Dua Lipa’s ‘Houdini’ Makes Magical Move to No. 1 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay Chart

Dua Lipa’s “Houdini” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, escaping the No. 2 spot to appear atop the ranking dated March 2.

Lipa earns her fifth leader on Dance/Mix Show Airplay (which ranks titles by weekly plays on a panel of core 24/7 dance stations augmented with mix show hours on pop stations, as monitored by Mediabase and provided to Billboard by Luminate).

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Here’s a rundown of Lipa’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart No. 1s:

  • “Houdini,” for one week (to date), March 2, 2024
  • “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” with Elton John, 14 weeks, beginning Oct. 30, 2021
  • “Don’t Start Now,” 16 weeks, beginning Dec. 28, 2019
  • “One Kiss,” with Calvin Harris, 10 weeks, beginning June 2, 2018
  • “New Rules,” four weeks, beginning Feb. 3, 2018

“Houdini,” whose title is an ode to legendary illusionist Harry Houdini, became Lipa’s second No. 1 on Billboard’s multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. The single, on Warner Records, launched atop the list in November and added its 10th week at the summit on the most recently published, Feb. 24-dated tally.

Following his death in 1926, Houdini has been the subject of other chart hits. Walter Brennan spent a week at No. 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962 with “Houdini”; Kon Kan hit No. 33 on Dance Singles Sales in 1989 with “Harry Houdini”; and Foster the People’s “Houdini” reached No. 37 on Alternative Airplay in 2012.

Meanwhile, researching Billboard’s archives pulls this rabbit out of a hat: Houdini’s widow, Bess, drew ink in the Dec. 29, 1934, issue, which celebrated Billboard’s 40th anniversary (dating to the Nov. 1, 1894-dated inaugural edition). “The Billboard and I started in show business the same year,” an ad on page 219 read. “My! My! How you have grown, Billyboy. Congratulations – Mrs. Harry Houdini.”

Gary Trust

Billboard