Ariana Grande’s ‘We Can’t Be Friends’ Soars In at No. 1 on Billboard Global Charts
Written by Gary Trust on March 18, 2024
Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” debuts at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. Grande achieves her fourth leader on the former and her third on the latter.
The song is the second single from Grande’s seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine, which premieres at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. “Yes, And?,” the lead single from the set, released on Republic Records, debuted atop both global surveys in January.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.
Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
‘Friends’ First on Global 200
Released March 8 on Eternal Sunshine, followed by the premiere of its official video the same day, Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” begins atop the Billboard Global 200 with 97.5 million streams and 14,000 sold worldwide through March 14. (It bests the streaming start of “Yes, And?,” which drew 94.4 million globally in its first frame.)
Grande earns her fourth Global 200 No. 1, after “Yes, And?” led for its first two weeks; “Save Your Tears,” with The Weeknd, reigned for a week in May 2021; and “Positions” bowed atop the chart and ruled for two weeks in November 2020. She ties Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift for the most leaders among soloists; only BTS boasts more (seven) overall.
Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” drops to No. 2 on the Global 200 after four weeks at No. 1 beginning in February; Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival,” featuring Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti, falls to No. 3 from its No. 2 high; Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” holds at its No. 4 best; and Djo’s first entry on the chart, “End of Beginning,” enters the top five (6-5).
Grande Also No. 1 on Global Excl. U.S.
Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” concurrently launches atop the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, with 65.5 million streams and 5,000 sold outside the U.S. March 8-14.
Grande tops Global Excl. U.S. with a third title, after “Yes, And?” led in its first two weeks and “Positions” spent its debut week at No. 1 in November 2020. As on the Global 200, she ties for the most leaders among soloists, matching Bad Bunny and Jung Kook’s totals. BLACKPINK has also scored three No. 1s; among all acts, only BTS has more (seven).
Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” retreats to No. 2 after four weeks at No. 1 on Global Excl. U.S. beginning last month.
Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” rebounds 6-3 on Global Excl. U.S., after hitting No. 2. As on Global Excl. U.S., the song becomes the Japanese duo’s first top 10 on the Global 200 (13-8), with 53.9 million steams (up 72%) and 19,000 sold (up 48%) worldwide in the tracking week.
Plus, Djo’s first Global Excl. U.S. hit, “End of Beginning,” reaches the top five (7-4) and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” slips to No. 5 from at its No. 3 high.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated March 23, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, March 19. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
