Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Miley Cyrus plants “Flowers” at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in its debut week. Her new single soars in as her second leader, after “Wrecking Ball” reigned for three weeks in 2013.

Plus, Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” blasts onto the Hot 100 at No. 9. The song marks Bizarrap’s first top 10 and Shakira’s fifth, and first since 2007.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Jan. 28, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 25). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Streams, airplay & sales: “Flowers,” released on Smiley Miley/Columbia Records, ran up totals of 52.6 million streams, 33.5 million radio airplay audience impressions and 70,000 sold in its first full tracking week, Jan. 13-19, according to Luminate (after it arrived Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. EST; in its first five hours, it tallied 2.4 million in radio reach, 685,000 streams and 2,000 sold).

The single launches at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, surges 21-1 on Digital Song Sales and debuts at No. 18 on Radio Songs.

Cyrus first announced during her Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party NBC special that “Flowers” would be released Jan. 13, which fans keenly recognized as her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth’s birthday. That narrative and rabid interaction on TikTok have helped swell the profile of the song, which introduces Cyrus’ eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, due March 10.

Cyrus’ 2nd Hot 100 No. 1: “Flowers” bounds in as Cyrus’ second Hot 100 No. 1, after “Wrecking Ball” rose to the top (after it debuted at No. 50) for three weeks beginning in September 2013.

“Flowers” is the 65th title to roar in at No. 1 in the Hot 100’s history. It’s the 1,145th leader overall, and the first new No. 1 of 2023.

Cyrus ends a break of nine years, one month and two weeks between Hot 100 No. 1s, the longest between leaders since Coldplay went 13 years, three months and two weeks from “Viva La Vida” in 2008 to “My Universe,” with BTS, in 2021.

Cyrus also adds her 11th Hot 100 top 10 and first since The Kid LAROI’s “Without You” (which she joined for a remix) hit No. 8 in May 2021. Her previous top 10s, in order of peak date, including one under her Hannah Montana alter ego: “See You Again” (No. 10, 2008); “7 Things” (No. 9, 2008); “The Climb” (No. 4, 2009); “He Could Be the One” (Hannah Montana; No. 10, 2009); “Party in the U.S.A.” (No. 2, 2009 – it debuted at that spot, marking her top start until “Flowers”); “Can’t Be Tamed” (No. 8, 2010); “We Can’t Stop” (No. 2, 2013); “Wrecking Ball”; and “Malibu” (No. 10, 2017).

Cyrus’ first Hot 100 No. 1 as a writer: Cyrus co-wrote “Flowers” with Aldae (Gregory Hein) and Michael Pollack, each of whom achieves a first No. 1 Hot 100 writing credit. Cyrus adds her sixth top 10 as a writer; Pollack, his fifth; and Aldae, his first.

Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson co-produced “Flowers.” They notch their third shared and total Hot 100 No. 1 each, following their work on Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” (2020) and “As It Was” (2022).

Cyrus’ streaming & sales leaders: With “Flowers,” Cyrus claims her third Streaming Songs No. 1, following “We Can’t Stop,” for 11 weeks in 2013, “Wrecking Ball” (13, 2013-14) and “Adore You” (one, 2014) – all from her album Bangerz. With 52.6 million streams, “Flowers” marks the highest weekly sum since Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” started with 59.7 (Nov. 5, 2022).

Cyrus scores her third Digital Song Sales No. 1, after “Party in the U.S.A.” reigned for six weeks in 2009, and “Wrecking Ball” for one week in 2013.

Meanwhile, “Flowers” begins with multi-format radio support, as starts at No. 14 on the Adult Pop Airplay chart, No. 15 on Adult Contemporary and No. 16 on Pop Airplay – Cyrus’ highest entrance on each ranking, as is the track’s No. 18 premiere on the all-format Radio Songs chart.

‘Flowers’ deconstructed: “The underlying strength of ‘Flowers’ is that it imparts an immediate sense of familiarity, while invoking strong, universal emotions such as nostalgia, loss and empowerment,” notes Hit Songs Deconstructed, which analyzes the compositional traits of Hot 100 top 10s. “This is achieved, in part, through its classic, inspirational ’70s disco influence, à la Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive,’ also found in Lizzo’s recent Hot 100 No. 1, ‘About Damn Time.’ “

(“Your new song carries the torch of empowerment and encourages everyone to find strength in themselves to persevere & thrive. Well done Miley!,” Gaynor praised on Twitter Jan. 19. “I love you. Thank you,” Cyrus responded.)

