Taylor Swift Ties Lil Wayne For The Second-Most Top 40 Hits Of All Time On The Hot 100

Taylor Swift is at the point in her career when almost every single she releases and promotes, even in a minor way, becomes a proper hit. She is simply too powerful and popular to frequently miss the mark, and she’s demonstrated once again that she can turn any new drop into a chart win with her latest collaboration. The duet isn’t just one more smash for her, it’s a historic one which helps her tie one of the most successful artists of all time.

Ed Sheeran’s new single “The Joker and the Queen” will debut on the Hot 100 tomorrow (February 23) at No. 21, enjoying a very lofty start on the weekly ranking of the most-consumed tracks in the U.S. The tune was originally a standalone album cut from the singer-songwriter’s recently-dropped = (Equals), but he asked Swift to jump on board a remix, and that’s the version that the masses can’t get enough of. 

As “The Joker and the Queen” starts off at No. 21, it becomes Swift’s eighty-sixth top 40 hit on the Hot 100. That’s a truly incredible sum, and it’s one that only two other artists have reached before. Now that she’s sent 86 different cuts to peaks between Nos. 1 and 40, the singer-songwriter ties with rapper Lil Wayne for the second-most wins inside the competitive arena. 

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In a very distant first place when looking at which musicians have charted the most top 40 hits on the Hot 100 is Drake. The Canadian hip-hop star has already accrued 145 smashes that have peaked inside the top 40 region on the weekly list, and he’s nowhere near done adding to that total. 

As “The Joker and the Queen” reaches the Hot 100, Swift also sees her total number of Hot 100 hits increase as well. The Grammy winner has now pushed an amazing 166 songs to the tally throughout her many years as a hitmaker. On that ranking, she comes in fourth place, behind Drake (260 hits), the cast of the TV show Glee (207) and Wayne (179).

For Sheeran, “The Joker and the Queen” is another important win, but he isn’t quite up to Swift’s level in terms of making history with new wins. The British guitar player, singer and songwriter has now sent 48 tracks to the all-genre ranking, with 22 of them finding space inside the top 40 for at least one turn.

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