How Is ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Still Spinning Off More Top 10 Hits Two Months Into Its Run?

Another week, another round of new accomplishments for KPop Demon Hunters and its soundtrack.

This week, “How It’s Done” — performed in the movie by fictional girl group superheroes HUNTR/X — hits the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time, moving 14-10 on the chart. It joins “Soda Pop” (10-5) and “Your Idol” (static at No. 4), both by boy band film antagonists Saja Boys, as well as HUNTR/X’s “Golden” (which returns 2-1) as the fourth simultaneous top 10 hit from KPop Demon Hunters, a record for concurrent top 10 hits among movie soundtracks.

How big a deal is this latest chart benchmark? And will the soundtrack’s popularity last the rest of the year at this point? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.

1. The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack notches its fourth top 10 hit this week — as “How It’s Done” meets “Soda Pop,” “Your Idol” and “Golden” in the chart’s top tier — making it the first soundtrack to ever notch four simultaneous top 10 hits, and just the second to have four total. On a scale from 1-10, how massive an achievement do you think this is for the movie and its soundtrack? 

Stephen Daw: I mean, if this isn’t a 10, I don’t know what is. I can practically guarantee you that no one involved in the creation or promotion of this film ever thought that KPop Demon Hunters would not only spawn a No. 1 Hot 100 hit but break records for the most soundtrack songs within the chart’s top 10. There are a lot of iconic film soundtracks that haven’t achieved this level of immediate appeal and success, which only goes to show how well-crafted this soundtrack is.

Kyle Denis: 10. I mean it’s beyond massive, right? KPop Demon Hunters is accomplishing things — albeit in a different consumption era — that classic soundtracks like Saturday Night Fever couldn’t. The soundtrack to be performing this impressively is representative where the cultural zeitgeist currently is, both regarding (film and music) streaming and global pop in non-English languages. 

Jason Lipshutz: A 10. Not only has KPop Demon Hunters become an out-of-nowhere musical phenomenon, its magnitude has now become historic: it is the first soundtrack with four simultaneous top 10 hits in the history of the Hot 100. Think of all of the culturally dominant movie soundtracks in the modern music era — none of them have produced as many huge hits at the same time. Even the highest expectations for the KPop Demon Hunters couldn’t have included a No. 1 single, a slew of top 10 hits and essentially the entire soundtrack in the top 40 of the Hot 100 — this is record-busting stuff, and easily a 10-out-of-10 achievement.

Andrew Unterberger: Like a 9.5? Gotta save something for it ties or breaks the overall record I guess.

Abby Webster: I’d give it a solid 8 or 9! Clearly no one — even the soundtrack’s creators — expected KPop Demon Hunters to have this level of impact. On top of all its other achievements, it feels pretty significant to see a girl group so high on the charts for the first time in forever, even if HUNTR/X is technically fictional. (Sidenote: “How It’s Done,” the work of longtime BLACKPINK producer Teddy Park, has now officially bested the IRL K-pop group on the Hot 100, since their highest chart peak is at No. 13 with Selena Gomez collab “Ice Cream.” Fight back, girls!)

2. “Golden” not only returns for a second week at No. 1, it continues to rise in streams, sales and airplay. Is it time to start taking “Golden” seriously as a contender to match the 10-week run atop the Hot 100 of “Ordinary,” the song it’s traded off the top spot with the past few weeks? 

Stephen Daw: If there is a song out there that can surpass Alex Warren’s streak (outside of any unreleased Taylor Swift songs from The Life of a Showgirl), it’s clearly “Golden.” Every indicator says this song is only getting bigger and bigger, which means it could very well be a long-lasting hit atop the charts. If anyone still isn’t taking “Golden” seriously, they must not be paying attention. 

Kyle Denis: I would say yes, but the next ten weeks include high-profile album releases from Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift, so I wouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch.  

Jason Lipshutz: It’s still a little early — especially considering the high-profile pop releases about to arrive and potentially knock “Golden” out of the top spot. Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend is going to be a pretty huge pop event this Friday, and in a little over a month, Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl will be a seismic event; maybe “Golden” holds steady at No. 1 to close out the summer, but I’d be surprised if it’s still up there as we get into the fall.

