{"id":410015,"date":"2026-01-15T02:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/410015\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T02:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:59:15","slug":"stranger-things-brings-prince-and-fleetwood-mac-back-to-the-charts-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/410015\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Stranger Things\u2019 brings Prince and Fleetwood Mac back to the charts : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768445955_318_.jpeg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1600x1067+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F87%2F84%2Ffece85a8456ba349d6c6c8027bbb%2Fdyptich.jpg\" class=\"img\" alt=\"&quot;Landslide&quot; by Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and &quot;Purple Rain&quot; by Prince find chart success after appearing in Stranger Things.\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                &#8220;Landslide&#8221; by Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and &#8220;Purple Rain&#8221; by Prince find chart success after appearing in Stranger Things.<\/p>\n<p>                    Photo by Fin Costello\/Redferns\/Getty Images, Photo by Paul Natkin\/WireImage<\/p>\n<p>                hide caption\n            <\/p>\n<p>            toggle caption<\/p>\n<p>        Photo by Fin Costello\/Redferns\/Getty Images, Photo by Paul Natkin\/WireImage<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/15394157\/prince\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Prince<\/a> is back on the pop charts. So are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/15402621\/kate-bush\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Kate Bush<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/102442872\/fleetwood-mac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fleetwood Mac<\/a>. That can only mean one thing: Netflix&#8217;s Stranger Things finale, which dropped Dec. 31, is shaking up the Billboard Hot 100.<\/p>\n<p>   TOP STORY   <\/p>\n<p>The holiday-music rush has been swept off the Billboard charts entirely, and the first surefire blockbuster of 2026 \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/1143379159\/zach-bryan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Zach Bryan<\/a>&#8216;s With Heaven on Top, which dropped Friday \u2014 isn&#8217;t yet eligible to appear on them. That leaves the charts stuck in a liminal space where the usual assortment of big dogs (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/120581188\/taylor-swift\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Taylor Swift<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/963693317\/morgan-wallen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Morgan Wallen<\/a>, et al) hover at or near the top of the charts, seemingly by default.<\/p>\n<p>But one pop-culture phenomenon does make its presence felt, especially on the Hot 100 singles chart: the finale of the Netflix TV series Stranger Things, which dropped Dec. 31 and contained many high-profile needle drops.<\/p>\n<p>Three decades-old songs that appear in the finale pop up this week: Prince and the Revolution&#8217;s &#8220;Purple Rain&#8221; at No. 27, Fleetwood Mac&#8217;s &#8220;Landslide&#8221; at No. 41 and Kate Bush&#8217;s &#8220;Running Up That Hill&#8221; (which the show <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/06\/07\/1103445453\/running-up-that-hill-kate-bush-stranger-things\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">had already boosted<\/a> a few years ago) at No. 46. The rise of &#8220;Landslide,&#8221; one of Fleetwood Mac&#8217;s signature songs, is especially notable: Though a live version of the track charted briefly in the late &#8217;90s, the 1975 studio version \u2014 the one that appeared on Stranger Things \u2014 had never before cracked the Hot 100.<\/p>\n<p>A newer song that didn&#8217;t appear in the Stranger Things finale nevertheless receives an even greater boost from the show this week. Joe Keery, who played Steve Harrington across the show&#8217;s five seasons, records music under the name Djo, and Djo&#8217;s song &#8220;End of Beginning&#8221; \u2014 which peaked at No. 11 in 2024 \u2014 re-entered the Hot 100 last week. This week, it surges to No. 6, marking the best chart performance of Djo&#8217;s career. (It&#8217;s No. 1 on the streaming chart, with airplay numbers lagging far behind.) On the Billboard 200 albums chart, Djo is also ascendant: Decide leaps from No. 178 to No. 24, while The Crux re-enters the chart at No. 125.<\/p>\n<p>Also back on the albums chart this week: the soundtrack to Purple Rain, which rides the Stranger Things wave to No. 41.