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Chart Beat

MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge Debut Hit the Canadian Airplay Charts after Viral TikTok Duet

Canadians James Barker Band and Alex Sampson also notch new all-format entries this week, while The Tragically Hip hits No. 2 on the Mainstream Rock chart behind Three Days Grace.

MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge

MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge

Bree Marie Fish

MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge are scoring their own happy ever after.

The married duo released their first song together, "Happy Ever After You" in January following a viral TikTok duet clip. Now, the full version of that track has entered the Billboard Canada All-Format Airplay chart at No. 39 for the chart dated March 1.


The song is a gentle country song that finds a separated pair reflecting on missing each other. In real life, Porter — who hails from Medicine Hat, Alberta — and Etheridge are happily together and building a new writing partnership.

The two met songwriting over a decade ago, but hadn't written together again until "Happy Ever After." The song got a strong response online — and from musicians like John Mayer and Brandi Carlile — before it was even released. It shows off an easy chemistry between the couple, even just in audio format.

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It's a good week for country and country-adjacent Canadian artists on the All-Format chart. Ontario country band James Barker Band's "You Didn't Hear It From Me" enters at No. 42, an upbeat track energized by lovelorn obsession.

Youthful crooner and America's Got Talent semifinalist Alex Sampson also has a new entry, the '50s-throwback ballad "Pretty Baby" at No. 50. It's also performing well on the CHR/Top 40 chart, rising 17-14 this week.

Higher up the All-Format chart, B.C. singer Cameron Whitcomb is gaining momentum with "Quitter" climbing 19-13, while Hailey Benedict's "Things My Mama Says" rises 23-17. That song also hits the top ten on Canada Country chart, moving up 11-9. Benedict performed the coming-of-age single at Billboard Canada Women in Music 2024, where she announced her signing to Nashville's Big Loud Records.

Canadians are also doing well on the rock airplay charts. The Tragically Hip climb to No. 2 on Mainstream Rock with "Wait So Long," the unearthed track off the 2024 release of their 1989 debut, Up To Here. That's just behind "Mayday" by Canadian rockers Three Days Grace, who recently spoke to Billboardabout their new two-singer approach. Kitchener, Ontario singer JJ Wilde also hits No. 2 on the Modern Rock chart with the revved-up "Mess To Make."

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The top of the Airplay charts are mostly unchanged. Myles Smith's "Stargazing" holds at No. 1 on the All-Format and AC charts and moves to No. 1 on the Hot AC chart, bumping down "Die With a Smile." ROSE & Bruno Mars' "APT." holds at No. 1 on the CHR/Top 40 chart.

Lainey Wilson moves up to No. 1 on Canada Country, knocking Post Malone and Luke Combs' "Guy For That" to No. 2. Hozier's "Nobody's Soldier" continues to rule Modern Rock.

Check out the full charts here and our weekly breakdown of the Canadian Airplay charts here.

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Jully Black
Corutesy Photo

Jully Black

Features

Interview: Jully Black on How to Remain Authentic as an Artist-Entrepreneur in the Music Industry

As she embarks on the second leg of her Songs and Stories tour, her first national tour in over a decade, the R&B/soul singer, speaker and broadcaster gets real about the challenges and opportunities that exist as an independent musician in Canada.

Jully Black has been one of Canada's leading voices in music since the early 2000s, but it's been over a decade since she last embarked on a full national tour. That changed this February with her Songs and Stories tour, which is taking her across the country. Today (Feb. 28), she embarks on the second leg of the tour starting at Ottawa's National Arts Centre and taking her to Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg and more.

The tour is a major milestone for Canada's Queen of R&B. It's a culmination of everything she's done in her multifaceted career, which has taken her from music to theatre, journalism to philanthropy to TV broadcasting. The show combines it all into what she calls "one big jambalaya stew of Jully Black" – a combination she showed in her showstopping performance of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" at Billboard Canada Women in Music 2024 – but it's also a return to her roots.

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