Chart Check: Taylor Swift’s ‘Willow’ Takes Biggest Fall For a #1 Debut in Hot 100 History

Published: Tuesday 29th Dec 2020 by Rashad

Just a week after planting her latest single, ‘Willow,’ atop the Hot 100 (click here to read more), the Taylor Swift tune was whisked away from the position thanks to a gust of holiday tunes.

And, while the #1 premiere of the ‘Evermore’ cut entered her in history books for a number of reasons including being the third female artist (fifth overall) to nab three career debuts atop the Hot 100, it’s now seeing her penciled in records for opposite movement.

See what we mean inside:

It’s typical for songs that debut at #1 on the Hot 100 to experience large drops in succeeding weeks due to the aggressive promotional strategies used the week of its roll out.  Artists who deploy such tactics are often criticized for the extensive measures used to secure the top spot and Swift – thanks to the deep discounts and multiple streaming versions or remixes that accompanied ‘Willow’ – was no different.

The absence of said strategic accompaniment proved detrimental for ‘Willow’s second week aboard charts as it nearly dropped out of the top 40 all together, landing at #38 on the refreshed tally.

The downward movement marks the largest fall any #1 debut has ever taken – a record snatched from 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj‘s hit, ‘TROLLZ,’ which fell to #34 just a week after premiering at #1 earlier in 2020 (click here to read more).  Unlike Minaj and 6ix9ine, however, it is likely ‘Willow’ will rebound once the holiday season is over as it is likely the currently reigning Christmas tunes will all vanish.

Until then, see who joins Taylor in the top 40 of this week’s TGJ Chart Check: Hot 100.

Hot 100 This Week

 

Note:  Among all songs, Mariah Carey holds the record after her perennial holiday hit, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,’ fell out of the Hot 100 all together after a week at #1 (click here to read more).

Biggest Drops from #1 of All-Time (Hot 100)

  • 1 – off the Hot 100 completely: Mariah Carey – “All I Want for Christmas is You”
  • 1–38 – Taylor Swift – “Willow”
  • 1–34 – 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj – “Trollz”
  • 1–28 – BTS – “Life Goes On”
  • 1–25 – Travis Scott featuring Young Thug and M.I.A. – “Franchise”
  • 1–17 – The Weeknd – “Heartless” 

Your thoughts?

Comments 16

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  1. truthtea December 29, 2020

    I still don’t know how that song debuted at #1 considering how it had already fallen out of iTunes top 10 prior to doing so. I guess payola is still alive and well!

    • Andrew December 30, 2020

      I guess 2020 is coming to an end…

  2. Karen Maren December 29, 2020

    That’s embarrassing. So she’s only doing 1 single from these new albums? Is she ever going pop again? I have so many questions. And what was the point of these two albums being so close together??

    • PinotNoir December 29, 2020

      Trying Ariana’s release formula, get advantage of bundles before they stop counting towards sales, break records with minimal competition, and drop enough material to satiate fans before Adele comes back and every chart titan goes into hiding.

  3. Danny Bey December 29, 2020

    Y’all cry sympathy and payola for these other artists. Taylor is literally the definition of that. Bulk of her career falls under that umbrella. Why ill never respect her as an artist. Her only real talent is writing a mediocre song about the same juvenile heartbreak trope. She’s ridiculously overrated.

    • DUH December 29, 2020

      She shouldn’t even be rated in the first place!!!!!

      • Danny Bey December 30, 2020

        Facts

  4. tyty December 29, 2020

    Billboard 100 is a mess 12 singles debuted at number 1 this year and nearly all of them where out the top 20 in the second week?
    Artists are manipulating streams/ radio plays/ discount singles, 20 different remixes etc… on massive a scale.

    I will say, Taylor, is 30 now single success will become less of a focus she can still sell albums as overrated and mediocre as she is. But with the bundle rule in place, even she will experience sales decline in albums.

    I’m interested to see the numbers drake does.

    • Jake December 29, 2020

      Exactly she’s overrated. I don’t get her appeal she’s not that great. She’s a good songwriter but the vocals are just not there. Clearly this Number 1 was manipulated. She’s very calculated and great at doing this. I’m still I’m shocked that Don’t Start Now did not hit number 1 now that’s an organic hit. Willow is a flop song not that great very average. I thought we needed a break from Ariana but we need a break from Taylor.

  5. UHoesFunny December 29, 2020

    Because it’s not that very good of a song to begin with lol. Payola got her that #1. And this is the effects of that.

    • Incognito December 30, 2020

      I don’t know if you will read that but I wanted to give you my apologies for the last time we talked. I was pissed off after that clash between me and Shayla (which has been solved) and I shouldn’t have been hard on you. I sit down on my ego, sorry 🙏

      • UHoesFunny December 30, 2020

        🥰😘

  6. WRTW? December 29, 2020

    This queen is always breaking records, congrats 🎊

  7. Ela December 29, 2020

    #1 songs have been cheapened nowadays.

  8. Incognito December 30, 2020

    That’s why I keep on saying that I don’t like music because of sale numbers or chart positions but because it’s made for HEARING. Being the n°1 doesn’t mean your music is the best in term of quality but only that you used a good commercial strategy. When will you all understand that?

  9. J December 30, 2020

    Honestly anyone that still takes sales serious is dumb, whether it’s good or bad, the charts seem more and more useless by the week. Almost all of those songs are recent, which should tell you everything you need to know about Billboard’s current “tracking” or lack thereof

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