Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ Returns to No. 1 on Hot 100, Jung Kook & The Beatles Debut in Top 10

Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” rebounds for a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. Three weeks earlier, it became her 10th career leader. It takes over for her 11th, “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault],” which interrupted the reign of “Cruel Summer” with its No. 1 debut a week ago.

Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, Jung Kook’s “Standing Next to You” debuts at No. 5, marking the BTS member’s third solo top 10, and The Beatles return with “Now and Then,” their landmark 35th top 10 – extending their record for the most among groups – and their first since 1996.

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 Nov. 18, 2023) will update on Billboard.com Tuesday (Nov. 14). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

In the Nov. 3-9 tracking week, “Cruel Summer” drew 77.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 3%) and 13.8 million streams (down 9%) and sold 4,000 downloads (up 17%), according to Luminate.

The single scores a fourth week at No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart; rebounds 21-8 on Streaming Songs, following a week at on top; and falls 12-19 on Digital Song Sales, also after a week in charge.

A week ago, Swift’s “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]” soared in at No. 1 on the Hot 100, supplanting “Cruel Summer,” which dropped to No. 6, as parent album 1989 (Taylor’s Version)launched atop the Billboard 200 chart and all 21 songs from the set infused the Hot 100.

As “Cruel Summer” reclaims the baton atop the Hot 100, Swift becomes the second artist in the chart’s archives to reign with a song, take over at No. 1 with a different track, and directly return to the summit with that first leader. In 2021, BTS led for seven weeks with “Butter,” halted the song’s command with a No. 1 debut for “Permission to Dance” and then returned to the top the following week with “Butter” (which ran up its rule to 10 total nonconsecutive weeks).

As previously noted, “Cruel Summer” was originally released on Swift’s 2019 Republic Records album Lover before being promoted as a single and gaining new prominence as the superstar has performed it on her The Eras Tour this year.

1989 (Taylor’s Version), meanwhile, notches a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]” descends to No. 3 on the Hot 100, down 34% to 21.1 million streams – as it spends a second week atop Streaming Songs – and down 61% to 2,000 sold. Being promoted as a radio single, it boasts 16.1 million airplay audience impressions, up from 4.7 million the week before, as it debuts at No. 41 on Radio Songs and wins the Hot 100’s top Airplay Gainer award.

In between Swift’s songs in the Hot 100’s top three, Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” rises 4-2, after it led for three nonconsecutive weeks beginning in September. It posts a 10th and 11th week, respectively, atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100.

SZA’s “Snooze” ascends 8-4 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, as it rules the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart for a 15th week.

Jung Kook’s “Standing Next to You” enters the Hot 100 at No. 5 with 10.6 million streams, 400,000 in radio audience and 99,000 physical and digital singles sold combined, following its Nov. 3 release on his debut solo album, Golden – which opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. (In addition to its original version, seven mixes of the song arrived Nov. 6: its Future Funk, Holiday, Latin Trap, PBR&B and Slow Jam remixes and its Band Version and instrumental version.)

The track is Jung Kook’s third Hot 100 top 10. Here’s a recap of all four top 10s so far by BTS members apart from the group, ranked by peak position. As a group, BTS boasts 10 top 10s, including six No. 1s.

Peak Pos., Date, Artist, Title:

“Standing Next to You” concurrently debuts at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, with 84,000 downloads sold, as Jung Kook earns his fourth leader on the list.

Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves climbs 11-6 on the Hot 100, after it led for a week upon its debut in September. It tops the multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts for an 11th week each and Hot Country Songs for a seventh frame.

The Beatles bound onto the Hot 100 at No. 7 with “Now and Then” with 11 million streams, 2.1 million in radio reach and 73,000 physical and digital singles sold combined Nov. 3-9, following its Nov. 2 release. The song debuted on the Hot 100’s Bubbling Under chart (which ranks the top titles yet to hit the Hot 100), at No. 5, a week earlier, with 2.6 million in airplay audience, 2.3 million streams and 17,000 sold in its first day. A 12-minute film chronicling the cut premiered Nov. 2, while the song’s official video premiered Nov. 3.

