Noah Kahan's coronation as an A-list superstar is complete, as The Great Divide debuts atop the Billboard 200 albums chart — and all of its songs land on this week's Hot 100. One other superstar makes serious chart waves, as well: the late Michael Jackson.
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Noah Kahan has been putting out singles on a national scale since 2017, and he's been a mainstay on the Billboard charts ever since he broke through with Stick Season in 2022. That record has sat on the Billboard 200 albums chart for more than three years — and in 2024, its title track became his first top 10 hit.
Kahan's rise has been gradual and constant. But it's never taken him all the way to the top of the albums chart, until now. His fourth album, The Great Divide, debuts at No. 1 this week thanks to blockbuster sales — 175,000 copies sold — and the biggest streaming numbers for any record released this year.
How big? Consider this: On the day of The Great Divide's release, Kahan's label dropped a deluxe edition (The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs) on streaming services, expanding the album from 17 songs to 21. Now, all 21 of those songs are scattered across this week's Hot 100, led by "Doors" at No. 9.
Streaming tends to carry over from week to week, as algorithms feed listeners more of what they've already enjoyed. So The Great Divide seems primed to follow in the footsteps of Stick Season — which itself jumps back into the top 10 this week.
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The Great Divide has boosted Noah Kahan to rock's A-list. The other big chart news this week involves an A-list pop star — the late Michael Jackson, who's the subject of the controversial blockbuster biopic Michael.
This week, the movie jump-starts the singer's 1982 classic Thriller, which re-enters the Billboard albums chart at No. 7. And one of that record's most durable hits, "Billie Jean," returns to the top 40.
In a way, Jackson's post-Michael chart performance is even bigger than it appears at first glance: Not only does Thriller hit No. 7, but the greatest-hits package Number Ones climbs to No. 13, while Michael: Songs From the Motion Picture debuts at No. 37. Yet another compilation, The Essential Michael Jackson, re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 158. Add 'em all up, and that's four different albums that all contain "Billie Jean," among other Jackson classics.
Also landing in the top 10 this week: the R&B singer Kehlani's new self-titled album, which debuts at No. 4. It's Kehlani's fourth record to hit the top 10.
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If you dream of one day landing a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, consider this pro tip: It's a great time to be named either Ella or Olivia.
Last week, Olivia Rodrigo debuted at No. 1 with "drop dead," which knocked Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" out of the top spot. This time around, "Choosin' Texas" returns to the top for an eighth very nonconsecutive week — the song has had five different brief runs at No. 1 — as "drop dead" drops to No. 4.
Jumping ahead of Olivia Rodrigo: Olivia Dean, who climbs to No. 3 with "Man I Need." But "drop dead" does remain ahead of Langley's "Be Her" and Olivia Dean's "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively. Oh, and all of them need to stay on the lookout for Langley's "I Can't Love You Anymore (feat. Morgan Wallen)," which debuts at No. 7 after it was released as an add-on to Langley's new album Dandelion.
So, if you're keeping score: The top seven songs include three by Ellas (OK, just one Ella, but she's kept busy) and three songs by Olivias. Behind them — and lonely Bruno Mars, who climbs to No. 2 with "I Just Might" — is the one song best suited to survive any Ella-and-Oliviapocalypse: Alex Warren's "Ordinary," which this week becomes just the fourth song ever to spend 52 weeks in the top 10.
If we're ever going to rid ourselves of "Ordinary," we're gonna need more Ellas. C'mon, people: Ella Mai just put out a new record like three months ago. We can do this.
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