Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” ties for the longest command in the history of Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, adding a 36th week at the summit on the ranking dated Jan. 13.
The single matches the command of Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You” in 2018-19.
Here’s an updated look at the songs that have dominated Adult Contemporary the longest.
Most Weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart:
- 36 (to date), “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus, beginning April 15, 2023
- 36, “Girls Like You,” Maroon 5, Nov. 10, 2018
- 35, “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd, Nov. 7, 2020
- 28, “Drift Away,” Uncle Kracker feat. Dobie Gray, June 7, 2003
- 24, “Easy on Me,” Adele, Nov. 13, 2021
- 24, “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran, May 6, 2017
- 22, “Perfect,” Ed Sheeran, Feb. 24, 2018
- 22, “Hey, Soul Sister,” Train, July 3, 2010
- 21, “Hello,” Adele, Nov. 28, 2015
- 21, “Breakaway,” Kelly Clarkson, March 12, 2005
- 21, “A New Day Has Come,” Celine Dion, March 30, 2002
- 20, “Memories,” Maroon 5, March 21, 2020
- 20, “Just the Way You Are,” Bruno Mars, Feb. 5, 2011
The Adult Contemporary chart ranks titles by weekly plays on a panel of over 80 adult contemporary radio stations. The tally began in Billboard‘s pages (as the “Easy Listening” chart) on July 17, 1961; once Luminate data began powering the chart exactly 32 years later (July 17, 1993), lengthy reigns became much more common than before. (Airplay is now provided to Luminate by Mediabase.)
“Flowers,” released on Smiley Miley/Columbia Records, previously topped the mainstream top 40-based Pop Airplay chart (which began in 1992) for 10 weeks and the adult top 40-focused Adult Pop Airplay ranking (which dates to 1996) for 17 frames.
Notably, the single’s combined 63 weeks atop Adult Contemporary (36), Adult Pop Airplay (17) and Pop Airplay (10) mark the most for any hit. The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” ranks second with 61 weeks atop the charts combined, followed by “Girls Like You” (55); 51 songs have led all three lists.
“Flowers,” which Cyrus co-wrote, launched at No. 1 on the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100 last January and ruled for eight weeks, becoming her second leader. It’s from Cyrus’ album Endless Summer Vacation, which debuted at its No. 3 best on the Billboard 200 albums chart in March, marking her 14th top 10.
“Flowers” went on to land No. 1 finishes on Billboard’s 2023 year-end Radio Songs and Adult Pop Airplay Songs charts.
All charts dated Jan. 13 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Jan. 9.
