Hozier Notches His First Alternative Airplay Chart No. 1 With ‘Too Sweet’
Nearly a decade after his first appearance on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, Hozier achieves his first No. 1 as “Too Sweet” lifts to the top of the June 29-dated ranking.
Hozier first reached Alternative Airplay with his breakthrough single “Take Me to Church,” which debuted at No. 38 on the July 5, 2014, survey. The song eventually peaked at No. 2 that November.
Since “Take Me to Church,” Hozier had appeared on Alternative Airplay with two tracks prior to “Too Sweet.” “Nina Cried Power,” featuring vocals from Mavis Staples, peaked at No. 31 in 2018, and “Eat Your Young” reached No. 13 last year.
Concurrently, “Too Sweet” continues its reign on Adult Alternative Airplay, ruling for an eighth week. It’s Hozier’s longest running No. 1 among six on the survey and the chart’s longest leading hit since Death Cab for Cutie’s “Here to Forever” dominated for eight weeks in August-October 2022.
“Too Sweet” also lifts to No. 1 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay tally thanks to 6.9 million audience impressions, up 5%, in the week ending June 20, according to Luminate. It’s likewise Hozier’s first leader; “Take Me to Church” peaked at No. 3 in 2014.
“Too Sweet” is the first song to top all three lists since The Killers’ “Boy” in September-October 2022. As “Boy” did not lead all three simultaneously, “Too Sweet” is the first to accomplish that particular feat since The Black Keys’ “Wild Child” in May 2022.
A multiformat hit, “Too Sweet” also rises to No.1 on Adult Pop Airplay, becoming Hozier’s second leader, following “Church” for a week in 2015, while ruling Pop Airplay for a second week. It also became his first No. 1 on the most recently published all-genre Radio Songs chart (dated June 22, reflecting data June 7-13) via 70.5 million audience impressions.
“Too Sweet” is from Hozier’s four-song EP Unheard, which debuted at No. 3 on the Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums rankings dated April 6 and has earned 277,000 equivalent album units since its release.
All Billboard charts dated June 29 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, June 25.
Kevin Rutherford
Billboard