More than four years after it was initially released, Taylor Swift’s song “Cruel Summer” has officially become the No. 1 track in America. This week, the tune bolts to the peak position on the Hot 100, Billboard’s weekly ranking of the most-consumed songs in America. As Swift conquers the chart once again, she claims a very special leader and makes history once again among women.
“Cruel Summer” is Swift’s milestone tenth song to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. Looking at solo female musicians only, she is just the sixth star to accomplish this feat.
As “Cruel Summer” becomes her tenth No. 1, the tune helps Swift tie for the fifth-most leaders in Hot 100 history among solo females. She is now on the same level as Janet Jackson, who also managed 10 champions during her heyday.
When looking at all women, Mariah Carey rules, as she has thus far claimed 19 No. 1 hits on the Hot 100. Rihanna comes in second place with 14. Madonna is in third with 12. At the moment, both Jackson and Swift are only one No. 1 smash behind Whitney Houston, who collected 11 chart-toppers during her lifetime.
This ranking changes considerably when groups and solo male artists are included as well. The Beatles continue to lead all acts, as they snagged 20 No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 in their run, which only lasted about a decade. Other names like Drake, Michael Jackson, and the Supremes are also ahead of Swift. Stevie Wonder also managed 10 No. 1s on the Hot 100, so he is currently also tied with Swift and Jackson.
“Cruel Summer” was first released in 2019 off of Swift’s pure pop album, Lover. She planned to make it an official single, but several months into the promotional cycle, the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down and Swift stopped pushing the album.
The track gained popularity once more after she began performing it on her The Eras Tour in mid-2023. The tune quickly surged up streaming charts, and Swift and her team released it as a very unlikely single. It only took a few weeks before the track bolted into the top 10 on the Hot 100, where it languished for months behind other, bigger hits before finally taking the crown.
This week, “Cruel Summer” shoots from No. 9 all the way to No. 1 on the Hot 100. It had previously topped out at No. 3, but in the past week, Drake filled much of the top 10 on the chart with songs from his new No. 1 album, For All The Dogs. Only two spaces inside the top 10 on the competitive tally were filled with non-Drake tunes, with Doja Cat and Swift managing to hold on.
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