{"id":252950,"date":"2026-01-23T04:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/252950\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T04:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:35:08","slug":"bruno-mars-and-zach-bryan-top-the-pop-charts-this-week-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/252950\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruno Mars and Zach Bryan top the pop charts this week : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769142908_248_.jpeg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/5500x4125+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F06%2Fe4%2F8b02ad37403d8ccadc997141f147%2Fvertical-dip-1.jpg\" class=\"img\" alt=\"Bruno Mars' &quot;I Just Might&quot; (left) tops the Hot 100 and Zach Bryan's new super-sized record, With Heaven on Top, lands atop the Billboard 200 this week.\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                Bruno Mars&#8217; (left) song &#8220;I Just Might&#8221; tops the Hot 100 and Zach Bryan&#8217;s new super-sized record, With Heaven on Top, lands atop the Billboard 200 this week.<\/p>\n<p>                    (Photo by Rich Fury\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy); (Photo by Gus Stewart\/Redferns)<\/p>\n<p>                hide caption\n            <\/p>\n<p>            toggle caption<\/p>\n<p>        (Photo by Rich Fury\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy); (Photo by Gus Stewart\/Redferns)<\/p>\n<p>This week&#8217;s Billboard charts bring a new No. 1 album and a new No. 1 single \u2014 and they&#8217;re both debuts. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/1143379159\/zach-bryan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Zach Bryan<\/a>&#8216;s new super-sized record, With Heaven on Top, lands atop the Billboard 200, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/166969902\/bruno-mars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bruno Mars<\/a>&#8216; &#8220;I Just Might&#8221; becomes his first song ever to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n<p>   TOP STORY   <\/p>\n<p>For the past few months, the top spots on the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Hot 100 singles chart have been reserved for just a few endlessly recurring names. On the Billboard 200, that usually means <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/120581188\/taylor-swift\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Taylor Swift<\/a> (or, last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/963693317\/morgan-wallen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Morgan Wallen<\/a>), while the Hot 100 has been topped by either Swift&#8217;s &#8220;The Fate of Ophelia&#8221; or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/15324690\/mariah-carey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mariah Carey<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;All I Want for Christmas Is You&#8221; for the last 14 weeks. It&#8217;s been pretty grim, even if you&#8217;re a fan of both of those songs.<\/p>\n<p>This week, we&#8217;ve finally received an infusion of fresh blood in the form of a brand-new album and a brand-new song \u2014 by two different artists, no less! \u2014 debuting at No. 1.<\/p>\n<p>On the albums chart, the top spot belongs to folk- and Americana-leaning country maverick Zach Bryan \u2014 who bears no relation or resemblance to country non-maverick Luke Bryan \u2014 and his new album With Heaven on Top. It&#8217;s Zach Bryan&#8217;s fifth top 10 album and second to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, after a self-titled album from 2023.<\/p>\n<p>With Heaven on Top appears primed for a long run on the charts. For starters, its first-week numbers are derived almost entirely from streaming, which generally bodes well; heavy first-week streaming trains the algorithms to keep coming back for more. Then there&#8217;s the issue of sheer quantity: The album&#8217;s got 25 tracks, then picked up 24 more when Bryan released an acoustic version a few days after With Heaven on Top&#8217;s release.<\/p>\n<p>But when it comes to Bryan&#8217;s hopes of sending With Heaven on Top back to No. 1 many weeks from now, he&#8217;s got another not-so-secret weapon at his disposal: For now, the album is only available digitally. When CD and vinyl copies drop in March, as expected, he&#8217;s going to pick up a major boost. (He&#8217;ll also have picked up greater competition \u2014 new albums by Bruno Mars, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/531040090\/harry-styles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Harry Styles<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/554496915\/bts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">BTS<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/570174121\/luke-combs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Luke Combs<\/a> are all due out in February or March \u2014 but Bryan will still be in the mix regardless.)<\/p>\n<p>Over on the Hot 100, another chart juggernaut debuts at No. 1 \u2014 in this case Bruno Mars, who last topped the singles chart about a year ago with his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/120001078\/lady-gaga\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lady Gaga<\/a> duet &#8220;Die With a Smile.