It’s a Taylor Swift takeover on the charts. Where did the Life of a Showgirl tracks debut? Hey, it’s Tetris at the Hot 100 show. I love Taylor Swift. And apparently everybody else does, too. So, we’re going to see where the Life of a Showgirl tracks landed in the top 10. We have Swifties out in the streets of LA.
We got Swifties in our New York studio. And all that’s left to do is run it down. This is the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 for the week dated October 18th. At number 10 is Cancel. [Music] ; I love Cancel just because it like reminds me of old like albums. Like it reminds me of Reputation a little bit. The message behind it too.
Like you love your friends no matter what. Like I love that. [Music] ; Is it okay for Taylor to be like, I I don’t care that you got cancelled as long as you’re drifting Gucci? ; No. But at the same time, yes, we all have friends that we know are toxic and yet we still stay friends with them. ; Yes. [Music] ; Eldest daughter is at number nine.
[Music] ; The Eldest Daughter. ; What do you like about that song? ; I also like the lyrics and I feel like the the bridge is also beautiful. [Music] like ; Sabrina Carpenter joins Taylor at 8. ; I feel like you’re dressed like a show girl. You’re like the life of a show girl. ; I wouldn’t mind the life of a show girl for like a week, but then I I couldn’t do it. I I can’t do what Taylor does.
She’s incredible. ; But that’s not what shows. They leave us for dead. ; What do you like about the life of showgirl? It has Sabrina on it. ; I like the ending especially because they have those kind of recording from the Aeros tour. ; I feel like that’s so amazing. ; Thank you for an unforgettable night.
We will see you next time. ; And there are numbers 10 through eight. So, it’s time to check in with the New York team to talk all about it. What’s up, Swifties? Danielle, how many vinyls you got? ; Hey, I only got one today, but here she is. is the Target edition. ; Ooh, the Target edition. I got to grab that one. So, listen.
Starting with the top 10. Cancel being 10 is definitely really interesting to start this conversation. How are you guys feeling about cancelled? ; I mean, I love canceled. I’m happy that it made the top 10. Only two songs didn’t. Um, it’s very reputation era coded. Uh, it’s very like mysterious, sultry.
Um, it Yeah, definitely hearkens back to that 2017 Taylor. No, I mean I think I think Daniel makes a great point. Obviously, Reputation, you know, is one of the two non-records that we have not may never get. So, I know a lot of people who are really excited about that album. You know, if this is a taste of it, I don’t know if this is, you know, maybe the shell of a vault track that they finished or something like that.
But to give us that little taste of that era, I think for a lot of Swifties who are really, you know, still hoping for Reputation Taylor’s version to come out someday, this is a good, you know, a good reminder, a good little like, okay, this is what I love about her and glad she put it on this album this time. So, ; I mean, the track is definitely giving reputation vibes, but listen, we know the internet has been loud for the last week.
This is definitely one of those tracks that got everybody talking. How do you feel about the controversy? I think yeah, people are always going to talk when when it comes to the lyrics. Taylor always prides herself as a lyricist. So, people are really looking into the lyrics for this one. Um, but for me, it’s just about the music and the if the music’s good, it’s good.
; Oh, yeah. And we’ll get to more controversy, but for now, what about number nine, Eldest Daughter? ; I love the song actually. I feel like going into the album, I was expecting very much like big anthemic, you know, big booming arena style songs from this album, but this was one of the feel like traditional like singer songwritery like slow songs and it’s it was it was one of my favorites.
I thought she did a great job on it. Yeah, it’s like the fifth song on the album. So it I think the nice thing about it is it kind of for at least when I heard it through it was the first kind of you know act two of the album where the first songs are a little more upbeat a little more all you know in the same kind of vein and this was like okay we’re switching gears here.
I feel like if you like folklore Taylor this is probably like more in that kind of class. If you like like Xander said the singer songwriter kind of vibe um a little you know more more mellow but more introspective and I think obviously a lot of people can relate to it. I mean literally calling you know how many eldest daughters are out there.