Andrew Unterberger: It doesn’t seem nearly as unlikely as it did just a couple weeks ago. Radio was always going to be the final piece of the puzzle, and it just keeps growing there — who knows when research will dictate an end to that, but it if it keeps on this path for the next month or two, it is going to start racking up those weeks on top a lot quicker and longer than any of anticipated.

Abby Webster: If it means “Ordinary” is done in the top spot for good, I’ll start manifesting now.

3. Not only does KPop Demon Hunters have four top 10 hits now, it has several hits not all that far removed from the region — including three in the top 25, “What It Sounds Like” (24-20), “Free” (23-20) and “Takedown” (26-25). Considering the record for top 10 hits off a soundtrack is five (set by Waiting to Exhale in 1995-96), do you think KPDH will tie that record, best it, or fall just short?

Stephen Daw: As unbelievable as the soundtrack’s performance has been, I would be very surprised if two more of these songs managed to make up the ground and enter the top 10, especially as we head into a new-release-packed fall. I think “What It Sounds Like” could definitely wind up just outside of the top 10, but I highly doubt more of these songs break the barrier. But then again, I didn’t think any of the chart feats this soundtrack has accomplished would happen in the first place, so who knows, maybe anything is possible at this point. 

Kyle Denis: KPop Demon Hunters has defied every last expectation I had for its chart performance so far. With that being said, I think it’ll tie the record. 

Jason Lipshutz: Sadly, I think it falls just short — which is a bummer, considering that “What It Sounds Like” is my favorite song off the soundtrack! I’d be pretty surprised if it can climb up 10 more spots, though, and I also don’t see “What It Sounds Like,” “Free” or “Takedown” cycling into the top 10 after the higher-charting soundtrack songs start to dwindle. Who knows, though? Even as someone who sniffed out the KPop Demon Hunters explosion fairly early, the soundtrack has blown away all of my prognostications. It’s already set a few records, and I could certainly see it setting a few more.

Andrew Unterberger: The fact that it’s even a conversation is absolutely wild. I think ultimately this fourth one will most likely be the last one, but who knows? Another month or so of growth, and if the Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift songs don’t end up sticking immediately… five, six, even seven are all possibilities. It’s a reverse album bomb the likes of which we’ve never really seen on the Billboard Hot 100 before.

Abby Webster: Honestly, it’s a little surprising that “What It Sounds Like” and “Free” aren’t a little higher on the chart already — like “Golden,” the former is a powerful pop song with in-and-out-of-movie-universe emotional resonance, while the latter is essentially a radio-friendly duet. So I could see a world where those two rise and tie the record. 

4. Now that we’re seemingly past the initial curiosity stage of the KPop Demon Hunters cycle, what do you think is still keeping the movie and its soundtrack going up two months in? 

Stephen Daw: There’s two things at play here. First, the music on this soundtrack is just very catchy. It’s simple, but true — these songs are composed in a way that keeps you coming back for more, and the performances from EJAE, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna in particular scratch that melodic itch in people’s heads. 

But the other thing that I think is really benefitting this album is its own success, weirdly. I didn’t watch KPop Demon Hunters for the first six weeks that it was out, simply because it didn’t seem like something I would be into. But after “Golden” kept climbing the charts and eventually went No. 1, I finally caved and wanted to tune in to see what this cultural moment that I was clearly missing out on was — and I had a blast watching this movie! The more this unlikely hit continues to dominate, the more people will continue to tune in, which will only make the album and film succeed even more. 

Kyle Denis: I’m not even sure we’re past the initial curiosity stage. I think for the top 40 world and routine pop music listeners that stage has passed, but it’s a massive country and there are millions of people who are being exposed to this movie and soundtrack for the first time every week. I think the relentlessly uptempo, pure pop sound of the Demon Hunter songs — “Golden” specifically — also offer something different for the 2025 top 40 scene, which is currently ruled by overbearing, CCM-coded ballads like Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” and still shaking off the last bits of 2024’s country crossover moment.  

