“‘Flowers’ is one of those songs that has stood the test of time at multiple formats,” says Jon Zellner, iHeartMedia president, programming operations/digital music, of Miley Cyrus’ smash single. “It’s a mass-appeal song with a very strong hook and sounds like a song you already knew the first time you heard it.”
A year and a half after its release, “Flowers” upped its count to 57 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart — and reigns as the sole longest-leading hit ever on a Billboard radio airplay ranking.
“Flowers” already claimed the record for the most weeks on all of Billboard’s airplay charts combined, as it also ran up reigns of 18 weeks on the all-format Radio Songs chart, 17 weeks on Adult Pop Airplay, 10 weeks on Pop Airplay and four weeks on Dance/Mix Show Airplay.
The song additionally crowned the multimetric Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks beginning in January 2023. In February 2024, it won the Grammy Award for record of the year. (“It’s fun to be nominated & exciting to win but having my music be loved around the world is the real trophy,” Cyrus posted in reaction to the six Grammy nominations that she received in November.)
Muses Zellner further, “Flowers” is among “songs that will be part of radio station libraries and streaming playlists for many years and likely played by classic hits stations 20 years from now.”
Below, browse the songs that became ubiquitous on airwaves and topped each of Billboard’s 25 currently-published weekly airplay rankings the longest, reflecting a wide variety of radio formats, and enduring earworms.
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Adult Contemporary
57 weeks at No. 1, “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus
Date of first week at No. 1: April 15, 2023
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Holiday Airplay
55 weeks at No. 1, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey
Date of first week at No. 1: Dec. 13, 2008
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Gospel Airplay
46 weeks at No. 1, “Never Would Have Made It,” Marvin Sapp
Date of first week at No. 1: Aug. 25, 2007
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R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
37 weeks at No. 1, “Snooze,” SZA
Date of first week at No. 1: July 1, 2023
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Regional Mexican Airplay
31 weeks at No. 1, “No Me Conoces Aún,” Palomo
Date of first week at No. 1: July 28, 2001
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Latin Pop Airplay
30 weeks at No. 1, “No Me Doy Por Vencido,” Luis Fonsi
Date of first week at No. 1: Aug. 30, 2008
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Latin Rhythm Airplay
29 weeks at No. 1, “Danza Kuduro,” Don Omar & Lucenzo
Date of first week at No. 1: Nov. 13, 2010
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Tropical Airplay
29 weeks at No. 1, “Carita de Inocente,” Prince Royce
Date of first week at No. 1: March 28, 2020
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Radio Songs (all-format)
26 weeks at No. 1, “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd
Date of first week at No. 1: April 18, 2020
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Adult Pop Airplay
25 weeks at No. 1, “Smooth,” Santana feat. Rob Thomas
Date of first week at No. 1: Oct. 23, 1999
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Latin Airplay
25 weeks at No. 1, “La Tortura,” Shakira feat. Alejandro Sanz
Date of first week at No. 1: June 4, 2005
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Rock & Alternative Airplay
24 weeks at No. 1, “Radioactive,” Imagine Dragons
Date of first week at No. 1: March 16, 2013
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Christian Airplay
23 weeks at No. 1, “Word of God Speak,” MercyMe
Date of first week at No. 1: Aug. 16, 2003
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Christian AC Airplay
21 weeks at No. 1, “Word of God Speak,” MercyMe
Date of first week at No. 1: Aug. 16, 2003
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Mainstream Rock Airplay
21 weeks at No. 1, “Loser,” 3 Doors Down
Date of first week at No. 1: Sept. 9, 2000
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Alternative Airplay
20 weeks at No. 1, “One More Time,” Blink-182
Date of first week at No. 1: Oct. 21, 2023
20 weeks at No. 1, “Feel It Still,” Portugal. The Man
Date of first week at No. 1: July 8, 2017
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Dance/Mix Show Airplay
20 weeks at No. 1, “Closer,” The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey
Date of first week at No. 1: Sept. 10, 2016
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Rap Airplay
19 weeks at No. 1, “Show Me, “Kid Ink feat. Chris Brown
Date of first week at No. 1: Feb. 1, 2014
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Adult R&B Airplay
18 weeks at No. 1, “So in Love,” Jill Scott feat. Anthony Hamilton
Date of first week at No. 1: July 2, 2011
18 weeks at No. 1, “Fortunate,” Maxwell
Date of first week at No. 1: May 22, 1999
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Adult Alternative Airplay
16 weeks at No. 1, “Beautiful Day,” U2
Date of first week at No. 1: Sept. 23, 2000
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Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
16 weeks at No. 1, “Wait for U,” Future feat. Drake & Tems
Date of first week at No. 1: July 2, 2022
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Smooth Jazz Airplay
16 weeks at No. 1, “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love),” Peter White
Date of first week at No. 1: July 8, 2006
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Rhythmic Airplay
15 weeks at No. 1, “No Scrubs,” TLC
Date of first week at No. 1: March 13, 1999
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Pop Airplay
14 weeks at No. 1, “The Sign,” Ace of Base
Date of first week at No. 1: Feb. 12, 1994
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Country Airplay
10 weeks at No. 1, “World On Fire,” Nate Smith
Date of first week at No. 1: Dec. 23, 2023
10 weeks at No. 1, “You Proof,” Morgan Wallen
Date of first week at No. 1: Oct. 15, 2022
