Lady Gaga’s ‘Til It Happens to You’ Debuts on Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks
Lady Gaga's socially aware cut begins in the top five, as does Demi Lovato's "Confident." Plus, debuts from Ellie Goulding and 5 Seconds of Summer!
Lady Gaga’s “Til It Happens To You” bows at No. 4 on the Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart dated Oct. 3, thanks to robust reaction on Twitter to its music video, giving Gaga her first top 10 entry after six tries (the chart was created in May 2014). The “Happens” clip, released Sept. 17, deals with sexual assault and its aftermath and has more than 10.5 million views (through Sept. 23) on YouTube. The song has earned widespread acclaim on Twitter, with Oprah Winfrey and Rachel Platten among its supporters.
Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks is a weekly ranking of the most shared and/or mentioned songs on Twitter in the U.S., ranked by the volume of shares over a seven-day period (Monday to Sunday).
Gaga co-wrote the song with Diane Warren for The Hunting Ground, a documentary about sexual assault on college campuses, and dedicated it to “people all over the world who suffer from painful life experiences.” In 2014, during an appearance on Howard Stern’s radio show, Gaga revealed she was sexually assaulted when she was 19 years old.
Demi’s ‘Confident’ Start: Two steps above Gaga, Demi Lovato’s “Confident” locks up a No. 2 debut to give the pop star her fourth top 10 entry. Lovato premiered the spirited single (produced by Max Martin) on Pete Wentz’s Beats 1 show on Sept. 17 alongside a brief interview to accompany the song’s reveal. The cut is the title track from Lovato’s forthcoming album, due Oct. 16, which will also contain the hit track “Cool for the Summer.” The seasonal anthem blazed to No. 1 the week of July 25.
A “Confident” arrival helps Lovato notch 368,000 Twitter mentions for the week ending Sept. 20, according to Next Big Sound, a jump of 98 percent. Social gains fuel her ascent on both the Social 50 (6-4) and the Billboard Artist 100 (19-16).
‘Mind’ Over Matter: Ellie Goulding’s new single “On My Mind” scores No. 16 entry, the pop star’s highest debut among four charted entries. “Mind” narrowly beats the No. 17 start of Calvin Harris’ “Outside,” on which Goulding featured, the week of Nov. 8, 2014.
Goulding unveiled “Mind” on Sept. 17 as the lead single from Delirium, her upcoming third album expected Nov. 6. The 16-track collection also features “Love Me Like You Do,” Goulding’s smash pop song from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. The cut swept to No. 1 on the survey dated April 4, and reached a No. 3 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. New music bumps Goulding 42-32 on the Social 50, with 68,000 Twitter mentions for the week, up 302 percent.
5SOS on the ‘Money’: 5 Seconds of Summer continues churning out hits, as “Money” cashes in with a No. 3 bow. With the song’s arrival, six of the band’s last seven entries have debuted in the top 10, dating back to “Everything I Didn’t Say,” which entered at No. 1 on the chart dated Aug. 2.
The Australian group dropped “Money” as an instant gratification track starting Sept. 17 for fans who pre-ordered their upcoming album, Sounds Good Feels Good, via iTunes, due Oct. 23. In addition to “Money,” three other album tracks have reached Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks in the past months: “She’s Kinda Hot” (No. 1, August), “Jet Black Heart” (No. 4, September) and “Fly Away” (No. 13, September).
Sharing this with all my college daughters. Lady Gaga – Til It Happens To You – YouTube https://t.co/ZhE8Csjyzh
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) September 19, 2015
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