Billboard Hot 100: 01/27/2024

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Rema & Selena Gomez’s ‘Calm Down’ Breaks Record for Most Weeks Ever on Pop Airplay Chart

1/16/2024

By Gary Trust

The song, which reigned for five weeks, adds a 64th week on the ranking.

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.

[renaboss]

So all of those longest-charting Pop Airplay songs are from 2018 onwards... Pop radio needs to learn to let go, man.

[Choco]

So the race for #1 will be decided by sales. Meh. At this point it doesn't even infuriate me anymore and Ariana isn't the worst offender.

But it's still a metric fueled by label push and stans rather than organic consumption.

[hughster1]

Jan 16, 2024 18:15:36 GMT -5 Choco said:

So the race for #1 will be decided by sales. Meh. At this point it doesn't even infuriate me anymore and Ariana isn't the worst offender.

But it's still a metric fueled by label push and stans rather than organic consumption.

Frankly I don't think there is any metric anymore that is primarily fueled by organic consumption:

Streaming: Placement on prominent playlists and featured albums/album bombs, controlled by a very few huge corporations (Spotify, Apple, Amazon), payola not really banned

Radio: Controlled by small number of corporations, payola banned but other favors (e.g., artists performing at concerts sponsored by radio corporations) not, overreliance on research and not responsive to audience

Sales: Low consumption by general public means that organized stan armies and/or people with politcal motives can have outsized influence, labels and artists releasing multiple remixes to spur sales

Occasionally you might have an organic track break through but even these tend to be due to a placement in a film or TV show (Running Up That Hill, Murder on the Dance Floor) and/or a deep cut on an older album, usually by a superstar act (Cruel Summer, Die For You - and even the latter only hit number one due to a remix). And I guess when a track from a new album ends up being the ones fans embrace and it ends up being a featured single, that is somewhat organic. But overall the fact that five or six huge corporations are the gatekeepers for all three metrics means nothing is really organic any more.

[Choco]

People keep saying playlist placement is inorganic when we've seen stuff like "No Excuses" by Meghan Trainor and currently Lil Nas X on Today's Top Hits but still completely tanking. Playlist will get people to check your song but if they don't like it it's gonna die fast. And the amount of people that need to consume the song is way higher than just 10k people buying 4 digital copies and that resulting in a #1 peak.

As for airplay, there's callouts and user feedback. Can a label buy it's way to, say, top 15 on some formats? Yup. But it won't get any further without actual audience support (Meghan Trainor again, or even Bieber's "Yummy" are examples).

[lazer]

I forgot Yummy existed.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

kworb's Billboard Radio Songs Estimates « 2024 » / « 01 » / « 17 »

1(=) Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer 75.43(-0.71)
2(=) Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me 69.48(+1.11)
3(=) Tyla - Water 61.67(-0.07)
4(=) Doja Cat - Paint The Town Red 61.13(-0.23)
5(=) Tate McRae - greedy 60.55(+0.10)
6(=) Doja Cat - Agora Hills 51.39(+1.18)
7(+1) SZA - Snooze 49.87(-0.20)
8(-1) Rema & Selena Gomez - Calm Down 49.84(-0.31)

9(=) Nate Smith - World on Fire 49.81(-0.11)
10(=) Luke Combs - Fast Car 49.07(-0.68)

36(+4) Nicki Minaj - Everybody (feat. Lil Uzi Vert) 26.55(+1.72)

57(+11) Ariana Grande - yes, and? 18.08(+2.77)

-(-) Lil Nas X - J CHRIST 5.73(+0.79)

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

[85la]

Jan 16, 2024 19:48:13 GMT -5 Choco said:

People keep saying playlist placement is inorganic when we've seen stuff like "No Excuses" by Meghan Trainor and currently Lil Nas X on Today's Top Hits but still completely tanking. Playlist will get people to check your song but if they don't like it it's gonna die fast. And the amount of people that need to consume the song is way higher than just 10k people buying 4 digital copies and that resulting in a #1 peak.

