Elite 100: Drake Reigns Once More, Madonna Hits No. 2

Those kids in Toronto are wearing crowns and Drake is once again back on top of Elite 100 Artists chart for the week ending June 20, having dropped two new songs after the Toronto Raptors won the NBA finals.

Drizzy took on all comers with his The Best In The World Pack, which was a two track EP with the songs “Omertá” and “Money In The Grave” feat. Rick Ross. He led the chart in the on-demand streams category, with 139 million for the week, and in total album units with 119,200. He also did well in song sales, with 46,600.

Drake doesn’t generally do many festivals but he is booked to play Rock In Rio in Brazil Sept. 27. That event runs Sept. 27-29 and Oct. 3-6 and is scheduled to feature Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iron Maiden, Pink and Muse. 

Pollstar recently profiled Drake’s seven performances at London’s The O2 Arena Between April 1 and 11. 

At No. 2 came Madonna, whose latest album Madame X came out June 14. The Material Girl led the chart in the album sales category, with 91,400, which made up the bulk of her 101,500 total album units. 

Madonna has an extensive series of intimate theater dates planned for 2019. Arthur Fogel, her longtime promoter and Live Nation chairman of global music recently went on record debunking rumors that tour was struggling to sell tickets. 

“Look I’ve been doing this for a long time, pretty successfully,” Fogel said in response to a story from the New York Post titled “Madonna’s Upcoming Tour Tarnished by Sluggish Ticket Sales.

“So I started with seven [Madame X] shows and then I announced another five, so I’m at 12. Then, I announced another five and I’m at 17. Now, is there some business model that says you add shows when you’re failing? Because if there is, I’ve never seen it. I’ve gone backwards in my career but I’ve never added shows because they’re not selling.”

Another big name with a new release was Bruce Springsteen, who put out the album Western Stars June 14. His strongest metric was album sales, with 58,700 and though he outperformed Madonna in song sales and streams, the difference was enough to put him several spots behind, at No. 5 overall with 68,700 total album units. 

Springsteen concluded his residency at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York last year and has shown just how profitable those types of theater runs can be.

Taylor Swift also released a new song June 14, which made her the leader for the week in the song sales category, with 121,600. 

Taylor made a surprise appearance at AEG and Stonewall Inn’s Pride celebration earlier this year. The event was an invitation only gathering hosted by actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

Chris Brown (No. 16) also released the song “Heat” with Gunna, which no doubt helped his 16,900 song sales for the week. Brown is still prepping for an album drop this weekend. 

Bastille entered the chart at No. 19 with 44,200 total album units for the week. The band released Doom Days last week, which no doubt was the majority of the group’s 34,700 album sales for the week. 

Set to have a busy 2019, Bastille is booked at a series of UK festivals through the summer, and Cruilla in Barcelona. After that the band’s routing is North American headline dates, mostly theaters and amphitheaters, in the fall. 

Two newcomers on the chart this week are NLE Choppa (No. 84) and Joji (No. 85). 

NLE Choppa released the “Shotta Flow” remix featuring Blueface June 20, but he has been releasing singles throughout 2019, including the original “Shotta Flow” in January.

Joji put out the song “Sanctuary” June 14, his latest release since 2018’s Ballads 1.

Next week’s chart will include data for projects from Willie Nelson, Lil Nas X, The Raconteurs, YFN Lucci, Mark Ronson, Aaron Watson, Lil Kim, Benny The Butcher, Collective Soul, Hollywood Vampires, and a posthumous release from Prince.

Also, be on the lookout for new projects from Chris Brown, The Black Keys, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Runaway June, and Josh Abbott Band.