Billboard Hot 100
Page: 2
05/22/2023
Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” and SZA’s “Kill Bill” will probably go head-to-head again on Music’s Biggest Night.
05/22/2023
Gordon Lightfoot scored success on multiple Billboard charts during his lifetime, imprinting such classic songs as “Sundown,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “If You Could Read My Mind” and more on pop culture.
As previously reported, Lightfoot died at age 84 on Monday.
Born in Ontario, Canada, the folk-rock legend first hit the Billboard Hot 100 dated Dec. 26, 1970, with “If You Could Read Mind,” which rose to No. 5 the following February. He led the list for a week in June 1974 with “Sundown,” while follow-up “Carefree Highway” reached No. 10 that November. He returned to the top 10 with his opus “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” which hit No. 2 in November 1976.
In addition to his Hot 100 history, Lightfoot charted 17 albums on the Billboard 200 during his lifetime, starting in 1969. He led with Sundown for two weeks in June 1974 – the latter concurrent with the rule of its title cut on the Hot 100 – and also hit the top 10 with Cold on the Shoulder (No. 10, 1975).
Lightfoot also scored four No. 1s, among six top 10s, on the Adult Contemporary chart: “If You Could Read My Mind” (for one week in 1971), “Sundown” (two weeks, 1974), “Carefree Highway” (one week, 1974) and “Rainy Day People” (one, 1975).
Additionally, on Hot Country Songs, Lightfoot hit the top 10 with “Sundown” (No. 13, 1974).
Dating to the inception of Luminate data in 1991, Lightfoot sold 3.6 million albums in the United States (through April 27), while his songs drew 914.1 million official on-demand audio and video streams and 2.2 billion in radio airplay audience.
“We have lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters,” Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted on social media, among others who have paid tribute. “Gordon Lightfoot captured our country’s spirit in his music – and in doing so, he helped shape Canada’s soundscape. May his music continue to inspire future generations, and may his legacy live on forever.”
Here’s a recap of Lightfoot’s biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits.
Gordon Lightfoot’s Biggest Billboard Hits recap is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames were weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years.
“Race Among the Ruins”
“Race Among the Ruins” peaked at No. 65 on the Hot 100 dated March 5, 1977.
“Talking in Your Sleep”
“Talking in Your Sleep” peaked at No. 63 on the Hot 100 dated July 24, 1971.
“Baby Step Back”
“Baby Step Back” peaked at No. 50 on the Hot 100 dated May 8, 1982.
“Beautiful”
“Beautiful” peaked at No. 58 on the Hot 100 dated July 29, 1972.
“The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)”
“The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)” peaked at No. 33 on the Hot 100 dated April 8, 1978.
“Rainy Day People”
“Rainy Day People” peaked at No. 26 on the Hot 100 dated May 24, 1975.
“Carefree Highway”
“Carefree Highway” peaked at No. 10 on the Hot 100 dated Nov. 9, 1974.
“If You Could Read My Mind”
“If You Could Read My Mind” peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100 dated Feb. 20, 1971.
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 dated Nov. 20, 1976.
“Sundown”
Image Credit: Photo courtesy Gordon Lightfoot
“Sundown” spent one week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated June 29, 1974.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again makes history on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated May 6), as he becomes the youngest artist in the chart’s history to tally 100 career Hot 100 hits.
The rapper adds his 100th total entry as “Big Truck” rolls in at No. 100. The song, released via Never Broke Again/Motown/Capitol Records, debuts with 6.6 million official U.S. streams April 21-27, according to Luminate. It’s on YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s new album Don’t Try This at Home, which debuts at No. 5 on the latest Billboard 200 with 60,000 equivalent album units, marking his 14th top 10.
YoungBoy is the 13th act the Hot 100’s nearly 65-year history to chart 100 or more entries, and the newest member of the club since Lil Baby joined in April 2022. Before that, Justin Bieber reached the milestone in 2021, after Chris Brown, Future and Taylor Swift in 2020.
At 23 years, six months and two weeks old, YoungBoy is, aptly, the youngest artist to ever score 100 entries at the time of achieving the feat. Lil Baby previously held the honor, then at 27 years, four months and two weeks. Bieber was the youngest before Lil Baby (27 years, four months and three weeks), as he surpassed Drake (28 years, 11 months and two weeks, in 2015).
Here’s an updated look at the 13 acts with 100 or more career entries on the Hot 100, which began on Aug. 4, 1958.
Total Billboard Hot 100 Hits:294, Drake207, Glee Cast189, Taylor Swift184, Lil Wayne161, Future141, Kanye West134, Lil Baby128, Nicki Minaj114, Chris Brown109, Elvis Presley105, Jay-Z105, Justin Bieber100, YoungBoy Never Broke Again
As for who’s next in line after YoungBoy for the honor: Eminem (currently at 95 Hot 100 entries), The Weeknd (93), James Brown (91), Travis Scott (89), Lil Uzi Vert (86), Beyoncé, Young Thug (81 each), 21 Savage (79) and Juice WRLD (77).