As for airplay, there's callouts and user feedback. Can a label buy it's way to, say, top 15 on some formats? Yup. But it won't get any further without actual audience support (Meghan Trainor again, or even Bieber's "Yummy" are examples).

Yes, playlist placement or being on Today's Top Hits won't automatically get you to chart high on the Spotify and it doesn't work for all songs, but it's a necessary requisite for most that do. Think of it the other way, how many songs have topped Spotify without playlist placement or any label push? (Maybe Rich Men North of Richmond?)

And in terms of airplay, yes, labels can in some instances buy their way to #1 with very little to no audience support. Look What You Made Me Do, and Billie Eilish's Therefore I Am are examples I can think of that reached #1 on Pop airplay despite being near or at the bottom of radio callouts.

[sportytheartist]

[whaleblubber]

We cheered!

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

If yes, and? debuts at #1, it would be the 3rd dance track to debut at #1 (after Harlem Shake and Rain On Me), and one of 5 #1s (HS, Closer, ROM and Break My Soul) to appear on the Billboard's EDM chart (first published on 01/26/13).

[kcdawg13]

Jan 17, 2024 19:26:49 GMT -5 sportytheartist said:

Lol, radio deal and all those extra versions only to debut 5 points a head of #2. 

[Caviar]

Yes, and? A #1 is a #1.

[musiclife]

All that for just 5 points?

[Az Paynter]

...but it's number #1.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

US Spotify - 01/16/24

1(=) Ariana Grande - yes, and? 1,630,458 (+56,571)
2(+1) 21 Savage - redrum 1,488,755 (+153,249) (+11%) *NEW PEAK*
3(-1) Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me 1,476,911 (+37,927)
4(=) Noah Kahan - Stick Season 1,353,289 (+65,419)
5(=) Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine 1,279,747 (+122,698) (+11%)
6(=) 21 Savage, Travis Scott, Metro Boomin - née-nah 1,197,076 (+53,876)
7(=) Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves - I Remember Everything 1,124,392 (+82,764)
8(=) Xavi - La Diabla 1,090,525 (+77,383)
9(=) Tate McRae - greedy 1,019,208 (+38,911)
10(+2) Kali Uchis, Peso Pluma - Igual Que Un Ángel 980,525 (+132,493) (+16%) *NEW PEAK*

21 Savage - american dream [14/15]
12(-1) n.h.i.e. 917,196 (+37,971)
16(-1) all of me 796,200 (+40,648)
38(-5) pop ur shit 605,504 (-4,933)
40(-3) dangerous 602,608 (+6,299)
42(-4) sneaky 590,166 (-5,934)
51(-5) should've wore a bonnet 552,847 (+17,322)
54(-3) prove it 537,544 (+40,040)
66(-4) red sky 480,101 (+8,739)
106(-17) letter to my brudda 382,210 (-12,506)
109(-18) see the real 379,874 (-9,695)
134(-10) dark days 357,451 (+10,105)
154(-43) just like me 344,719 (-23,243)
Total Fifth Day Streams: 9,232,251 (+0.02%)

