Taylor Swift superfans have been in love with the song “Cruel Summer” ever since it was first released in mid-2019. The song was initially only an album cut, featured on her full-length Lover, which saw her pivot back to pure pop. The singer meant to promote it as a single, but the Covid-19 pandemic changed her plans, along with plenty else.
The song finally earned single status in 2023, after it went viral. The world returned to “Cruel Summer” when Swift included it on the setlist of her The Eras Tour, and it didn’t take long before the track became a hit.
Coming up on half a decade after it was first unleashed, and more than a year after it became a single, “Cruel Summer” is back on the charts. The tune reappears on a pair of rankings in the U.K. this week, working its way back to hit status.
Between the two tallies it lands on this frame, “Cruel Summer” rises highest on the Official Streaming chart. On that list of the most successful cuts on platforms like Apple Music and Spotify in the U.K., Swift’s electro-pop cut nearly re-enters the top 40, as it places at No. 43.
“Cruel Summer” is also back on the main singles chart, which uses a methodology that combines sales and streams to show what the British public is consuming. Swift surges to No. 75 on that list, after the seemingly-seasonal tune didn’t make space on the tally last time around.
Swift pushed “Cruel Summer” into the top 10 on both of the charts it reaches this week. It lifted to No. 4 on the Official Streaming ranking, and it soared even higher on the most competitive songs roster.
“Cruel Summer” almost added to Swift’s growing list of No. 1 hits in the U.K. during its hugely successful run on the singles chart, which kicked into high gear in June 2023. It floated all the way to No. 2, missing out on becoming another champion for her by just one space.
Swift’s soon-to-be smash actually debuted on the U.K. songs chart in 2019, when it was new. “Cruel Summer” launched at No. 27 in September of that year, but it fell away after one week, as it wasn’t being promoted at the time. It almost matched that position when it first returned four years later, and then quickly pushed past that number.
