The heat is still on for Glass Animals, whose “Heat Wave” may not yet have crested. The longest-simmering slow riser in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, “Heat Wave” reaches a new high this week of No. 2, in its 57th week on the chart.
Is it burning bright enough to finally fulfill its seeming destiny and reach No. 1 after a year-plus of being on the rise? Maybe, but it stands to be thwarted by something the band might rather not talk about: “Bruno.”
The smash single from the “Encanto” soundtrack, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” remains on top for a fourth week and may not budge so easily. Streaming and track sales are finally both slipping for the Disney song, yet its radio spins are increasing, so it’s hard to tell whether the song could loose its grip in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, there’s another possible contender for the top spot on the rise: Gayle’s “abcdefu” is gaining momentum and moves up three spots to No. 4 this week.
But back to “Heat Wave.” According to Billboard, Glass Animals’ song broke the record for the longest climb into the top two spots on the Hot 100, although it depends how you’re counting. Now in second place for that particular honor, Billboard says, is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which spent 35 weeks on the chart before cracking the top two. However, if you factor in that the 35 weeks Carey’s holiday tune spent bubbling under the top two were dispersed over a period of 25 years, then by a sheer elapsed-time measure, you’d say she still holds the record.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and credited to an ensemble cast that includes Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero and Stephanie Beatriz) had 32.2 million streams in the U.S., a decline of 10%, and 7,500 downloads, down 11%, per MRC Data. However, its 6.5 million radio airplay audience impressions were up 18%, further reflecting the top 40 and adult pop formats’ increasing comfort level with programming a song from an animated movie when it’s this big.
As previously noted, the “Encanto” soundtrack is also dominating its chart, registering a sixth week atop the Billboard 200 album chart.
Adele’s “Easy on Me” holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100, which is rounded out by the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber at No. 5 and Kodak Black, Ed Sheeran (“Shivers”), Bieber again (“Ghost”), Lil Nas X and the collaboration of Gunna and Future in the Nos. 6-10 slots.
Nas X’s “That’s What I Want” returns to the top 10, at No. 9, its high to date, after slipping out last week.
Billboard has only revealed the top 10 songs so far, with the rest of the Hot 100 to follow. When the whole chart comes out, it will be interesting to see how some of the hip-hop oldies revived at the Super Bowl halftime show might have fared. The Billboard 200 saw catalog titles by Eminem and Dr. Dre make it back into the top 10 this week.