‘Game’ Back On: Michelle Branch’s Classic, Remade With New Radicals, Makes Billboard Chart Debut

Branch's original "The Game of Love," with Santana, ruled Adult Pop Airplay for 13 weeks in 2002-03. Michelle Branch Shervin Lainez Trending on Billboard Michelle Branch extends her history on Billboard’s charts to more than 25 years, as her new version of “The Game of Love,” her early 2000s smash, debuts on Adult Pop Airplay. The update, with fellow veteran hitmakers New Radicals, enters the Aug. 8-dated list at No. 33, thanks to play on outlets including KBIG Los Angeles, WBMX Boston and Music Choice, according to Mediabase, which provides airplay data for Billboard’s radio rankings via data tracker Luminate. The original version — by Santana featuring Branch — dominated Adult Pop Airplay for 13 weeks in 2002-03. Gregg Alexander, the longtime frontman of New Radicals, and Rick Nowels cowrote the song. The reimagination introduces Branch’s EP Everywhere and Back Again, due Nov. 6. Her first collection on BMG features other new interpretations of her hits. Branch boasts five top 10s among 10 Adult Pop Airplay entries, going back to her breakthrough, “Everywhere,” which hit No. 9 in 2001; it brought her Billboard chart debut when it arrived on the list dated June 30 that year. She returned to the top 10 with “All You Wanted” (No. 4, 2002), “The Game of Love,” “Are You Happy Now?” (No. 3, 2003) and a second Santana collaboration, “I’m Feeling You” (No. 6, 2005). She makes her first appearance this week since 2011, when “Loud Music” reached the top 20. The original “The Game of Love” became Branch’s highest-charting hit on the Billboard Hot 100, climbing to No. 5. It also won the Grammy for best pop collaboration with vocals in 2003. “‘The Game of Love’ has been such a special song in my life, made possible by one of my personal musical heroes, Gregg Alexander,” Branch shared in a statement upon the new version’s release July 15. “Being able to sing this together with him is really a full circle moment and captures the original spirit of the demo.” Branch’s chart accomplishments also encompass her run as half of The Wreckers. In 2006, the pair, which she formed with Jessica Harp, hit No. 1 on Hot Country Songs with “Leave the Pieces.” New Radicals likewise stretch their notable Billboard chart history, which began in 1998 with their signature hit, “You Get What You Give” (whose “one, two … one, two, three, ow!” intro is mirrored in that of the new “The Game of Love”). The single, which Alexander and Nowels also cowrote, rose to the Hot 100’s top 40 and led Adult Alternative Airplay for six weeks in 1999. Branch is set to begin her Everywhere and Back Again Tour, which kicks off Sept. 27 and runs through Nov. 13. (Included is a Nov. 7 date at The Muse in Nantucket, Mass.) All charts dated Aug. 8 will update Tuesday, Aug. 4, on Billboard.com. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up