Jason Lipshutz: A combination of radio adoption and repeat viewings. “Golden” has fully transcended the film to become a standalone hit, which has helped broaden its appeal to top 40 radio listeners who are still unaware of KPop Demon Hunters and simply want to listen to a catchy K-pop song. Meanwhile, the family-friendly Netflix movie has undoubtedly earned replay after replay from kids, who in turn want to keep listening to the music on their favorite streaming service. Once it became clear that KPop Demon Hunters was resonating as an animated musical on a global streaming service, the potential for a months-long cultural takeover, a la the Disney smashes of the past, was clear. It has more than fulfilled that potential over the past two months.

Andrew Unterberger: It’s at the point now where the act of consuming it is almost as much of a joy to its fans as the thing itself. Once a fandom is at that level there’s really no limit to how big things can get.

Abby Webster: Another thing KPop Demon Hunters has successfully cribbed from K-pop: a strong and committed fanbase! I don’t think word of mouth has necessarily died down, since I’m still getting texts from K-pop skeptics in my life who finally put the film on out of curiosity. But superfans are clearly enjoying repeat viewings, whether that’s the kids who have watched it fifty-plus times or the families that turned out to 1,750 theaters this weekend for the sing-along screenings.

5. True or false: KPop Demon Hunters will still have songs in the Hot 100’s top 10 at the end of the calendar year.

Stephen Daw: True. I think everything will probably get cleared out of the top 10 by Taylor Swift when The Life of a Showgirl drops, but once that first week is over, I think songs like “Golden” and “Your Idol” will make their way back into the top 10 and probably stay there until the holiday takeover.

Kyle Denis: Like I said, all HUNTR/X and Saja Boys have done this year is prove me wrong, so I’m going with true. 

Jason Lipshutz: True! Considering how stagnant the top of the Hot 100 has been this year — and how huge these soundtrack songs have become — it’d be impossible to bet against them. Maybe there will even be a holiday-themed remix or two: “Eggnog (Soda Pop Holiday Edition)”? “Gelt (Golden Hanukkah Remix)”? The possibilities are endless!

Andrew Unterberger: I think it will have song — “Golden” specifically. Songs plural, I dunno. But “Your Idol” keeps outpacing my expectations, and then again so do the rest of them so yeah, I can’t predict this with any real amount of confidence.

Abby Webster: True, possibly? I assume Taylor Swift is coming to reset the top 10 with The Life of a Showgirl, but there’s a chance Oscar campaigning may play a role — with nominations announced in January 2026, I think it could make sense for “Golden,” at the very least, to see a bump at the end of this year.

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Which Song Will Be Crowned the Song of the Summer For 2025? | Billboard News

We’re taking a look at all the songs that have seen chart success this year and asking fans — and members of the Billboard charts team — which song they think was the song of the summer for 2025.

Tetris Kelly: We’re taking a look at some of this year’s contenders for songs of the summer 2025 … 

Trevor Anderson: I mean, we’re out here, you know, about two weeks from Labor Day, so the contest is kind of wrapping up,

…and we got our chart experts and fans to help us do it. 

Fan: That song, oh my god, it’s been everywhere

“Ordinary” has been No.1 on the Hot 100 for weeks. But is everybody ready to call it song of the summer? 

Fan: It’s all over TikTok and people doing like the trends and everything by me, when I heard that like it was like blowing up, I was really happy about it, because I was like, I like this song. 

Sabrina Carpenter’s album is on the way, and her fans are thinking, “Manchild.” 

Fan: It was summer, windows down in your car, let’s drive to it. She’s so smart when she releases music. 

Meanwhile, Ravyn Lenae has everybody talking. 

Fan: I’ve always liked seeing black artists like have their success and have their moment, so it makes me really happy that she’s getting the flowers that she deserves, finally.

Watch the full video above!

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Which Moment From Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce’s Relationship Is Your Favorite? Vote!

After years spent collecting rings of his own, Travis Kelce finally offered one to Taylor Swift when he asked her to marry him.

More than two years after Travis Kelce became “engulfed in the curiosity” of who Taylor Swift was after attending one of her Eras tour shows for the first time at Arrowhead Stadium, then publicly shooting his shot with the pop star shortly after, America’s royal couple took to Instagram to announce their engagement in a joint post.

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the caption read alongside a “TNT” emoji, which fans have guessed the couple uses as a nickname for themselves (“Travis n’ Taylor”) after Swift was spotted wearing a gold bracelet with the initials at one of the Chiefs’ football games last year.

