Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ Hits No. 1 on Billboard Global 200 Chart
Written by djfrosty on October 30, 2023
Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” ascends to No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 songs chart (dated Nov. 4). The song – originally released on Swift’s 2019 album Lover before being promoted as a single and gaining new prominence as the superstar has performed it on her The Eras Tour this year – becomes Swift’s third No. 1 on the survey.
Plus, Iñigo Quintero’s debut hit “Si No Estás” surges from No. 10 to No. 5 on the Global 200 and Tyla likewise scores her first top 10 on the chart as “Water” bounds 21-9.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.
Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
“Cruel Summer” climbs 2-1 on the Billboard Global 200 with 61.4 million streams (up 17%) worldwide Oct. 20-26, as well as 10,000 sold (down 78%, a week after it benefited from the release of two new mixes). Swift achieves her third No. 1 on the chart, following two songs that debuted on top: “Anti-Hero” led for four weeks beginning in November 2022 and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” reigned for a week in November 2021.
Swift ties Olivia Rodrigo for the most Global 200 No. 1s among women; Drake also has three leaders. Overall, they rank third after BTS, with seven No. 1s, and Bad Bunny, with four.
Meanwhile, over four years after its release, “Cruel Summer” completes the third-longest trip, from a title’s release, to No. 1 on the Global 200. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” dominated for three weeks beginning in June 2022, sparked by its synch in the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, after the song was originally released in 1985, and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” spent the first of its 13 weeks at No. 1 to date in 2020, after it was released in 1994.
Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” rebounds 3-2 on the Global 200, following four weeks at No. 1 beginning in September; Tate McRae’s “Greedy” pushes 5-3 for a new high; and Bad Bunny’s “Monaco” falls to No. 4, a week after it debuted at No. 1.
Iñigo Quintero’s “Si No Estás” jumps 10-5 on the Global 200, with 56.5 million streams (up 10%) and 1,000 sold (up 35%) worldwide. The piano-pop song is the first entry on the chart for the Spanish singer-songwriter, who, benefiting from buzz on TikTok and Instagram, became a first-timer on Billboard’s charts just four weeks earlier.
Plus, Tyla, from South Africa, achieves her first Global 200 top 10 as “Water,” her first entry on the chart, rushes 21-9, with 43.6 million streams (up 19%) and 4,000 sold (up 14%) worldwide. TikTok has been a key contributor in the song’s growing profile, with a portion of the track having soundtracked nearly 1 million clips on the platform.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Nov. 4, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Oct. 31). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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.