Of YoungBoy’s 100 total entries, 12 have reached the top 40 and one has hit the top 10: “Bandit,” with Juice WRLD, peaked at No. 10 in 2019. YoungBoy first appeared on the Hot 100 dated Sept. 2, 2017, when his track “Untouchable” debuted and peaked at No. 95. He reached the top 40 for the first time in his fourth visit, with “Outside Today” in February 2018 (No. 31 peak).
Elvis Presley, whose career predates the Hot 100’s 1958 launch, was the first artist to achieve 100 hits on the survey. He reached the milestone in 1975 with “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” which peaked at No. 35.
While it’s rare for artists to chart triple-digit entries on the Hot 100, it’s become a more regular occurrence since the ranking began including streaming figures (which make up the chart’s data mix with radio airplay and sales). As such, certain acts have been able to achieve high totals of Hot 100 hits after releasing high-profile albums. The model contrasts with prior decades, when acts generally promoted one single at a time in the physical-only marketplace and on radio. That shift in consumption helps explain why artists have been able to increase their career entry and top 10 totals over short spans in recent years.
Jack Black, actor, comedian and musician, notches his first solo entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as his song “Peaches,” from the new Super Mario Bros. Movie, debuts at No. 83 on the chart dated April 22.
Black voices Bowser in the video-game film adaption, and the song serves as the character’s loving ode to Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy).
“Peaches,” released April 7 via Illumination/Nintendo/Back Lot Music (a subsidiary of Universal Pictures), tallied 5.8 million U.S. streams and 6,000 downloads in its first week, through April 13, according to Luminate. The track also debuts at No. 6 on Digital Song Sales.
The song’s profile has been boosted by an accompanying music video directed by Lyrical Lemonade’s Cole Bennett, in which Black, decked out in a Bowser-green suit, delivers a performance of the song alone in a tower. A framed photo of Peach sits on a piano, along with a bowl of peaches.
The film claimed a historic premiere at the box office, scoring the top opening ever for an animated film with $375.6 million in worldwide ticket sales, according to final numbers. The five-day domestic haul was $204.6 million, including $146.4 million for the three-day weekend, while the overseas tally stands at $171 million from 70 markets, according to final numbers released Monday.
Black previously appeared on the Hot 100 as half of Tenacious D. Along with Kyle Gass, the comedy-rock duo’s seminal hit “The Pick of Destiny” debuted and peaked at No. 78 in November 2006.
Tenacious D has also charted four albums on the Billboard 200: Tenacious D (No. 33 in 2001), The Pick of Destiny soundtrack (No. 8, 2006), Rize of the Fenix (No. 4, 2012) and Post-Apocalypto (No. 93, 2018). The Pick of Destiny and Rize of the Fenix also both hit No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart.
Black and Gass formed Tenacious D in 1994 when they were both members of The Actors’ Gang theater company in Culver City, Calif. Their Spicy Meatball world tour resumes May 6 at the Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta and runs through June 18.
Tenacious D won a Grammy Award in 2015 for best metal performance for “The Last in Line,” from the tribute album Ronnie James Dio, This Is Your Life. Black had previously been Grammy-nominated for best compilation soundtrack album for a motion picture, television or other visual media for School of Rock and best comedy album for Tenacious D’s Rize of the Fenix.
Before this week, Black had tallied one solo entry on Billboard’s charts: “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy,” with Jason Segel, reached No. 45 on the Holiday Digital Song Sales chart in 2010.
Black has starred in numerous blockbuster films, including The Holiday (2006), King Kong (2005), School of Rock (2003), High Fidelity (2000) and the Kung Fu Panda and Jumanji franchises.
English singer-songwriter PinkPantheress is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist, as her new collaboration with Ice Spice, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” debuts at No. 14 on the latest chart, dated Feb. 18.
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The team-up, released Feb. 3 via Parlophone/Elektra/3EE, opens with 20.2 million U.S. streams, 585,000 radio airplay audience impressions and 600 downloads sold in the Feb. 3-9 tracking week, according to Luminate. The track is a remix of PinkPantheress’ original solo “Boy’s a Liar,” released in November. (All versions of the song are combined into one listing on Billboard’s charts.)
“Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” which PinkPantheress wrote and produced with Mura Masa (who also appears on the Hot 100 for the first time), is additionally a hit around the world, as it debuts at No. 15 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 54 on Global Excl. U.S.
TikTok has been instrumental in the song’s growing popularity, as a portion of the track’s audio has been used in over 760,000 videos on the platform to-date. (TikTok does not contribute to Billboard’s charts.)