So, I think it’s one of those songs that is both personal and universal. And I think for a lot of people when Taylor hits that sweet spot, that is some of their favorite Taylor. So, shout out to her. ; And I love how we’re finding out like which track goes with which album. Like a little reputation here, a little folklore here.
And then now, of course, the life of a showgirl title track with Sabrina Carpenter. Now, I got to be honest, I’m surprised this wasn’t higher because to me, this one this one’s a hit. ; Sabrina Carpenter was definitely the person to choose for this song. Um, she sounds perfect in the second verse and she definitely knows the life of the showgirl at this point with all of the uh acclaim that she’s getting from her own tour.
Um, so yeah, I love that it’s been a full circle moment for her uh growing up such a big Swifty. Um, but yeah, it’s a great song. ; I love the song too. Like I feel like I can imagine this in like a big stadium. It kind of reminded me of Long Live from Speak Now where it’s like feels like she can perform it in a whole stadium. It feels like it kind of hearkens back to that era a little bit and yeah, it was one of my favorites on the album, too.
; H absolutely, man. I hope that one is a single. That’s what I’m hoping for there. But we still have seven more Taylor songs to get to. So, let’s jump back into the top 10. ; Actually romantic. Grab seven. ; It’s actually romantic. ; Um my favorite song on life of a showgirl is actually romantic.
It is one of the best shade songs that’s ever come out and I want to play it to all of my haters. ; It’s a funny way to express it. ; Yes, I agree. ; I be that if someone lets you open for their worldwide tour that maybe you should be more appreciative of them. Uh, spicy taste. [Music] ; Wish list is on the list at six.
[Music] Yeah. ; What is your favorite song on The Life of a Showgirl? ; My favorite song is Wishless. Probably because like I want a baby face and a fat ass, but I also want a big family. So, I want it all and she told me I can have it all. [Music] Iin’t got ; wood. Number one. I mean, come on. I just love the sound of it.
I think it’s really clever, really funny. I think the puns are nice. Not family friendly, but you know, sometimes you need that, guys. Um, ; my favorite song is wood. I love wood. I agree with you. You know what I’m saying? [Music] ; And number four is father figure. be a father figure. I ; think the most unhinged lyric right there was the, you know, my bigger, you know.
; Do you have an opinion about like the censored or uncensored version? My checks bigger than bigger. ; I’m sure they played that for the movie. You know, the check’s bigger, you know, for the kids, but listening to on the CD, it’s like, okay, I’m going to like, you know, sing that out loud. ; Okay.
So, I feel like seven through four are banger banger banger bangers that we have to discuss. Actually romantic. Let’s talk about it. ; Yeah, I love Actually Romantic. I think it’s very like rock and roll coded like kind of a little bit of Weezer in there. We haven’t really heard this sound from Taylor before and I kind of want her to dig deeper.
Um, but I like when it comes to the song sonically, it’s amazing. I know there’s a ton of controversy again surrounding the lyrics. Um, but it’s a great song. ; And I mean, you talk about the lyrics of this song. I feel like they’re pretty specific and we all know Taylor can get very specific with her pen. So, do you feel like people have the right to be speculating about this track? ; I think of course. Yeah.
That’s kind of what goes into being a Swifty is like trying to read between the lines and see what sort of history or beef she has with different artists or different people that’s been associated with her over time. And so, I think it’s it’s totally in the right. I think part of what being a Swifty is is seeing what, you know, all the different Easter eggs and the clues.
And I think she does a good job of teasing those things on this song. ; And I mean, look, we’re coming off a year of, you know, diss tracks. I mean, obviously Drake Kendrick was, you know, the big highlight of 2024, but I feel like we’re in this era now where people are like, “Okay, you send shots, I’m going to send shots back.
” Maybe there are people who actually didn’t even realize what the controversy was until the response track came out. And then a lot of people are kind of diving back in to say, “Wait a minute. Did we did I miss this beef?” Like, and look, I’m sure a lot of folks would say, “Look, if you come for me, you better not miss.
