Madonna has made a grand return to the Billboard Hot 100.
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The pop superstar has teamed up with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti on “Popular,” which is featured on the soundtrack of The Weeknd’s new HBO show The Idol. The song debuted at No. 43 on the Hot 100 in June 2023, marking Madonna’s first entry on the chart in eight years. Her last song to appear on the chart was “Bitch I’m Madonna” featuring Nicki Minaj, which only made it to No. 84 in 2015. Madonna’s most recent hit on the all-genre chart was more than a decade ago when she collaborated with Minaj and M.I.A. on “Give Me All Your Luvin,'” which peaked at No. 10 in 2012.
“Popular” is the second single off the soundtrack, The Idol Vol. 1. The song was originally going to be just a collaboration between The Weeknd and Carti, but the former ultimately brought Madonna into the fold. “We’ve had a different version of this song prior. So I’ve had these vocals for a while and I’ve kind of just worked around it, and then kept it in the tuck. But now it felt like it was time,” The Weeknd explained of “Popular” to Zane Lowe on Apple Music (quote via People).
“I’ve been producing the song for a while,” he continued. “And then Madonna, she’s the ultimate co-sign for this song, for this album, and for this TV show. And you’ll hear more of her in the show as well too. She is the ultimate pop star. I’m proud of it.”
Madonna also recently released a collaboration with Sam Smith, “Vulgar.” The Queen of Pop introduced Smith and their duet partner Kim Petras before the performance of their hit song, “Unholy,” at the 2023 Grammy Awards where it was named Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
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