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.
NEWS
Brad Paisley has called Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding “one of the least pretentious weddings he’s ever seen”.
The country star attended the ceremony alongside his actress wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley. They joined around 1,000 guests at New York City’s Madison Square Garden earlier this month as the global pop icon married the American football star.
Although the celebration attracted enormous attention and involved tight security and a stunning makeover of the famous arena, Paisley said the occasion never came across as excessive.
“Ironically, (it) was one of the least pretentious weddings that I've ever seen or ever will see,” Paisley told The Associated Press during an interview. “It meant a lot to be (invited). It was, kind of, a big thank you from her to invite us.”
Paisley, who chose Swift as an opening performer for his tour when she was a teenager in 2007, said he was delighted to be included in what many considered the biggest celebrity wedding of the year.
“They were very clear with the invite, and I took this personally when I got the invite, because in the invite, it said, ‘If you're getting this, you mean a lot to us,’” he revealed.
The musician also explained that guests were not told the wedding’s exact location until the date drew nearer.
“It was really fun to watch the cat and mouse game of, like, ‘We can tell you roughly where it's going to be, we're not gonna say what building... and here's the date. If you're in, we'll tell you more,’” he continued. “I went to my wife, I said, ‘Want to go?’ and she said, ‘Absolutely, we gotta be there!’ So, we did it, it was RSVP yes.”
Other famous attendees included Brad Pitt, Gigi Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Ed Sheeran, Sabrina Carpenter, Hugh Grant, Haim and Tom Hanks.
