Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Pop: Alex Warren Faces Same Problem as Benson Boone with Song “Ordinary” That Won’t Go Away, Plus New AI Releases, Linda Ronstadt’s Dolly Parton Cover

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Alex Warren had one big hit last year called “Ordinary.”

I thought it was rather, er, ordinary but the song ruled the charts for a year.

And that’s a problem for Warren. “Ordinary” still in the iTunes top 20.

Warren’s new album will debut on Friday at number 2 on hitsdailydouble.com. “Wildchild” will land around 76.000 in sales, two third of which are CDs, LPs, and vinyl.

But “Wildchild” has no hit singles and is competing with “Ordinary.”

This is often the problem with a breakout single. Benson Boone had this when his second album had to go up against his song, “Beautiful Things.” The second album has come and gone. “Beautiful Things” is still out there.

Carly Rae Jepsen, is still battling “Call My Maybe,” which was a hit in 2012. That’s 14 years ago. Her frustration is palpable.

Meantime, on the charts there are couple of new AI singles. Singers Kara Holt and Imael Angel do not exist. They and their songs are made up of whole cloth. Buyer beware. Also, Abel Hollow. All fictional, AI generated slop.

New to the top 20 this week: “September” by Earth Wind and Fire returns 19 days before its call out date of “the 21st day of September.” It’s a welcome relief on the charts no matter how old.

And Dolly Parton is still selling like crazy. She has the number 1 song — “9 to 5,” and five more in the top 10. And then plenty more scattered through the iTunes chart. Plus Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” at 22.

Who sang “I Will Always Love You” first? I’d say Linda Ronstadt, in 1975. Peter Asher produced the song on Linda’s hit album, “Prisoner in Disguise.” Peter and Linda had an an unerring ear for great cover songs.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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