Selena Gomez is focused at the moment on promoting her new single, “Single Soon.” The tune was released a little more than a week ago, and it is making its presence known on the Billboard charts for the first time this frame. But while fans stream and buy the new poppy cut, another one of the singer’s tunes makes history for the star and helps her accomplish something she’s never managed before.
This week, Gomez’s song “Calm Down” hits 52 weeks on the Hot 100, or exactly one year. The tune dips slightly on the latest iteration of the ranking of the most-consumed tracks in the U.S. This time around, “Calm Down” slides to No. 11, falling outside of the top 10 for the first time in quite a while. Last week, the smash sat at No. 6.
In some ways, it’s easier than ever for hit songs to enjoy long lives on the Billboard charts these days, as some of the most important rankings, like the Hot 100, incorporate several modes of consumption. The Hot 100 is compiled using sales, radio, and streaming airplay to show which tunes America is listening to. If a track becomes a long-standing hit, millions will stream it regularly and radio programmers will keep it in rotation, allowing it to perform well enough to hold on the chart.
While it’s easier in some manners for a single to live on the Billboard charts for a long time, a rule instituted by the company a few years back hinders the lifetime of some cuts. If a track spends more than 20 weeks on the Hot 100 and it falls below No. 50, Billboard removes it, according to its “recurrent rule.” If the same cut manages to make it to a full year on the tally, it can’t slip below No. 25, or it will also fall off the list. Once a tune disappears, it’s very difficult for it to return.
“Calm Down” is easily Gomez’s longest-charting hit of her career on the Hot 100. It long ago outpaced her tune “Love You Like a Love Song,” which was credited to her band Selena Gomez & the Scene. That smash spent 38 weeks on the Hot 100 before slipping off.
This frame, “Calm Down” is the longest-charting tune on the Hot 100, beating Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” the second-longest-charting, by more than a month.
Originally released by Nigerian musician Rema as a solo affair, “Calm Down” became a truly global hit single after Gomez added her star power to the title. It quickly rose the ranks on the Hot 100, eventually climbing to No. 3. Now, it is slowly working its way down the chart, but it is still performing incredibly well across all important metrics, so it may hold on and find space on the ranking for weeks, or maybe even months to come.
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