PinkPantheress, who hails from Bath, England, first appeared on Billboard’s charts in June 2021, when “Break It Off” debuted at No. 43 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, before reaching No. 30 two months later. She’s charted three additional tracks on the tally since then: “Passion” (No. 30 peak in July 2021), “Reason” (No. 39, October 2021) and “Where You Are,” featuring Willow (No. 22, May 2022).
She’s charted two other songs outside of Billboard’s rock rankings: her featured credit on CKay’s “Anya Mmiri” reached No. 28 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart in November and “Way Back,” with Skrillex and Trippie Redd, hit No. 13 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs this January.
Meanwhile, her debut mixtape To Hell With It debuted and peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard 200 in October.
“Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” marks PinkPantheress’ first collaboration with Ice Spice, who herself became a Hot 100 First-Timer when her song “Gangsta Boo,” with Lil Tjay, debuted at No. 82 (Feb 4). Ice Spice has now scored three total Hot 100 entries, all this month, as her own “In Ha Mood” debuts at No. 85 on the current chart.
PinkPantheress was featured in Billboard’s 21 Under 21 list in 2021. “I think my biggest interest when it comes to music making is within the topline writing, as opposed to the beat production and the singing aspect,” she told Billboard at the time. “I’m a big fan of writing lyrics, writing melodies, so I wasn’t too bothered with collaborating with other people. It’s only a good thing to get the help of a producer because I’m a terrible producer, which is why I have to sing on top of samples.”
Hard rock band Falling in Reverse scores its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Feb. 18), as “Watch the World Burn” opens at No. 83.
The song, released Jan. 31 via Epitaph Records, starts with 5.1 million U.S. streams, 161,000 in airplay audience and 4,000 downloads sold in its first full tracking week (Feb. 3-9), according to Luminate.
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“World” concurrently jumps 3-1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs, becoming the band’s fourth leader, after “Popular Monster” (three weeks in 2020), “Zombified” (two, 2022) and “Voices in My Head” (four, 2022). The group breaks out of a tie with Bring Me the Horizon for the most No. 1s in the chart’s nearly three-year history.
Among other chart moves for “World”: it leads Alternative Digital Song Sales and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales; bows at Nos. 2, 8 and 13 on Hard Rock Streaming Songs, Alternative Streaming Songs and Rock Streaming Songs, respectively; and starts at No. 38 on Mainstream Rock Airplay.
Falling in Reverse has been a staple on Billboard’s rock listings since 2011, when it notched its first chart appearance with its album The Drug in Me Is You. The set debuted and peaked at No. 2 on Hard Rock Albums, No. 3 on Alternative Albums and No. 19 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Since then, the band has tallied three additional entries on the Billboard 200: Fashionably Late (No. 17 in 2013), Just Like You (No. 21, 2015) and Coming Home (No. 34, 2017). All three sets also peaked at No. 2 on Hard Rock Albums.
Falling in Reverse has earned 10 entries on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, including two top 10s: “Popular Monster” (No. 4 in 2020) and now “World” (No. 8).
The band, which formed in Las Vegas in 2008, comprises Ronnie Radke (lead vocals), Max Georgiev (lead guitar), Christian Thompson (rhythm guitar) and Tyler Burgess (bass).
Welcome to The Contenders, a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming charts dated Jan. 28), SZA’s SOS is expected to easily fend off challengers on the Billboard 200, but there will be more of a contest to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100, where she faces stiff competition from Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Shakira & Bizarrap as she seeks her first No. 1.
SZA, “Kill Bill” (Top Dawg Entertainment/RCA): As SZA’s SOS spends its fifth week atop the Billboard 200, her biggest single yet climbs to a new peak of No. 2 on the Hot 100 (dated Jan. 21) this week. The melancholy (and murderous) “Kill Bill” has ruled Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart for three weeks now, and it’s now also gaining at radio, debuting this week at No. 24 on Pop Airplay and No. 48 on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Airplay.
However, “Bill” has yet to appear on the 50-position all-genre Radio Songs listing, which Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” — the eight-week Hot 100 No. 1 currently keeping SZA from the top spot — has ruled for four weeks. (Still, “Bill” is just below the survey this week and likely to debut next week.) Also to help get the breakout hit over the top and score the first Hot 100 No. 1 of her career, SZA released a new four-song “Kill Bill” pack to streaming services last Friday (Jan. 13), adding sped-up, instrumental and a cappella versions to the original — all of which are currently for sale on her website, and discounted to 69 cents.
Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (Columbia): Whether or not “Bill” overtakes “Anti-Hero” this week, it could face entirely new roadblocks in a pair of much-hyped singles that came out last week. The bigger of those is likely “Flowers,” Friday’s first taste of veteran pop star Miley Cyrus’ upcoming Endless Summer Vacation album that’s due in March. Produced by regular Harry Styles collaborators Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, the mid-tempo kiss-off immediately won fans for its sunny pop-rock groove, self-reliant message and Bruno Mars-echoing (possibly Liam Hemsworth-referencing?) chorus.
After the song went viral on TikTok over the weekend, it bounded to the top of both the Spotify and Apple Music daily charts, as well as the iTunes song sales chart — and top 40 has also quickly seized onto the track, with a splashy debut sure to come on Radio Songs next week. It’s the kind of multi-platform dominance that has largely eluded Cyrus, despite her continued household-name status, over the past decade; she hasn’t reached higher than No. 8 on the Hot 100 (as an added performer to The Kid LAROI’s “Without You” remix in 2021) since she topped the chart in 2013 with “Wrecking Ball,” her sole No. 1 so far.
But Cyrus’ timing is right with “Flowers” — released last Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. EST, five hours ahead of the tracking week for next week’s Hot 100. She’s taking advantage of an early-year pop landscape that’s relatively light on impactful new releases, as evidenced by the Hot 100’s top 40 currently being overrun by songs from 2022 (or even longer ago). But just as importantly, she’s riding positive momentum from her popular and well-received Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party NBC special, in which she dueted on old hits with godmother Dolly Parton and teased new music to come, with her full album announcement arriving less than a week later. It all adds up to Cyrus having her best shot in 10 years at a return trip to No. 1 next week.
Bizarrap & Shakira, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” (Dale Play): Before “Flowers” arrived, the buzziest debut of last week was easily Shakira’s incendiary team-up with in-demand Argentine DJ/producer Bizarrap. The propulsive electro-pop banger lit up the internet upon its release last Wednesday (Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. ET), particularly for its shots-fired lyrics aimed directly at the superstar’s footballer ex-husband Gerard Piqué. “Vol. 53” quickly surged to No. 1 on YouTube’s Trending chart, and also reached the top 10 and top 20 on the daily Spotify and iTunes U.S. charts, respectively.
Despite coming out six days into the prior tracking week, “Vol. 53” already debuts on several Billboard charts this week, including an impressive No. 12 bow on the Global 200. It misses out on the Hot 100, but with its streaming momentum staying strong, it’s certain to crash the chart next week. However, with stateside radio not yet embracing the Spanish-language track as much as it has “Flowers” and “Kill Bill,” it may end up lagging behind those front-runners.
Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero” (Republic): While the threats to its reign are numerous, you can’t count out Taylor Swift and her incumbent eight-week No. 1. Swift and her team have made all the right moves to extend the Midnights single’s reign to career-best lengths, including releasing a number of remixes for the track for sale exclusively on her website — and, most recently, discounting those remixes to 69 cents from last Monday to Thursday (Jan. 9-12). Does she have any last-second tricks up her sleeve for this chart week?
While the first new Billboard Hot 100 of 2023 was still overrun by holiday songs from Mariah Carey, Brenda Lee and many more, every one of them departs the listing for the chart dated Jan. 14 — giving us our first real look at the current landscape of pop hits as we get into the new year.
With “All I Want for Christmas Is You” vacating the top spot, the void is once again filled by Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” notching its seventh week at No. 1, followed by Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” SZA’s “Kill Bill,” David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” and Drake & 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex.” Slightly lower on the chart, two songs hit the top 10 for the first time: The Weeknd’s recently revived “Die for You” (No. 8) and Beyoncé’s slow-burning “Cuff It” (No. 10).
What’s the most telling thing about the Hot 100’s current top tier? And what might still be in store for chart watchers this month based on these early returns? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. With the holiday music cobwebs being swept away from the Hot 100, we’re back to the top of the chart being ruled by late last year’s hits. Is there anything about the top five as it currently stands that you find particularly interesting or surprising?
Katie Atkinson: The staying power of David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” continues to surprise me – as I’m sure it does David and Bebe themselves. We’ve been talking about the unlikely global success of this song since September, and it just keeps getting unlikelier as it debuts in the top five this week (No. 4). This is only Rexha’s second top five hit on the Hot 100 (following her unstoppable country team-up with Florida Georgia Line “Meant to Be”) and Guetta’s fourth, with his most recent (“Turn Me On” with Nicki Minaj) peaking more than a decade ago now, in February 2012. It’s an eccentric ‘90s interpolation recorded by the duo years ago and then unearthed by eager fans on TikTok – and it’s not going anywhere.
Stephen Daw: David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” launching from 19-4 isn’t necessarily shocking, but I certainly did not have that song breaking into the top five on my 2023 bingo card, let alone reaching that spot just two weeks into the year. Between the song’s aggressive marketing on TikTok and at radio and the typically slow start to the year, though, it makes sense why a slow-burning hit like this would be such a big draw for the post-holiday charts. But I was certainly surprised, considering that I had assumed that the song’s cultural capital was already on the decline.
