Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’ Becomes Her Sole Longest-Leading Hot 100 No. 1 With Eighth Week on Top
Written by djfrosty on January 17, 2023
It’s a monster on the hill, in a good way: Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” holds at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, logging an eighth total week on top. With its latest frame at No. 1, Swift rewrites her longest Hot 100 reign, surpassing the seven weeks at the summit for “Blank Space” in 2014-15.
Plus, SZA’s “Kill Bill” bumps to No. 2 on the Hot 100, a new career-high rank for the singer-songwriter, and Zach Bryan achieves his first top 10 with “Something in the Orange” at No. 10.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Jan. 21, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 18, a day later than usual due to the Jan. 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
“Anti-Hero,” released on Republic Records, tallied 88.5 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 6%), 16.8 million streams (down 3%) and 7,000 sold (up 15%) Jan. 6-12, according to Luminate.
The single adds a fifth week at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart (helped by 10 previously-released versions made available and discounted to 69 cents in her webstore from midday Jan. 9 through the end of Jan. 12); rules Radio Songs for a fourth week; and dips 4-5 after two weeks atop Streaming Songs.
As “Anti-Hero” tops the Hot 100 for an eighth week, Swift eclipses her previous longest command: “Blank Space” dominated for seven frames in 2014-15. Here’s a look at the weeks at No. 1 for each of her nine leaders:
Weeks at No. 1, Title, Date Reached No. 1:
8, “Anti-Hero,” Nov. 5, 2022
7, “Blank Space,” Nov. 29, 2014
4, “Shake It Off,” Sept. 6, 2014
3, “Look What You Made Me Do,” Sept. 16, 2017
3, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Sept. 1, 2012
1, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” Nov. 27, 2021
1, “Willow,” Dec. 26, 2020
1, “Cardigan,” Aug. 8, 2020
1, “Bad Blood,” feat. Kendrick Lamar, June 6, 2015
“Anti-Hero” debuted atop the Hot 100 as Swift made history as the first artist to infuse the chart’s entire top 10 in a single week, with all tracks all from her album Midnights.
SZA’s “Kill Bill” rises 3-2 for its highest Hot 100 rank yet, with 31.1 million streams (up 11%) – boosted by the Jan. 10 premiere of its official video – 14.2 million in radio reach (soaring 742%, as it’s now being promoted to and supported by pop radio, among other formats) and 1,000 sold (up 37%). It tops Streaming Songs for a third week and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a fifth week each. The track is from her album SOS, which notches a fifth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
SZA earns a new career-best Hot 100 placement, among seven top 10s; prior to “Kill Bill,” she reached a No. 3 high as featured on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” in July 2021.
Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” slips 2-3 on the Hot 100, after it topped the Oct. 29-dated chart.
David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” keeps at its No. 4 Hot 100 highpoint, as it rules the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 17th week; Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage’s “Creepin’ ” pushes 6-5 on the Hot 100, matching its debut and peak to-date first earned in December; and The Weeknd’s “Die for You” climbs 8-6 for a new best.
Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” retreats 5-7 on the Hot 100, after spending its first three weeks on the chart at its No. 2 plateau beginning in November, as it tops the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart for a ninth week; Harry Styles’ “As It Was” descends 7-8 on the Hot 100, following 15 weeks at No. 1 beginning last April, the fourth-longest reign in the chart’s history; and Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” holds at No. 9, after it posted three weeks at No. 1 in October. It concurrently tops the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a 21st week each.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” rises 11-10, with 17.4 million streams (up 2%), 3.9 million in radio reach (up 8%) and 4,000 sold (down 6%).
The track, which Bryan wrote solo and is from his major-label debut album American Heartbreak, is his first Hot 100 top 10, after it became his first entry on the chart in May. It ties for the second-longest trip to the top 10 – 38 chart weeks – matching the journeys of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” in 2006-07 and Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You),” the latter over a whopping 11 on-and-off runs from its 1960 debut to the latest holiday season). Just one song has taken longer to reach the top 10, by total time on the tally: Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves”: 42 weeks in 2021.
“Orange” tops the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart for a third week. Notably, it’s the 15th No. 1 on the survey that has hit the Hot 100’s top 10 since Hot Country Songs adopted the Hot 100’s methodology in October 2012:
“Something in the Orange,” Zach Bryan, No. 10 Hot 100 peak (to-date), 2023
“You Proof,” Morgan Wallen, No. 5, 2022
“The Kind of Love We Make,” Luke Combs, No. 8, 2022
“Don’t Think Jesus,” Morgan Wallen, No. 7, 2022
“All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” Taylor Swift, No. 1 (one week), 2021
“Fancy Like,” Walker Hayes, No. 3, 2021
“Wasted on You,” Morgan Wallen, No. 9, 2021
“I Hope,” Gabby Barrett feat. Charlie Puth, No. 3, 2020
“Forever After All,” Luke Combs, No. 2, 2020
“7 Summers,” Morgan Wallen, No. 6, 2020
“10,000 Hours,” Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber, No. 4, 2019
“Meant To Be,” Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, No. 2, 2018
“Body Like a Back Road,” Sam Hunt, No. 6, 2017
“Cruise,” Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly, No. 4, 2013
“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Taylor Swift, No. 1 (three weeks), 2012
Just 21% of all Hot Country Songs No. 1s (15 of 76) since October 2012 have hit the Hot 100’s top 10 – although 10 of 22 Hot Country Songs leaders have peaked in the Hot 100’s top 10 since 2020 – a more-than-doubled 45% success rate in that more recent span. Plus, of the songs listed above, all four since the start of 2022 have hit the Hot 100’s top 10 largely from strong streaming and varied degrees of country radio airplay – but not crossover formats, having not appeared on any of Billboard’s pop or adult airplay charts; of the previous 11, all except one (“Forever After All”) scaled pop/adult airplay rankings.
A little more color: “Orange” brings that hue to the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time. The previous best? Lemon Pipers’ “Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)” hit No. 51 in 1968. In third place is another song on the current chart: Megan Moroney’s “Tennessee Orange” holds at its No. 58 high. (And to squeeze in an honorable mention, Oran ‘Juice’ Jones’ “The Rain” reached No. 9 in 1986.)
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Jan. 21), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 18).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.