“Now and Then” is billed as the final Beatles song, first recorded as a demo in 1977 by John Lennon and initially intended for the band’s three-edition Anthology series in the mid-‘90s before being shelved. The song was completed at last by surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, among others, after new technology helped extract Lennon’s vocals from the original demo, while George Harrison guitar parts from the initial attempt to finish the track were also incorporated into the song.

The song was made available for purchase as a download, on cassette and via six vinyl versions: 7” and 12” black vinyl; 7” clear vinyl; 7” blue/white marble vinyl; 7” light blue vinyl; and a Target-exclusive 12” red vinyl (as well as for pre-order on CD).

With the song’s Hot 100 debut (The Beatles’ second-highest, after “Let It Be” launched at a then-record No. 6 in 1970), The Beatles mark multiple new chart milestones.

Most Hot 100 top 10s among groups: “Now and Then” becomes The Beatles’ 35th Hot 100 top 10, extending their record for the most among groups. The Rolling Stones rank second among groups with 23 top 10s, followed by Chicago and The Supremes, each with 20.

Most Billboard Hot 100 Top 10s:

Longest span of Hot 100 top 10s, excluding holiday songs: The Beatles first hit the Hot 100’s top 10 on the chart dated Jan. 25, 1964, with their iconic U.S. breakthrough single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” – which became the first of their record 20 No. 1s. They now claim a span of top 10s of 59 years, nine months and three weeks, the longest excluding holiday fare. They surpass Elton John, who has logged a top 10 span of 51 years, seven months and three weeks, dating to his first frame in the bracket with “Your Song” (Jan. 23, 1971) and running through “Hold Me Closer,” with Britney Spears (Sept. 10, 2022).

(Including holiday songs, the late Andy Williams holds the record for the longest span of an act appearing in the Hot 100’s top 10: 63 years, two months and three weeks, from his first week in the tier with “Lonely Street” in October 1959 through “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” during last year’s holiday season.)

Beatles get back to top 10 after 27 years: The Beatles achieve their first Hot 100 top 10 since “Free as a Bird,” from the Anthology series, hit No. 6 on the Jan. 6, 1996-dated chart. They end a break of 27 years, 10 months and two weeks between top 10s – the longest for an act, excluding holiday music, with sole billing on bookending top 10s. Among all waits between top 10s (again, not including holiday hits), The Beatles end the fifth-longest break; as a soloist, McCartney ranks third.

Longest Breaks Between Hot 100 Top 10s, excluding holiday songs:

Top 10 in a fourth decade: The Beatles become the lucky 13th act with Hot 100 top 10s in four or more decades, having now ranked in the region in the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘90s and 2020s. Michael Jackson and Andy Williams lead with top 10 placements in five decades each. The Beatles join Aerosmith as the only groups in the elite club.

Click here for a look at all 13 acts with Hot 100 top 10s in four or more decades.

Most Hot 100 hits among bands: “Now and Then” also marks The Beatles’ 72nd Hot 100 hit overall (and their first since Anthology single “Real Love,” which reached No. 11 in 1996 as the follow-up to “Free as a Bird”). They extend their mark for the most entries among bands that play their own instruments (and rank second among all multi-member acts only to TV troupe the Glee cast’s 207).

Among all bands, The Beatles lead over The Rolling Stones (57 Hot 100 hits), The Beach Boys (55) and The Temptations (53).

Below The Beatles on the latest Hot 100, three country hits round out the top 10: Luke Combs’ No. 2-peaking “Fast Car” (13-8) and Morgan Wallen’s “Thinkin’ Bout Me” (17-9), after it reached No. 7, and “Last Night” (15-10), following 16 weeks at No. 1 beginning in March – the longest reign ever for a non-collaboration.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Nov. 18), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 14).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.