Alex Warren’s new album “You’ll Be Alright, Kid” came out on July 18. “Ordinary” has been #1 for seven straight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and in Top 40 radio airplay, making it the biggest song of 2025 so far. It also returned to #1 on Liveline’s top 20 requests this week. By any measurement, it is the biggest, most unarguable hit of the moment. Now, we think his next possible big song may be here.
Warren’s prior single, “Burning Down,” got to #21 on Top 40 but only #69 on Billboard. It never did much on Spotify and we received no requests for it then but started getting them occasionally (as well as another earlier title, “Carry You Home”) after the success of “Ordinary.”
On June 27, Warren and BLACKPINK member ROSÉ (with a #1 song of her own, “APT.”) released the single “On My Mind”. It was quick to get radio support but surprisingly didn’t resonate with their fans on Spotify, where it’s currently not even in the Top 200. By contrast “Ordinary” is still #7 in the US, while “Bloodline” featuring Jelly Roll is #121 on the Spotify daily, but not even in the top 200 on the weekly.
We think the standout track from his new album is “Eternity,” which is #16 and debuted at #3. In just 11 days, it has racked up 12 million streams. What’s radio doing with it? On Wendesday, it was #113 with a total of 38 spins–22 spins on Sirius XM Hits 1, plus another handful from our monitored affiliates. By comparison, “On My Mind,” is #19 in spins at Top 40. But “Eternity” is already getting requests and solidly in the Spotify Top 20.
When “Ordinary” first came out, we were extremely early to champion it based on these same observations. Within three weeks of that article, almost every Top 40 station in America had swapped it out with “Burning Down”. There’s no guarantee if “Eternity” will do the same, but do we really want to be late again while playing a song without listener passion? “Eternity” appears to be this album’s best chance at a successful follow up.
sombr – “back to friends”: Not to beat a dead horse, but this is undoubtedly one of the 10 biggest songs of 2025. Not just because the current supply of great new music is small, but also because it’s just really good. We’ve been saying it for months now, yet Top 40 radio has only gotten this to #35, which is honestly pathetic. Ignoring an absolute monster hit, which isn’t even polarizing like rap, rock or dance. It’s a pop record, just like his other single “undressed”, which this week is #7 on airplay. “back to friends” is out-performing “undressed”—still a legit hit itself–on every other medium except for radio. Just to compare:
“undressed”
- YouTube views: 6.1 million
- Spotify streams: 348 million (#17 right now, reached #2 for 4 days total)
- Shazams: 1.1 million
“back to friends”
- YouTube views: 26 million
- Spotify streams: 543 million (#6 right now, sat at #1 for 3 days total)
- Shazams: 1.4 million
Funny enough, “back to friends” is #4 on Alternative airplay while “undressed” is #34. Just like we said before, both songs are incredible and certainly deserve heavy airplay in both formats. Neither one is more “pop” or “alternative” than the other, but they’re both wildly popular and have been consistent Top 10 requests for two months. We as an industry only have one simple job: Play people’s favorite songs!
Buried Treasures of the Week:
P!nk – “Who Knew”: One of her 9 singles to reach #1 on Top 40 radio, this 2007 smash was the follow up to “U + Ur Hand” from the album “I’m Not Dead” and is one of her most beautiful and relatable songs. Personally, it brings a tear to my eye almost every time I hear it and reminds me of my childhood and the people who have come and gone throughout my life. It’s a reminder to cherish your friends, family and appreciation for the time you have. A 33-year-old woman requested it last week and said she had already attempted suicide twice in her life but then recently reconnected with an old best friend who she lost touch with, enabling her to feel safe and loved again. It’s one of those songs that just hits close to home for so many people. The power of music!
Radiohead – “Creep”: Young listeners keep requesting it despite the fact we play “Today’s Hits”. As we’ve said before about Gen Z, genre doesn’t matter to them anymore. If they love “Dark Thoughts” by Lil Tecca and “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, they will gladly listen to them back-to-back on Spotify. In this case, 1992’s “Creep” is the perfect example of how alternative music is huge once again, in addition to many old titles being re-discovered. Released during the infamous Top 40 doldrums of the mid 90s, it was one of “those songs” similar to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Loser” by Beck, which then would’ve seemed polarizing on the Pop format but is now a staple of Alternative and even Classic Rock stations. Today, it’s a favorite amongst Gen Z and we get half a dozen requests for the song every week. It’s #45 on Spotify in America right now but peaked at #37 last week. It has been in the Top 200 for 424 days and has 2.2 billion streams.
FYI: “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac is #14 on Spotify right now. It hit #6 last week and has been in the Top 200 for 1,664 days, also finishing #17 on Liveline requests. We’ve been mentioning this repeatedly because it’s important to remember that this is another broad appeal, obvious smash bringback hit. It’s a story. Something to talk about. A fan favorite. Many Top 40 program directors fear anything older than 2010 or even 2015. Like Bob Dylan said, “…the times they are a-changing”. Top 40 doesn’t necessarily always mean “new music” though. It’s a lifestyle, a vibe and a chart. It repesents the most popular songs from all styles combined. If people who love Sabrina Carpenter and Harry Styles also love Fleetwood Mac and Radiohead, (which they do, just look at the stats or go to a Stevie Nicks show or watch Ozzy Osbourne’s last concert and you’ll see tons of people younger than 30). To them it fits.
In times like these where there are few superhits, is it better to bore listeners with mediocre mid-chart tuneouts, or play super-popular, broad-demo bringbacks like “Dreams?”
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(@livelineradio)This story first appeared on radioinsight.com