Is Lady Gaga’s ‘Hold My Hand’ Already an Oscar Front-Runner?

With the release of Lady Gaga’s new single “Hold My Hand” from the upcoming Tom Cruise sequel Top Gun: Maverick, is Gaga already the front-runner to win next year’s Academy Award for best original song? And will the track blast to the top of the charts?

It’s never too early to start prognosticating!

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On the latest Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), Katie and Keith discuss why “Hold My Hand” just might be the song to beat at next year’s Oscars. Gaga herself is already a two-time nominee for best original song (for “Til It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground and “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, with the latter winning the Oscar). Further, at least four films featuring Tom Cruise have scored a best original song nomination – including a winner with “Take My Breath Away,” from the first Top Gun film.

Also on the Pop Shop, the team chats about how Pusha T scores his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 – and how it could be the first of a series of No. 1 debuts over the next two months. On the horizon are new albums from Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles, BTS and Luke Combs – among other former chart-toppers. Who could make the splashiest debut atop the list? And are all of them guaranteed chart-toppers?

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

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