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Taylor Swift’s “Patient Zero” no longer has a stranglehold on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100; after three weeks, it has relinquished the slot to the previous song to have a stranglehold on the chart, and a much
more indomitable one, Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas.” The country music tune returns to the top and extends its record-breaking run of nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 to an unbelievable 25.
But Langley having still more weeks atop the Hot 100 is old hat — or old Stetson — 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 McRae’s “Housewife” had a strong debut at No. 2, followed by two big-time duets. The Olivia Rodrigo/Chappell Roan remix of the former singer’s “Expectations” makes its first appearance at No. 3 this week. (Technically, it’s not a debut, since Billboard counts all versions of the song as the same; Rodrigo’s solo rendition was No. 63 last week.) And a Zach Bryan and Lana Del Rey duet, “Lies,” premieres at No. 4.
“Patient Zero” 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, Swift’s song was still the top seller of the week.
“Choosin’ Texas” 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 Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” 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.
McRae’s “Housewife” was the biggest of the debuting songs, entering at No. 2. It had an even bigger streaming week than Langley’s charttopper, with 22.9 million streams. It also managed 12.7 million radio impressions in its first week.
“Expectations” 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 didn’t contend for No. 1 on the Hot 100, its consumption went a long way toward pushing Rodrigo’s “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love” back to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart, as reported Sunday.
Bryan’s “Lies,” featuring Del Rey, entered at No. 4 with 19.6 million streams — even more than “Expectations” — but not a huge amount of initial radio airplay. It’s off Bryan’s new eight-song EP, “Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs,” 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 Lefty’s “Boston” got push down three spot to No. 6; Morgan Wallen’s “Been by Now,” got knocked down three to No. 7; Tame Impale and Jennie’s “Dracula” got bumped down three to No. 8; and Adela’s “Nicole Kidman” fell three to No. 9. At No. 10, Rodrigo’s “Stupid Song” fell only two spots for the week, allowing her to have two tunes in the top 10.
