All 12 of Taylor Swift’s Number One Hits, Ranked
All 12 of Taylor Swift’s Number One Hits, Ranked
From 2012’s bratty smash “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, to 'The Tortured Poet’s Department'’s whirlwind single “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)”.
Swift accepting her grammy for ‘Best Pop Vocal Album’ at the 2024 GRAMMY awards.
Achieving her first No.1 hit at twenty-two years old with 2012’s bratty smash “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, Taylor Swift is no stranger to occupying the highly revered top spot on The Billboard Hot 100. Or hell, even the entire top ten when she made history, occupying all top ten spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice with tracks from albums Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poet’s Department (2024) in their respective years. With 12 No.1s under her belt, some of Taylor’s most widely known songs are certainly more impactful than others. I decided that it was time to rank every Taylor Swift number one hit ever.
12. ‘Bad Blood’ (2014)
Date of entry: November 15, 2014
Date of peak position: June 6, 2015
Weeks spent at No.1: 1
Weeks spent on chart: 25
Best lyric: “If you love like that, blood runs cold”
Only assisted to Billboard’s number one spot accompanied by its star-studded, high budget music video (featuring Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid, Zendaya etc.), as well as a verse from Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood” hasn’t stood the test of time. The chorus is extremely grading. The verses are boring at best, and cringey at worst. It doesn’t help that the entire song was inspired by Taylor’s feud with Katy Perry, allegedly caused by Katy stealing backup dancers from underneath Taylor (Although i have my suspicions it also had to do with a certain John Mayor that Katy was dating at the time). The situation felt very high school, with Taylor in her “girl squad” era and all. It may be one of taylor’s biggest hits, but it certainly isn’t one of her best.
11. ‘Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) (2024)
Date of entry: May 4, 2024
Date of peak position: May 4, 2024
Weeks spent at No. 1: 2
Weeks spent on chart: 17 (ongoing)
Swift’s most recent number one hit also happens to be one of her least interesting. Riding the coattails of the record breaking The Tortured Poet’s Department, “Fortnight (feat Post Malone)” was a confirmed hit upon arrival. Whatever Taylor would have chosen to be the single from her most recent body of work was going to go number one, but if Fortnight was just an album track, I doubt it would have been a hit at all. Post Malone has barely any contribution to the track, recalling Lana del Rey’s disappointing assistance on 2022’s “Snow on the beach (feat. Lana Del Rey)”. The lyrics are flowery, but lack any emotional concentration. Swift is almost automatic in her delivery, and the result is an inoffensive, flavorless head bobber.
Best lyric: “I love you, it’s ruining my life.”
10. ‘Willow’ (2020)
Date of entry: December 26, 2020
Date of peak position: December 26, 2020
Weeks spent at No. 1: 1
Weeks spent on chart: 20
I don’t think the average person knows the song “willow”. It was a half hearted single from an album (evermore, 2020) that was overshadowed by its more palatable, streamlined sister (folklore, 2020). It was never really meant to be a hit, so amongst the other powerhouses that have topped the charts, “willow” falls to the waist side. Even in the context of its own album, the song never really stood out. Personally, the evermore deep cut “gold rush” would have made a great lead single. It’s a little bit more interesting, and has a beautiful visual motif that could have been translated into a music video very easily. But that’s just me. It’s not to say that “willow” is bad. The track is plucky, wistful, and very cute. It also got a fantastic performance at the 2021 GRAMMYS along side two tracks from folklore in a stellar medley.
Best lyric: “I guess I should’ve known from the look on your face / every bait and switch was a work of art”
9. ‘Anti Hero’ (2022)
Date of entry: November 5, 2022
Date of peak position: November 5, 2022
Weeks spent at No. 1: 8
Weeks spent on chart: 53
The punchy rumination on anxiety and self sabotage “Anti hero” was screaming to be a hit. Ignoring it being about Taylor’s personal demons, the hook “It’s me, hi! I’m the problem it’s me” was practically waving a sign in your face that said “Please make Tik Toks with me!”. It’s very clear why the song charted for as long as it did, and it was a good representation of the album of the year winning Midnights, but is it my favorite from that album? No. It’s an upbeat, somewhat cleverly written Jack Antonoff bop that we’ve heard before and since in many better forms. There’s nothing particularly amazing about this song, but no flaws that warrant harsh critique. And Tik Tok bait as it may be, we all listened to this song many times when it came out for its easy listening quality, and replay-ability.
