Hozier claims his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart in nine years, as “Too Sweet” debuts atop the April 6-dated tally.
The song bows with 28.8 million official U.S. streams, 268,000 radio audience impressions and 4,000 downloads in the U.S. March 22-28, its first week of release, according to Luminate.
It’s the Irish singer-songwriter’s second Hot Rock & Alternative Songs No. 1, after “Take Me to Church” reigned for 23 weeks, all consecutively, from the Nov. 1, 2014, through April 4, 2015, surveys.
Hozier’s nine-year break between No. 1s marks the longest in the chart’s nearly 15-year history, exceeding the six years, 11 months and two weeks between Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars” in 2014 and the band’s “My Universe,” with BTS, in 2021.
In between the debut of “Take Me to Church” and his new No. 1, Hozier racked up 37 chart appearances, including four top 10s, led by the No. 6 debut and peak of “Eat Your Young” last April.
Concurrently, “Too Sweet” starts atop the multimetric Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts. On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, it debuts at No. 5, marking Hozier’s second top 10, and first time in the top 30, since “Take Me to Church” hit No. 2 in 2014.
Additionally, “Too Sweet” blasts in at No. 1 on both Rock Streaming Songs and Alternative Streaming Songs, his first leader on each list since “Take Me to Church.” The all-format Streaming Songs chart finds the song represented at No. 3, just one position below his best rank, set by “Take Me to Church” in 2015.
“Too Sweet” also slots in at No. 1 on Rock Digital Song Sales and Alternative Digital Song Sales, again Hozier’s second chart-topper on each, after “Take Me to Church.” It’s No. 5 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart, becoming his second top 10, after “Take Me to Church” reached No. 2.
“Too Sweet” is one of four songs on Unheard, Hozier’s EP released March 22. The set starts at No. 4 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums with 38,000 equivalent album units earned, including 34,000 in streaming units and 3,000 in album sales. The EP also debuts at No. 10 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
All four Unheard tracks make Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. After “Too Sweet” are “Wildflower and Barley,” with Allison Russell (No. 11, 6.1 million streams), “Empire Now” (No. 14, 5.5 million streams) and “Fare Well” (No. 19, 4.2 million streams). “Wildflower and Barley” (No. 88) and “Empire Now” (No. 98) also reach the Hot 100, where the former is Russell’s first entry.
Hozier doubles his total of career Hot 100 hits, with five of his six charted titles logged in the past year; in between “Take Me to Church” and the charted trio of tunes from Unheard, “Eat Your Young” reached No. 67 last April, while Noah Kahan’s “Northern Attitude,” on whose remix Hozier was added as a co-lead, hit No. 37 last November.
Unheard features music that originally recorded during the sessions for Hozier’s 2023 album Unreal Unearth but did not make its final tracklist. The LP debuted at No. 1 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart dated Sept. 2, 2023, and has earned 417,000 equivalent album units to date.
