Rema & Selena Gomez’s ‘Calm Down’ Breaks Record for Most Weeks Ever on Pop Airplay Chart
Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” solely claims the record for the most weeks ever spent on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, adding an unprecedented 64th week on the survey (dated Jan. 20).
The song, released on Jonzing World/Mavin/SMG Music/Virgin/Interscope Records, debuted on the Nov. 5, 2022-dated tally and spent five weeks at No. 1 last May-July, marking Rema’s first leader and Gomez’s fourth. It ranks at No. 12 on the latest list.
“Calm Down” breaks out of a tie with Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (63 weeks, 2022-23) for the longest Pop Airplay stay.
Here’s a rundown of the songs that have charted on Pop Airplay the longest, over the ranking’s 31-year-plus history.
Most Weeks on Pop Airplay, Title, Artist(s), Peak Pos./Date:
- 64 (to date), “Calm Down,” Rema & Selena Gomez, No. 1 (five weeks), beginning May 13, 2023
- 63, “As It Was,” Harry Styles, No. 1 (seven), May 21, 2022
- 60, “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd, No. 1 (six), April 18, 2020
- 54, “Heat Waves,” Glass Animals, No. 1 (two), Jan. 29, 2022
- 50, “Die for You,” The Weeknd, No. 1 (two), Feb. 11, 2023
- 48, “Stay,” The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, No. 1 (13), Sept. 4, 2021
- 47, “Before You Go,” Lewis Capaldi, No. 1 (one), Sept. 26, 2020
- 45, “Thats What I Want,” Lil Nas X, No. 1 (four), Feb. 19, 2022
- 45, “Adore You,” Harry Styles, No. 1 (one), April 11, 2020
- 45, “Circles,” Post Malone, No. 1 (10), Nov. 16, 2019
- 45, “Eastside,” benny blanco, Halsey & Khalid, No. 1 (one), March 2, 2019
- 45, “Love Lies,” Khalid & Normani, No. 1 (two), Sept. 22, 2018
- 45, “New Rules,” Dua Lipa, No. 1 (four), Feb. 3, 2018
“Calm Down” also holds the mark for the most weeks logged in the Pop Airplay top 10: 45, from the charts dated March 11, 2023, through Jan. 13.
Rema, from Nigeria, released the original version of “Calm Down” in February 2022 as a single from his debut solo LP, Rave & Roses. Its remix with Gomez arrived that August, and that version’s official video premiered that September.
“Calm Down” dominated the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for 58 weeks from September 2022 to October 2023, the longest command since the ranking began in 2022.
On the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100, “Calm Down” hit No. 3 last June, becoming Rema’s first entry and Gomez’s ninth top 10, and second-highest-charting, after “Lose You to Love Me” led for a week in November 2019.
“I was at a party, and a couple of girls walked in, and I saw a girl in yellow,” Rema told Billboard in 2023 of the origin of “Calm Down.” “I wanted to talk to her, and her friends were being really stuck up. They didn’t really want to chat. And I was like, ‘Yo, just calm down. Let’s have a chat.’ And then she actually calmed down, and we started talking and dancing. When she left the party, she was on my mind, and I wanted to see her again. That was it. I walked in the studio fresh out of that emotion.
“I’m so happy,” Rema added of the song’s success. “I’m happy for me, my team, the culture and for Selena. She embraced the sound, and she did her own thing. It was the right timing [with] the right person, and the impact has been so huge. Seeing people who don’t speak my language sing my song word-for-word really shows that people are impacted by the sound, and I’m grateful for it.”
All charts dated Jan. 20 will update on Billboard.com Wednesday, Jan. 17, a day later than usual due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday Jan. 15.
Gary Trust
Billboard
