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Chart Beat

Billboard’s Songs of the Summer Chart Breezes Back, Led by Drake’s ‘Janice STFU’

The summery summary returns.

Drake speaks onstage during his Til Death Do Us Part rap battle on Oct. 30, 2021, in Long Beach, Calif.
Drake speaks onstage during his Til Death Do Us Part rap battle on Oct. 30, 2021, in Long Beach, Calif.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images

What will be the No. 1 song of the summer of 2026? We begin making our three-month trip to the answer, as Billboard’s annual Songs of the Summer chart returns to Billboard.com.

The 20-position Songs of the Summer running tally tracks the most popular hits based on cumulative performance on the weekly streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Billboard Hot 100 chart from Memorial Day through Labor Day in the U.S. (this year encompassing charts dated June 6 through Sept. 12, 2026). At the end of the season, the top song of the summer will be revealed.


(Titles that appeared on the 2025 Songs of the Summer chart or peaked on the Hot 100 during or before summer 2025 are ineligible to appear on this year’s Songs of the Summer ranking.)

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Drake’s “Janice STFU” is No. 1 on the season’s initial Songs of the Summer survey. It tops the Hot 100 for a second week.

Notably, Drake kicks off his quest to become the first artist with three season-end Songs of the Summer No. 1s, as he made summer’s biggest splashes with “In My Feelings” in 2018 and “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla, in 2016. He’s one of six acts each with two annual victories.

Drake boasts a leading seven entries overall on this year’s inaugural Songs of the Summer chart, rounding out his haul with “Shabang” (No. 4); “Ran to Atlanta,” featuring Future and Molly Santana (No. 6); “Whisper My Name” (No. 9); “National Treasures” (No. 11); “2 Hard 4 the Radio” (No. 15); and “Plot Twist” (No. 20). All are from his album ICEMAN, which leads the Billboard 200 for a second week.

Four other acts claim multiple hits on Songs of the Summer this week: Ella Langley (three), Olivia Dean, Bruno Mars and Olivia Rodrigo (two each). Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” and “Be Her” rank at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, while Rodrigo’s “The Cure” completes the top five.

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Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” wrapped atop the season-ending 2025 Songs of the Summer chart, after Morgan Wallen earned warm-weather wins in 2024 as featured on Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help” and 2023 with his own “Last Night.” Harry Styles’ “As It Was” was hottest for 2022, after BTS’ “Butter” led in 2021 and DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch, finished at No. 1 in 2020.

Check out the top 10 summer songs every year throughout the Hot 100’s history (from the chart’s start in 1958); the top 500 Greatest of All Time Songs of the Summer; and this season’s first weekly Songs of the Summer chart in its entirety.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

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Ariana Grande
Katia Temkin

Ariana Grande

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