041,000,
'Starboy' by The Weeknd 28,000 /
10,775,000, 'Stick Season' by Noah
Kahan 35,000 / 6,790,000, 'The Highlights'
by The Weeknd 16,000 / 11,068,000,
'The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest
Princess' by Chappell Roan 16,000 /
5,089,000, 'The Secret Of Us' by
Gracie Abrams 18,000 / 4,328,000,
'The Tortured Poets Department' by
Taylor Swift 29,000 / 12,264,000,
'Tropicoqueta' by Karol G 23,000 /
1,688,000, and 'When We All Fall
Asleep, Where Do We Go?' by Billie
Eilish 14,000 / 13,541,000.
GLOBAL NO.1 - 40
YEARS AGO
... "Kiss" was released on February
5, 1986, as the lead single from
Prince's eighth studio album, Parade
(1986). The song started as a rough
acoustic demo, with a verse and
chorus written by Prince. He gave
his demo to the funk band Mazarati.
But in the end, Prince decided to
finish the song and added the
signature guitar and falsetto vocal.
The distinctive "ah-wah-ah" backing
vocals were taken from 60s icon
Brenda Lee. "Kiss" went to the
number one position in the United
States and reached the Top 10 in
United Kingdom, Germany, Canada,
Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium,
Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, and
New Zealand.
USA
Billboard Report
(excerpt)
Drake makes history at
Nos.1, 2 & 3 on Billboard
200
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
by Keith Caulfield & Gary
Trust, Los Angeles
Drake takes
over the top of the
Billboard 200 albums chart
as his three new albums,
Iceman, Habibti and Maid
Of Honour,
debut at Nos. 1, 2 and 3,
respectively, on the chart
dated May 30.
All three albums
were released on Friday, May
15. It’s the first time that
an artist has held the top
three on the Billboard 200
concurrently since it began
publishing on a regular,
weekly basis in March 1956.
Iceman also
yields Drake his 15th No. 1
album, pushing him ahead of
Jay-Z for the most No. 1s
among solo men and
R&B/hip-hop artists, and
tying him with Taylor Swift
for the most No. 1s among
soloists. Only one act is
ahead of Drake and Swift:
The Beatles, with a record
19 No. 1 albums. While Iceman had
been teased for months before
it dropped, the existence of
the other two albums was
only announced during a
livestream on
May 14, shortly before the
trio of titles was released.
Iceman enters
with 463,000 equivalent
album units earned in the
United States in the week
ending May 21, marking the
second-largest week of 2026
for an album and the biggest
week of the year for an
R&B/hip-hop set. Habibti and Maid
Of Honour launch
with 114,000 and
110,000
units, respectively. Of Iceman’s
463,000 equivalent album
units earned in the latest
tracking week, SEA units
comprise 449,000 (equaling
462.2 million on-demand
official streams of the
set’s 18 tracks; it debuts
at No. 1 on Top Streaming
Albums), album sales
comprise 13,000 (only
available as a digital
download, it debuts at No. 5
on Top Album Sales) and TEA
units comprise 1,000. Of Habibti’s
starting sum of 114,000, SEA
units comprise 108,000
(equaling 110.63 million
on-demand official streams
of the set’s 11 tracks; it
debuts at No. 2 on Top
Streaming Albums), album
sales comprise nearly 6,000
(it debuts at No. 12 on Top
Album Sales) and TEA units
comprise a negligible sum.
As for Maid
Of Honour,
of its first-week total of
110,000, SEA units comprise
104,000 (equaling 105.48
million on-demand official
streams of the set’s 14
tracks; it debuts at No. 3
on Top Streaming Albums),
album sales comprise 6,000
(it debuts at No. 11 on Top
Album Sales) and TEA units
comprise a negligible sum.
For the first time in nearly
a year, the top four titles
on the Billboard 200 each
exceed 100,000 equivalent
album units earned for the
week. Following Drake’s trio
of albums is Noah Kahan’s The
Great Divide,
which falls to No. 4 after
three weeks atop the list.
