At #2 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 is ‘Die with a Smile,’ the collab between Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.
The song was released in August of 2024 and kicked around the top ten for months until finally reaching #1 in January of this year. It has been kept alive on the charts by the release of multiple alternate versions, a Grammy win, and inclusion on Gaga’s latest album, Mayhem.
I’m developing a theory that the Hot 100 over the last two decades has been a lot more stagnant than in previous years. In other words, fewer songs are spending a longer amount of time in the upper echelons of the chart.
I’m basing this admittedly half-baked idea on the fact that the 2013 edition of Throwback Thursdays has produced the most repeats by far. Just take a look at the chart on the week of July 27, 2013.
At the #2 spot on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 is ‘Leave the Door Open,’ a smooth R&B jam by Silk Sonic.
If you’re like me, this is the first you’ve heard of Silk Sonic, which you’ll quickly realize is a super-duo formed by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. Paak opened for Mars a few years ago and the two began a collaboration that culminated in the surprise drop of this song and a promise of a future album.
At #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 this week is Bruno Mars with ‘That’s What I Like,’ the second single from 24K Magic.
I like this song better than the album’s title track, which aimed for ‘Uptown Funk’ status but fell short. This one is sweeter and catchier. It has a hell of a cool video, too.
Rounding out Billboard’s top five are two more blog repeats — twenty one pilots with ‘Heathens’ and DJ Snake feat. Justin Bieber with ‘Let Me Love You.’ It’s been two months since I last did a Billboard countdown and yet half the top ten is intact. I guess you don’t see a lot of chart movement in the fall.
At #6 is Bruno Mars with ’24K Magic,’ his claim to retake the pop music throne after the runaway success of ‘Uptown Funk.’ And given that that track was actually a Mark Ronson tune, it’s actually been four years and two Super Bowl performances since Mars released his last album.
Meet Me In Montauk 