” And I got every right to get back at you. So now you know the ball’s in someone else’s court if they want to respond. Let’s hear it. ; That’s the power of music for you. ; Listen, I’m sure sympathy is a knife got a lot more streams this week. ; I just I didn’t say nobody said anything about that. Nobody said nobody names.
What? But that song did boost in streams. Yes. ; And then we got to talk about my favorite song, Wish List. Oh my god, the first time I listened to the album, I was obsessed with that track. Tell me you loved it too, Danielle. ; Of course. It’s such a pretty song. This is like the love song that we were all waiting for on the album.
I also love that Taylor said that this was one of the last songs she wrote. She said once she wrote this song, she knew that the album was done. Um, and it’s it gives us a little glimpse um into the life after Showgirl. Uh, which is really fun. ; Yeah, I think the lyric actually is really interesting on this song because, you know, there might be a lot of songs that are structure where it’s this idea where she sets up like what other people might want, they might want, you know, Oscars and all this kind of stuff.
And sometimes people will go, you know, but you can have that. That’s useless. But I like that she actually was like, if you want that, like I’m happy for you. Go get that. Here’s just what I want. So, it’s not even like this big contrast of like you’re wrong for not wanting what I want or you should, you know, do this or that, but it’s just like it’s sort of it’s sort of like this universal like everybody can get what they want, but it’s just like, yo, I kind of want this and I’m happy having this and if you want to chase this and that or whatever
whatever you want, whatever’s on your wish list, you know, I’m happy that you get it. So, I think that’s that’s an interesting sort of universality to it that I think again hits that sweet spot. Now, she’s just so good at at making personal songs just universal in their own way. So when something like that happens, I think that’s that Taylor magic.
; Yeah. I mean, there’s lots of Travis Nuggets on the album. This one definitely was one of the best ones for me. And then Danielle, of course, I follow you on social media, so I already know you are a wood stand. Let’s hear it. ; I do love wood and I’m proud. I I think this song is sonically one of her best on the album.
Um, when I first listened to albums all the way through, I listened more for the production and um, especially knowing that Max Martin and Shell Back were reunited with her. Uh, so maybe I didn’t get those double entandras at first, but even after hearing them, I think they’re so fun and like we’ve never heard this side of Taylor before.
Um, it does feel a little bit like uh, Sabrina Carpenteresque. Um, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Yeah, I was going to say she’s clearly been spending a lot of time with Sabrina where like those like tongue-in-cheek lyrics with double antandras are starting to rub off on her a little bit. And I don’t know, I think it’s fun to see like, you know, Taylor’s like in her 30s now.
Of course, like this is a part of it. And it’s fun to see her experiment with, you know, with different lyricisms and, you know, different uh tongue-in-cheek things like this. Definitely when I heard it like I think to Daniel’s point about the Sonic it’s like oh this sounds like you know the next single I’m when I was going through obviously I know Fade of Ailia which we’ll talk about later is you know single number one but I’m kind of like okay what’s what’s the followup what kind of direction are we going to go into Wood was really one of the ones
where I just like when I heard that music I’m like oh this sounds very radio friendly sounds very you know catchy look I hate you look you know when you work in the industry look look radio friendly is a thing so when I heard that I was like okay this is probably shortlisted for option number until you heard.
I ; mean, it would be a great radio track, but I mean, I feel like some parents, even when you watch the movie in theaters and they change the lyrics, it’s like, you know, people aren’t used to Taylor talking like this. And I don’t know if Travis is excited or like, wait, everybody’s talking about, you know, Wood Taylor literally drops Fbombs like right on the next track, right? ; I mean, going back to reputation, I remember when people were like, she cusses now. Yeah.
