Five Burning Questions: Harry Styles Spends 14th Week Atop Hot 100 With ‘As It Was’

It’s already the official Song of the Summer for 2022 and the longest-reigning Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 of the decade — but now, Harry Styles‘ ‘As It Was” is starting to enter the inner circle of the biggest Hot 100 hits of all-time.

On the Hot 100 this week (dated Sept. 24), “As It Was” spends its 14th week at pole position. That’s longer than all but 10 songs in the chart’s 63-year history — with only three of those 10 songs (Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day,” Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s Justin Bieber-featuring “Despacito” and Lil Nas X’s Billy Ray Cyrus-featuring “Old Town Road”) enjoying longer runs on top.

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Harry Styles' 'As It Was' Ties for Fourth-Longest Reign in the Billboard Hot 100's History

How has this run been possible for “As It Was”? And how much longer might it still have to go? Billboard writers discuss these questions and more below.

1. The 14-week mark at No. 1 has generally been the historic cutoff between a huge Hot 100 hit and a mind-numbingly massive one. Based on your perception of how ubiquitous the song has been the past five-plus months, does it feel right to you that “As It Was” now joins their ranks? 

Katie Atkinson: It feels surprising to me because of the unassuming path it took to join this elite group. To me, this isn’t even Harry Styles’ most ubiquitous single (that prize goes to “Watermelon Sugar”), let alone one of the most ubiquitous singles of all time. But it was so wholeheartedly embraced by radio as soon as it was released back in April ahead of Harry’s House, and that support never wanted — even as six other songs were able to sneak ahead of it for their own week (or weeks) at No. 1. It’s that nearly half-year staying power that earned its spot in this exclusive club.

Anna Chan: Yes! And I say this as someone who thought the song was simply “meh” and a little derivative of A-ha’s 1985 No. 1 hit “Take On Me” the first time I heard it. (Don’t @ me, Harries. Just being honest here!) But this track has a way of slowly growing on you, winding its tendrils around all the nerves in your ears and spreading outward until it wraps itself around your heart and all the way down to your feet, and you find yourself unconsciously humming the tune and dancing at your stove as you make dinner. Speaking of dancing — and proof of its ubiquity — “As It Was” made its way to Dancing With the Stars, with contestant Gabby Windey and pro hoofer Val Chmerkovskiy showing off their footwork to the song on Monday’s season 31 premiere.

Jason Lipshutz: Yes, although I think its run is less of a reflection of that ubiquity, and more of a commentary of how omnipresent Styles himself has become, as an unquestionable superstar at the center of popular culture, as well as the trend of songs persisting in the upper reaches of the Hot 100 for months on end. Only one song in this week’s top 10, Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl,” has been on the chart for fewer than 10 weeks; meanwhile, songs like Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” and The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber’s “Stay” are still going in the top 40 after more than a year on the tally. “As It Was” is a great song, but its 14-week run can be explained at the intersection of Styles’ enormity and the current state of the Hot 100.

Glenn Rowley: The interesting thing to me is that “As It Was” has been so much more stealthy in its chart dominance than some of the songs that arrived at the 14-week threshold before it. And part of that could be the song’s sonic palette and general vibe — it’s certainly not an “Uptown Funk” or “I Gotta Feeling,” and I honestly don’t even really hear it all over the place. But Harry’s also having arguably the biggest moment of his career thus far: the play for movie stardom, the residency at Madison Square Garden, even the viral Chris Pine moment. It’s all worked together to position him at the very center of the cultural zeitgeist of the moment.

Andrew Unterberger: It doesn’t, but that might say more about popular music right now and the way I consume it than about the song itself. With radio and MTV no longer ubiquitous in the culture, singles usually only really feel truly unavoidable to me if they generate controversy and debate (and memes) — and “As It Was,” a very nice song that everyone generally likes, just isn’t one of those hits. But then again, neither was “I Gotta Feeling” or “Uptown Funk!” So I guess “As It Was” might’ve felt that way too if it had happened five or 10 years ago. It’s just a different time now for four-quadrant pop music.

