Billie Eilish Earns Her First No. 1 on Adult Pop Airplay Chart With ‘What Was I Made For?’
Billie Eilish scores her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart, as “What Was I Made For?” ascends to the top of the list dated March 2.
With the ballad, from the soundtrack to the blockbuster film Barbie, Eilish rules Adult Pop Airplay after logging three prior top 10s: “Bad Guy” (No. 6 peak, 2019), “Everything I Wanted” (No. 5, 2020) and “Therefore I Am” (No. 5, 2021).
The coronation is the latest honor for “What Was I Made For?,” which Eilish co-wrote with her brother, Finneas. Previously this year, the single won Grammy Awards for song of the year and best song written for visual media, and the Golden Globe for best original song. Next, it’s up for best original song at the Academy Awards March 10.
Upon accepting the Grammy for song of the year Feb. 4, when Eilish also performed it, with Finneas on piano, she praised Barbie director and co-writer Greta Gerwig for making “the best movie of the year.” The film is nominated for eight Oscars.
Barbie: The Album has topped Billboard’s Soundtracks chart for 22 weeks, between last August and earlier this month. Meanwhile, the set’s “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa also led Adult Pop Airplay, for two weeks in September – making the soundtrack the first to generate multiple No. 1s on the chart since City of Angels, which yielded Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” and Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” in 1998-99. (The latter was originally released on the singer-songwriter’s 1997 album Surfacing.)
The Barbie soundtrack was released on Mattel/WaterTower/Atlantic Records, with Interscope Records (Eilish’s home label) promoting “What Was I Made For?” to radio.
Elsewhere, “What Was I Made For?” hit No. 6 on the Pop Airplay chart in December, becoming Eilish’s fourth top 10 (a sum including two No. 1s), and No. 17 earlier in February on Adult Contemporary, a new best for her on the latter list. It has reached No. 14 on the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100.
All Billboard charts dated March 2 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Gary Trust
Billboard