Like like she’s she’s growing up. Like, it’s part of it. It didn’t, you know, it didn’t derail her career that suddenly she used rated, you know, PG-13 R language. So, I’m sure with the Antandras and everything, like, come, come on. ; I’m sure Travis loves it and they definitely call him Redwood in that locker room. ; And of course, we talked about Actually Romantic, but let’s fast forward to Father Figure, another song that people are saying could be written about another pop star.
; I mean, you never know. That’s the power of songwriting, right? Like, people can all have their own opinions on it. Taylor is the only one. And then will she ever confirm who songs are about? Probably not. Um, but I love Father Figure. This is another one where Sonic Lee, I was like, “This is a really fun song.
” Um, the George Michael interpolation I didn’t really hear at first. Um, but I get her I I get why that she wanted to credit him. I think it’s like the 2025 version of The Man. Um, she’s like really sticking it down and um, yeah, just speaking her mind. And I love how you compared it to the man because my first thought when listening to this song was, “Wait, is Taylor a whiskey drinker?” Because that that seems tough.
; Yeah, I don’t believe that either. ; There to be honest. ; I can She’s definitely a vodka diet coke girl. Like ; she did cancel liquor. ; She mentioned her whiskey sour and cancelled. So maybe she shifting taste. ; I know. Maybe, you know, Jack Daniels get I don’t know. Sponsored. I don’t know. ; All right.
And before we jump into the top three, guys, we do have some big news to talk about, and it’s over on the Billboard 200. Check it out. ; Taylor Swift has topped the Billboard 200 albums chart. Now I can see it all. It all ; Taylor’s 15th number one album, The Life of a Showgirl, is shattering so many records with 4 million albums sold, outs selling Adele’s 3.
38 million first week sales of 25 to become the biggest sales week for an album of all time. She stated, “I have 4 million thank yous I want to send to the fans and 4 million reasons to feel even more proud of this album than I already was. Thank you for the lovely bouquet. ; Thank you for the lovely bouquet. ; She now has more number one albums than both Drake and Jay-Z, both of whom have 14 each.
Only the Beatles have more with 19 number one albums. Congrats, Taylor Swift. [Music] ; All right, she has broken so many records, toppled Adele’s 3.38 million sales total for biggest sales in a week, among so many other things. It’s her 15th number one album. So, congrats to Taylor with The Life of a Showgirl. How are we feeling about the success? ; I think it’s so crazy how she keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
Like, like obviously we knew when Tortured Poets came out that this was going to be her biggest album yet. It was 34 tracks long. It was coming off of the Aeros Tour. We were like, “This is going to be enormous.” This one, it it only has 12 songs. We’ve had some break in between the Aeros Tour and now.
Like, and now this is even bigger than any of the like any album that she’s ever done for. and any album period, you know, like for Adele in 25, she had held that record for a decade and now here we are 10 years later and of course Taylor’s the one to break it. And I I I think it’s it’s amazing. ; And listen, I love the shout outs to Adele, but I got to do a personal shout out here to my girl Britney Spears.
She was one of the first women, I think the first woman ever to sell over a million in a week with 1.3. Oops, I do it again, right? ; Not true, Tetris, but that’s okay. ; Give me the truth. What’s the truth, Trevor? at least in the Luminina era. Uh let’s go back to the bodyguard soundtrack.
Whitney Houston 1992 soundtrack though. But Britney Britney had the record for the longest time when Oops, I did it again. Was the the 1.3 million sellers. Taylor came close, you know, 1989 and a few things, but it wasn’t until Adele. So yeah, Britney had that record for about 15 years. So, you know, definitely look, I mean, legendary like you ain’t, you know, I don’t I don’t need to say it.
So, shout out to uh Britney. ; Shout out to Britney Spear and also Whitney, too. bodyguard. You know, ; I love how you tried to slide the bodyguard in there. And I love my Whitney Houston, but that was not a solo female record. Okay, just reminding you there, Shre. Just ; Okay, now you tell me why you why you bought of the bodyguard.
