Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” becomes the most-heard song on U.S. airwaves, ascending to the top of Billboard’s Radio Songs chart, where Swift becomes the first artist to have reigned in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s.
The song rises from No. 2 to No. 1 on the Dec. 31-dated all-format Radio Songs survey with 79.4 million airplay audience impressions (up 3%) Dec. 16-22, according to Luminate.
Swift scores her seventh Radio Songs leader, tying Maroon 5, Katy Perry and Usher for the fourth-most No. 1s dating to the chart’s December 1990 start. Rihanna leads with 13, followed by Carey (11) and Bruno Mars (nine).
Meanwhile, with Radio Songs No. 1s in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s, Swift becomes the first artist with leaders on the chart in each of the three decades – and the only artist with No. 1s as a lead act in any three distinct decades. Christina Aguilera is the only other artist with No. 1s in each of three decades, with one each as a lead in the 1990s (“Genie in a Bottle,” 1999) and ’00s (“Lady Marmalade,” with Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk, 2001) and one as featured in the ’10s (on Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” 2011).
Here’s a recap of Swift’s seven Radio Songs No. 1s:
Title, Weeks at No. 1, Year(s)
“You Belong With Me,” two, 2009
“I Knew You Were Trouble.,” four, 2013
“Shake It Off,” four, 2014
“Blank Space,” six, 2014-15
“Bad Blood” (feat. Kendrick Lamar), five, 2015
“Wildest Dreams,” two, 2015
“Anti-Hero,” one (to-date), 2022
“Anti-Hero” concurrently crowns the Pop Airplay chart for a second week, after she became the first woman with No. 1s on the mainstream top 40-based ranking in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s, and the second act overall to achieve the feat, after Maroon 5. The song became her 10th No. 1 on the tally.
The song also leads Adult Pop Airplay for a fifth week, having become her ninth No. 1 on the adult top 40-focused list.
“Anti-Hero” soared in atop the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 dated Nov. 5, where Swift made history as the first artist to monopolize the entire top 10 in a single week, with all tracks all from her new Republic Records album Midnights. The song ruled in its first six weeks on the Hot 100, becoming just the 10th single to have spent at least its first six weeks on the chart at No. 1.