The engagement announcement comes two weeks after Swift joined Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, for a two-hour conversation that delved into their relationship, broke down Swift’s purchase of her master recordings, reflected on the Eras tour and of course, announced her brand new twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, due out Oct. 3. The same podcast is also where Kelce first shared the story of his original failed plan to “woo” the popstar, based off fans trading lettered friendship bracelets at the Kansas City Eras show.

“I was a little butt-hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” Kelce said in a July 2023 New Heights episode, explaining the bracelet had “my number on it.”

The couple has come a long way since, having had dozens of adorable moments over the past 24 months that we still can’t help but still gush over. With everything from Billboard’s timeline of their relationship in mind, we want to know which chapter in the story of Tayvis is your favorite. Tell us by voting for your moment of choice in the poll below.

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Fuerza Regida’s ‘111XPANTIA’ Earns Its First No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs Chart

Fuerza Regida’s 111XPANTIA album delivers its first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, as “Marlboro Rojo” claims the top spot on the chart (dated Aug. 30). The group notches its third No. 1 –and first on its own.

“Marlboro Rojo” brings a halt to Bad Bunny’s longest-leading hit, “DtMF,” after the latter reigned for 31 consecutive weeks out of its 33-week run so far.

“Marlboro Rojo” rises 2-1 on the multi-metric tally with gains across radio and streaming. It climbs 37-23 on the overall Latin Airplay chart following a 28% growth in audience impressions, to 4.2 million, earned in the United States during the Aug. 15-21 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The song also drew 6.2 million streams during the same period, enough to rebound to its No. 1 peak, for a fourth week, on Latin Streaming Songs.

Prior to the first No. 1 single from Fuerza Regida’s album 111XPANTIA — which earned the group its sixth ruler on Top Regional Mexican Albums and led for 16 weeks running — the act dominated Hot Latin Songs with “Tu Boda,” with Oscar Maydon (11 weeks beginning last November), and “Bebe Dame,” with Grupo Frontera (two in 2023).

Notably, all the songs from 111XPANTIA album secured a spot on the Hot Latin Songs chart upon its release. Beyond the album’s new chart-topping hit, two other songs broke into the top 10. Among them, “Tu Sancho” fell just shy of the top spot with a No. 2 peak in July.

Elsewhere, “Marlboro Rojo” also breaks into the upper region on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart (rising 16-10); the group’s 12th top 10.

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Here’s Every Time Taylor Swift Sang About Marriage in Her Lyrics Leading Up to Travis Kelce Engagement

Taylor Swift has been singing about falling in love and getting married for two decades. And now, she’s finally going to get to walk down the aisle for real.

On Aug. 26, 2025, the pop superstar announced that she is engaged to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after about two years of dating, via an adorable joint post on Instagram. In one of the photos the couple shared, the athlete looks up at his now-fiancée from down on one knee as she cradles his face, and in another, she shows off the brand new, massive diamond ring on her left hand.

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” they captioned the big reveal.

But before Kelce was even in the picture, white dresses and wedding bells were, for Swift, only the stuff of song lyrics. Whether daydreamy (like Lover‘s “Paper Rings”) or cynical (think: Midnights bonus track “You’re Losing Me”), some of her most beloved tracks feature her thoughts on tying the knot.

As Swift gears up to turn those fantasies into reality — planning a wedding with a guest list that will likely put some of the world’s biggest musicians, actors and models in the same room as the NFL’s biggest stars — now is the perfect time to reminisce on every time the 14-time Grammy winner has sung about getting married on her albums. From her 2006 debut to 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department and all of the studio LPs and Taylor’s Version re-records in between, check out every lyric Swift has written on the subject below.

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Backstreet Boys Unlock New Pop Possibilities at Sphere: Inside ‘Into the Millennium’ Vegas Residency as First Wave Wraps

As the first pop headliner at the Las Vegas Sphere, Backstreet Boys were able to bring a brand-new sense of fun, nostalgia and Y2K whimsy to the cutting-edge venue.

Onstage at their Into the Millennium residency — which began last month and wrapped its first wave on Sunday night (before kicking off 14 additional dates starting in December) — BSB promised to put the crowd into a “time machine” back to the late-’90s heyday of boy bands and bubblegum pop. Katie was in the orb for the 21st show over the weekend, and on the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, she tells Keith all about her spaceship ride back to the turn of the millennium.

