Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ tops Billboard Hot 100 four years after release

Taylor Swift’s song ‘Cruel Summer’ has reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100, four years after it was released on her 2019 album ‘Lover’.

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The song, co-written by Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent, has become Swift’s 10th Number One single. It follows her 2022 ‘Midnights’ single, ‘Anti-Hero’, and the 10-minute version of ‘All Too Well’ in 2021.

‘Cruel Summer’ was originally a fan-favourite track from ‘Lover’, but it was not promoted as a single until this year, when Swift performed it on her ‘The Eras Tour’.

The song gained popularity on social media platforms like TikTok, where it was featured in millions of videos. It also received new mixes, including a live version and a remix by LP Giobbi, which boosted its streams and sales.

.@taylorswift13‘s “Cruel Summer” officially hits No. 1 on this week’s #Hot100.

It earns Swift her 10th career No. 1 hit, and first from her 2019 album ‘Lover.’

— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) October 23, 2023

Swift and Antonoff have since celebrated her latest achievement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our favourite song from ‘Lover’, from five years ago. This song that we said was the best song, but we thought, ‘You know what, this will be our secret best song’,” Antonoff said.

“We just wanted to say thank you so much for making ‘Cruel Summer’ a Hot 100 Number One, and it’s not even the summer anymore,” Swift added. “It’s deep fall, I’m wearing a sweater. We love you guys.”

IT’S COOL 😎 pic.twitter.com/KcmNvBRR4Y

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 23, 2023

With ‘Cruel Summer’, Swift joins an elite club of artists with 10 or more Number Ones on the Hot 100. She ties with Elvis Presley for the fourth-most chart-toppers among all acts, behind only The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (19), and Rihanna (14).