Other:
11(-1) Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer 942,862 (-5,404)
13(=) Nicki Minaj - FTCU 869,972 (+57,399)
14(=) JID, 21 Savage, Baby Tate - Surround Sound 819,781 (+57,492)
15(+6) Flo Milli - Never Lose Me 818,513 (+121,637) (+18%) *NEW PEAK*
16(-1) Zach Bryan - Something in the Orange 815,495 (+55,679)
18(+1) Xavi - La Victima 774,117 (+64,870) *NEW PEAK*
19(-2) Drake, Sexyy Red, SZA - Rich Baby Daddy 763,883 (+25,723)
20(=) Lil Tecca - 500lbs 760,354 (+52,903)
21(-3) Doja Cat - Agora Hills 760,287 (+38,913)
22(+5) Drake, Yeat - IDGAF 721,482 (+72,641) (+11%)
23(+1) The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Madonna - Popular 710,348 (+40,376)
24(+10) Frank Ocean - Pink + White 696,949 (+88,518) (+15%)
26(+4) Travis Scott - I KNOW ? 693,930 (+72,790) (+12%)
27(+2) Teddy Swims - Lose Control 693,089 (+64,341) (+10%)
28(-6) Doja Cat - Paint the Town Red 691,745 (+16,714)
29(+3) The Weeknd, JENNIE, Lily-Rose Depp - One of the Girls 687,323 (+74,343) (+12%)
30(-2) SZA - Snooze 674,851 (+30,224)
31(-6) Morgan Wallen - Last Night 663,791 (+4,003)
33(+6) Drake, J. Cole - First Person Shooter 660,842 (+65,602) (+11%)
34(+1) Sabrina Carpenter - Feather 652,117 (+45,237)
36(=) Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder on the Dancefloor 636,245 (+35,774)
39(+2) Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For? 603,380 (+31,900)
41(+2) TV Girl - Lovers Rock 599,904 (+53,998) (+10%)
44(+12) 4batz - act ii: date @ 8 568,405 (+86,455) (+18%) *NEW PEAK*
45(+4) TV Girl - Not Allowed 568,330 (+52,578) (+10%)
46(-1) Tate McRae - exes 565,477 (+29,695)
47(+3) Travis Scott, Playboi Carti - FE!N 565,209 (+65,145) (+13%)
48(-6) Taylor Swift - Is It Over Now? 565,131 (+14,325)
50(+3) Fuerza Regida, Marshmello - HARLEY QUINN 553,450 (+65,423) (+13%)
52(=) Peso Pluma, Anitta - BELLAKEO 541,269 (+45,094)
56(+3) Calle 24, Chino Pacas, Fuerza Regida - Que Onda 525,077 (+50,772) (+11%)
58(-4) Nicki Minaj, Lil Uzi Vert - Everybody 511,518 (+28,962)
60(+3) Olivia Rodrigo - Can't Catch Me Now 497,535 (+28,747)
62(+4) Zach Bryan - Heading South 485,767 (+20,459)
63(+2) Kenya Grace - Strangers 485,384 (+19,930)
65(-8) Tyla - Water 482,462 (+4,839)
67(+7) PARTYNEXTDOOR - Break from Toronto 477,301 (+53,551) (+13%)
70(-1) Arctic Monkeys - I Wanna Be Yours 468,327 (+19,308)
71(+4) The Red Clay Strays - Wondering Why 465,471 (+44,825) (+11%)
73(+4) Bad Bunny, Feid - PERRO NEGRO 457,564 (+44,875) (+11%)
74(+14) Ritchy Mitch & The Coal Miners - Evergreen 454,256 (+54,154) (+14%) *NEW PEAK*
81(+3) Zach Bryan, The War and Treaty - Hey Driver 435,767 (+29,832)
84(-6) Zach Bryan - Oklahoma Smokeshow 427,342 (+15,738)
86(=) Bad Bunny - MONACO 424,996 (+20,136)
87(+3) Jessie Murph, Jelly Roll - Wild Ones 423,049 (+29,012)
88(+15) Steve Lacy - Clouded 422,682 (+45,756) (+12%)
89(+19) Travis Scott - MY EYES 422,600 (+51,235) (+14%)
92(=) BigXthaPlug - Mmhmm 419,626 (+30,341)
93(+2) TV Girl - Cigarettes out the Window 418,544 (+32,336)