Best lyric: “I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser / midnights become my afternoons”
8. ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ (2017)
Date of entry: September 9, 2017
Date of peak position: September 16, 2017
Weeks spent at No. 1: 3
Weeks spent on chart: 20
Love it or hate it, “Look What You Made Me Do” is one of the most iconic comebacks of all time. After a year of being cancelled, an embarrassing relationship with Tom Hiddleston, and a cry for help with Bleachella (a name swiftie’s gifted Taylor’s bleach blond era), Taylor was not in the publics favor. So what did Taylor do? The exact same thing she executed with 2014’s “Blank Space”. She played the part of the woman everyone thought she was. The track, I think, is purposely polarizing. It would have been easy to release some other Reputation deep cut as the lead single. “I Did Something Bad” has the exact same concept, but is a more palatable Max Martin number. She could have even released fan favorite “Getaway Car” as the lead single, continuing 1989’s trend of polished, untouchable synth-pop. But No. What came out was a weird, off-putting sneer of a song. “Look What You Made Me Do” is the kind of track that can’t be separated from its visual, as the music video is so central to what makes the song a great comeback. By itself, the song isn’t as impactful. For that reason it can’t compete with some of her other hits. That being said, it is one of the most central tenants of Taylor Swift lore.
Best lyric: “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now / Why? / Cause she’s dead!”
7. ‘Shake it Off’ (2014)
Date of entry: September 6, 2014
Date of peak position: September 6, 2014
Weeks spent at No. 1: 4
Weeks spent on chart: 50
“Shake it Off” needs no introduction. The fuel this song gave shitty wedding bands is truly priceless. Everyone loves to Shake it Off in the grocery store, the mall, wherever the fuck you could shake this song would have been playing. With the arrival of this song into the Taylor Swift cannon, came an approach to pop that Taylor hadn’t dabbled in up to that point. Taylor’s classically confessional and specific songwriting was no where to be found. Replacing it was universal, vaguely uplifting, “hang in there” poster phrases that preached “doing you”, and “not listening to the haters”. Even on pure pop tracks from Taylor’s previous record at the time Red, there was some semblance of Taylor’s famously sharp pen. On “Shake it Off”, there’s no mention of her ex lovers “indie record much cooler than hers”, it was just good, clean fun. A constructed hit. And while it is impersonal, “Shake it Off” is good at being what it is. Fun.
Best lyric: “I never miss a beat / I’m lightning on my feet / and that’s what they don’t see”
6. ‘Cardigan’ (2020)
Date of entry: August 8, 2020
Date of peak position: August 8, 2020
Weeks spent at No. 1: 1
Weeks spent on chart: 14
Taylor Swift’s 2020 sister album folklore and evermore were not single heavy records at all, each only having one single and one music video respectively. The focus was on escapism. Semi-fictional, folky pop tunes that encapsulated our collective need to be whisked away from our mundane, bedridden realities. “cardigan”, the lead single from folklore, is exactly that. Its muddled piano, soaring arrangement, and ornate songwriting recall an earlier time. A time we wished we could go back to. Swift exercises some of her core motifs here of longing and heartache. Additionally it happens to be the first part in an iconic trilogy of songs within the ‘swiftie’ fandom (cardigan, august, betty) scattered across the record, which told the story of a high school romance interrupted by a summer fling. It was an evolution of Taylor’s craft, and the perfect benchmark for the monumental album it was attached to.
Best lyric: “A friend to all is a friend to none / Chase two girls, lose the one”
5. ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ (2012)
Date of entry: August 25, 2012
Date of peak position: September 1, 2012
Weeks spent at No. 1: 3
Weeks spent on chart: 24
Being the previously country star’s first plunge into bubble gum pop, the Max Martin produced “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” was a controversial success. It was her first number one hit ever a full three albums into her career. And whether you were on Taylor’s pop train (which would continue with songs like “I Knew you Were Trouble” and “22”) or weren’t, it had left the station. The bratty, Avril Lavigne injected breakup anthem continues to be one of Taylor’s more memorable hits. It’s funny, conversational, and generally a crowd pleaser. While it did precede the 2012 album Red, that record was not entirely pop, more an equilibrium of diaristic country and that clipped, Max Martin sound. Swift wouldn’t make the full switch to pop until her 2014 blockbuster 1989, which featured some of her greatest hits of all time. Although “We Are Never Ever Getting back Together” doesn’t reach the far more seasoned pop stuff on 1989, it is no doubt an important checkpoint in Taylor’s discography.