Lyndsey Havens: The two things that surprise me are that “Anti-Hero” returned to the chart’s summit and the fact that David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” has crept into the top five. Given the sustained success of SOS on the Billboard 200 albums chart, I would have guessed that SZA would also be able to score the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 after the holiday fallout … but perhaps in good time. And by in good time, I mean by the time the anticipated music video for “Kill Bill” arrives.
Jason Lipshutz: I wrote about SZA’s “Kill Bill” in this space last week, but its return to its No. 3 peak this week underlines just how huge of a solo hit it’s becoming for an artist who’s not generally known for her solo hits. Although it’s sitting behind Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” and Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy” — two singles with an enormous presence on top 40 radio — on this week’s chart, “Kill Bill” is likely going to receive more radio play soon, and if its streaming presence remains rock-solid, SZA’s highest-charting solo song to date could climb even higher in the coming weeks.
Andrew Unterberger: I think “Unholy” holding at No. 2 — higher than “Kill Bill,” which already feels like the first major pop hit of 2023 — is a little surprising, given that the cultural peak of that song seems a few months in the rearview already. That’ll probably even out in the weeks to come, but the song holding this strong shows how “Unholy” wasn’t just a TikTok moment, it’s legitimately one of the biggest pop hits of the decade so far.
2. At No. 8, a song hits the top 10 for the first time that makes all the other leftovers feel farm-to-table fresh by comparison: The Weeknd’s “Die for You,” a revived track off his 2016 album Starboy. Why do you think the song has proven to have such legs this late in its lifespan?
Katie Atkinson: I think pop radio fans had an insatiable appetite for The Weeknd that the release of his Dawn FM album a year ago this week didn’t quite feed. So as “Die for You” gained traction via TikTok concurrent to his new album’s release, The Weeknd benefited from music’s everything-old-is-new-again moment. Most casual pop radio listeners likely have no idea it’s a “deep cut” from 2016 and are just appreciating his latest hit.
Stephen Daw: TikTok works in mysterious ways, especially when it comes to deep cut, fan-favorite tracks from a pop megastar. “Die for You” has a universal appeal to its production and vocal, which is what helped it achieve cult-like fave status from The Weeknd’s fervid fans — so once fans begin posting about revisiting their favorite Weeknd songs on TikTok, a groovy earworm like “Die for You” is bound to catch fire.
Lyndsey Havens: Honestly, I forgot “Die for You” was years old — and I’m guessing I’m not the only one. While much of the Starboy era felt like a bit more of a mainstream grab compared to The Weeknd’s prior work, years later, “Die For You” sounds right at home with the artist he is today. Plus, with the rumors of his last two albums being part of a trilogy, perhaps fans just got impatient while waiting for the finale. If the song’s sudden rise is more strategic than that, though, as most things are today … I’m curious to know if “Die for You” is a teaser of what to expect from what’s still to come.
Jason Lipshutz: In my mind, the “Die for You” TikTok revival-turned-mainstream adoption is a cross between Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” comeback, as a fan-favorite song from a superstar getting a long second look, and David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” success, as a long-delayed explosion for a years-old song that still sounds current despite its release date. “Die for You” is another mid-tempo Weeknd sing-along with a catchy-as-hell chorus, and once fans — some of whom had been championing the song for years — started watching it flicker to life on social media, they raised it up with undeniable streaming numbers, radio took notice, and now it’s a top 10 hit.
Andrew Unterberger: It seems like a “well, why not?” sort of hit to me: The song had been viral forever and top 40 programmers didn’t find anything they liked enough on Dawn FM to make an After Hours-sized hit out of, and so they decided to fill the Weeknd-sized void on their playlists with… more Weeknd. I’m surprised it’s gone this long and this strong, but the competition just isn’t that strong near the top of the charts right now, and hey, who doesn’t like “Die for You”?
3. Also new to the top 10 this week is Beyoncé’s “Cuff It,” which marks her second top 10 hit off Renaissance following the chart-topping “Break My Soul.” Is the second hit a big deal for the Queen and her latest album, or more of a pleasant New Year’s bonus?
Katie Atkinson: It’s definitely a big deal. It feels like fans have ordained this one the pop hit from the album, and I could see it marking the second No. 1 from Renaissance – especially if Queen B gifts fans with a music video. “Cuff It” has had a life of its own, starting with a dance challenge back in August and going strong into 2023 thanks to a crafty radio edit finally getting its airplay due.