In its latest tracking
week, The
Great Divide earned
101,000 equivalent album
units (down 24%). Following
Kahan on the latest
Billboard 200 is a trio of
former No. 1s. Ella
Langley’s Dandelion dips
2-5 (98,000 equivalent album
units earned, down 2%),
Wallen’s I’m
the Problem falls
4-6 (84,000, down less than
1%) and Michael Jackson’s
Thriller
slips 5-7 (63,000, down 5%).
Jackson’s best-of
collection Number
Ones is
next, as it drops 6-8
(60,000, down 8%).
Lucki lands
his first top 10-charted
album as Dr*Gs
R Bad bows
at No. 9 with 51,000
equivalent album units
earned. Of that sum, SEA
units comprise 45,000
(equaling 48.39 million
on-demand official streams
of the set’s tracks, his
best streaming week; it
debuts at No. 9 on Top
Streaming Albums), album
sales comprise 6,000 (his
best sales week; it debuts
at No. 13 on Top Album
Sales) and TEA units
comprise a negligible sum.
First-week sales of the
album got a boost from
multiple physical variants,
including signed editions.
Rounding out the top 10 on
the latest Billboard 200 is
BTS’s former leader Arirang,
falling 8-10 with 42,000
equivalent album units
earned (down 4%). Drake claims
one of the most triumphant
weeks in the history of the
Billboard Hot 100 songs
chart, led by his “Janice
STFU” debuting at No. 1. The
song marks Drake’s 14th
career Hot 100 leader —
breaking him out of a tie
with Michael Jackson for the
most among solo males over
the chart’s 67-year
archives. Drake additionally
charts a new single-week
record 42 songs on the Hot
100 — surpassing Morgan
Wallen, who charted 37 for a
week last May. With 40
debuts (likewise, thus, a
single-week record), he also
becomes the first act ever
to have accumulated more
than 400 career entries on
the chart. “Janice STFU,”
from Iceman,
arrives with 40.7 million
official streams, 2.1
million radio airplay
audience impressions and
3,000 sold in the U.S. May
15-21. The single launches
atop the Streaming Songs chart,
where it’s Drake’s
record-extending 22nd No. 1,
with the second-biggest
streaming week of 2026,
after only Bad Bunny’s
“DtMF,” which drew 43
million in
February, following his
Super Bowl LX halftime show
performance. “Janice STFU”
has the highest sum for an
R&B/hip-hop title in more
than a year, since Kendrick
Lamar and SZA’s “Luther”
logged 45.2 million for a
week in March 2025. “Janice
STFU” also opens at No. 6 on
Digital Song Sales. Drake
also becomes the first
artist with as many as 10
No. 1 debuts on the Hot 100.
(His only leaders to start
not at the bottom, but not
on top: “In My Feelings,”
No. 6; “Work,” No. 9; “One
Dance,” No. 21; and “What’s
My Name?,” No. 83.) All
eight of his No. 1s this
decade have debuted at the
summit. Also new in the top
10 are following Drake
songs: “Ran to
Atlanta,” feat. Future &
Molly Santana (38.5 million)
at no.2, “Whisper My Name”
(34.5 million) at no.3,
“Shabang” (32.9 million) at
no.4, “National Treasures”
(31.7 million) at no.6,
“Make Them Cry” (30.1
million) at no.7, “Dust”
(29.1 million) at no.8, “2
Hard 4 the Radio” (27.1
million) at no.9, “Make Them
Pay” (25.3 million) at
no.10.
As Drake splashes into
unchartered chart waters,
“Janice STFU” interpolates
Lykke Li’s "I Follow
Rivers." That
song became a top 10 hitin
multiple countries in
2011-12 for the Swedish
artist, although it has
never reached a U.S. Billboard chart.