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An advertisement for the Backstreet Boys: Into The Millennium concert is displayed on the Sphere, a music and entertainment venue, on March 12, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Taylor Swift performs onstage during Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at Levi's Stadium on July 28, 2023 in Santa Clara, California.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 21: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO STANDALONE PUBLICATION USE (NO SPECIAL INTEREST OR SINGLE ARTIST PUBLICATION USE; NO BOOK USE)) Taylor Swift performs onstage during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Wembley Stadium on June 21, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

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After witnessing visual feats from U2, Eagles and Dead & Company, the thing that stuck out the most to Katie was how fun this go-round at the Sphere was — especially the boy band’s use of the rumbling seats and floor for big-bang moments and the way the group’s trademark choreography was blown up to supersize on the floor-to-ceiling screen, highlighting all the dance moves we learned in our living rooms while watching MTV’s TRL.

Hear our full discussion about the Backstreet Boys spectacle on the podcast below:

Also on the show, as Morgan Wallen sits tight at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Conan Gray and Billie Eilish shake up the top 10, while Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department returns to the top 10 in the wake of the news of her forthcoming album. Plus, on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, we now have four songs from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack in the top 10. When was the last time a soundtrack had four top 10s? And has any soundtrack ever had four hits in the top 10 at the same time?

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

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Here’s What President Trump Said When He Found Out About Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce’s Engagement

As reactions to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce‘s recent engagement continue to pour in, one of Swift’s loudest detractors is weighing in on the news — President Donald Trump.

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Taylor Swift celebrates with Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs after defeating the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in the AFC Championship Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 26, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)

Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce Are Engaged: See the Announcement

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During a Tuesday (Aug. 26) cabinet meeting, the president was asked by a reporter for his reaction to the news of Swift and Kelce’s engagement. “Well, I wish them a lot of luck,” the president said. “I think he’s a great player, I think he’s a great guy, and she’s a terrific person, so I wish them a lot of luck.”

Swift and Kelce announced their engagement via a joint Instagram post on Tuesday, with the photos showing the pair together in a lush garden and showing off Swift’s new engagement ring. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the caption read.

The president’s reaction marks a stark shift in tone from his past comments on Swift, who the twice-impeached head of state has openly mocked on multiple occasions. Famously, after Swift publicly endorsed Kamala Harris’ run for the White House in 2024, Trump posted on his Truth Social account “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”

Most recently, the president compared Swift to actress Sydney Sweeney, as the latter starred in a controversial American Eagle ad that was publicly criticized and compared to racist Nazi propoganda. “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves. Go get ‘em Sydney!” the president wrote, before criticizing Swift. “Just look at Woke singer Taylor Swift. Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!). She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT.”

Swift herself has been an outspoken critic of the commander in chief, referring to his first term in office as an “autocracy” during a 2019 interview with The Guardian. In a 2020 post on X, Swift vowed to “vote [Trump] out in November,” while criticizing his response to the George Floyd protests. “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?” she wrote.

Watch Trump’s reaction to the news of Swift and Kelce’s engagement below:

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Newly Streaming Documentary Confirms Garland Jeffreys’ Legacy as ‘One of the American Greats’

The music documentary Garland Jeffreys: The King Of In Between, which reintroduces audiences to a masterful musician whose commercial success may never have matched his critical acclaim — but whose rich legacy is worth celebrating — has begun streaming on major platforms including Amazon’s Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play and YouTube.

“People that know him cannot believe that other people don’t know him,” says documentary director Claire Jeffreys, the singer’s longtime manager and spouse, speaking in the opening moments of the film over the backdrop of the Brooklyn-born singer’s performance of “Coney Island Winter.” 

Since its completion in 2023, the documentary has been screening and gaining acclaim at film festivals across the United States and abroad, but its availability now on streaming platforms “means everything,” Jeffreys tells Billboard. “It’s been a long, arduous, but ultimately rewarding journey to get here. Seeing the film stream widely is a culmination of so much passion and hard work, and I’m just so thrilled it’s resonating with people.”

