For months now, Taylor Swift’s single “Cruel Summer” has been working its way up the Hot 100, the main songs chart in America. The tune quickly returned to the tally once it was promoted as an official single, and it has been living inside the top 10 for weeks. Now, it seems that bigger things are in store for the smash, and it might be headed right for the top.
All signs point to a new high for “Cruel Summer” on next week’s Hot 100. The track is selling incredibly well, with three versions—including two new ones that the superstar just released on Wednesday (October 18) night—appearing inside the highest spots on the American iTunes chart. All those purchases are lumped into one entity, and fans buying both helps the title rise higher on the chart.
At the same time, “Cruel Summer” is performing well when it comes to both streaming and radio airplay, the other two metrics that feed into the Hot 100. The cut holds at No. 1 on the Pop Airplay chart for a tenth week and is in first place on the Adult Pop Airplay tally as well. It’s also up to No. 5 on the Adult Contemporary radio chart.
“Cruel Summer” is also still inside the top 10 on Spotify’s ranking of the most-streamed tracks in America. It’s not ranking as high as it used to be, but that’s only largely due to new releases by Drake and Bad Bunny, which are streaming exceptionally well, but not selling or playing on radio at the same rate.
It seems that interest in the single has grown since the singer’s concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour hit theaters. That movie opened at No ,. 1at the box office, bringing in more than $92 million in a single weekend, immediately making it the highest-grossing concert film in U.S. history—depending on how one defines a concert film, that is.
So far, “Cruel Summer” has risen as high as No. 3 on the Hot 100. This week, it’s been pushed down to No. 9 as Drake invades the chart with songs from his new album For All The Dogs. Many of those cuts—which take up seven spots inside the top 10 this week—will either disappear from the ranking or fall considerably next frame, making room at the top for someone else to take over the highest space, which is currently occupied by Drake and J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter.”
If “Cruel Summer” does rise to No. 1 on the Hot 100, it will mark Swift’s milestone tenth leader on the chart. She last topped the tally in late 2022 with “Anti-Hero,” which is still present on the tally and about to reach a full year on the list.
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