By Trevor Anderson

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Charlie Kirk poses at The Cambridge Union on May 19, 2025 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

Nordin Catic/Getty Images

Tom MacDonald’s “Charlie,” a tribute anthem to the late Charlie Kirk, climbs to No. 1 on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart (dated Sept. 27) after its first full tracking week.

The song, released Thursday, Sept. 11, debuted at No. 2 a week earlier with 7,000 downloads sold in the last hours of that Friday-Thursday tracking week, according to Luminate. “Charlie” then sold 18,000 Sept. 12-18 for its coronation.

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The cut, which MacDonald issued on his eponymous independent label, was released following Kirk’s assassination, at age 31, on Sept. 10 during an appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The killing and its aftermath dominated news headlines and social media conversation in the ensuing days amid discourse surrounding political violence and freedom of speech. President Donald Trump, among other notables, attended and spoke at Kirk’s memorial service on Sept. 21 in Glendale, Ariz.

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MacDonald collects his eighth No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, all of which have ruled for one week. He first led with 2021’s “Fake Woke” and followed with “Ghost” in 2023; two more leaders in 2024, “You Missed” and “Goodbye Joe,” with Nova Rockafeller; and a chart-leading four champs thus far this year: “Daddy’s Home,” with Roseanne Barr, “Man in the Sky,” “The Devil Is a Democrat” and “Charlie.”

In addition to its sales, “Charlie” registered 4.7 million official streams in the United States in its first full tracking week. The combined sums spark the song’s entrance on three multimetric Billboard charts: No. 6 on Hot Rap Songs, No. 12 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 77 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. The debut gives the rapper his third entry on the foremost ranking, eighth on the middle list and fifth on the Hot 100.

It’s free Billboard charts month: Through Sept. 30, subscribers to Billboard’s Chart Beat newsletter, emailed each Friday, can unlock access to Billboard’s weekly and historical charts, artist chart histories and all Chart Beat stories simply by visiting the newly redesigned Billboard.com through any story link in the newsletter. Not a Chart Beat subscriber? Sign up for free here.

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