Best lyric: “And you would hide away and find your piece of mind / with some indie record that’s much cooler than mine”
4. ‘Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)’ (2023)
Date of entry: November 11, 2023
Date of peak position: November 11, 2023
Weeks spent at No. 1: 1
Weeks spent on chart: 22
1989 (Taylor’s Version), despite it being botched over all (in my opinion), was a roaring success. With “Is It Over Now?” standing alongside “Cruel Summer” as one of her most organic hits in years. No promo, no music video. Just a fantastically produced, catchy, and emotionally charged banger. The best of the “Taylor’s Version” vaults are the ones that add needed context to the record. They reveal things to you about Taylor’s situation at the time that she either didn’t want to reveal, or couldn’t. “Is It Over Now?” is a perfect example. It’s too hyper specific to have fit on the standard edition of 1989. Not to mention the directioners would have eaten her alive in 2014 for this. But that’s what makes it such a fun morsel of lore for fans. It finishes the job that “Out Of the Woods” started, if that makes any sense.
Best lyric: “Do you think I didn’t see there were flashing lights? / At least I had the decency to keep my nights out of sight”
3. ‘Cruel Summer’ (2019)
Date of entry: September 17, 2019
Date of peak position: October 28, 2023
Weeks spent at No. 1: 4
Weeks spent on chart: 54
In the song “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”, a track on the 2024 album The Tortured Poet’s Department, Swift accurately describes her monumental reign on The Eras Tour (which needs no introduction) as her “glittering prime”. Wether Taylor was boosting the economy of whatever city she strutted into wearing her sparkling Loubiton boots, or announcing new additions to her catalog of “Taylor’s version” projects, in the year 2023, the world was Taylor Swift’s oyster. Along with the tour’s success, came the abrupt virality of the tour opener “Cruel Summer”. The Jack Antonoff produced synth pop number had originally been released in 2019 (not as a single, mind you) with Taylor’s 7th studio album Lover. Little did they know it would take four whole years for the frenetic track to reach its full potential. The song is Taylor at her sharpest. Cutting lyrics, pristine synths, and a chorus that will be stuck in your head for a long, long time. “Cruel Summer” serves as a jubilant reminder of Swift’s star power.
Best lyric: “I don’t want to keep secrets just to keep you”
2. ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)’ (2023)
Date of entry: November 27, 2021
Date of peak position: November 27, 2021
Weeks spent at No. 1: 1
Weeks spent on chart: 15
In the year 2021, Taylor Swift, after releasing two of her most subdued, non commercial albums to date, was ready to step back into the public eye. All with her industry changing “Taylor’s Version” project, having released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) early on in the year, there was relatively significant hype for the second installment Red (Taylor’s Version). The shining jewel of the original record was a song called “All Too Well”, widely considered Taylor’s best song ever. It was an incredibly smart decision to include the unedited, original ten minute version of the song as a vault track, which she had teased years and years prior. The chokehold this song had on the public cannot be understated. She was doing interviews, a red carpet for the companion short film, and performed a stunning rendition on SNL. It all goes to show how good the song must have been for it to be ten minutes, an extended version of a track released over a decade prior, and still go number one. Truly a historical song for Taylor, and a gorgeous extension of an already perfect song.
Best lyric: “You kept me like a secret but i kept you like an oath”
1. ‘Blank Space’ (2014)
Date of entry: November 15, 2014
Date of peak position: November 29, 2014
Weeks spent at No. 1: 7
Weeks spent on chart: 38
“Blank Space”, a decade after its initial release in 2014 on pop bible 1989, hasn’t aged a day. With lyrics so acutely funny, and sharp enough to cut glass, it remains Taylor Swift’s most bulletproof pop hit to date. It only took Swift eight years into her long, treacherous (pun intended) career of heartbreak and lovesickness to be in on the joke. No she wasn’t actually a serial dater, but if she wrote a song playing the part so well, would you just maybe believe it? How was anyone to call Taylor a man collector if she satirically admitted to the crime herself? The accompanying music video goes down in the Taylor Swift visual hall of fame as one of her most iconic videos ever. The image of Taylor in her leopard print jumpsuit, mascara running, crying on her mansion floor from the mess that she created. It’s cinema. Her performance of this song at the AMAs is practically theater as well. She slinks across the stage, poisoning her man and setting roses on fire. It’s artistically excellent. As a pop culture moment, and pop song to end all pop songs.