Despite the director’s close connection to her subject, Jeffreys has maintained a filmmaker’s distance, while letting a cast of sources speak to her husband’s long history of musically adventurous, socially aware songwriting.

Among those who offer testimony here are the music critics Robert Christgau and David Hajdu, longtime friend and actor Harvey Keitel, and fellow musicians including Graham Parker, Alejandro Escovedo, Vernon Reid, Laurie Anderson — and Bruce Springsteen.

“He’s in the great singer-songwriter tradition of Dylan and Neil Young; one of the American greats,” says Springsteen.

Garland Jeffreys, 80, raised in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, was shaped by his Black, white and Puerto Rican heritage — “father of coal, mother of pearl,” he once sang — absorbing early musical influences from doo-wop to jazz to 1950s rock’n’roll. “My background, my racial mixture, my past, the music that went through my house, it all comes out in my music,” says Garland in the film.

The documentary takes its title from Garland’s 2011 album The King of In Between. “It’s Garland’s phrase and he really related to it because of his growing up biracial,” Claire Jeffreys told Billboard in a conversation before the premiere. “His way of relating to the world was shaped by being neither fish nor fowl, black nor white. He mentions in the film that radio wouldn’t play him on the white stations and he wasn’t being played on the Black stations. [But by] saying `the king,’ he was claiming that he was still standing and still feeling like he had something to offer.”

What Garland Jeffreys had to offer, with all his charm and intensity, was clear from the start. Laurie Anderson appears in the film because, when Garland left Brooklyn to attend Syracuse University, he became fast friends with Anderson’s husband-to-be, Lou Reed.

“Lou really admired Garland, as well as loved him,” says Anderson. (On his 2017 album 14 Steps to Harlem, Garland covered the Velvet Underground’s “Waiting For the Man” in tribute to his longtime friend.) 

In 1970, Garland made his recording debut as part of the group Grinder’s Switch, with its musical echoes of The Band. But it was his own self-titled solo debut album on Atlantic Records three years later that signaled the arrival of a singular musical force.

Writing in The Village Voice, Robert Christgau described the debut album’s musical ambitions (“Stonesy blues shuffles rubbing elbows with reggae from Kingston”) and declared that “this man should be given the keys to every city whose streets he walks — ours first.”

The film captures the edginess of New York in the 1970s, an era that defined Garland’s songwriting, from the “heat of the summer” threat of “Wild In The Streets” (arranged and recorded with Dr. John) to the hometown romanticism of “New York Skyline.” Both came from Garland’s 1977 album Ghost Writer, a collection that prompted Rolling Stone to name him the most promising artist of that year.

Two years later, American Boy & Girl contained the enchanting, reggae-tinged single “Matador,” which became a top five hit in several European markets but failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100. Success abroad, however, planted the seed for support Garland needed for a landmark album he released in the early 1990s.

As Garland tells the story in the film, he was at a New York Mets game at Shea Stadium. “I was in left field, absorbed in the game, and a guy from behind me said, `Hey, buckwheat! Get the f–k outa here!’ It was a shock. It was very personal. And I really said to myself, `Don’t call me buckwheat.’”

Don’t Call Me Buckwheat arrived from Garland Jeffreys in the U.S. in April 1992, heralded in a Billboard feature as “a significant concept album that musically crosses gospel, doo-wop, rock, reggae and rap, in songs that describe a lifelong struggle with crossing color lines.”

Notably, the album had been released the previous fall in Europe by BMG International (a corporate precursor to the BMG of today) after Garland was signed and championed by a German executive, the company’s senior vp of A&R, Heinz Henn.

Don’t Call Me Buckwheat “came out 30 years ago, it could have come out 30 minutes ago,” says Springsteen in the film. “I don’t know of anybody who was writing about race as directly as Garland was in the early 90s.”

Told by an interviewer at the time that the record could make listeners uncomfortable, Garland replied: “This to me is an album of hope, it’s a vision of hope.”

But Don’t Call Me Buckwheat from failed to chart in America. Musical “categorization is the reality and tyranny of the music business,” critic David Hajdu says in the film, “and he’s been a victim of it.” Beginning with The King Of In Between in 2011, Garland began self-releasing his albums, but the documentary does not depict this journeyman artist as a victim of the music industry, nor of life.