&#8221; (His duet with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/1004733951\/blackpink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">BLACKPINK<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/g-s1-38234\/rose\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ros\u00e9<\/a>, &#8220;APT.,&#8221; hit No. 3 around the same time.) &#8220;I Just Might,&#8221; the first single from Mars&#8217; forthcoming The Romantic, is the singer&#8217;s first-ever song to debut atop the Hot 100 \u2014 and his 10th No. 1 song overall.<\/p>\n<p>As with Bryan&#8217;s album, &#8220;I Just Might&#8221; draws much of its chart strength from huge streaming numbers. But it&#8217;s already a radio hit, too: It debuts at No. 12 on the Radio Songs chart. Given how slowly commercial radio tends to adjust its playlists, that portends a long Billboard run.<\/p>\n<p>   TOP ALBUMS   <\/p>\n<p>With Zach Bryan&#8217;s With Heaven on Top debuting at No. 1, many old reliables slide down the Billboard 200, if only for a slot or two. Morgan Wallen&#8217;s I&#8217;m the Problem, which dislodged Taylor Swift&#8217;s The Life of a Showgirl from the top spot last week, lands at No. 2, giving country or country-adjacent albums the top two spots for the first time in almost two years. Elsewhere, The Life of a Showgirl loses a bit more ground at No. 4, as it&#8217;s surpassed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/g-s1-90673\/olivia-dean\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Olivia Dean<\/a>&#8216;s sturdy breakthrough smash The Art of Loving.<\/p>\n<p>The chart&#8217;s other big debut belongs to Australian pop star The Kid LAROI, whose new album Before I Get debuts at No. 6. That lags behind his 2020 breakthrough F*** Love, which hit No. 1, but greatly improves on 2023&#8217;s The First Time, which peaked at No. 24. Before I Get&#8217;s staying power will likely depend on the success of its singles; this week, &#8220;Rather Be (feat. Lithe)&#8221; debuts at No. 77.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, the streaming success of Bruno Mars&#8217; &#8220;I Just Might&#8221; is doing wonders for the singer&#8217;s back catalog. Not only does Doo-Wops &amp; Hooligans zoom from No. 116 to No. 22, but 24K Magic and Unorthodox Jukebox re-enter the chart in the top 50, while An Evening With Silk Sonic \u2014 the album he made with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/464866525\/anderson-paak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Anderson .Paak<\/a> a few years ago \u2014 also finds its way back onto the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<p>One other chart phenomenon worth noting: The rapper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/artists\/440610333\/fetty-wap\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fetty Wap<\/a> has been getting good news left and right in 2026, as his release from prison on Jan. 8 helped drive a major boost in streaming for his chart-topping 2015 debut. This week, Fetty Wap re-enters the albums chart at No. 44.<\/p>\n<p>   TOP SONGS   <\/p>\n<p>The explosive success of Bruno Mars&#8217; &#8220;I Just Might&#8221; is by far the biggest news on the Hot 100 singles chart. Elsewhere, the moves are comparatively incremental, though a few of them remain noteworthy:<\/p>\n<p>   After &#8220;I Just Might,&#8221; the chart&#8217;s highest debut belongs to Zach Bryan&#8217;s &#8220;Plastic Cigarette&#8221; at No. 13. It&#8217;s just one of 18 songs from With Heaven on Top to debut in this week&#8217;s Hot 100.Taylor Swift&#8217;s &#8220;The Fate of Ophelia&#8221; slips to No. 2 after a nonconsecutive 10-week run in the top spot. It&#8217;s one of two songs from The Life of a Showgirl in the top 10; the other, &#8220;Opalite,&#8221; slides to No. 10. But look for the latter track to make a run at the chart&#8217;s top spot in the coming weeks: She&#8217;s just made CD copies of &#8220;Opalite&#8221; (and its acoustic counterpart) available for limited-time purchase on her website.<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; slides from No. 2 to No. 5, but have no fear: It sits atop the Radio Songs chart for a soul-deadening 26th week. That&#8217;s half a year of being the most-played song in America! Given that the song depicts a love so blindingly unusual \u2014 so out! of the oooordinaaaary! \u2014 that even the angels are jealous, you&#8217;d think listeners would struggle to relate to it. But here we are.   <\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"imagewrap\" id=\"featuredStackSquareImagenx-s1-5675147\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/01\/14\/nx-s1-5675147\/stranger-things-prince-fleetwood-mac-kate-bush\" 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\\\/14\\\/nx-s1-5675147\\\/stranger-things-prince-fleetwood-mac-kate-bush&quot;}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769142908_985_.jpeg\" data-original=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1067x1067+267+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/100\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F87%2F84%2Ffece85a8456ba349d6c6c8027bbb%2Fdyptich.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1067x1067+267+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F87%2F84%2Ffece85a8456ba349d6c6c8027bbb%2Fdyptich.jpg\" data-format=\"jpeg\" class=\"img lazyOnLoad\" 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.\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/a>         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bruno Mars&#8217; (left) song &#8220;I Just Might&#8221; tops the Hot 100 and Zach Bryan&#8217;s new super-sized record, With&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":{"0":"post-252950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}