2. “As It Was” has already set the record for the most times returned to No. 1, having fallen out and returned to the top spot on four separate occasions already. Why do you think it’s proven so resilient in its battling for the chart’s pole position? 

Katie Atkinson: Even as its risen and fallen in certain metrics, it’s stayed steady on radio. It’s a feel-good song that fits in perfectly on pop radio, adult pop and AC because it’s just so happy. Styles somehow managed to thread the needle of having a cool, contemporary-sounding song that also sounds tailor-made for a doctor’s-office waiting room. And I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m still not tired of it.

Anna Chan: Is a chartworm a thing? Kinda like an earworm, but for our charts. Honestly, the song is just so darn irresistible – it’s sweet (“In this world, it’s just us”), it’s sad (“Why are you sitting at home on the floor? What kind of pills are you on?”), it’s just good. Even if another artist’s song takes over the No. 1 spot for a week or two, it’s hard not to come back to this steady pleaser. I’m also someone who can listen to a song – or an album – on endless repeat without getting sick of it, so I’ve probably contributed in an infinitesimal way to its repeated returns to the summit.

Jason Lipshutz: Radio, radio, radio. After “Adore You” and “Watermelon Sugar” certified Styles’ top 40 appeal during his last album campaign, pop radio quickly embraced “As It Was” and has unflaggingly supported it for nearly half a year. The song is still at No. 3 on the Pop Airplay chart, and over the course of its run at or near the top of the Hot 100, “As It Was” has proven inescapable at the format, bolstering its chart placement during fluctuations in its streaming totals.

Glenn Rowley: This really is a mystery to me, but I think part of the song’s resiliency has stemmed from a lack of another track being as universally inescapable over the summer, despite Beyoncé’s, Lizzo’s, Nicki Minaj’s and Jack Harlow’s best efforts. Though the month of September has also seen the song’s longest run at the top of the chart since June, so clearly it wasn’t just a Song of the Summer, either.

Andrew Unterberger: Radio support and just the right amount of steady streaming — but also just a lack of multi-platform competition. The biggest radio hits didn’t stream enough, the biggest streaming hits didn’t get radio love in time (or at all), and there just wasn’t the one song that combined all metrics long and strong enough to get him out of the top spot and keep him out. And having one of pop music’s biggest and most passionate fanbases certainly doesn’t hurt either.

3. While “As It Was” has proven indefatigable atop the charts, Styles’ Harry’s House follow-up “Late Night Talking” has thusfar topped out at No. 3, falling to No. 9 this week. Is “As It Was” being so unmovable ultimately a problem for the rest of his album cycle to be able to maintain its momentum — or is it just silly to ever look at the downside of having the No. 1 song in the country for 14 weeks? 

Katie Atkinson: This album cycle is already a resounding success, because this is 14 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 — it’s already had 24 weeks in the Hot 100’s top three! So for almost half of 2022, Harry has had one of the three most popular songs in the country. Let’s see what happens when he finally puts out a music video for “Late Night Talking” or maybe “Music for a Sushi Restaurant.” We could still have another Harry’s House No. 1 on our hands.

Anna Chan: Not at all! No. 1 is No. 1, regardless of which song on the album – and I’m sure plenty of artists would be quite happy with a No. 3 song. Not to mention, Harry’s House is still in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 after 17 weeks, so that’s nothing to sneeze at. Have we mentioned he mostly kept Beyoncé at bay (Bey?) on the Hot 100, save for two weeks in August when she took the crown? That’s something to sing about in itself. But with two movies coming up (Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman), Harry’s going to keep the press machine running, which means Harry’s House – and its singles — will continue to keep getting love. (But I’m predicting it now: If “Love of My Life” is released as a single, it’s going No. 1!)

Jason Lipshutz: Having a single spend 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 does likely cannibalize some of its follow-up’s performance… a wonderful problem for a pop artist to have! “Late Night Talking” may never climb higher than No. 3 on the chart due to the extended run of “As It Was,” which has undoubtedly cut into at least some of its follow-up’s radio spins — but a No. 3 peak is still pretty great, and prevents Harry’s House from being viewed as a project with only one hit on its track list. It will be interesting to see, whenever “As It Was” starts falling off, if yet another single from the album can fill the gap and make it even higher than “Late Night Talking.”

