This week, The Chainsmokers and Halsey are in charge of the Hot 100 yet again with their collaborative hit “Closer.” The EDM/pop hybrid has now been at No. 1 on the all-encompassing singles tally for an incredible 10 consecutive weeks, with the word “consecutive” being particularly important here. While “Closer” isn’t the only song that’s owned the top position for 10 weeks this year, it is the only track that has managed to keep all 10 of those frames in a row, and all within the calendar year, which is a notable distinction.
Drake’s massively successful song “One Dance” also led the charge for 10 weeks, but his streak was not unbroken, as The Chainsmokers’ is...at least for now. After just a single frame atop the Hot 100, Drake and his collaborators WizKid and Kyla stepped aside to make room for Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop The Feeling!,” which blasted onto the chart at No. 1, becoming just the 26th song in history to do so. It looked for a while like JT might steal the spotlight completely from Drake and company, but they were back in the driver’s seat the following week, where the three acts remained for nine more turns in a row, only succumbing yet again to Sia and Sean Paul’s “Cheap Thrills.”
Earlier this year, Adele also ended her 10-week run at the top with her song “Hello,” and while all of those frames were consecutive, they were spread out between two different calendar years. The lead single from 25 debuted at the top of the charts last November, and it controlled the tally until the following January, when Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” finally took over after waiting patiently in the runner-up spot.
The last song to manage at least 10 straight weeks within one year was just last year, when Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk!” was in charge for a history-making 14 weeks in a row. Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth almost had 12 consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 with their Furious 7 tribute track “See You Again,” but Taylor Swift and her “squad” interrupted the reign for just a single frame thanks to the release of the song’s massive, explosion-packed music video.
“Closer” is currently tied with 14 songs for the title of the sixth-longest running No. 1 hit of all time, and it could continue moving upwards as the year plods on. Those 14 titles include some pretty massive and memorable singles, including Pharrell’s “Happy,” Rihanna and Calvin Harris’ “We Found Love,” Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable,” to name just a few recent releases.
At the moment, it doesn’t appear that there is any song that will be able to beat “Closer,” at least not for another week or two. Both The Weeknd and Daft Punk’s “Starboy” and “Heathens,” the latest from Twenty One Pilots, have both failed to dethrone the dance tune, despite the fact that the two have both spent some time in the runner-up spot. A surge by either could prove to be fatal to The Chainsmokers’ unbroken rule, or it could continue, giving them an even more impressive run.
