Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' Tops Billboard Hot 100 for Seventh Week, Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber's 'I Don't Care' Debuts at No. 2
Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, leads the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a seventh week.
The song fends off Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber's "I Don't Care," which blasts in at No. 2. Plus, Billie Eilish achieves her first top five Hot 100 hit, as "Bad Guy" bounds from No. 9 to No. 4.
Let's run down the top 10 of the newest Hot 100 (dated May 25), which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (May 21).
As on the Hot 100, "Road" rules the Streaming Songs chart for a seventh week, with 103.1 million U.S. streams (down 1%) in the week ending May 16, according to Nielsen Music. The song set the weekly streaming record following the April 5 arrival of its remix with Cyrus, and now claims six of the eight biggest streaming weeks ever:
Total weekly U.S. streams, Title, Artist, Chart date
143 million, "Old Town Road," Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, April 20, 2019
125.2 million, "Old Town Road," April 27, 2019
116.2 million, "In My Feelings," Drake, July 28, 2018
114.4 million, "Old Town Road," May 4, 2019
106.2 million, "In My Feelings," Aug. 4, 2018
104.1 million, "Old Town Road," May 18, 2019
104 million, "Old Town Road," May 11, 2019
103.1 million, "Old Town Road," May 25, 2019
Volume for "Road" should surge on next week's charts (dated June 1) following the Friday (May 17) premiere of its official video.
The track dips to No. 2 on the Digital Song Sales chart, after four weeks at No. 1, with 69,000 downloads sold (down 12%) in the week ending May 16.
On the Radio Songs chart, "Road" pushes 4-3, with 83.8 million audience impressions, up 8%, in the week ending May 19. It also takes over atop both the Rhythmic Songs (2-1) and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop (7-1) format airplay charts, marking Lil Nas X's first No. 1s on any Billboard radio rankings. Cyrus, meanwhile, scores his first No. 1 on an airplay tally since his breakthrough smash "Achy Breaky Heart" dominated Country Airplay for five weeks in May and June 1992.
"Road" concurrently crowns the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a seventh week each.
Sheeran and Bieber's "I Don't Care," released at midnight ET Friday, May 10, soars onto the Hot 100 at No. 2, as it opens at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales (77,000) and No. 3 on Streaming Songs (34.1 million) and charges 33-13 on Radio Songs (49.1 million). Like "Road," the official video for "Care" premiered Friday (May 17).
Top 10 totals: Bieber banks his 15th Hot 100 top 10 and Sheeran adds his seventh. While "Care" marks their first song co-billed as artists, Sheeran co-wrote two Bieber top 10s: "Love Yourself" (No. 1 for two weeks in February 2016) and Major Lazer's "Cold Water," featuring Bieber and MO (No. 2, August 2016).
Bieber and Sheeran also contributed vocals to Lil Dicky's recent No. 17 Hot 100 hit "Earth," in the roles of, respectively, a baboon (who's like a man, just less advanced, and … they have other differences …) and a koala bear (that sleeps all the time; so what? It's cute).
No. 1 in sales: Bieber adds his ninth Digital Song Sales No. 1 and 30th top 10. Sheeran scores his fourth No. 1 and 10th top 10. Taylor Swift leads all artists with 16 No. 1s and 45 top 10s on the tally.
Most No. 2 debuts: Bieber extends his mark for the most No. 2 entrances on the Hot 100 to four. He previously opened at the runner-up spot with "Boyfriend" (April 14, 2012), "Sorry" (Nov. 14, 2015) and "Cold Water" (Aug. 13, 2016). Of those songs, "Sorry" went on to hit No. 1 (for three weeks).
"Care" is the 28th single to debut at No. 2 on the Hot 100. Mariah Carey made the first such arrival with "Always Be My Baby" (April 6, 1996), which subsequently reigned for two weeks.
More Max Martin: Sheeran and Bieber co-wrote "Care" with Max Martin, among the song's six authors. Martin boasts 22 Hot 100 No. 1s and nine hits that have hit No. 2 (including "Care"). He last reached such heights as a writer via Ariana Grande's "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored," which debuted at its No. 2 peak in February.
Jonas Brothers' former one-week Hot 100 leader "Sucker" rises 4-3 and becomes the trio's first No. 1 on the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart. It spends a fifth week atop Pop Songs, where it's also the act's first No. 1.
Billie Eilish notches her first top five Hot 100 hit as "Bad Guy" roars 9-4, besting its prior No. 7 peak. The track returns to its No. 2 high on Streaming Songs (from No. 3), up 4% to 39.9 million U.S. streams; rises 11-8 on Digital Song Sales (15,000, up 15%); and debuts at No. 43 on Radio Songs (24.1 million, up 42%).
Post Malone's "Wow." rebounds 6-5 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 2, and his and Swae Lee's one-week No. 1 "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" rises 7-6.
Sam Smith and Normani's "Dancing With a Stranger" revisits the Hot 100's top 10 and its No. 7 high (from No. 11), as it rules Radio Songs for a second week (106.6 million, up 4%).
Taylor Swift's "Me!," featuring Brendon Urie, drops 3-8 on the Hot 100, after arriving at No. 2 two weeks ago, and Khalid re-enters the top 10 (12-9) with his No. 8-peaking "Talk," which becomes his fourth Radio Songs top 10 (12-6; 70.2 million, up 21%, good for top Airplay Gainer honors on the Hot 100). "Talk" tops the Hot R&B Songs chart for a fourth week.
Rounding out the Hot 100's top 10, Halsey's two-week No. 1 "Without Me" backtracks 8-10, as it ties for the eighth-most weeks spent in the top 10 in the chart's 60-year history:
Most weeks in Hot 100's top 10
33, "Girls Like You," Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B, 2018-19
33, "Shape of You," Ed Sheeran, 2017
32, "Sicko Mode," Travis Scott, 2018-19
32, "Closer," The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey, 2016-17
32, "How Do I Live," LeAnn Rimes, 1997-98
31, "Uptown Funk!," Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, 2014-15
30, "Smooth," Santana feat, Rob Thomas, 1999-2000
29, "Without Me," Halsey, 2018-19
29, "Party Rock Anthem," LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock, 2011-12
Find out more Hot 100 news on Billboard.com this week, and, for all chart news, you can listen (and subscribe) to Billboard's Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast and follow
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billboardcharts. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (May 21), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The next issue of Billboard magazine is on sale Friday (May 24).