<\/p>\n<p>   TOP ALBUMS   <\/p>\n<p>Taylor Swift has been aggressive in her efforts to keep The Life of a Showgirl on top of the albums chart. Since its release in October, she&#8217;s dug into a deep toolbox \u2014 vinyl variants, webstore exclusives, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2025\/10\/17\/nx-s1-5577115\/is-taylor-swift-exploiting-her-fans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">treating her fans like they&#8217;re paypigs<\/a> who are eternally willing to buy the same record over and over again \u2014 to fend off the likes of Morgan Wallen, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/15182601\/bing-crosby\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bing Crosby<\/a> (during the holidays) and the soundtrack to KPop Demon Hunters. The result: a run of 12 nonconsecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<p>This week, The Life of a Showgirl experiences a momentary setback, as an even-older chart-topper \u2014 Morgan Wallen&#8217;s I&#8217;m the Problem \u2014 reclaims the top spot for a 13th nonconsecutive week. Swift is rarely one to take this sort of insolence lying down, especially when her lucky number 13 is involved, but she&#8217;ll likely have to wait out Zach Bryan, who dropped With Heaven on Top last Friday and would seem well-positioned to top the chart next week.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in the top 10, there isn&#8217;t much to report. But it&#8217;s worth continuing to monitor the rise of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/g-s1-90673\/olivia-dean\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Olivia Dean<\/a>, whose The Art of Loving has been on a sharp upward trajectory for months now. This week, it rises to a new peak at No. 3 \u2014 the same position it holds on both the sales and streaming charts. With seven songs on the Hot 100 and a wave of Grammys exposure looming, Dean is set up for a massive year.<\/p>\n<p>   TOP SONGS   <\/p>\n<p>For the first time in her career, Taylor Swift has a song that&#8217;s topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 or more weeks. And all it took was more ceaseless chart manipulation in the form of vinyl sales, an acoustic version, a Loud Luxury remix and a Chainsmokers remix that dropped last week! &#8220;The Fate of Ophelia&#8221; isn&#8217;t exactly lagging in streaming or radio airplay \u2014 it&#8217;s No. 2 in the former, No. 3 in the latter \u2014 but no stone is going unturned in keeping this thing at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for as long as possible.<\/p>\n<p>This week, the alternative \u2014 up a spot to No. 2 \u2014 is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/g-s1-60448\/alex-warren\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Alex Warren<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;Ordinary,&#8221; which rises on the chart thanks in part to a 25th week at No. 1 on Billboard&#8217;s Radio Songs listing. That&#8217;s almost a full half-year as the most-played song in America, and yet another data point supporting the twin arguments that 1) there&#8217;s a single person who programs most of the country&#8217;s commercial radio stations; and 2) this person wandered off the job months ago and hasn&#8217;t been seen since.<\/p>\n<p>One final phenomenon worth noting: The Grammy-nominated, K-pop-influenced girl group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/g-s1-76873\/katseye\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">KATSEYE<\/a> now has two songs in the top 30, as the venerable &#8220;Gabriela&#8221; reaches a new peak (at No. 21) and &#8220;Internet Girl&#8221; debuts at No. 29. More momentum to keep an eye on as the Grammys approach and some of the Hot 100&#8217;s oldest songs fade into oblivion.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"imagewrap\" id=\"featuredStackSquareImagenx-s1-5669379\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/01\/07\/nx-s1-5669379\/olivia-dean-djo-billboard-charts\" data-metrics-ga4=\"{&quot;category&quot;:&quot;recirculation&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:&quot;story_recirculation_click&quot;,&quot;clickType&quot;:&quot;inset box&quot;,&quot;clickUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.npr.org\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/nx-s1-5669379\\\/olivia-dean-djo-billboard-charts&quot;}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768445955_16_.jpeg\" data-original=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3333x3333+886+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/100\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Fcc%2F48e5ce6445039e1d7bff7917f263%2Fgettyimages-2247565898.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3333x3333+886+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Fcc%2F48e5ce6445039e1d7bff7917f263%2Fgettyimages-2247565898.jpg\" data-format=\"jpeg\" class=\"img lazyOnLoad\" alt=\"Country singer Ella Langley claims her first-ever top 10 hit this week.\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/a>         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#8220;Landslide&#8221; by Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and &#8220;Purple Rain&#8221; by Prince find chart success after appearing in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-410015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}