‘Heat Waves’ by Glass Animals Has Surpassed The Previous Record For The Longest Billboard Hot 100 Run

The 2020 hit single ‘Heat Waves’ by Glass Animals has officially surpassed the previous record for the most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-charting track in music history.

The song has now spent 91 weeks on the charts, officially breaking The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ record of 90 weeks. Just last year, The Weeknd smashed the old record, beating Imagine Dragons, whose song ‘Radioactive’ spent 87 weeks on the charts.

Dave Bayley, the band’s frontman, said in a statement to Billboard: “Wow, all I can say is wow.”

“Many of you know [that] when I wrote this song, I was writing about missing someone I loved very dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that it would lead to so much love and connection across the globe. You all have done that. Thank you to everyone who has helped this song reach so many people. You know who you are. Thank you.”

The hit’s new record, which was established yesterday is the second overall. ‘Heat Waves’ also has the unusual reputation of being the song that took the longest to reach Number One after charting. Before reaching the top spot, it lasted 59 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, beating Mariah Carey’s previous record of 35 weeks with ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.

The track was the first by a UK band to top Spotify’s worldwide singles chart outside of the Billboard chart. The track also came in first in Australia’s triple j Hottest 100 of 2020, which was determined by fan voting.

—Silviya.Y