“Pennsylvania teenager’s first chart entry references country superstar McGraw. Track moves 31-27 on Hot Country Songs,” Silvio Pietroluongo wrote in the Sept. 23, 2006, Billboard issue as “Tim McGraw” granted Taylor Swift her first Billboard Hot 100 appearance. The song started at No. 86 that week, as the chart’s third-highest debut (with Beyoncé’s “Ring the Alarm” the top newcomer at No. 12).
On the latest Hot 100, dated Jan. 17, 2026, Swift scores her first 10-week No. 1, “The Fate of Ophelia.” In October, the song became her 13th leader on the list. A week ago, it surpassed 2022’s “Anti-Hero” as her sole longest-ruling hit on the chart.
Swift, thus, claims her first Hot 100 No. 1 to reign for double-digit weeks 19 years, three months and three weeks after she first placed on the chart.
How rare is it for an artist to run up a 10-week Hot 100 No. 1 around two decades or more after first hitting the chart?
Reflecting the pop culture endurance of Swift and other stars, below is a look at the acts who notched their first 10-week-plus Hot 100 No. 1s the deepest into their careers on the ranking.
Notably, Swift rewrites the mark among women, besting Olivia Newton-John’s 10-year-plus journey for her first such Hot 100 leader, “Physical.”
Meanwhile, a monster hit can strike early in an artist’s career, and often does. “The Fate of Ophelia” is the first Hot 100 hit to reach 10 weeks on top since Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” in August. The ballad attained the milestone just 10 months and three weeks after he first made the chart.
Before “Ordinary,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” logged double-digit weeks atop the Hot 100 last May more than a dozen years after Lamar’s debut and nearly eight years after SZA’s (and more than 43 years after namesake Luther Vandross’, for that matter). It followed Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which hit the milestone a mere five months and one week into his run on the chart.
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Santana
30 years & two months from Hot 100 debut to first 10-week-plus No. 1
Hot 100 debut: “Jingo,” Oct. 25, 1969
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: “Smooth,” feat. Rob Thomas, Dec. 25, 1999 -
Elton John
27 years & four months
Hot 100 debut: “Border Song,” Aug. 15, 1970
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: “Candle in the Wind 1997”/ “Something About the Way You Look Tonight,” Dec. 13, 1997 (or, Swift’s eighth birthday) -
Billy Ray Cyrus
27 years, one month & one week
Hot 100 debut: “Achy Breaky Heart,” May 9, 1992
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: as featured on Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” June 15, 2019 -
Taylor Swift
Image Credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot 19 years, three months & three weeks
Hot 100 debut: “Tim McGraw,” Sept. 23, 2006
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: “The Fate of Ophelia,” Jan. 17, 2026 -
Daddy Yankee
12 years & 11 months
Hot 100 debut: as featured on N.O.R.E.’s “Oye Mi Canto” with Nina Sky, Gem Star & Big Mato, Aug. 28, 2004
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: “Despacito,” with Luis Fonsi & feat. Justin Bieber, July 29, 2017 -
Kendrick Lamar
12 years, eight months & two weeks
Hot 100 debut: “Swimming Pools (Drank),” Aug. 18, 2012
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: “Luther,” with SZA, May 3, 2025 -
Pharrell Williams
12 years, two months & one week
Hot 100 debut: as featured on Busta Rhymes’ “Pass the Courvoisier” with P. Diddy, March 2, 2002
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: “Happy,” May 10, 2014 -
Luis Fonsi
11 years & 11 months
Hot 100 debut: “Nada Es Para Siempre,” Aug. 25, 2005
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: “Despacito,” with Daddy Yankee & feat. Justin Bieber, July 29, 2017 -
Olivia Newton-John
10 years, seven months & three weeks
Hot 100 debut: “If Not for You,” May 29, 1971
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: “Physical,” Jan. 23, 1982 -
T.I.
10 years, four months & two weeks
Hot 100 debut: as featured on Bone Crusher’s “Never Scared” with Killer Mike, April 5, 2003
First 10-week Hot 100 No. 1: as featured on Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” with Pharrell, Aug. 17, 2013
