Taylor Swift Sets a New Record for Longest Reign on Pop Airplay Chart with “Cruel Summer”
An Eighth Week at No. 1 Surpasses Previous Record Set by “I Knew You Were Trouble”
Taylor Swift’s track “Cruel Summer” has now become her longest-running No. 1 song on the Billboard Pop Airplay chart. The song has been at the top for eight weeks, as of the chart dated October 7, 2023. This achievement surpasses her previous record of a seven-week reign with the song “I Knew You Were Trouble” back in 2013.
Here’s an updated list of Taylor Swift’s 12 songs that have reached No. 1 on the Pop Airplay chart, sorted by the number of weeks they stayed at the top:
- “Cruel Summer” – Eight weeks (ongoing), 2023
- “I Knew You Were Trouble” – Seven weeks, 2013
- “Blank Space” – Six weeks, 2014-2015
- “Bad Blood” (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – Five weeks, 2015
- “Anti-Hero” – Three weeks, 2022-2023
- “Style” – Three weeks, 2015
- “Wildest Dreams” – Two weeks, 2015
- “Shake It Off” – Two weeks, 2014
- “Karma” – One week, 2023
- “Delicate” – One week, 2018
- “Look What You Made Me Do” – One week, 2017
- “Love Story” – One week, 2009
“Cruel Summer” initially reached the No. 1 spot on the Pop Airplay chart dated August 5, 2023. This accomplishment gave Taylor Swift the record for the most No. 1 songs in the history of the Pop Airplay chart, surpassing Maroon 5, Katy Perry, and Rihanna, who each had 11 No. 1 songs. The Pop Airplay chart, which started in 1992, calculates the weekly plays of songs on over 150 mainstream top 40 radio stations in the U.S., as tabulated by Mediabase and provided to Billboard by Luminate.
The song “Cruel Summer” was originally part of Taylor Swift’s 2019 album, “Lover.” Republic Records began promoting it as a single in June 2023. Taylor Swift has been performing the song on her “The Eras Tour,” which is her first tour where she has been able to feature songs from the “Lover” album, released just before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
In addition to its success on the Pop Airplay chart, “Cruel Summer” also became Taylor Swift’s 11th No. 1 song on the Adult Pop Airplay chart. This pushed her past P!nk to become the solo artist with the most No. 1 songs on that chart. The song also reached No. 3 on the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100 chart, extending Taylor Swift’s record for the most top 10 songs among women to a total of 42.
The charts dated October 7, 2023, will be updated on Billboard.com on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.