“Flowers” additionally, per Hit Songs Deconstructed, “shares melodic, lyrical and rhyming commonalities with the chorus in Bruno Mars’ [No. 1] 2013 hit ‘When I Was Your Man,’ which also ties in with Miley’s story.”

Babs, Neil, Posty, Swae & Miley: Cyrus’ “Flowers” blooms as the third Hot 100 No. 1 with that word in its title. Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond’s virtual duet “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” reigned for two weeks in December 1978 and Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” ruled for a week in January 2019.

Some dirt on similarly-themed Hot 100 No. 1s: “Roses Are Red (My Love),” by Bobby Vinton, led in 1962; “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” by Poison, in 1988-89; and “Kiss From a Rose,” by Seal, in 1995. (We can also give flowers to past leading acts David Rose, Rose Royce and Guns N’ Roses. And Iggy Azalea.)

SZA’s “Kill Bill” holds at its No. 2 Hot 100 high, with 34.9 million streams (up 12%), 29.4 million in radio reach (up 106%) and 2,000 sold (up 69%), boosted by the Jan. 13 arrival of a four-track single option with the song’s original, sped-up, instrumental and a cappella versions. It ranks at No. 2 on Streaming Songs after three weeks at No. 1, jumps 49-21 on Digital Song Sales and debuts at No. 26 on Radio Songs. The track tops Streaming Songs for a fourth week and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a sixth week each. The song is from her album SOS, which adds a sixth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” falls to No. 3 on the Hot 100 after eight weeks at the summit, having rewritten her longest reign on the chart. The song rules Radio Songs for a fifth frame (88.5 million, down 1%). Helping power its radio reach, it leads Adult Pop Airplay for a ninth week, surpassing “Shake It Off” (eight weeks at No. 1 in 2014) for her longest command at the format among her nine leaders.

Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage’s “Creepin’” rises to No. 4, from No. 5, for a new Hot 100 high; Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” descends 3-5, after it topped the Oct. 29-dated chart; and David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” dips to No. 6 from its No. 4 best, as it leads the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for an 18th week.

The Weeknd’s “Die for You” backtracks to No. 7 from its No. 6 Hot 100 high and Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” drops 7-8, after spending its first three weeks on the chart at its No. 2 peak beginning in November, as it tops the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart for a 10th week.

Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” charges onto the Hot 100 at No. 9 with 20.2 million streams, 7.9 million in airplay audience and 9,000 sold Jan. 13-19 (its first full tracking week, following its Jan. 11 release at 7 p.m. EST). The buzzworthy latest edition of the Argentine DJ/producer’s series, new at No. 3 on Streaming Songs and up 23-3 on Digital Song Sales, arrives as his first Hot 100 top 10, after “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52,” with Quevedo, hit No. 79 in October – and crowned the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and Billboard Global 200 charts for six and four weeks, respectively.

Shakira scores her fifth Hot 100 top 10, and first since 2007, following “Whenever, Wherever” (No. 6, 2001), “Underneath Your Clothes” (No. 9, 2002), “Hips Don’t Lie,” featuring Wyclef Jean (No. 1, two weeks, 2006), and “Beautiful Liar,” with Beyoncé (No. 3, 2007). She ends a 15-year and nine-month break between top 10s, the longest outside holiday titles since Elton John waited 23 years, 11 months and two weeks between 1998 and 2022, when he returned to the tier with “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” with Dua Lipa.

“Vol. 53” concurrently soars to the top of the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart, marking Bizarrap’s first No. 1 (after “Vol. 52” became his first top 10, reaching No. 9) and Shakira’s 12th; she ties Bad Bunny for the fourth-most Hot Latin Songs No. 1s, after Enrique Iglesias (27), Luis Miguel (16) and Gloria Estefan (15).

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Harry Styles’ “As It Was” slides 8-10, following 15 weeks at No. 1 beginning last April, the fourth-longest reign in the chart’s history (a list topped in part by another Cyrus).

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Jan. 28), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 25).

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.

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