BTS Wins Artist of the Year at the AMAs as Bruno Mars Climbs the Hot 100

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BTS Wins Artist of the Year at the AMAs as Bruno Mars Climbs the Hot 100<br>Billboard round-up for May 23, 2026<br>May 26, 2026

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‘Risk It All’ by Bruno Mars<br>Ella Langley’s Texas-Sized Grip on the Chart

If this week’s Hot 100 has a single story, it’s one written entirely in Ella Langley’s hand. The Alabama singer holds the top two positions with “Choosin’ Texas” at number one and “Be Her” at number two — a feat that puts her in extraordinarily rare company. The country star’s duet with Morgan Wallen, “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” sits at eleven, and she has two further entries in the top 50 with “Dandelion” (45) and “Loving Life Again” (33). All told, Langley accounts for five simultaneous Hot 100 entries, a staggering show of dominance that has pundits reaching back to Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton for a suitable comparison.<br>“Choosin’ Texas,” now in its 30th week on the chart, spent its tenth non-consecutive week at number one — a run that has prompted a cascade of records. Written with Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, and Joybeth Taylor, the steel-guitar-laced heartbreaker about a lover who chose a Texas woman over the narrator has topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand alongside the US. Last week, Ella Langley emerged as one of the biggest winners at the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards, taking home five trophies and performing a stripped-down rendition of “Be Her” during the ceremony. Her current Dandelion Tour, meanwhile, is selling out arenas at a pace that has industry observers talking about a stadium future.<br>“Be Her,” the neo-traditional country ballad written with co-writer HARDY (who reportedly completed it in around 30 minutes), continues its remarkable run at number two — a position it cannot escape due to Langley’s own song above it. Critics have praised its vulnerability and retro, ‘90s-influenced steel-soaked production.<br>Olivia Dean’s Art of Loving

If Langley owns the summit, Olivia Dean isn’t far behind. The English singer-songwriter claims two spots in the top six: “Man I Need” at three (in its 38th week, an extraordinary run) and “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” at five. Both are from her second album The Art of Loving, and together they represent a phenomenon that has positioned Dean as arguably the biggest new artist of the past twelve months on a global scale.<br>“Man I Need” — a pop, R&B, and gospel-influenced track — won Triple J’s Hottest 100 for 2025 and topped charts across Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, and the Netherlands before its US success, where it peaked at number two. “So Easy (To Fall In Love),” a sun-warmed bossa nova and jazz-pop confection drawing comparisons to the Supremes and the Carpenters, is in its fifth consecutive week atop the Pop Airplay chart. Olivia Dean closed out BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Sunderland this past weekend, further cementing her breakout year ahead of four upcoming Madison Square Garden dates.<br>Bruno Mars and the Romantic Returns

Bruno Mars continues his commercial resurgence with two entries from The Romantic in the top ten. “I Just Might,” the disco-pop and funk lead single that topped the charts in 18 countries, holds at four in its 18th week, while “Risk It All” leaps from 15 to eight. The latter, a cinematic bolero-influenced ballad with mariachi-inspired horns and strings, shows that Mars’s broad stylistic range remains a commercial asset. Between these two tracks, The Romantic has proven one of the most sustained album campaigns in recent memory.<br>Michael Jackson’s Biopic Bump Continues

The ripple effect of the Michael biopic continues to reshape the lower reaches of the chart in fascinating ways. “Billie Jean” sits at 15 — in its 28th week — having recently reached number one on the Billboard Global 200 and the Spotify Global chart for the first time since its 1983 release. “Human Nature” is at 21, “Beat It” at 29, and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” at 36. Most strikingly, “Dirty Diana” (44) and “Rock With You” (47) are both marked as re-entries this week. The breadth and scale of Jackson’s chart presence — with multiple songs simultaneously charting across pop, R&B, and streaming — is without modern precedent for a catalogue artist.<br>The Perennials and the Challengers

Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” holds at six in its remarkable 65th week on the chart, where it peaked at number one. The song has taken on a life of its own as a cultural touchstone — currently leading Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart — and shows no sign of fading. The song has taken on a life of its own as a cultural touchstone — currently leading Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart — and recently spent a 12th nonconsecutive week blocking Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” from reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.<br>Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead” falls from three to seven after peaking at one just four weeks ago, still a...