Josiah Queen earns his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart as “Demons” rises three spots to lead the ranking dated May 23. It totaled 3.1 million official U.S. streams, 23.9 million in radio airplay audience and 1,000 sold in the May 8-14 tracking week, according to Luminate.
Written by Queen, John Michael Howell, Zac “ZVC” Lawson and Dylan Thomas, the song previously became one of six top 10s among 27 career Hot Christian Songs entries for the Tampa, Florida, native, who first made the list in 2023 with “I Am Barabbas.” He has since developed into one of Christian music’s most prolific young chart presences, averaging a new chart entry roughly every other month.
Queen is part of a new wave of Christian artists whose rise has been fueled by streaming and social media as well as radio. He broke through in 2023, with “The Prodigal,” his second entry, hitting No. 4 and spending a year on the chart. He followed with 2025 top 10s “Can’t Steal My Joy,” with Brandon Lake, “Dusty Bibles” and “Jesus Is Coming Back Soon,” with Forrest Frank. This April, “Judas” reached the region.
Queen has also found success at Christian radio. “Can’t Steal My Joy” hit No. 1 on Christian Airplay after first appearing on Hot Christian Songs, while “Dusty Bibles” entered the Hot Christian Songs top 10 before climbing to No. 9 on Christian Airplay in late December.
Both of Queen’s full-length albums, 2024’s The Prodigal and 2025’s Mt. Zion, debuted at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums and have spent a combined 141 weeks on the chart.
