Em Beihold‘s debut hit and self-empowerment anthem “Numb Little Bug” ascends to No. 1 on Billboard‘s Adult Pop Airplay chart, dated Aug. 6.
The song originally broke through thanks to interaction on TikTok, and tops the radio ranking in its 19th week, after it entered the chart in April. It was released on Moon Projects/Republic Records in late January.
The Los Angeles native, 23, recalled the song’s origin for Billboard‘s June Chartbreaker feature. “I had started on antidepressants and I didn’t realize the medication could take the highs away, as well as the lows. I just didn’t feel how I expected to,” she shared. “I was talking to my mom and was telling her that everything I ever wanted was happening, but for some reason I [wasn’t] happy. So, I tried finding the right words to explain it to her.
“I always try to remind my fans that it’s OK to not be OK,” Beihold mused. “And that often, in moments in our lives when we’re feeling down, they’re temporary, they’re not permanent. You can always get out of a situation.”
In addition to its Adult Pop Airplay coronation, “Bug” has hit No. 5 on the all-format Radio Songs chart – and reaches a new weekly-best of 50.8 million in airplay audience on the latest list, according to Luminate – No. 6 on Pop Airplay and No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Among all Adult Pop Airplay reporters, WTMX Chicago has played the song the most (over 1,700 times), through Aug. 2, followed by KLTG Corpus Christi, Texas (nearly 1,400), and WTIC Hartford, Conn. (1,300).
Meanwhile, “Bug” is the second career breakthrough hit to top Adult Pop Airplay this year, following GAYLE’s “abcdefu,” which led for four weeks beginning in March. Last year, one such song reigned: Olivia Rodrigo’s smash, and first properly promoted single, “Drivers License,” also for four weeks.