Stephen Daw: It’s very much a big deal. Much like how “Break My Soul” was Beyoncé’s first solo No. 1 hit since “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” in 2008, Renaissance now becomes the first Beyoncé album since I Am … Sasha Fierce (2008) to spawn at least two of her 21 top 10 hits. The fact that Bey can re-reach the heights of her cultural dominance more than a decade after the fact is a feat that very few pop stars could manage in their careers. Though the headliner of Renaissance will forever be “Break My Soul,” “Cuff It” deserves recognition for only further solidifying Queen Bey’s regal status.
Lyndsey Havens: I think it’s a big deal for one reason: Fans are begging for more content — aka music videos. To have “Cuff It” go top 10 without it, or without any push from Queen B herself, proves that whatever she does or wants to do going forward will always work.
Jason Lipshutz: I’m not sure how much it matters for an artist like Beyoncé if her widely beloved and commercially successful new album only had one top 10 hit instead of two… but now it doesn’t! So yes, more of a pleasant New Year’s bonus for Queen Bey than important milestone, but also, “Cuff It” rules, a killer dance track with tons of interesting sonic details and one of the cooler breakdowns in pop music last year. It’s a deserving top 10 hit, and I’m glad it finally got there.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s a big deal mostly because it’s good timing for the Queen. It keeps her in the mainstream while she preps whatever transmission is to come next from the Renaissanceverse, and also keeping her top of mind with Grammy voters as she gears up for perhaps the best opportunity of her career to finally grab the coveted album of the year trophy. Also worth noting that while “Cuff It” may not match the No. 1 Hot 100 peak of “Break My Soul,” it’s already passed it in terms of endurance — the song reaches the top 10 in its 21st week, while “Soul” was off the chart altogether by its 19th week.
4. Lower in the top 40, is there any song you’re looking to maybe make a jump into the top 10 in the weeks to come?
Katie Atkinson: This feels like a cop-out because it only has to climb one spot, but I think Zach Bryan peaking at No. 11 this week with “Something in the Orange” shows that his breakthrough hit still has legs and could definitely make it to the top 10. It’s been out since April, but it also just climbed to No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart last week.
Stephen Daw: I think these coming few weeks are Meghan Trainor’s chance to get the top 10 hit she’s looking for in “Made You Look.” You cannot open TikTok at this point without hearing about the singer having her Gucci on, and as longer-lasting hits like “Bad Habit” and “As It Was” begin to lose steam again, “Made You Look” could find its moment in the spotlight if it manages to keep its trajectory up on streaming and radio.
Lyndsey Havens: If by top 40 you mean top 100, then yes: I have my eye on the Lewis Capaldi slow-burner of a comeback, “Forget Me.” Having made the jump from No. 98 to No. 74 this week — and given his previous two top 10 hits, one of which went to No. 1 (who could forget “Someone You Loved”?) — I think he’s more than capable of making another big leap.
Jason Lipshutz: Now is the time for the “Just Wanna Rock” takeover: Lil Uzi Vert’s Jersey club riff jumps up to a new peak of No. 16 this week, its furious energy and frenzied yelps making its presence known in clubs and sports arenas this winter. After a relatively slow start, “Just Wanna Rock” feels primed to become one of the defining songs of the first few months of the year, and should be another top 10 entry for Uzi.
Andrew Unterberger: “Made You Look.” For better or worse, it’s all aboard the M-Train for the next couple months on radio and streaming.
5. While the Hot 100 being largely static and leftover-dominated is certainly nothing new for the month of January, the previous two years also saw the tedium cut into by fresher cultural phenoms like Olivia Rodrigo and the Encanto soundtrack. Do you think we’ll get something like that this January — and if so, might we have any clue of what it will be yet?
Katie Atkinson: I would love to see “Titanium (M3GAN’s Version)” be our next top 10 Hot 100 hit! In all seriousness, though, I don’t think a chart-smashing new artist or film soundtrack has arrived this year (yet). Maybe Rodrigo herself, who just teased that she’s working on music, could once again own January.
Stephen Daw: Look, I’m biased, but I’m rooting for Sam Smith to keep their momentum going well into January and beyond. They have a highly anticipated new album out at the end of the month, and a trop-house-infused new single with Jessie Reyez and Koffee, “Gimme,” dropping tomorrow. If they can continue their excellent work at promoting their material via TikTok, that song could sweep through the charts and make January Sam Smith’s best month yet.
Lyndsey Havens: Though it wouldn’t be as surprising as the sudden runaway success stories of Olivia and Encanto, I do think that Miss Miley may soon own the month of January — and maybe even the whole year. After kicking things off with another successful NYE show, during which she announced her upcoming single “Flowers,” and subsequently revealing her new album Endless Summer Vacation to be coming in March, Cyrus is poised to dominate early 2023.
Jason Lipshutz: It’s going to be interesting to see what Miley Cyrus, whose new single “Flowers” arrives this Friday, has in her holster this time around. Cyrus is a superstar with a track record of making hits and a ton of goodwill, who’s coming off of a great album, 2020’s Plastic Hearts, that didn’t really produce a smash. If “Flowers” delivers, though, Cyrus has a relatively clear lane to the first big new pop single of 2023.
