Taylor Swiftโs โPatient Zeroโ no longer has a stranglehold on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100; after three weeks of dominance, it has relinquished the slot to the previous song to have a stranglehold on the chart, the evidently indomitable โChoosinโ Texas.โ Ella Langleyโs historically significant country tune returns to the top and extends its record-breaking run of nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 to 25.
But Langley having still more weeks atop the Hot 100 is old hat โ or old Stetson โ when there is some fresh blood in the top 10. That arrives this week in a big way in the second, third and fourth slots. Tate McRaeโs โHousewifeโ had a strong debut at No. 2, followed by two big-time duets. The Olivia Rodrigo/Chappell Roan remix of the former singerโs โExpectationsโ makes its first appearance at No. 3 this week. (Technically, itโs not a debut, since Billboard counts all versions of the song as the same; Rodrigoโs solo rendition was No. 63 last week.) And a Zach Bryan and Lana Del Rey duet, โLies,โ premieres at No. 4.
โPatient Zeroโ falls from No. 1 to No. 5, meanwhile, with radio airplay still strong. Billboard reported physical sales dropped from 151,000 the previous week to 26,000 this week, with no new variants or shipments of different versions of the song hitting the market. Even with the drop in physical sales, Swiftโs song was still the top seller of the week.
โChoosinโ Texasโ had 20 million on-demand streams and 58.6 million radio impressions in its 53rd charting week and 25th at No. 1. It already broke the record previously held by Mariah Careyโs โAll I Want for Christmas Is Youโ a month back. when it reached its 23rd week at the top in late September. However, if Langley wants to hold onto that record going into 2027, she could use these extra weeks as insurance weeks, in case the Carey perennial returns to No. 1 in the weeks just before Christmas, as it usually does.
McRaeโs โHousewifeโ was the biggest of the debuting songs, entering at No. 2. It had an even bigger streaming week than Langleyโs charttopper, with 22.9 million streams. It also managed 12.7 million radio impressions in its first week.
โExpectationsโ had a robust initial week as a remix/duet, with the combined power of Rodrigo and Roan bringing in 18.2 million streams and 2.6 million airplay impressions. Although the song didnโt contend for No. 1 on the Hot 100, its consumption went a long way toward pushing Rodrigoโs โYou Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Loveโ back to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart, as reported Sunday.
Bryanโs โLies,โ featuring Del Rey, entered at No. 4 with 19.6 million streams โ even more than โExpectationsโ โ but not a huge amount of initial radio airplay. Itโs off Bryanโs new eight-song EP, โYoung Manhood and Other Donatable Organs,โ which debuted at No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 chart.
Following Swift at No. 5, several of the remaining songs in the top 10 slipped three spots each, due to the three new entries. Stella Leftyโs โBostonโ got push down three spot to No. 6; Morgan Wallenโs โBeen by Now,โ got knocked down three to No. 7; Tame Impale and Jennieโs โDraculaโ got bumped down three to No. 8; and Adelaโs โNicole Kidmanโ fell three to No. 9. At No. 10, Rodrigoโs โStupid Songโ fell only two spots for the week, allowing her to have two tunes in the top 10.