While this week's top 10 on the Hot 100 chart includes new entries from Beyoncé and Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign — along with Noah Kahan collecting his first top 10 hit — the year-old smash continues to be strong amid turmoil: 'Hard Summer' sinks two spots to No. 6 this week in its 41st week on the chart.
Swift's viral resurgence of synth-pop gem Loverwhich was not released as a single during the album's 2019 run, began in 2023 to coincide with the start of the Eras tour, eventually brought the song to the top of the Hot 100 last October, and continued into early 2024 with no apparent end.
As the song spends another week atop the Hot 100, its unlikely run has prompted another unlikely question: Could “Cruel Summer” become the biggest chart hit of Swift's career?
“Summer” has currently climbed to No. 3 on Swift's Billboard Hot 100 chart, behind “Shake It Off” and “Anti-Hero,” her career-longest No. 1 her in 2014. . Check out Swift's top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits here, based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 (through February 24, 2024), with further breakdown below — and click here for the full top 50:
- “Shake It Off”
- “Anti-Hero”
- “Hard Summer”
- “You Belong With Me”
- “Empty space”
- “Love story”
- “I knew you were trouble.”
- “We're never going to get back together”
- “Bad Blood”
- “I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)”
Songs are ranked based on a reverse points system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the most value and weeks in the lower positions earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, seasons are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods.
Part of the reason “Shake It Off” and “Anti-Hero” still outsell “Summer” is longevity: “Anti-Hero” spent 53 weeks on the Hot 100, and “Shake It Off” hung around for 50 weeks, while So far, “Summer” has not topped Swift's top 5 longest-running Hot 100 hits. Here are Swift's top 10 songs by week on the Hot 100:
- “Anti-Hero” (53 weeks)
- “Shake It Off” (50 weeks)
- “You Belong With Me” (50 weeks)
- “Love Story” (49 weeks)
- “Teardrops On My Guitar” (48 weeks)
- “Cruel Summer” (41 weeks)
- “Blank Space” (38 weeks)
- “I knew you were trouble.” (36 weeks)
- “Our Song” (36 weeks)
- “Delicate” (35 weeks)
Meanwhile, “Summer” has logged four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 — the same weeks as “Shake It Off.” “Anti-Hero” became Swift's longest-running No. 1 hit last year when it spent eight weeks at the top of the chart, while “Blank Space” had Swift's second-longest run at No. 1 at seven weeks.
So how did “Summer” become Swift's third biggest hit when other songs have spent more weeks at No. 1 or more time on the chart itself? Staying in the top 10 consistently for months.
This week marks “Summer's” 30th week in the Hot 100 top 10 — the longest of any Swift song. “Anti-Hero” ranks second in frames spent in the top 10 at 28 weeks. “Summer” first reached the top 10 way back on the Hot 100 chart dated July 15, 2023, and became his longest-running top 10 hit earlier this month.
It's impossible to tell if “Summer” will continue to climb her personal chart and become Swift's biggest (or second biggest) hit, or just the number of weeks and/or chart placements it will take to reach there. And while the song sinks two places on the Hot 100's top 10, “Summer” still remains in the top 5 on Adult Pop Airplay, the top 10 on Pop Airplay and the top 20 on Streaming Songs, as well as No. 1 on Adult Contemporary for the fourth week.
“Summer” continues to go strong as it climbs Swift's all-time chart, adding another layer to the unlikely chart success of a song that was never supposed to be a hit. Who knows? Maybe “Summer” will win the top spot just as the real summer approaches.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-cruel-summer-biggest-chart-hits-1235612740/
