Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Please Please Please’ Becomes Her First Billboard Hot 100 No. 1

Carpenter, from Quakertown, Pa., first hit the Hot 100 in February 2021. She initially reached the top 40 this February with “Feather” and first entered the top 10 in April upon the debut of “Espresso.”

Here’s a look at Carpenter’s Hot 100 history, with songs ranked by peak position:

Carpenter rules the Hot 100 a decade after she broke through starring in Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World. In addition to other TV and film roles, she starred as the lead in Mean Girls for a pair of performances on Broadway in 2020.

Carpenter wrote “Please Please Please” with Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff, the latter of whom solely produced it. As Carpenter earns her first Hot 100 No. 1 as a writer, Allen adds her second, after she co-penned Halsey’s “Without Me,” which led for two weeks in January 2019.

Antonoff achieves his seventh Hot 100 No. 1 as both a writer and producer. He first led as a co-writer of “We Are Young” by his band fun. for six weeks beginning in March 2012. His other No. 1s as a writer were recorded by Swift, all of which he co-wrote: “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Anti-Hero,” “Cruel Summer,” “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]” and “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone. His résumé of No. 1s as a producer also includes Swift’s “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version).”

“Please Please Please” marks Island Records’ return to No. 1 on the Hot 100 after a nearly five-year break. The label, which formed in 1959, had most recently led via Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Senorita” for a week in August 2019.

While repetition is naturally a key element in hit music, with catchy hooks driven home multiple times in songs, “Please Please Please” is just the fourth Hot 100 No. 1 with the same word and no others tripled up in its title. Here’s a (th)re(e)cap:

Plus, shout-outs to similar but slightly more verbose Hot 100 No. 1s “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty,” by KC and the Sunshine Band, and “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season),” by The Byrds.

“Please Please Please” is also the fourth Hot 100 No. 1 with the word “please” in its title, and, coincidentally, the second by an act with Carpenter as a last name, following the Carpenters – the duo of Karen and Richard Carpenter – who sent a remake of a 1960s classic back to the top spot:

(Manners of speaking: Along with the four No. 1s above, four songs with “thank you,” or a slight variation, in their titles have led the Hot 100: “Thank U, Next,” by Ariana Grande; “Thank God I Found You,” by Mariah Carey featuring Joe and 98 Degrees; “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” by John Denver; and “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin”/“Everybody Is a Star,” by Sly & The Family Stone.)

Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, drops to No. 2 after spending its first five weeks on the chart at No. 1. It crowns the multimetric Songs of the Summer survey for a fourth week and Hot Country Songs for a sixth frame.

Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” returns to its No. 3 Hot 100 best, as it wins the chart’s top Airplay Gainer award (47.8 million in audience, up 23%). It also leads Digital Song Sales for a sixth week (20,000, down 4%).

Below Carpenter’s “Espresso,” Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” holds at No. 5 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 2. It tops the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart for an eighth week and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a third week.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” is steady at No. 6 on the Hot 100, after led in its debut week in May. It takes top Sales Gainer honors (4,000, up 28%) and rules the multimetric Hot Rap Songs chart for a sixth week.

Hozier’s “Too Sweet” is stationary at No. 7 on the Hot 100, following a week at No. 1 in April. It commands Radio Songs for a second week (73.5 million in audience, up 4%), while leading the multimetric Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a 12th week each and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs for an 11th week.

Benson Boone’s No. 2-peaking “Beautiful Things” returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, rising 11-8; Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” which reigned for a week in March, rebounds 10-9; and Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” backtracks to No. 10 from its No. 9 high.