Glenn Rowley: Ah, the classic Mariah conundrum. (Does this make “Late Night Talking” the “Shake It Off” of Harry’s House?) I guess it becomes a question, though, of whether Harry would rather score a third Hot 100 No. 1 or cross the threshold into mind-numbingly massive with the hit he already has. That’s not the worst dilemma in the world to have. Though I do think the Harry’s House era could benefit from moving the focus beyond “As It Was” and giving other potential singles their due.

Andrew Unterberger: It likely doesn’t matter to Styles tremendously — having multiple hits off an album mostly serves to keep the album (and perhaps its accompanying tour) in the public eye, but Harry is so galactically famous at this point that he doesn’t exactly need to worry about falling from anyone’s top of mind. But it does kinda make the fan experience of Harry’s House a little more of a bummer, since the fun of a pop star’s extended album era is getting to experiencing multiple singles as their own individual and equal universes, and “As It Was” remaining such a world-swallower sorta makes that an impossibility.

4. While 10 songs had spent 14 weeks at No. 1 before “As It Was,” only three songs have ever gotten to the 16-week mark. Do you see “As It Was” becoming the fourth? 

Katie Atkinson: Taylor Swift’s Midnights is looming, and it feels like whenever she drops a lead single, it has a great shot at No. 1. And I would LOVE for Steve Lacy to score at least one week in the top spot after “Bad Habit” has climbed as high as No. 2. So I’m going to predict that “As It Was” will be the first song to ever score 15 weeks atop the Hot 100.

Anna Chan: Look, if Harry can retake the crown from Bey, anything is possible – and “As It Was” reaching the 16-week mark is certainly one of those possibilities. The man – and his songs – are literally everywhere right now, with no signs of letting up. Seems he cannot be replaced, as one Mr. Styles might sing.

Jason Lipshutz: It may be foolish to bet against the song with the longest No. 1 run of the year (and one of the longest of all time), but I don’t think it makes it to 16 weeks. Maybe Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” finally leaps up one spot to the penthouse, or another song currently in the top 10 makes a pronounced push, or, heck, Taylor Swift unveils the lead single to Midnights! Two more weeks isn’t a very long time for “As It Was,” but relative to its chart competition, it may be a hair too long for the smash.

Glenn Rowley: I think Harry reaching the coveted 16-week mark depends on whether a certain ex of his chooses to release a lead single before the stroke of Midnights on October 21…

Andrew Unterberger: Yep, it might come down to Taylor — who, lest we forget, also held “Despacito” from passing “One Sweet Day” almost exactly five years ago by halting the former’s run at No. 1 at 16 weeks, with the No. 1 launch of her lead Reputation single “Look What You Made Me Do” in its first full week. Although given Styles’ proven aptitude for offensive rebounding, perhaps another Taylor interruption wouldn’t even mark the end of the line for “As It Was.”

5. Fill in the blank: “As It Was” spending 14 weeks at No. 1 is a _______ thing for pop music in 2022. 

Katie Atkinson: Fitting. Whether “As It Was” goes down in history as one of the biggest hits of all time, Harry Styles should be remembered as one of this era’s biggest pop stars, so now he has the chart coronation to match his superstar status.

Anna Chan: Sign of the times.

Jason Lipshutz: Exciting! “As It Was” is Harry Styles’ coronation as a commercial solo artist — he didn’t need a ubiquitous smash to fully arrive as a superstar, but the song’s run at No. 1 run crystallizes the enormity of an artist who is helping to define popular music in the 2020s. And whatever you feel about “As It Was,” the greater narrative that it’s telling, and what it means for Styles, is undeniable.

Glenn Rowley: Very “come on, Harry!”

Andrew Unterberger: Slightly alarming. Nothing against “As It Was” and its well-deserved status as one of the year’s biggest hits, but it feels like in a healthier time for pop music, it would enjoy an extended run at No. 1 without really threatening the all-time ranks.

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