For the second time in two months Taylor Swift‘s been blocked from the top of the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to rapper Lil Nas X‘s megahit, ‘Old Town Road.’
After early May 2019 saw the Grammy winner’s Brendon Urie-assisted tune, ‘Me!,’ debut at #2 on the tally behind the Country Hip Hop cut, this week Swift’s latest number – ‘You Need To Calm Down’ – met a similar fate. ‘Calm’ – the second single from Swift’s forthcoming LP ‘Lover’ – dominated headlines last week for its pro-LGBT themes, star-studded music video (which prominently featured a reconciliation with longtime nemesis, Katy Perry), and for stirring controversy by allegedly ripping off scenes from Beyonce‘s 2011 ‘Party’ music video (click here to read more).
Now, with its inaugural tracking week of sales, streaming, and radio airplay behind it, the song’s made an impressive debut on the Billboard charts. Yet, not impressive enough as ‘Road’ – in its 12th week of riding the top of the charts – was still able to keep the Joel Little-produced Pop tune at bay. Billboard reports:
“Calm” opens atop Digital Song Sales with 79,000 sold, marking Swift’s record-extending 17th No. 1 on the chart (ahead of runner-up Rihanna’s 14). …”Calm” starts at No. 3 on Streaming Songs (39 million) and No. 50 on Radio Songs (24.2 million).
Look inside to see who joins X and Swift on this week’s TGJ Chart Check: