There’s a new No. 1 song in America this week, as Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves debut their new collaboration “I Remember Everything” atop the Hot 100. The track is an instant winner, bringing both musicians to the summit for the first time. But as those two country acts succeed, another is forced to wait in the wings yet again.
Luke Combs’s “Fast Car” makes its home in the No. 2 spot on the Hot 100 this week, failing to beat Bryan and Musgraves to the top spot. That’s not necessarily an odd showing, but it’s not the first time the country star has had to wait in second place. Combs’s rendition of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” has now been stuck in the runner-up spot for an incredible eight weeks.
Holding at No. 2 for eight weeks is not just frustrating, it’s historic. “Fast Car” is now one of just 12 songs in U.S. history that have stalled one rung shy of running the show…without ever getting the chance to shine. The cut has thus far lost out on the No. 1 space on the Hot 100 to three other country tunes: Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” Olive Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” and now “I Remember Everything.”
At the moment, Combs’s “Fast Car” is tied with six other tracks for one of the longest stays languishing in second place on the Hot 100 without even a single frame at No. 1. Fellow smashes like “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here” by Deborah Cox, “Back at One” by Brian McKnight, “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran, and most recently, “Life Is Good” by Future and Drake, all suffered the same fate for just as long.
At the moment, Combs still has a chance to break out of this section of the Billboard chart history books. If “Fast Car” can finally rise to No. 1 on the Hot 100, none of this will mean much to the singer-songwriter. Sadly, it seems like next week, the chart will belong to Doja Cat, whose single “Pain the Town Red” is likely headed right to the peak position.
If “Paint the Town Red” does hit No. 1 on next week’s Hot 100 and Combs keeps at No. 2, he’ll break his tie with the likes of Sheeran, Drake and others and match with several others. Songs by Donna Lewis (“I Love You Always Forever”), Shania Twain (“You’re Still the One”) and Brenda Lee (“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”) all managed nine weeks at No. 2, but somehow never climbed one more rung.
Combs may hold on in second place, moving up again on this ranking nobody wants to be on, but whether he’ll be stuck on it forever or not is yet to be seen. His song is still going strong, but if there are too many exciting new smashes that soar right past his tune, he may never get to that coveted position.
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