Ted Lasso return sends The New Basement Tapes to top of TV songs chart

The New Basement Tapes are No. 1 on Billboard's Top TV Songs chart for August 2026 with "Kansas City." The 2014 recording moved to the top after it was heard in the fourth-season premiere of Ted Lasso, which aired Aug. 5 on Apple TV+, according to Billboard.

The chart is powered by Tunefind, the service that logs music used in film and television. Rankings blend Tunefind song and show data with US sales and streaming figures from Luminate, the entertainment data provider.

In August, "Kansas City" earned 1.9 million official US streams and sold 1,000 US downloads, according to Luminate. That was enough to lead the monthly ranking.

The song was first released in 2014 on Lost in the River: The New Basement Tapes. The project brought together Marcus Mumford, Elvis Costello, Jim James, Rhiannon Giddens and Taylor Goldsmith. The track later reached No. 4 on Adult Alternative Airplay, Billboard's chart for adult alternative radio stations, in 2015.

In Ted Lasso, the song plays as Ted drives home in Kansas City after Rebecca and the team leave. The listing is for Season 4 Episode 1, titled "Home", according to Tunefind.

Mumford has a direct link to the series. He co-wrote and sings the Ted Lasso theme, which is credited to Marcus Mumford and Tom Howe. The premiere also included Charlie Parker's "K.C. Blues" and Frogpond's "Be", according to Decider.

The rest of the August top three also came from a returning series. Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" is No. 2 via Prime Video's Reacher. Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" is No. 3 from the same show, whose fourth season premiered Aug. 12.

Listener searches reacted fast. After the Ted Lasso premiere, "Kansas City" rose to No. 7 on Shazam's Global Chart, according to Shazam.

What makes this stand out is the gap. Twelve years separate the song's first release from its month at No. 1 on a television chart. This time the driver was a single scene in a season premiere.