Drake holds nine of the Hot
100’s top 10 for a second
time, after becoming the
first artist with
such a haul on the Sept. 18,
2021, chart, the debut week
for his album Certified
Lover Boy.
Only Taylor Swift has bested
him, with three clean sweeps
of the Hot 100’s top 10,
thanks to the explosive
chart debuts for 2022’s Midnights (the
top 10),
2024’s The
Tortured Poets Department (a
record top 14)
and last year’s The
Life of a Showgirl (top
12).
One song, thus, interrupts
Drake’s presence in the
latest Hot 100’s top 10:
Ella Langley’s “Choosin’
Texas” at No. 5, down from
10 nonconsecutive weeks at
No. 1. The track is
essentially even week over
week in streams (27.7
million), while up 3% to
49.6 million in radio reach
and 26% to 9,000 sold —
helped by her record-setting
night at
the Academy of Country Music
Awards May 17.
Record Of The Month
'Fever Dream' by Alex Warren
is his new smash and the
first sign of a new album?
United Kingdom
Music Week Report
(excerpt)
'Rein Me In' rules a 12th
week
Monday, May 25, 2026
by Alan Jones, London
Drake released 41 new songs
(and two previously released
tracks) last Friday (May
15), across three albums.
Some put up a spirited fight
to earn him his seventh No.1
but all ultimately fell
short, leaving Rein Me In to
claim pole position for the
fourth week in a row, and
12th week in total for Sam
Fender & Olivia Dean, on
consumption of 47,622 units
(14 vinyl singles, 597
digital downloads and 47,011
sales-equivalent streams).
Securing its 31st week in
the Top 10 and 48th
consecutive week in the Top
40 – the former tally being
exceeded by only seven
songs, the latter by five –
the track continues to slow,
with consumption off 5.10%
week-on-week to its lowest
level – and the lowest for a
No.1 for 12 weeks.
Only seven songs have spent
longer at No.1, and Rein Me
In now shares the leadership
for most weeks at No.1 by a
duo with Wham!’s Last
Christmas. Rein Me In and
Last Christmas also share
second place for most weeks
at No.1 in the 2020s, with
only Ordinary (13 weeks) by
Alex Warren reigning longer.
Unless it outperforms the
market next week, however,
Rein Me In will fall into
ACR the following frame.
As for Drake, debuting at
No.2 with Janice STFU
(39,645 sales), No.3 with
National Treasures (36,862
sales), and No.6 with Make
Them Cry
(33,144 sales) is
not too shabby. They are but
the visible peak of a Drake
mountain, which, under
primary artist rules, sees a
further 34 of the 40 other
songs on his triumvirate of
new albums – Iceman, Maid Of
Honour and Habibti –
‘starred-out’ of the Top 75.
The only Drake songs on the
new albums previously
released - What Did I Miss?
from Iceman and Central Cee
collaboration Which One?
from Maid Of Honour, peaked
at No.27 and No.4 last year.
What Did I Miss? is
‘starred-out’ this week
between No.17 and No.18
(20,686 sales), but Which
One? is on ACR and outside
the Top 75 (its unadjusted
consumption is 10,208
units).
Drake’s new hits raise his
tally of Top 10 entries to
51, Top 40 entries to 100
and Top 75 entries to 155 –
the most of any act. In the
Top 200 Combined Tracks
chart – where ACR and
primary artist rules do not
apply – 33 Drake tracks put
in an appearance.
Despite the buffeting from
Drake, Michael Jackson
continues to have three
songs in the Top 10. All
fall while increasing
consumption slightly: Billie
Jean dips 3-4 (24,916
sales), Human Nature 6-8
(28,509 sales) and Beat It
5-9 (28,396 sales). The
Jackson 5’s 1970
chart-topper I Want You Back
continues to advance,
however, moving 27-26
(13,150 sales). A further 12
songs by Michael Jackson are
‘starred-out’ of the Top 75
under primary artist rules.
