Nine Weeks at No. 1 for ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ Sets Record for Solo Females
Two months after Billboard revised the Country Songs ranking method from core country radio audience to a digital, streaming, and expanded radio hybrid, Taylor Swift’s ninth week atop the chart with “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” sets an all-time record for the most weeks at No. 1 by a solo female, surpassing Country Music Hall of Fame honoree Connie Smith’s eight weeks with “Once a Day” in 1964.
Swift’s ninth week is the result of a photo finish ahead of Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise,” which bullets in its fifth week at No. 2. Swift’s run is the longest for any artist since the late David Houston stayed nine weeks with “Almost Persuaded” in 1966. When Smith and Houston accomplished their feats, the chart was known as Hot Country Singles, and was tabulated by blending reported radio playlists and singles sales data taken from retail store reports. No artist has spent more than nine weeks at No. 1 since Buck Owens led for 16 weeks in 1963-64 with “Love’s Gonna Live Here.”
Posted on