Andrew Unterberger: I think we actually got the January phenom a couple weeks early this year, with SZA’s SOS album in mid-December. And based on the fact that the album is still No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in its fourth week — and still claiming a whopping 15 entries on the Hot 100 — it looks like the set may still carry the first month of 2023 anyway.
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There might not be a clean sweep in the MLB World Series this week — not after the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros split the first two games of their best-of-seven matchup over the weekend — but there is one in the Billboard Hot 100‘s top 10. For the first time in the chart’s 64-plus-year history, all 10 spots in the chart’s highest tier belong to just one lead artist: Taylor Swift, who occupies the whole region with tracks from her new album, the Oct. 21-released Midnights.
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The records for most simultaneous top 10 hits and most top 10 hits off the same album had been set originally by such artists as The Beatles (all of the top five at once in 1964) and Michael Jackson (seven top 10 hits from Thriller from 1982-84). But both marks were broken last year by one of Swift’s primary rivals for 21st-century chart dominance: Drake commanded nine of the top 10 spots on the Hot 100 dated Sept. 18, 2021, with the release of his much-anticipated Certified Lover Boy album. Just a little over a year later, the two records now turn over to Swift — and this time, they can only ever be tied, never bettered.
The achievements are just two of many notched by Swift this week, as she also moved a staggering 1.578 million equivalent album units of Midnights, according to Luminate — the largest first-week number of her career, and second only to Adele’s 25 (3.38 million in 2015) for any artist in the streaming era, since the Billboard 200 switched from a pure sales to equivalent-album model in December 2014. That also includes 575,000 in vinyl sales, a number that triples the previous weekly record (set earlier this year by Harry Styles’ Harry’s House with 182,000).
How was Swift able to crash the charts in such historic fashion this week, 16 years into her professional career? Let’s examine some of the factors below.
1. The culmination of a quarter-decade’s good will and smart decisions. At the turn of the decade, Taylor Swift’s stats were still mighty, but trending in the wrong direction: reputation‘s first-week number of 1.238 million in 2017 represented a slight dip from the 1.287 million units moved by 1989 in its first week in 2014, while 2019’s Lover became her first album since 2008 sophomore set Fearless to miss the million mark, moving 867,000 units. (It was also her first album since 2010’s Speak Now not to generate a Hot 100 No. 1, with lead singles “ME!” and “You Need to Calm Down” both peaking at No. 2.) The sets drew mostly positive reviews, but neither was received as rapturously as 1989 or 2012’s Red.
Swift’s first release of the new decade, 2020’s surprise-announced indie-folk swerve Folklore, didn’t totally reverse these trends — its first-week number of 846,000 was slightly lower than Lover‘s — but it did alter her overall momentum, drawing her strongest reviews and fan response since 1989 (as well as her first album of the year Grammy win since that set). Evermore, released later that year as something of a complement to Folklore, drew much smaller numbers of 329,000 but also positive reviews and another AOTY nod — and the twin LPs proved enduring, topping the Billboard 200 albums chart for a combined 12 weeks, where Lover reigned for just its debut week. (Both also produced Hot 100 No. 1s, in “Cardigan” and “Willow,” respectively.)
Then in 2021, Swift further gratified fans with the first two releases from her long-promised Taylor’s Version series, re-recording her first six studio albums in order to claim full ownership over them. While the project initially seemed to have limited commercial potential, Swift turned the releases into nostalgia bombs, not only fascinating fans with the re-recorded soundalikes of tracks from Fearless and Red, but also revisiting previously unearthed rarities and gems; most notably, her 10-minute version of fan favorite deep cut “All Too Well” not only became one of 2021’s most critically celebrated releases but even debuted atop the Hot 100. Consequently, the albums became mini-blockbusters all over again: Red (Taylor’s Version) debuted with 605,000 first-week units, better than the first week of any original album in 2021 outside of Certified Lover Boy and Adele’s 30.
And all of this 2020s success (Swift was even picked by the Billboard editorial staff as the Greatest Pop Star of 2021) had come without her releasing a proper new album in the mainstream pop mode fans had long expected from her. So when that finally did come this month, in the form of the Midnights album — harkening back to the alt-leaning synth-pop sound cultivated by Swift (and regular collaborators like writer/producer Jack Antonoff) from 1989 to Lover — it exploded with the anticipation built up over two and a half years’ worth of well-received detours, almost as if this was her first official LP release of the decade.