The film is, in part, a love story. In a charming scene filmed in the hallway of their New York apartment, Claire and Garland Jeffreys describe their first meeting after one of his shows. Claire describes their mutual goal of achieving sobriety. And their daughter Savannah is featured both as a teenager, resisting her father’s invitation to sing with him, and then in a beautiful duet in the studio with her dad, recording “Time Goes Away.”

In 2019, Garland Jeffreys announced he would stop touring. The documentary includes the celebration of his career which took place on June 29, 2019, at the original City Winery on Varick Street in Manhattan’s Hudson Square neighborhood. The night’s performers included, among others, Laurie Anderson, David Johansen, Chuck Prophet, Vernon Reid, Willie Nile, Suzanne Vega, and Savannah Jeffreys, who took the mic and deadpanned, “So I met Garland in 1996…“

“I wanted to show other people’s affection and respect for him,” says Claire Jeffreys of that night. “So it was overwhelming.” Now her documentary has succeeded, in part, by redefining what it means to be a successful musician. “In today’s world, we’re so caught up in mega success or failure, there’s no humility, there’s no just being a working artist,” she says, reflecting on her husband’s rich body of work, created over nearly five decades.

“Sometimes Garland would get very discouraged about where he stood, so to speak, in the pantheon of the music business. And I would say, `Garland, you’ve made a living as a performer and a songwriter. You’ve raised a family. That’s a huge accomplishment.’ I said, `I think you’ve gotta claim that and own that.’ And he really did get to that place in the end. And that was what I was hoping.”

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Chapel Hart Goes on Hiatus, 2 Members Launch New Duo Magnolia Rising: ‘This Is Not a Goodbye’

Country trio Chapel Hart is taking a hiatus as the group’s members focus on other creative initiatives, they announced on Monday (Aug. 25). The trio, which includes sisters Danica Hart and Devynn Hart as well as their cousin Trea Swindle, first gained acclaim in 2022 on America’s Got Talent.

“Over the last few years, Chapel Hart has taken us places we never could have imagined,” began the message posted to Instagram. “We have laughed, cried, grown, and stood on stages we used to dream about. More than anything, we have shared a bond that goes deeper than music, and that part will always remain. As we each step into new seasons in life, we have decided to press pause on Chapel Hart so we can explore other passions and dreams that have been calling to us individually. This is not a goodbye. It is a celebration of everything we have built and a step toward everything still to come. We kindly ask for the same love and support as we each walk our different paths.”

Danica is embarking on a solo endeavor, while Devynn and Trea have launched the duo Magnolia Rising.

Chapel Hart is known for songs such as “You Can Have Him Jolene” and “The Girls Are Back in Town.” The trio released four albums, most recently the holiday album Hartfelt Family Christmas in 2024. Chapel Hart was also featured on Darius Rucker’s song “Ol’ Church Hymn.”

Though the group’s members are currently going their separate ways, it seems there was at one point tension within the group prior to the hiatus, with Danica posting a now-deleted message on social media in July, in which she claimed that she was being “pushed out of my band and my company.”

Currently, Chapel Hart has two upcoming shows to fulfill, according to the group’s website, including an Aug. 29 show in Georgia and an Oct. 25 appearance at the music festival Keep It Country in the United Kingdom.

The group’s Aug. 26 post noted that they would “finish playing our scheduled shows for the reason of the season. The post also stated, “Thank you for being part of this incredible ride. The Chapel Hart story will always be a beautiful part of our lives, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for each of us. We want to celebrate the community we’ve built together…We love and thank you for being a part of the congregation and we look forward to your continued support.”

On Magnolia Rising’s Instagram account, Devynn and Trea also teased fans that “something’s coming…” on Sept. 12.

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Beyoncé Ties Bad Bunny, Elton John & More for One More Boxscore Record

For the final time this year, Beyoncé sits atop the monthly Boxscore charts with the highest-grossing tour and highest-grossing engagement of July. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Cowboy Carter Tour grossed $102.3 million and sold 392,000 tickets over eight shows during the month.

