Welcome to the latest episode of the Billboard.com Pop Shop Podcast, Billboard’s weekly half-hour audio breakdown of the Billboard charts, hottest music news and year’s biggest musical events. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard co-director of charts Keith Caulfield and Billboard.com senior editor Katie Atkinson every Tuesday on the Pop Shop Podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in iTunes (click here to listen to the previous episode on Billboard.com).
Our latest guest is Lukas Graham Forchhammer, the singer/songwriter behind the Danish band Lukas Graham and the massive Billboard Hot 100 hit “7 Years.” We talked to Lukas on the day the emotional song reached its Hot 100 peak of No. 2, and he told us all about the “Bilboard Bingo” he and the band had been playing to guess the song’s chart position each week. He also got serious, telling us that hearing fans’ personal stories of grief in response to “7 Years” has gotten a little bit too heavy at times. Listen to the full interview above.
Lukas Graham Performs ‘7 Years’ on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’: Watch
Keith and Katie also discuss Zayn‘s historic No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart with Mind of Mine, how many male U.K. soloists have visited the No. 1 slot (the number may surprise you), who we think will be the next member of One Direction to go solo — and our ideas for how each 1D gent should approach their music. (Should Niall Horan duet with Ed Sheeran?!)
Plus, the Pop Shoppers talk about Fifth Harmony hitting the top 10 on the Hot 100 for the first time with “Work From Home.” The climb makes the quintet the first girl group to visit the top 10 since way back in 2008 (when The Pussycat Dolls nabbed their fourth and final top 10 single).
In addition, the Pop Shop team gabs about the Academy of Country Music Awards, the iHeartRadio Music Awards, the RuPaul’s Drag Race Battle of the Seasons tour and more!
Listen above and click here to subscribe/rate the Pop Shop Podcast on iTunes.