Unlike the three allocated
chart positions, they all
suffer small diminutions in
consumption. With Jackson
and Drake making the biggest
contributions, there are 59
songs ‘starred-out’ of the
Top 75 in total.
The rest of the Top 10:
Dracula (2-5, 33,746 sales)
by Tame Impala, Go (7-7,
31,196 sales) by The
Chemical Brothers and Drop
Dead (4-10, 25,331 sales) by
Olivia Rodrigo.
Overall singles consumption
is up 0.96% week-on-week to
32,442,514 units, 1.52%
above same week 2025 sales
of 31,955,897 units.
Paid-for sales are up 7.15%
week-on-week at 278,077,
3.26% above same week 2025
sales of 269,287.
Never
one to duck a challenge,
Drake becomes the first
artist in chart history to
simultaneously debut on the
chart with three albums of
new material, simultaneously
unleashing a triple bill
comprising Iceman, Maid Of
Honour and Habibti.
Cumulatively containing 43
songs – only two of which
had previewed as singles –
and a combined playing time
of 150 minutes, they are all
available only digitally
(for download and streaming)
at this juncture.
Despite this, and very mixed
reviews, they all make a
significant initial impact
on the chart with Iceman
debuting at No.1 (44,129
sales including 428 digital
downloads), Maid Of Honour
at No.6 (10,931 sales) and
Habibti at No.7 (9,748
sales). Raising his tally of
Top 10 entries to 17, they
join 2011 album Take Care
(49-45, 2,894 sales) in the
Top 75 for the 39-year-old
Canadian rapper and singer.
Iceman
– trailed by No.27 hit What
Did I Miss? – also spawns a
trio of new hits, and its
first week consumption
(despite competition from
Maid Of Honour and Habibti)
is 50.06% greater than the
29,408 units Drake’s last
studio solo album, For All
The Dogs, sold as it debuted
at No.1 in 2023. His biggest
first week sale came in
2016, when his fourth album,
Views, debuted at No.1 on
consumption of 78,397 units.
Views
used to be his most-consumed
set but with to-date
consumption of 992,927
units, it lost that honour
to Take Care six months ago.
His second album, Take Care
peaked at No.5 on debut in
2011, and has a career
record of 97 weeks in the
Top 75, including the last
45 consecutively. More
impressively, it has racked
up a massive 606 weeks in
the Top 200, occupying every
position between No.76 and
No.200 at least once, except
for No.77 and No.88, while
increasing its career cume
to 1,058,958 units.
Iceman
is Drake’s seventh No.1
album – and the 39th by a
Canadian act. The others,
and their tallies: 5: Celine
Dion, Michael Bublé, 4:
Arcade Fire, The Weeknd, 3:
Avril Lavigne, Bryan Adams,
Shania Twain, 2: Justin
Bieber, 1: Alanis
Morrisette, Neil Young,
Nickelback. NB: one of their
five members is American,
but Arcade Fire identify as
Canadian.
Drake’s Top 10 trifecta is
matched by Michael Jackson,
whose dethroned The
Essential dips to No.2
(30,778 sales) after a
fortnight at No.1, while
Thriller (5-4, 11,451 sales)
and Bad (6-8, 8,989 sales)
remain in the top tier. All
experience small declines in
consumption as do Off The
Wall (39-37, 3,225 sales)
and Dangerous (74-71, 2,321
sales).
The
rest of the Top 10: The Art
Of Loving (4-3, 11,729
sales) by Olivia Dean, The
Great Divide (3-5, 11,252
sales) by Noah Kahan, 50
Years: Don’t Stop (8-9,
7,884 sales) by Fleetwood
Mac and Kiss All The Time:
Disco, Occasionally (9-10,
7,669 sales) by Harry
Styles.
Overall album sales are down
0.13% week-on-week to
2,563,626 units, 1.32% below
same week 2025 sales of
2,530,275. Physical product
accounts for 240,716 sales,
9.39% of the total.