Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ Ties With Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ and Mariah Carey’s ‘We Belong Together’ For a Billboard Hot 100 Record
Hit-making pop singer Harry Styles has shown in recent years that his talent extends far beyond that of a boy band, with his smash single “As It Was” cementing him as one of the 2020s’ biggest pop stars. The song has quickly become a record-breaking track for Styles, putting him in the company of music icons like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.
Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ has been No. 1 for 14 weeks
Harry Styles released “As It Was” in April 2022 as the lead single from his third solo album, Harry’s House. The song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as fans were thrilled that Styles was making his grand return to music. Over the next several months, “As It Was” would fall from No. 1, peak at No. 1 again, and fall from the top spot several times.
In September 2022, “As It Was” notched its fourteenth week at No. 1 on the Hot 100. With this feat, the Don’t Worry Darling star entered into a new echelon of artists.
Harry Styles shares a record with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey
By reaching the milestone of 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, Styles has joined an elite club of solo musicians whose songs have reached the feat. Only seven other songs have been at No. 1 for 14 weeks, with three of those being solo artists; to date, no other solo artist has been able to achieve more than 14 weeks at No. 1 on their own.
Other songs that have stayed at No. 1 for 14 weeks include Whitney Houston’s iconic ballad “I Will Always Love You,” Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You,” Los Del Río’s “Macarena,” Elton John’s “Candle In the Wind 1997,” Mariah Carey‘s “We Belong Together,” The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling,” and Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.”
The longest-charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 of all time
If Styles reaches 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, he will officially become the solo artist with the most weeks spent at No. 1 with a solo song in history. He will still have a ways to go before he sets the all-time Hot 100 record for most weeks spent at No. 1.
For two decades, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s beloved 1995 collab “One Sweet Day” held the record for most weeks spent at No. 1 on the Hot 100, with 16 total. In 2017, Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi, and Justin Bieber tied Carey and Boyz II Men‘s record with their worldwide hit “Despacito.”
In 2019, Lil Nas X set a new all-time record on the Hot 100 with “Old Town Road,” his breakout single. The Lil Nas song spent 19 weeks total at No. 1 — 18 of those weeks with the popular Billy Ray Cyrus remix and one with the solo version. Unlike Lil Nas X’s song, however, Harry Styles’ “As It Was” has registered 14 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1, while “Old Town Road” never moved from the No. 1 spot for 19 consecutive weeks.
