Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ Returns to Hot 100 for First Time Since 2019
Written by djfrosty on May 30, 2023
Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” from her 2019 LP Lover, is back on the Billboard Hot 100, returning to the chart dated June 3 at No. 49.
Fittingly timed to the lead-up to Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff to summer, the song re-enters with 8.9 million official streams (up 2%), 898,000 radio airplay audience impressions (up 128%), and 1,000 downloads sold (up 18%) in the United States in the May 19-25 tracking week, according to Luminate.
“Cruel Summer” spent two weeks on the chart during its initial chart run. It debuted at its No. 29 high on the Sept. 7, 2019, Hot 100 – the week that Lover debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming Swift’s sixth leader – and fell to No. 71 the following week.
All 18 songs from Lover landed on the Hot 100 when the album debuted atop the Billboard 200, with “Cruel Summer” one of six to chart in the Hot 100’s top 40 that week.
“Cruel Summer” has been gaining momentum in recent weeks, as Swift has been performing the song on her Eras Tour. The concert encompasses 10 acts, covering nine of her LPs. The Lover era kicks off the show, with her performing, in order, “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” “Cruel Summer,” “The Man,” “You Need To Calm Down,” “Lover” and “The Archer.”
Swift charts two additional songs on the latest Hot 100, both from last year’s Midnights: former eight-week No. 1 “Anti-Hero” – her longest-leading hit – at No. 12 and latest single “Karma,” up 32-27. The latter, which debuted at its No. 9 high in November, is slated to soar on next week’s, June 10-dated chart, thanks to a new remix featuring Ice Spice, released May 26. The pair performed the team-up together live May 26-28 at the tour’s latest stops at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Since its release (through May 25), “Cruel Summer” has drawn 364.1 million official on-demand streams and 13.7 million in airplay audience (while not being formally promoted to radio) and sold 34,000 downloads in the U.S.
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