One year after the launch of the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, we’re recapping the biggest hits, newest names and more from around the world with Billboard and MRC Data’s Global Music and Chart Report: A Year in Review.
It all started with Cardi B (featuring Megan Thee Stallion) and Maluma atop the inaugural Sept. 19, 2020-dated global rankings, with the former’s “WAP” reigning over the Global 200 and the latter’s “Hawái” leading the Global Excl. U.S. survey. At the end of the first year, on the Sept. 11, 2021-dated editions, The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber maintained their hold over both charts with “Stay.”
In the first 52 weeks of each chart, the Global 200 sported 18 different songs at the pole position, while 15 titles crowned the Global Excl. U.S. list.
Scanning the full list of No. 1 songs throughout the year, one name repeats, repeats again, and repeats a couple more times. BTS scored five No. 1 songs on the Global 200 and four on the Global Excl. U.S. chart, more than other act on either list. “Dynamite,” “Life Goes On,” “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” each topped both rankings, while Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love – Laxed (Siren Beat),” remixed with BTS likewise in a lead role, ruled the Global 200 for one week and peaked at No. 3 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart.
For individual honors, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” spent more time atop both charts than any other title: nine weeks on Global Excl. U.S. and eight on the Global 200. Her “Good 4 U” is the runner-up on the Global 200 with six weeks at No. 1, though it never topped the Global Excl. U.S. chart, blocked at No. 2 for five weeks by Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”, BTS’ “Butter” and Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits.”
The Kid LAROI and Bieber’s “Stay” ties “Good 4 U” for the runner-up reign on the Global 200 with six weeks at No. 1 through the end of the chart’s first year. By now, the track has eclipsed both Rodrigo tracks, spending its ninth frame atop the Global 200 on the current, Oct. 2-dated edition, although it still trails “Driver’s License” on the Global Excl. U.S. chart, where it scores its seventh week at No. 1.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo and Bieber are the only acts besides BTS to top either chart with multiple songs, as Bieber also hit No. 1 in April with “Peaches,” with Daniel Caesar and Giveon.
And though no one else repeated on top throughout the first year, one artist doubled up under different iterations. BLACKPINK’s Rosé debuted atop both March 27-dated global rankings with “On the Ground,” which made her the first artist to hit No. 1 on the global charts as a soloist and as part of a group. BLACKPINK also scored a No. 1 debut on the Oct. 17, 2020-dated Global Excl. U.S. chart with “Lovesick Girls.”
Beyond the list of No. 1 hits, the Billboard and MRC Data report also includes a rundown of the 24 songs that lasted all 52 weeks from the start of both global charts. As they would have had to be on the charts last September to qualify, that means that aforementioned ‘21 smashes such as “Drivers License,” “Butter” and “Stay” don’t appear. Instead, the list spotlights some of the most enduring songs from the last two to three years, such as The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” (but not “Save Your Tears”), Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” (but not “Levitating”) and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (but not “Montero”).
Three acts double up on the yearlong rundown: Billie Eilish with “Bad Guy” and “Lovely,” with Khalid; Sheeran with “Perfect” and “Shape of You”; and Lewis Capaldi with “Before You Go” and “Someone You Loved.”
For the full 52-week club and complete list of global No. 1 songs, as well as more trends and highlights from the first year of the global charts, download, for free, the full Global Music and Chart Report: A Year in Review.