113(+20) 310babii - Soak City (Do it) 373,960 (+35,959) (+11%)
115(+22) Drake - You Broke My Heart 372,844 (+39,534) (+12%)
116(+9) Taylor Swift - Now That We Don't Talk 372,062 (+26,457)
117(-5) Taylor Swift - Don't Blame Me 369,921 (+2,141)
118(+16) Junior H - Y LLORO 369,765 (+34,817) (+10%)
125(-3) Laufey - From the Start 366,257 (+18,068)
126(=) Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten 364,273 (+18,752)
127(+16) Xavi, Los Dareyes De La Sierra - Poco A Poco 363,789 (+32,456) (+10%) *NEW PEAK*
128(+47) Rich Amiri - ONE CALL 362,446 (+59,514) (+20%) *NEW PEAK*
129(DEBUT) Key Glock - Let's Go 362,446
135(=) Taylor Swift - You're Losing Me 356,433 (+22,480)
141(-23) Lil Nas X - J CHRIST 353,545 (-115)
147(-20) Paul Russell - Lil Boo Thang 349,707 (+5,985)
150(-3) Dua Lipa - Houdini 347,023 (+23,782)
156(+2) Peso Pluma, Tito Double P - LA PEOPLE 339,722 (+23,031)
162(+19) Peso Pluma, Junior H, Oscar Maydon - Rompe La Dompe 334,353 (+34,581) (+12%)
164(+33) Zach Bryan - Tourniquet 332,528 (+38,267) (+13%)
169(-6) Chris Stapleton - White Horse 326,916 (+15,704)
183(-15) Zach Bryan - Sun to Me 315,969 (+8,309)
191(DEBUT) Feid, ATL Jacob - LUNA 313,791
194(-24) HARDY - TRUCK BED 313,147 (+7,897)
196(re-entry) Steve Lacy - Some 312,255
200(re-entry) Drake Practice 310,894

Biggeswt Gains (50K+): ONE CALL, MY EYES, Evergreen, The Color Violet, Break from Toronto, Que Onda, Shut up My Moms Calling, HARLEY QUINN, Not Allowed, act ii: date @ 8, Lovers Rock, First Person Shooter, One of the Girls, Lose Control, I KNOW ?, Pink + White, IDGAF, 500lbs, La Victima, Something in the Orange, Never Lose Me, Surround Sound, FTCU, Igual Que Un Ángel, La Diabla, I Remember Everything, née-nah, My Love Mine All Mine, Stick Season, redrum, yes and?

[gs]

The only thing that matters since 2019-2020 is weeks spent in the top 10-20. I thought the fervour over #1 debuts would have dissipated by now but people are still obsessed with em.

[iHype.]

Jan 18, 2024 5:45:06 GMT -5 gs said:

The only thing that matters since 2019-2020 is weeks spent in the top 10-20. I thought the fervour over #1 debuts would have dissipated by now but people are still obsessed with em.

I mean, it’s not like weeks top 10-20 is common knowledge and easily assessable information even for those who frequently keep up with Billboard. Top 10/20 records also take months and months to be obtained whereas a #1 debut is achieved after a matter of days and therefore is an instant success/gratification on paper.

One week / first week achievements are the most easily recognizable, presentable, and historically coveted.

Same goes with albums having such a huge emphasis on first week. A Diamond album obviously is more impressive than a 2x Platinum album, but overall sales are something that take yearsssss to accumulate and aren’t “instant” proof of success. So if the Diamond album only debuted #2 with 100K its first week, and the 2x Platinum album debuted #1 with 1 million first week for a long time the latter album is going to have the more bragworthy stats and look more appealing on paper.

Labels, fans, artists, etc don’t want to have to wait 1 year to say “hey this was a big success! Look at the weeks top 10”. They want to immediately have it dubbed a success so they are aiming for high first days, first weeks, etc.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

^Yes. Any song hitting #1 regardless of debuting there or not get a lot more immediate attention and coverage than the slow burning songs that end up bonafide hits.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

kworb's Billboard Radio Songs Estimates « 2024 » / « 01 » / « 18 »

1(=) Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer 75.00(-0.43)
2(=) Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me 70.71(+1.24)
3(=) Tyla - Water 61.51(-0.17)
4(=) Doja Cat - Paint The Town Red 60.96(-0.17)
5(=) Tate McRae - greedy 60.42(-0.13)
6(=) Doja Cat - Agora Hills 52.78(+1.39)
7(=) SZA - Snooze 49.78(-0.09)
8(=) Rema & Selena Gomez - Calm Down 49.66(-0.17)
9(=) Nate Smith - World on Fire 49.32(-0.49)
10(=) Luke Combs - Fast Car 48.61(-0.46)

29(+3) Teddy Swims - Lose Control 29.82(+0.71)

34(+2) Nicki Minaj - Everybody (feat. Lil Uzi Vert) 27.77(+1.21)

44(+13) Ariana Grande - yes, and? 22.01(+3.93) +

-(-) Fuerza Regida & Marshmello - HARLEY QUINN 7.99(+1.01) +

-(-) Lil Nas X - J CHRIST 6.88(+1.15)

[gs]

I mean sure, chart stans care more about an "event" than anything else, that's clear, because week-to-week movements are what makes it interesting. It's obviously an accessible vanity achievement that people can reference, and it showcases an artist's starpower.