Did you buy for the Soul System or the Aaron Neville cover or you know, ; we’re getting off track here. ; No, you sing Houston record. So, shout out to the goat. ; Listen, we’re going to go on a whole another tangent. We got to get back to the charts. Here are the top three Taylor Swift songs on the Hot 100. ; Elizabeth Taylor is at three.
; Taylor, ; why do you like Elizabeth Taylor so much? I just love that song. I love how the beat drops. It’s my favorite song on the album. ; Opalite dances at number two. Now the sky is over. ; People wanted like a glitter pen like very girly poppy song and it really encapsulates that [Music] ; and I feel like with my injury and everything I feel like I resonate with Opalite because it’s like you’re turning darkness into light and you’re making a beautiful yourself, you know? I love it.
And debuting at number one is Taylor’s 13th chart topper, The Fate of Oilia. [Music] I think it has good vibes. The regular Taylor good vibes. [Music] ; Do you know the Tik Tok dance? ; I know the part. I know like the vibes ; iconic. ; And the music video was ; It was amazing. It was amazing. One of her best.
; Would you like that? That’s the part that I know the best. ; They teach you it here. [Music] And there are our top three, including Taylor’s 13th number one on the Hot 100. Let’s start talking about Elizabeth Taylor. I love that song on First Listen. How are you guys feeling? ; I was the exact same way on first listen.
I immediately was like, “Oh my god, is this a Reputation vault track?” Like, where are we? What year is it? ; I will say also, I did hear Reputation on that a lot, too. Like it makes me wonder if she’s like been in the studio starting to to I don’t know like um have her all her re-recordings of those songs and maybe this was one that she she I don’t know just feeling that vibe and this was kind of a um a result of that.
So ; open that reputation Easter egg. ; Yeah. ; Burton to this Taylor ready for it. Maybe you know there may maybe we’ve been yeah slowly setting the seeds up for an Elizabeth Taylor Swift sort of track for a long time now. It’s ; I don’t know. It’s hard to say if we’ll get Rep TV.
This seems like as close as we’re going to get and I’m happy for it. ; Yeah. And I mean, the song is like such a part of that era, but then it’s such a different song when you put it next to Opalite, which is one of the most fun songs on this album. ; 100% agree. When I heard Opalite at 12:01 a.m. or what whatever time it was when this album dropped, I was dancing in my room by myself. It is such a bop.
; No. And and speaking of dancing, I DJed a wedding last weekend where Opalite was already the bride’s recessional song. So people are already celebrating their weddings with Opalite. ; Wow. ; Wait, you wait, you DJed this wedding when? Like the day after Saturday. So yes, the album came out on Friday. I DJed the wedding the next day and the bride was like, “Hey, I’ve changed the song I want to walk out to.
” And it’s Opalite. Wow. ; That’s amazing. Wow. Literally changing lives, changing wedding plans out here. Ah, ; that’s impact. ; That is life of a showgirl. I guess ; I get it though. It’s like sparkly. It’s twinkly. It feels a little dis. It’s like I don’t know. It’s perfect wedding vibe. ; Definitely.
Also, I mean to go back to the single conversation when I heard I’m like, “Oh, this could definitely be like a good follow.” Totally. ; You know, we’re kind of getting I mean, obviously it’s like winter, so sometimes things are a little slower, but it’s like it’s romantic. It’s got a Valentine’s vibe. It’s fun. It keeps, you know, lighthearted.
Something we definitely didn’t see really with the last album. So, I think if this album is really about to be more fun and more colorful and bright out there, I think Opalite is really a good a good symbol of what this album is. ; It’s definitely one of her glittery gel pen songs, which she has called some of her pop songs before.
It’s very bouncy and I really like that. ABBA. ; Also, a new vocabulary word in the mix for a lot of people. I don’t think many folks knew what Opelite was definitely ; before uh before last last Friday. So, shout out to Taylor Swift SAT. ; Yep. And of course, I can’t verify this because I don’t remember where I read it, but I think it was more requested at radio than the next song, which is our number one, The Fate of Oilia.
