Madonna has always been known for her record of being a reliable hitmaker in pop music, but even she has experienced a slight decline when it comes to commercial success in the past decade or so. Now, a recently-released collaboration has allowed her to achieve a notable victory on the radio charts after a long time and become a somewhat surprising win for the star.
This week, Madonna’s track “Popular” climbs to the No. 40 position on the Radio Songs chart, a Billboard publication that ranks songs based on their radio audience reach across the U.S. This increase marks the first time “Popular” has broken into the top 40, a threshold often associated with a song becoming a legitimate hit on the respective chart.
“Popular” signifies Madonna’s return to the top 40 on the Radio Songs chart after more than a decade. Her most recent appearance in this competitive range for this week was back in 2012 when “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., reached No. 28 on the list. Although “Give Me All Your Luvin'” spent just three weeks on the chart, it managed to climb higher than “Popular,” at least so far.
Over her illustrious career, Madonna has amassed an impressive 13 top 10 hits on the Radio Songs chart, with only one of those, “Take A Bow,” ascending to No. 1 in 1994. Considering all her chart entries, she has contributed a total of 30 songs to this tally, an impressive count for any musician.
“Popular” has marked a comeback of sorts for Madonna, propelling her onto Billboard charts she hasn’t graced in a while and elevating her to significant highs she hasn’t experienced recently. The song is fronted by R&B and pop singer The Weeknd, and it also features rapper Playboi Carti. Originally composed for The Weeknd’s TV show The Idol, which aired on HBO Max (now Max), the series was unfortunately canceled after a single season, closing the door on any further music from the program.
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