Stop Calling
It would be wrong to suggest anyone ever "writes Lady Gaga off", but the extended length of her career and the erratic nature of her music output means it is all too easy to just write her off as a star of yesteryear and no longer relevant to the modern day musical scene. Particularly when she messes around with jazz albums as movie offshoots. Or perhaps that is just me being lazy.
But it is hard to escape the truth that when she releases a pop album she does some quite spectacular things with it. Her last studio album proper was released almost five years ago, mid-pandemic when we all had other things on our minds. But nonetheless Chromatica charged onto the charts with a sale of over 52,000 copies (I was writing the column at Music Week at the time and had to count the damn things myself), remaining at the summit for a second week despite losing over 90% of that total week on week.
Her brand new album Mayhem is similarly a big deal. It charges its way to No.1 to hand her a fifth UK chart-topper with an even bigger first week sale than its predecessor - 55,600 sale to be precise, her biggest first week sale since the release of Artpop over a decade ago. Over 36,000 of those being physical copies.
Pony
Some big Gaga streams mean she makes a singles chart impact as well - although that turns out to be more muted than was originally expected to be the case. There was in any event little chance of her sneaking her way to No.1. That remains firmly the domain of Chappell Roan who enjoys a second week at the top with Pink Pony Club. I remind you once again that this is a five year old single that is taken from the grooves of an album she released in 2023, the continuing appeal of this older material now colliding merrily with the singer and her label's attempts to push new music. Breakthrough hit Good Luck Babe was not on the album, and indeed neither is her brand new release The Giver which all things being equal should chart this week. But it is competing for eyeballs and ears with music she made half a showbiz lifetime ago, which is an extraordinary state of affairs.
Lady Gaga was not able to overcome Alex Warren either, as he enjoys a rise to No.2 with the still very special Ordinary. It means Mayhem's big hit single Abracadabra is left at No.3 for the week, returning to the peak it last scaled four weeks ago. Her other two permitted chart hits are the still apparently evergreen Die With A Smile which rises 22-18 and the previously uncharted Garden Of Eden which is the second highest new entry on the chart this week at No.23.
I'm Not Judging
How the hell did Doechii get so over? Just a few weeks ago she was this American rap star with the quirky novelty hit Denial Is A River, and suddenly she is transformed into the kind of chart goddess who can slam straight in at No.4 with a brand new release. Said single is her own version of Anxiety, following hard on the heels of the chart arrival last week of the Sleepy Hallow track of the same name which interpolates it. At the risk of telling the same story over again, here's the story behind this. She first released Anxiety as part of a series of home brewed sessions, uploading it to YouTube back in 2019. It languished in obscurity ever since before suddenly grabbing the attention of people on TikTok earlier this year. This prompted a huge scramble to come up with a version suitable for full release - no easy matter given the track is based heavily on the work of someone else.
But the effort has paid off. The hit single version of Anxiety is a complete reworking, properly produced this time and with a brand new vocal. And happily its inspiration is intact, the song essentially a re-sing of 2012 No.1 hit Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye, something which only serves to make it all the more magnificent. Because that's what it is. Denial Is A River was a cute flow that made you want to know more about her. Anxiety is in turn nothing less than a pop masterpiece that has global No.1 smash written all over it. If it isn't challenging for the top of the charts over the next few weeks I'll be very shocked indeed. But there's a major Chappell Roan shaped obstacle in her way, why pretend?
Meanwhile the chart run of the Sleepy Hallow interpretation of the track was no "we'll just stream this in the meantime". The single holds relatively steady on the chart, dipping a place to No.16.
Please. Stop Staying.
Prayers for Benson Boone, still in the Top 5 exactly 52 weeks since Beautiful Things had its fortnight of glory at No.1. Prayers for his label as they still silently urge his new single steadily up the charts. Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else edges up five places to No.25, and as it was only mentioned in passing last week let's show it some love. Synth-rock from the 80s abounds here. Like One Direction performing Rick Springfield. But still worth a few minutes of your time.
I Got Seoul
I was right, 2025 is turning into the year of the solo Blackpink girls. She never stood a chance of challenging for No.1 but Jennie's solo album Ruby is a comfortable No.3, although even that is a surprise given she was happily in second place for all the midweek flashes. Those late added streaming points are a killer when it is Sabrina Carpenter you are contending with. The album hands us the final Top 40 entry of the week as well, Like Jennie debuting at No.36 to become (oddly) her biggest solo hit single so far. Dua Lipa collaboration Handlebars is just outside the Top 40 at No.41 despite having received a huge online push. Jennie has three Top 75 singles in total, and with those added to existing hits by Lisa, Rose and Jimin plus J-Hope's new entry at No.42 with Sweet Dreams there are no fewer than seven singles on the Top 100 by K-Pop stars. All of them members of either BTS or Blackpink.
Un Point
Finally this week the UK's entry for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest was unveiled. What The Hell Just Happened by Remember Monday is an odd curate's egg of a track, sounding for all the world like a Xenomania-produced Girls Aloud song from 20 years ago with its five choruses mashed together vibe. It stands zero chance of coming second to Ukraine later this spring, but you suspect its No.95 entry this week won't be its last chart run of the year.
