TOPSHOT – American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift performs on stage as part of her Eras Tour in … [+]
For Taylor Swift, much of the second half of 2023 was about her single “Cruel Summer,” which enjoyed an unexpected comeback after initially hitting charts in 2019 when it was first released. While she was promoting other songs and even a full-length–1989 (Taylor’s Version)—that didn’t stop fans around the world from making the years-old poppy cut a smash once more.
These days, Swift is busy with yet another newly-released album. As she continues to promote The Tortured Poets Department and the singles from the set, “Cruel Summer” is still proving itself to be one of her most successful tunes ever.
“Cruel Summer” hits 52 weeks on the U.K. songs chart this frame. The single is just the third from Swift to spend a full year on the list of the most-consumed tracks in the United Kingdom.
Swift’s longest-charting song in the U.K. remains “Anti-Hero,” which dominated in 2022 and 2023. The Midnights hit held on for 64 frames. Half a dozen of those were spent at No. 1.
The Grammy champion’s second-longest-running win on the U.K. tally is “Shake It Off,” which helped her transition successfully from country to pure pop. That behemoth held on for 55 frames, or just over a full year, around a decade ago.
Impressively, as the electro-pop smash reaches a year on the tally, it’s still living inside the upper half of the 100-spot list of the biggest hits in the nation. This frame, Swift’s single slips slightly, settling at No. 49.
“Cruel Summer” is still performing well, and it seems likely that it will hold on and continue to chart for weeks, if not months to come. The track could possibly be replaced if any of Swift’s more recent releases become more popular, as the Official Charts Company has a rule in place that states that every musician can only fill three slots at once as a lead artist. That hasn’t hindered “Cruel Summer” lately, and it doesn’t seem like it will in the coming frames, either.