That’s three in a row for Queen Bey, one of only two acts to string together three consecutive months at No. 1, following Bad Bunny last year (March – May), and repeating herself after doing so on 2023’s Renaissance World Tour (July – Sept.). In total, she’s amassed seven months on top, tying Bad Bunny, Coldplay, and Elton John for the most No. 1’s. Those four artists have collectively ruled for 28 of the list’s 61 editions, dominating almost half of the last six years of Boxscore.

July also marks Beyoncé’s third consecutive month over $100 million. Including three months during 2023’s Renaissance World Tour, her grand total climbs to six. No other artist reported a nine-figure gross multiple times, with Bad Bunny (Sept. 2022), Harry Styles (June 2023), and Kendrick Lamar & SZA (May 2025) each doing it once.

Good things come in three’s: three months at No. 1 on Top Tours, three months earning more than $100 million, and a third straight month at No. 1 on Top Boxscores. In each of the three months that Beyoncé led the charts, she had three entries on the latter list.

Beyoncé rules Top Boxscores with her four-night stint at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium (July 10-11, 13-14). Those shows brought in $55.4 million and sold 206,000 tickets. It barely misses the mark of her tour kick-off at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium ($55.7 million), further outpaced by her stops in New York in May ($70.3 million) and London in June ($61.6 million).

On the opposite end of the top five, she follows with two shows each at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md. (nine miles from Washington, D.C.) and Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Those stops grossed $27.4 million and $19.4 million, respectively, each selling more than 90,000 tickets.

All told, Cowboy Carter Tour earned $407.6 million and sold 1.6 million tickets over 32 shows, becoming the highest-grossing country tour in Boxscore history. More, it extended Beyoncé’s reign as the top-grossing R&B artist and Black artist in history, still among the top 10 acts overall. Locally, the tour set more than 40 records for gross, attendance, and sold-out shows.

Not only does Beyoncé repeat at No. 1, The Weeknd logs a second straight month at No. 2. In July, he earned $89.6 million from 604,000 tickets sold, looping from the West coast, up through Canada, and finishing in Philadelphia.

The Weeknd topped out at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. (San Francisco area). Two shows there (July 8-9) grossed $17.1 million and sold 98,400 tickets. Though the two Philly dates posted a smaller gross ($12.8 million), they sold more tickets, surpassing the six-figure mark at 103,000. Four hometown shows at Toronto’s Rogers Centre grossed $24.9 million and sold 156,000 tickets, but two of them fall in August, halving those totals for July’s rankings.

Those three engagements rank at Nos. 7, 15, and 17, respectively on Top Boxscores. The Weeknd’s other July dates line up consecutively at Nos. 22-25, each grossing between $10-10.3 million.

Through The Weeknd’s Aug. 12 show in Nashville, the After Hours til Dawn Tour has brought in $635.5 million and sold 5.1 million tickets since launching in 2022. Blasting past Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour ($579.8 million) and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic World Tour (3.6 million tickets), it is now the highest-grossing and best-selling R&B tour in history.

While Beyoncé tops the monthly chart with more than $100 million earned, Imagine Dragons earns the honor of playing to the most fans during July. At No. 3 on Top Tours with $86.3 million, the Las Vegas pop-rockers sold 757,000 tickets across 14 dates.

Imagine Dragons’ July routing was the last section of the European leg of the Loom World Tour. As opposed to the arenas and amphitheaters in North America and Asia, the trek escalated to stadiums in Europe, pushing as many as 158,000 tickets over two nights in Paris on July 5-6. Wrapping almost exactly one year after kicking off (July 30, 2024 – July 26, 2025), the entire world tour grossed $239 million and sold 2.2 million tickets.

Two K-pop artists pad the top 10, with Stray Kids at No. 5 as part of their record-breaking Dominate World Tour, and Jin at No. 9. For the latter star, it’s the first monthly Boxscore appearance as a soloist, though he has led both Top Tours and Top Boxscores as a member of BTS. ATEEZ and ENHYPEN follow at Nos. 18 and 30, respectively.

After four straight months at No. 1, Sphere dips to No. 2 on Top Venues (15,001+ capacity). Its New York sister Madison Square Garden ascends to the top, with $26.4 million from a packed month of 16 shows. That count includes double-headers from Gracie Abrams, Matt Rife, Chris Stapleton and Tyler, The Creator.

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