I mean, of course, everybody’s doing the dance on TikTok. It’s a hit. It’s a smash. How do you guys feel about it? ; Perfect single. No notes. ; What can you say? ; I do think it’s a great single to start off with. And obviously historically, we’ve talked about how Taylor sometimes doesn’t always pick the best songs to be the lead single from her albums.
I think she did a great job this time and maybe she has other people advising her and helping her, but like Fedilia, it’s a bop. It’s great. It’s dancy. It’s perfect for radio. I I agree with you, Daniel. I think it’s great. ; I think along with the music video too, it just shows how grandeear the album’s going to be.
It’s It’s so fun and big and yeah, that’s exactly what being a showgirl is. And I I don’t want to lose sight, you know, I know there’s so much about Taylor and the album itself that sort of the conversation about Taylor having a number one song might kind of get lost in the shuffle this week, but this is her 13th number one.
So, she’s passing Madonna on the Hot 100 count for solo women with most number ones. Only Mariah Carey 19, Rihanna 14 or above Taylor. So, she’s really moving up that alltime list. Also, that 15th number one is a record among solo artists. Only the Beatles have more number ones period with 19.
you really think in particular that that 151 19 is really attainable for Taylor and you know at the pace she’s going Rihanna 14 seems pretty doable Mariah at 19 ; hey don’t you ; is I I mean you I look I ; seems possible ; I’m just saying it’s you know she’s she’s obviously got some people to pass but she’s it’s it’s insight so some of these big records for most number one albums most number one songs Taylor Swift certainly you know could be eyeing those in the next couple years ; she’s not done yet ; and Danielle of course You said 10 out
of 10, no notes. But how how about the music video as well? What did you feel about it? ; The music video is so fun. It might be one of my favorite music videos she’s ever done, especially seeing it on a big screen. I think that totally changed my perspective of the song. I already loved it on first listen.
But with all of the visuals that came with it, it just was it’s so big and that’s exactly what I pictured this album being. ; Well, listen, I have loved talking about The Life of a Showgirl with you all, but what about next week? Any thoughts so far on what’s gonna happen? ; I think The Fate of Ailia is gonna stay at number one.
; Definitely. I think it’ll stay at number one. I think Opalite will stay at number two. We’re still gonna see a lot of Taylor is my guess. Uh but yeah, I think we’ll see a big Taylor second week for sure. ; Come on. You know, there’s going to be that one song that’s going to go up up up. ; Golden baby. ; Is that Oh, is that that’s the song? ; That’s the song.
Well, certainly obviously like you know the former number one is is always the top contender to get back in the top 10. So we’ll see. I mean I think to like think they’re right. I mean obviously the streaming will be so big fat of Ailia. We’ll see how it picks up at radio. It already had a crazy debut. So as strong as it already is at radio support with the streaming should keep it there for a while.
I mean ; possibly you know the real question is and this is we’re looking we’re looking far out but sort of the anti-hero vein. Is this the one of those things where Taylor comes in dominates maybe all the way to the Christmas season? Not sure whose album is really coming out that could challenge in the next couple of weeks.
So, if it’s not something like Golden or something that really blows up on TikTok, could be one of those things where Taylor runs Q4 all the way until Tetris Mariah Carey makes that move ; or Brenda Lee. We can’t forget Brenda Lee who got ; Hey, listen. Come on. Y’all are bringing up all the things I do not want to talk about today.
You will get me on a whole tangent talking about Brenda Lee versus Mariah. Well, I don’t hear much tangent. ; Oh, I don’t know. ; No, but I can’t wait. ; We got plenty more hundred shows between now and then. So, we’ll uh you know, ; we’ll have plenty of time to break it down. ; We can duke that out later. ; All right.
Well, I’ll see you guys next week when we do it all again. Thanks, guys. If you want more Billboard, make sure you hit the subscribe button and ring the bell to be notified on all our latest videos. [Music]
