Taylor Swift Extends Record for Most Hot 100 Top 10s Among Women With ‘Cruel Summer’

Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” now being promoted as her new single after it was released on her 2019 album Lover, jumps from No. 13 to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated July 15). The song becomes her 41st top 10 – extending her record for the most among women.

The track, which Swift wrote with Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent and produced with Antonoff, tallied 30.3 million in all-format radio airplay audience (up 35%), 14.9 million streams (up 11%) and 3,000 sold (essentially even week-over-week) June 30-July 6, according to Luminate.

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The song was released on Swift’s 2019 album Lover and is now being promoted by Republic Records as her newest single. It has been gaining momentum in recent weeks, as Swift has been performing it on her current Eras Tour, her first in which she’s been able to spotlight songs from Lover, which was released shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each concert on the tour is divided into 10 acts, encompassing nine of her LPs; the Lover era kicks off the show, with “Cruel Summer” performed in the opening set.

Nearly four years after Lover’s release, “Cruel Summer” becomes the set’s fourth Hot 100 top 10, joining lead single “Me!,” featuring Brendon Urie (No. 2 peak); “You Need to Calm Down” (also No. 2); and the title track (No. 10), all in 2019.

“Cruel Summer” is Swift’s 41st career Hot 100 top 10, the second-most among all acts and the most among women.

Most Hot 100 Top 10s:

  • 68, Drake
  • 41, Taylor Swift
  • 38, Madonna
  • 34, The Beatles
  • 32, Rihanna
  • 30, Michael Jackson
  • 29, Elton John
  • 28, Mariah Carey
  • 28, Stevie Wonder
  • 27, Janet Jackson
  • 26, Justin Bieber
  • 25, Lil Wayne
  • 25, Elvis Presley (whose career start predated the Hot 100’s inception)

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The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated July 15, 2023) will update on Billboard.com Tuesday (July 11).

Gary Trust

Billboard