Pop Shots – On Top

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Taylor Swift toying with streaming records, to Deadmau5 becoming a hero to felines, to a country legend calling it a career, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You,” from the Toy Story 5 soundtrack, broke a bevy of streaming records in its first day on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. With Swift involved, one has to assume that soundtrack is going to be pressed on vinyl, and have a different variant for each toy in the movie … and that her fans will spend their entire allowance buying every single one of those variants.

* Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” spent a 28th week at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, making it the longest running #1 by a female solo artist in the chart’s history, which dates back to 1958. It’s the biggest thing to happen for an Ella in music since Rihanna.

* Deadmau5 donated $30,000 to help 27 rescue cats in Oakville, Ontario. I gotta say, this is an excellent way for a mouse to endear himself to the feline community.

* Jack White had quite the reveal during a recent episode of his Third Man Release Lab online series, announcing a new solo album titled Frozen Charlotte that will be out on July 10th. And here I thought a Frozen Charlotte was a sexual position I created in the winter of 2013!

* Jason Derulo fell during his performance at Capital’s Summertime Ball in London. As long as he didn’t land on a random fan he’s still doing better than Miguel.

* Olivia Rodrigo took over iHeartRadio’s digital station Hit Nation to host a relationship advice show where she answered fan-submitted questions. I wonder if her advice had previously been given by other artists, and she neglected to credit them.

* Bad Bunny had a private meeting Pope Leo XIV in Madrid. I’m not sure Kid Rock can come up with alternate programming for this one.

* Wheeler Walker Jr. announced he will be releasing his final album, titled Pullin’ Out, on September 25th, and launch his final tour on October 15th (hey that’s my birthday!). I gave a hearty salute to the comedic country legend who gave us a bevy of classics, including “Sit On My Face,” “I Like Smokin’ Pot (A Lot), and “Puss In Boots.”

That’s all for this edition of Pop Shots, but come back next Monday for more shots on all things pop.