2. The perfect balance of surprise and hype. Swift’s last decade has been a fascinating case study in the benefits and drawbacks of the traditional extended rollout versus the newer-model sneak-release. Part of the reason that 2020’s Folklore announcement came as such a shock to the industry was that Swift had previously been such a staunch supporter of the months-long lead-up to an album, with a traditional lead single and music video, a blitz of public appearances and award show performances, and enough headlines to ensure everyone in the world knew she had a new album imminent. But when that approach backfired somewhat with the lukewarmly received lead single to Lover (the bombastic, Brendon Urie-featuring “ME!”) and the old-school media onslaught making her look slightly out of touch with the pace of pop in the streaming age, it was pretty clear something had to change.
But rather than keep with the Folklore and Evermore approach of only announcing her new albums the week of release, Swift split the difference with her Midnights drop. She announced the album months in advance, at August’s MTV Video Music Awards — where, incidentally, she also picked up three awards (including video of the year) for her “All Too Well (The Short Film)” — but never released an advance single for it. Instead, she unveiled other elements from the album: themes, images, song titles, treating each morsel of new information like a piece of the puzzle that would eventually be revealed in full with the LP’s release. And once the album did drop, she kept one more major surprise in reserve: the album’s 3am Edition, a pack of seven extra songs to further delight ravenous fans (and boost streaming totals).
The end result was a masterful balancing act between the strategies of Old Taylor and New Taylor, hyping the album with enough advance notice to get the music world raring for its release — and to properly prep the kind of physical volume of vinyl and CDs necessary to produce these kinds of blockbuster sales numbers — while also keeping enough secrets about it hidden to maintain the mystery, and not overwhelming prospective listeners before they even got a chance to hit play.
3. The unavoidable first single. Though she may be a singer-songwriter at heart, Taylor Swift is also a savvy enough pop star to know that no matter how much critical acclaim you amass, no matter how coherent your albums are as full-length statements, and no matter how much general good will you can claim as an artist — if you wanna stay a true pop star, every once in a while you gotta give the people an undeniably killer pop single. (Just ask Beyoncé.)
Swift didn’t lead Midnights with an advance single this time out, but it was still very clear within the first day of the album’s release what the first hit from it was going to be. “Anti-Hero” not only came with its own ambitious music video, Thursday Night Football promo and TikTok-geared #TSAntiHeroChallenge, but with a wallop of a chorus whose meme potential was unmistakable from first listen: “It’s me, hi/ I’m the problem, it’s me.” “Anti-Hero” was immediately and equally embraced by the internet and by pop radio — becoming ubiquitous in references on Twitter and Instagram and debuting at No. 13 on Billboard‘s Radio Songs tally this week, her highest-ever entrance on the chart.
It’s no surprise that “Anti-Hero” is the top debut from Midnights on the Hot 100 this week, but it also played a part in the rest of Swift’s chart dominance by doing the things that huge lead singles are supposed to do: Worming its way into all facets of pop culture, getting irremovably stuck in your head, and making sure that even your great aunts and uncles know that Taylor Swift Is Back.
4. The era advantages. As we did with Drake’s 2021 takeover, it’s important to point out that while Swift’s chart impact this week is jaw-dropping, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s actually more popular than The Beatles or Michael Jackson were at their peaks. Rather, she has advantages built-in to competing on the charts in 2022 that those pop icons simply didn’t at their respective commercial peaks, back when songs needed to be specifically released and promoted as singles to even be eligible for the Hot 100. Those rules were eliminated in 1998, but it wasn’t until the rise of iTunes the next decade — and even more so, the beginning of streaming in the 2010s — that an album’s tracks could be consumed individually enough for it to potentially chart every song at once in its first week.
And what’s more, as popular music continues to get more and more diffuse, megastars like Swift and Drake have a greater opportunity every year to monopolize the top tier of charts like the Hot 100. The primary competition for the 13 tracks on Midnights this week came via Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” and Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” two viral tracks from artists with little recent Hot 100 success — only Smith has any real history there, and they hadn’t scored higher than No. 39 with a single this decade — and whose peaks at radio, streaming and sales are unlikely to totally overlap. As the annual volume of four-quadrant smashes produced in pop keeps dwindling, it only gets easier for an artist of Swift’s size and reach to just come in and immediately command the whole room.
5. The last-second push. Of course, it also never hurts to give a couple of your tracks a little bit of an extra boost, as Swift did on Thursday (Oct. 27) — the last day of the tracking week — by making the original and instrumental versions of “Bejeweled” and “Question…?” available on her webstore for 69 cents. The move helped the two songs become two of the set’s best-sellers for the week (“Question…?” leads this week’s entire Digital Song Sales chart), and further helped ensure the top 10 Hot 100 placement for both songs, which rank at No. 6 and No. 7 this week, respectively — though indeed, streams for Swift’s songs in the Hot 100’s top 10 ended up being strong enough that all 10 tracks would’ve ranked in the region even without any chart points from sales or radio airplay.