It scores outright the longest reign for a female artist, as well as the longest for a Columbia Records single.
Miley Cyrus Marcell Rév
Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” breaks a pair of records on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
The single adds a 25th week at No. 1 on the ranking (dated Sept. 30), solely claiming the longest command for a song by a woman, surpassing Adele’s “Easy on Me” in 2021-22.
Meanwhile, with both hits on Columbia Records, “Flowers” passes “Easy on Me” for the longest Adult Contemporary reign for a song released by the label over the chart’s history.
Most Weeks at No. 1 on Adult Contemporary Chart:
36, “Girls Like You,” Maroon 5, beginning Nov. 10, 2018
35, “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd, Nov. 7, 2020
28, “Drift Away,” Uncle Kracker feat. Dobie Gray, June 7, 2003
25, “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus, April 15, 2023
24, “Easy on Me,” Adele, Nov. 13, 2021
24, “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran, May 6, 2017
22, “Perfect,” Ed Sheeran, Feb. 24, 2018
22, “Hey, Soul Sister,” Train, July 3, 2010
21, “Hello,” Adele, Nov. 28, 2015
21, “Breakaway,” Kelly Clarkson, March 12, 2005
21, “A New Day Has Come,” Celine Dion, March 30, 2002
20, “Memories,” Maroon 5, March 21, 2020
20, “Just the Way You Are,” Bruno Mars, Feb. 5, 2011
The Adult Contemporary chart ranks titles by weekly plays on a panel of 85 adult contemporary radio stations. The tally began in Billboard‘s pages (as the “Easy Listening” chart) on July 17, 1961; once Luminate data began powering the chart exactly 32 years later (July 17, 1993; airplay is now provided to Luminate by Mediabase), lengthy reigns became much more common than before.
“Flowers” previously topped the mainstream top 40-based Pop Airplay chart (which began in 1992) for 10 weeks and the adult top 40-focused Adult Pop Airplay ranking (which dates to 1996) for 17 frames – the most atop the latter list among songs by women.
Notably, the single’s combined 52 weeks, or a full year, atop Adult Contemporary (25), Adult Pop Airplay (17) and Pop Airplay (10) mark the most for a song by a woman. Overall, only two hits have logged longer cumulative reigns on the three charts: The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” (61 weeks) and Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You” (55); 51 songs have led all three lists.
“Flowers” launched at No. 1 on the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100 in January and ruled for eight weeks. It’s from Cyrus’ album Endless Summer Vacation, which debuted at its No. 3 best on the Billboard 200 albums chart in March, marking her 14th top 10.
All charts dated Sept. 30 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Sept. 26.
