Taylor Swift Leads, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw Soar on Billboard Artist 100 Chart
Faith Hill debuts at No. 15 and husband Tim McGraw re-enters at No. 16 on the Billboard Artist 100 (dated Dec. 9), powered by the chart debut of their first collaborative album, The Rest of Our Life.
Faith Hill debuts at No. 15 and husband Tim McGraw re-enters at No. 16 on the Billboard Artist 100 (dated Dec. 9), powered by the chart debut of their first collaborative album, The Rest of Our Life.
The Artist 100, which launched in July 2014, measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
Hill and McGraw’s Life begins at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200 with 104,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music. The set is Hill’s fourth No. 1 on Top Country Albums and McGraw’s 16th, which ties him with Garth Brooks and Merle Haggard for the third-most leaders in the chart’s nearly 54-year history. (George Strait leads with 26, followed by Willie Nelson, with 17.)
McGraw peaked at No. 10 on the Artist 100 in October 2014, fueled by his album Sundown Heaven Town, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
While the bulk of both acts’ Artist 100 points this week are fueled by album sales, Hill ranks a notch higher than McGraw on the chart thanks to a notable lead in all-format radio airplay, which offsets McGraw’s higher sales and streaming totals.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift tops the Artist 100 for a record-extending 35th week, as her new album Reputation tallies its second week atop the Billboard 200 (256,000 units).
Rounding out the Artist 100’s top five, Imagine Dragons climb 3-2, swapping spots with Ed Sheeran (2-3), and Post Malone and Sam Smith stay at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.
Among other Artist 100 moves, late rapper Lil Peep debuts at No. 93 after the first full tracking week following his Nov. 15 death at age 21. He concurrently earns his first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, as “Awful Things” debuts at No. 79.
Check out this week’s full Artist 100 here.