However, it comes off as a hollow achievement if it's not sustained in the following weeks, especially if it's artificially boosted to secure it in the first place. Unless it's a real event like Flowers that sustains itself, cumulative performance is much more interesting and there can be ways to highlight this better and place more emphasis on it in chart achievements. There's already pushback against this TikTok-ified instant gratification since it gets dragged by stans frequently and compared to real enduring hits.

I mean, didn't Warner Music recently say they wanted Dua to serve longevity and not be a frontloaded artist? Priorities in the streaming era are moving from the fast turnover of the sales era to ones that sustain for years upon years.

[joshtheking]

Good to see Everybody making quite the radio run. I much prefer it to FTCU!

[jenglisbe]

Jan 18, 2024 9:56:38 GMT -5 Baby Yoda Hot100Fan said:

^Yes. Any song hitting #1 regardless of debuting there or not get a lot more immediate attention and coverage than the slow burning songs that end up bonafide hits.

Yeah #1s certainly garner more media attention, but in terms of what builds an artist's legacy and what songs hit streaming/certifications milestones and so on, it's obviously about hits with real longevity and impact.

[divasummer]

On top of what most people are saying here a slow burning lasting hit makes everyone more money and let’s face it that’s what labels want….
A num. 2 debut that ends up selling 7 million copies in a couple of years I would think would be better than a num. 1 debut that sells 2 million…..

[thatpolishboy]

Dua Lipa is a good example of longevity. She's never hit the top spot but has multiple songs that are still radio staples and have billions of streams.

Wouldn't be surprised if Houdini even got another random wind of traction given her history.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

A chart figure is only one aspect of how successful a song can look in the long run. It’s all in the label’s marketing. If a song reaches #1, that’s an easy point to work with. If it doesn’t, there are always others ways to paint a song/era as successful.

[Deleted]

Jan 18, 2024 10:17:39 GMT -5 gs said:

I mean sure, chart stans care more about an "event" than anything else, that's clear, because week-to-week movements are what makes it interesting. It's obviously an accessible vanity achievement that people can reference, and it showcases an artist's starpower.

However, it comes off as a hollow achievement if it's not sustained in the following weeks, especially if it's artificially boosted to secure it in the first place. Unless it's a real event like Flowers that sustains itself, cumulative performance is much more interesting and there can be ways to highlight this better and place more emphasis on it in chart achievements. There's already pushback against this TikTok-ified instant gratification since it gets dragged by stans frequently and compared to real enduring hits.

I mean, didn't Warner Music recently say they wanted Dua to serve longevity and not be a frontloaded artist? Priorities in the streaming era are moving from the fast turnover of the sales era to ones that sustain for years upon years.

Literally all artists that can "inorganically" debut at #1 have shown far more staying power than Dua and have an established legacy to their names tho

I get what you're saying but I think that Warner's comments are a bit misguided. Best believe that if Dua could sell 50k remixes first week she would and Warner would love it

[elementd5]

Plus, it's not like she hasn't had long lasting hits before, though . . . either way, this is just one song from her seventh album, LOL.

[renfield75]

I think for some artists a relatively forgettable number one (at least by their standards) can ultimately add to their legacy: MJ's "You Are Not Alone", Taylor's "Cardigan", Mariah's "Don't Forget About Us", Drake's "What's Next", Ariana & Bieber's "Stuck With U"...these songs show how popular and powerful they were, that even these less iconic songs in their catalog could go to number one. It certainly doesn't take anything away from them, it's just extra sprinkles on the sundae.