The holidays are over, both on the calendar and on the pop charts, as 49 Christmas songs vacate the Billboard Hot 100 — and that’s great news for an assortment of beneficiaries.
TOP STORY
This week, a cleansing fire sweeps through the Billboard Hot 100, as all the holiday songs get mothballed for another 10 to 11 months.
That, of course, means massive upheaval across the chart, as last fall’s sturdiest hits jump dozens of spots, landing more or less where they left off before Mariah Carey and her ilk let loose their annual plague of good cheer. Remember Taylor Swift‘s “The Fate of Ophelia”? It’s back at No. 1 for a ninth week, while HUNTR/X’s “Golden” returns to No. 2. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” had slid far enough that it briefly dropped off the chart, but now it’s re-entered at No. 3.
This week, a few tracks land at new peaks — Kehlani’s “Folded” at No. 6, sombr‘s “Back to Friends” at No. 7 — but the top 10’s most notable leap belongs to country singer Ella Langley, who claims her first-ever top 10 hit. “Choosin’ Texas” zooms from No. 48 all the way to No. 5.
A couple of fresh faces linger tantalizingly close to the top 10, as rapper Pooh Shiesty jumps from No. 53 to No. 12 with “FDO” and singer RAYE soars from No. 56 to No. 13 with “Where Is My Husband!” But older songs are the primary beneficiary of the post-holiday purge: Of the 49 spots held by holiday songs last week, 34 of them are replaced by songs that had been on the Hot 100 before.
Amid the Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny deep cuts re-entering the chart is a track making a timely resurgence: Djo’s “End of Beginning,” which returns to the Hot 100 at No. 16. Djo is a band led by Joe Keery, who played Steve Harrington across five seasons of Stranger Things.
That show’s final season has been rolling out for the past few weeks, with the finale dropping on Dec. 31. With the way the charts work, it’s too soon to tell whether the finale’s high-profile needle drops — including two classics by Prince — end up cracking the Hot 100 in the weeks to come. But Stranger Things has created viral moments for songs before, most notably with Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill” in 2022.
For the moment, the biggest chart beneficiary of Stranger Things‘ final season is Keery, one of several actors-turned-rock-stars in the show’s cast.
TOP ALBUMS
Remember when Thanos snapped his fingers in one of the Avengers movies and half the population disappeared? The Billboard 200 albums chart looks a little like that, as most holiday titles have vanished — more on that in a sec — and a bunch of shell-shocked survivors sit grimly in their place.
Without a load of recent titles to fill the void — just three albums in the Billboard 200 were released within the last four weeks — the old standbys line up to paint a baseline picture of a listening public that just can’t quit 1) old music; 2) Taylor Swift; or 3) Morgan Wallen. Swift has 10 of the top 200 albums, led by The Life of a Showgirl at No. 1 for a 12th nonconsecutive week. Wallen’s got two albums in the top 10. And Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumours, which came out more than 50 years ago, is just hangin’ out and bein’ the 15th most popular album in the country.
Of the three recent albums that crack the chart, only one — Peso Pluma & Tito Double P’s DINASTÍA — lands in the top 10, as it debuts at No. 6. (The other two are by 21 Savage and $uicideboy$.) Otherwise, the charts are serving leftovers: old hits and greatest-hits packages galore.
And, get this: While the singles chart is now bereft of holiday titles, all seven of the holiday records from last week’s top 10 are still on the Billboard 200. This week’s charts reflect the period from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, but there are still enough holiday sickos to land the post popular Christmas albums on the chart, starting with Bing Crosby‘s Ultimate Christmas at No. 41. At the risk of kink-shaming our friends and neighbors, that’s… kinda weird, right?
TOP SONGS
In an effort to make “The Fate of Ophelia” the biggest bestseller since Dianetics, Taylor Swift sold 26,000 more physical copies of the single via her webstore, shipped them during this week’s chart window, and voilà! That song gets a ninth nonconsecutive week at No. 1. That gives “The Fate of Ophelia” the longest run at No. 1 of Swift’s career — surpassing “Anti-Hero” — and all it took was her pressing different physical editions like Pokémon cards and convincing fans to keep buying multiple copies. Congrats on a job well done, everyone!
Elsewhere on the Hot 100, Olivia Dean has clearly picked up significant fan support since the holiday rush started drowning out non-Christmas titles. “Man I Need,” her signature hit, leaps back to its peak position at No. 4, but it’s not alone; five other Dean songs dot the chart, ranging from “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” at No. 14 to “Baby Steps,” which debuts at No. 99.
That’s especially impressive considering that Dean’s second album, The Art of Loving, came out in September, so she’s not just riding a wave of fan curiosity. Something to bear in mind in the Grammys’ wide-open race for best new artist: Dean has serious commercial momentum right now.
Transcript:
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Holiday songs have finally disappeared from the Billboard charts, paving the way for old and new faces on the Hot 100, and Stephen Thompson of NPR Music has been listening.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: Last week, 46 of the top 50 songs in America were about the holidays. This week, a cleansing fire sweeps across the charts as Mariah Carey and Michael Buble get packed in moth balls and returned to the attic whence they came. That means massive upheaval on this week’s chart, as last fall’s sturdiest hits return more or less to where they left off.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “THE FATE OF OPHELIA”)
TAYLOR SWIFT: (Singing) I heard you calling on the megaphone. You want to see me all alone.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “GOLDEN”)
EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI: (As HUNTR/X, singing) We’re going up, up, up. It’s our moment. You know together we’re glowing. Gonna be, gonna be golden. (Vocalizing).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ORDINARY”)
ALEX WARREN: (Singing) You’re taking me out of the ordinary. I want you laying me down.
THOMPSON: In other words, the pop charts in 2026 don’t look all that different from the pop charts in 2025, before the holidays flooded the Hot 100 with a plague of good cheer. But there are other beneficiaries of life after the holidays. This week, the country singer Ella Langley lands her first ever top 10 hit, as her song “Choosin’ Texas” zooms all the way up to No. 5.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CHOOSIN’ TEXAS”)
ELLA LANGLEY: (Singing) She’s from Texas. I can tell by the way he’s two-stepping ’round the room. And judging by the smile that’s written on his face there’s nothing I can do.
THOMPSON: The Grammy-nominated R&B star Olivia Dean posts the biggest numbers of her young career. She has six songs on the Hot 100, led by “Man I Need” at No. 4.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MAN I NEED”)
OLIVIA DEAN: (Singing) Talk to me, talk to me. Be the man that I need, baby. Talk to me, talk to me. Be the man that I need, need, need. Talk to me, talk to me. Be the man that I need, baby. Talk to me, talk to me. Be the man, man, man, man, man.
THOMPSON: One other chart surge worth noting belongs to an older song. The Netflix drama “Stranger Things” has been rolling out its final episodes in the past few weeks, and as anyone who’s followed the show knows, it’s been a major driver of chart success for songs from the 1980s, like Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” This week, “Stranger Things” helps drive a different older song back onto the charts – “End Of Beginning” by the band Djo.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “END OF BEGINNING”)
DJO: (Singing) And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it.
THOMPSON: The lead singer of Djo just happens to be Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington on “Stranger Things.” This week, fueled by interest in “Stranger Things” and the fate of Steve Harrington, the 2022 song “End Of Beginning” reenters the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 16.
Stephen Thompson, NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF DJO SONG, “END OF BEGINNING”)
