for KING & COUNTRY
Robby Kleinfor King & Country, the duo of siblings Joel and Luke Smallbone, achieves its first No. 1 on Billboard‘s streaming-, airplay- and sales-powered Hot Christian Songs chart, as “Relate” travels to the top of the list dated Feb. 12.
The act’s first No. 1 is among 17 top 10s, dating to its first, “Busted Heart (Hold on to Me),” which reached No. 3 in February 2012. The pair has reached its No. 2 peak three times (all in 2018-20).
The tandem wrote “Relate” with Josh Kerr and Tayla Parx. It’s the first single from for King & Country’s album What Are We Waiting For, due March 11.
“When you start the process of writing a new album and it becomes time to release that first single, to be honest, it’s quite vulnerable,” the duo says in a joint statement to Billboard. “You hope and pray that it connects with people. You hope and pray that it’s impactful. So we’re very humbled to hear how many have been ‘relating’ to ‘Relate’!”
The song surged by 34% to 1.9 million U.S. streams in the week ending Feb. 3, aided by growing prominent placement on multiple playlists. Plus, a remix featuring Dutch DJ/producer R3hab was released Jan. 28. The track flies 21-9 on Christian Streaming Songs, awarding for King & Country its sixth top 10.
Additionally, “Relate” gained by 46% to 800 downloads sold and jumps 21-5 on Christian Digital Song Sales, becoming the duo’s 21st top 10.
On Christian Airplay, the song led for three weeks starting in December, becoming for King & Country’s 10th No. 1. It also marked the act’s record seventh leader in a row (encompassing songs promoted as proper radio singles). On the latest list, it ranks at No. 2 with 9.4 million impressions.
“Relate” also continues its crossover climb, rising 38-37 on Adult Pop Airplay in its second week on the ranking.
NEW ‘NAME’ AT No. 1 Singer-songwriter Katy Nichole, 21, from Mesa, Ariz., lands her first No. 1 on Christian Digital Song Sales as her debut single “In Jesus Name (God of Possible)” jumps to the top from No. 4 following its first full week of tracking.
The song, which Nichole wrote with Ethan Hulse and Jeff Pardo, sold 2,900 downloads in the Jan. 28-Feb. 3 tracking week, following its Jan. 26 release.
On Christian Airplay, the song enters at No. 26 with 1.4 million in audience. It bows on Hot Christian Songs at No. 30, also driven by 620,000 streams.
Nichole has built buzz on social media and platforms including TikTok, where she boasts over 300,000 followers.
Metallica bassist Jason Newsted says he is now “free and clear” after facing throat cancer.
The 63 year old musician, who played with the Enter Sandman legends from 1986 through 2001, has shared details of his diagnosis publicly for the first time. He explained that doctors discovered it early, and on May 8, 2025 he “underwent a procedure” to treat the condition.
Speaking on the Let There Be Talk podcast, he said: “They took a bunch of s*** outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of s*** out.
“So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early. And I got my ‘free and clear’ about three weeks ago. So I beat it.”
Jason contributed to several of Metallica’s most iconic releases, including 1988’s ...And Justice For All, their self titled 1991 album, 1996’s Load, the 1997 follow up Reload, and 1998’s Garage Inc.
After going through his cancer experience, the bassist made a point to slow down and actually give himself time to recover instead of constantly pushing forward.
He explained: “I promised myself I was going to rest, and that was the first time I’ve done that in my life.
"I’m usually just on or off. And so I promised myself I was gonna take the gravity off and lay down for the right amount of hours."
The health scare also led Jason to give up smoking weed and drinking alcohol, something he admits he likely would not have done otherwise.
He added: “The great spirit got my attention and said, ‘That’s not good right now, man.’ And so it pulled me off it.
"And so now I’m more clear-headed than I’ve been in my entire adult life. And so there’s blessings within everything. The lemonade I’m making this summer, bro — mm. Sweet. Ooh.”
Jason has previously said that his unexpected departure ultimately helped Metallica continue moving forward, while James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich later admitted they struggled to process his decision at the time.
Lars told Apple Music in 2021: “Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly. And that in itself is a statistic.
"And the resentment from James and I was just so… 'You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave'.
"And then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving. So of course, now you can see 20 years later, it makes complete sense.”
