Chris Molanphy

Ella Langley and Megan Moroney’s Milestone Chart-Toppers Are Forcing Nashville to Break a Decades-Old Rule Megan Moroney's and Ella Langley's simultaneous success is breaking traditional country rules about only woman thriving in the mainstream at a time.

wrote a little about Langley/Moroney and What It All Means in my latest for @billboard.com ! www.billboard.com/music/countr...

Thanks for the shoutout. A quibble: “Montero” was in fact a solid radio hit—No3 across formats (29wk run on Radio Songs)+No1 at pop radio (30wk run). That was a pleasant surprise when I researched my “Old Town Road” book—Nas’s 2021 followups were all embraced in places where the video didn’t matter.

Nashville Turned Its Back on Two Country-Pop Upstarts. Then Hollywood Came Knocking. Long before Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen, Olivia Newton-John and John Denver took country roads to pop superstardom.

Also! While #HitParadePod –The Bridge episodes are only for Slate Plus members, non-Plus listeners can now hear Part 2 of our February episode on John Denver+Olivia Newton-John—’70s crossover titans whose careers ran parallel as they pivoted country to pop…Rocky Mountains to Xanadu. Pts1&2 are here:

They Were Country When Crossovers Weren’t Cool Can you believe she was magic? Music journalist David Cantwell on Olivia Newton-John’s trailblazing country-pop crossover campaign.

On a new #HitParadePod –The Bridge, live on @slate.com, my guest @cantkill.bsky.social says Olivia Newton-John & John Denver were just part of a ’70s country-to-pop crossover wave, as Nashville acts covered a slew of rock&pop hits. Plus trivia…and a next-episode preview that’s ready for a milestone.

Taylor Swift’s Just Scored Another No. 1 Song on Billboard’s Hot 100. But Is It a Real Hit? It’s harder than ever for albums to produce multiple chart-topping singles. Taylor Swift just did it anyway.

It's all right…dancing through the lightning strikes: my latest #WhyIsThisSongNo1? on @slate.com is about “Opalite,” which gives Taylor her first followup No1 hit since her ‘1989’ heyday. How did the celeb-studded video & clever sales tactics push it to the top? And why does it deserve to be there?

Always a delight to join @augetoffmygold.bsky.social on @billboard.com’s Greatest Pop Stars podcast. This time, for Andrew’s Vintage Pop Stars series, I’m on to talk about David Bowie’s ’83—his commercial peak. How well do hits like “Let’s Dance” & “Modern Love” hold up? Has “China Girl” aged badly?

Slate's Hit Parade: Country Roads and Summer Nights Edition

Thanks to #HitParadePod listeners who’ve been sending kind words about our Feb episode on John Denver+Olivia Newton-John—the Patient(s) Zero of pop-to-country crossover. For those who’ve asked, our accompanying Spotify playlist is now live—find it on the @slate.com show page for the episode…or here:

I only recall how “Who You Are” goes cuz I played my ‘No Code’ CD a bunch trying to get into it the way I loved ‘Vitalogy’ (it didn't take). Coincidentally, this morning I listened to Vedder’s chat w/Carvey+Spade on Fly on the Wall podcast—to your point, it’s remarkable how well-adjusted he is now.

The Right-Wing Backlash to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Performance Has Only Made Him More Popular Than Ever Long after the right-wing freak-out, the Puerto Rican superstar is getting the last laugh.

¡Métase to'l mundo! My new @slate.com #WhyIsThisSongNo1? column is about Bad Bunny’s “DTMF”—beneficiary of his halftime triumph+the 1st all-Spanish #Hot100 No1 since “La Bamba.” Out of all of Benito’s hits why’d this one top the charts? And what does it have to do w/the country song it replaced@No1?

The Bieber track I like from this period (sorta—it’s from the year before/prior album) is “Intentions,” which has a nice mellow vibe. I’m a bit less irritated than you by “Peaches” but it’s not that interesting. I was expecting you to riff on whether “Peaches” now qualifies as Biebs-in-boxers music.

Nashville Turned Its Back on Two Country-Pop Upstarts. Then Hollywood Came Knocking. Long before Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen, Olivia Newton-John and John Denver took country roads to pop superstardom.

Almost heaven/hopelessly devoted: My new #HitParadePod episode—now live on @slate.com—is on John Denver & Olivia Newton-John, titans of ’70s pop who crossed over via country & tangled w/Nashville. They went Hollywood, then took different paths—she aerobicized…he went full Muppet. Embrace the mellow.

P.S. Cosign your 10 for the Garbage song—and what I love is, not only does it bite the Clash, in the middle & toward the end it also bites an R.E.M. Bill Berry drum crack from “Orange Crush” that more artists should be sampling cuz it’s badass. www.whosampled.com/sample/10968...

It becomes a 10 in the last 30 seconds when O’Connor sings the BB King line. Chokes me up every time. Early on, the blurry sample is his subconscious. The random lyrics are his attempt to make sense of his broken world. When he finally succumbs & sings the line, he achieves release. It’s beautiful.

The roll call of Latin countries (plus the US and Canada!) at the close had me in my feelings. ¡Muchissimas gracias, Benito!

#Halftime #BadBunny

Okay, that Grammy cameo was a nice flex. Hey, MAGA—how ya like me now?

#BadBunny #Halftime

Speaking as a half-Italian half-Cuban, I heartily endorse the cross-cultural exchange between #Gaga and #Benito.

🇮🇹 🇨🇺 🇵🇷

Anyone else wish “Die with a Smile” had been this way all along?

#Gaga #BadBunny #Halftime

Taylor is nothing if not savvy about how chart data works. She won’t get “Hotline Bling”’d! Speaking of which…I wrote this for @slate.com back in 2015 when Drake still had no lead-artist #Hot100 No1s (sigh…were we ever that young?) & shot himself in the foot, data-wise: www.slate.com/blogs/browbe...

I not only encourage you to read @radiomatt1.bsky.social’s chart analysis of Bad Bunny ahead of #SuperBowlHalftime. I urge you to read thru his recap of José Feliciano’s ’68 Detroit national-anthem controversy & its chart/career impact—the more things change… www.graphsaboutsongs.com/p/um-actuall...

I’m looking forward to all of the queens I follow doing spoken word lip synchs of this new classic! God bless Cher!
#glaaaaadiator2026

This song’s really good but also Exhibit A for why her 2nd album should’ve come out in 2021. It’s not staggeringly better than her other 2021–25 singles—so its No1 success was at least half the product of her higher profile 5 years ago. Like you, I hope she finds a shred of her Imperiality again.

Theories of the case (#AlbumOfTheYear):
• the (Dixie) Chicks effect: voting for Benito was a political act
• the Latino vote: the Recording Academy added hundreds of Latin #Grammys voters last year
• duh, DTMF is a great album

Bad Bunny is having a moment. We get it, Benito. #Grammys #AotY

Yay, Amy Allen! Smartest songwriter in pop today. #Grammys

SZA, a kind correction: You are NOT a small part of that record. #Grammys

I love how Jack Antonoff is so ubiquitous they couldn’t get through a whole #Grammys without him winding up onstage. With Kendrick!

I guess 13 weeks at No1 gets you a big #Grammy. From a befuddled Cher. #Luther #Kendrick #SZA

Correction: THAT was the most #Cher moment. Hilarious! Lady, come back and give out a prize!

Most #Cher moment: “Okay, sit down please.” #Grammys

Apparently they are! They just did. Huh.

To be fair, the #RockHall gave Sly a massive multiartist tribute last fall. So I guess they didn’t want to echo that? Still…odd.