Taylor Swift Scores First-Ever No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 With 'Never'

One of the only elusive honors in Taylor Swift's enviable career is a reality at last, as the country/pop superstar scores her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" blasts from No. 72 to the summit in its second week.
 
Swift had claimed accolades including Billboard's Woman of the Year (2011) and No. 1s on the Billboard 200, Hot Digital Songs, Hot 100 Airplay, Mainstream Top 40, Hot Country Songs and Top Country Albums charts, among others. She's sold 17.8 million albums in the U.S. and 50 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan, since arriving with her self-titled debut album and introductory single, "Tim McGraw," six years ago.
 
Now, Swift has her first No. 1 on the Hot 100 (the 1,018th leader in the chart's 54-year history), where she had previously reached No. 2 twice, with "You Belong With Me" (2009) and "Today Was a Fairytale" (2010). Her multi-format smashes "Mine" (2010) and "Love Story" (2008) reached Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.
 
Swift's 'Never' Sets Female Digital Sales Record
 
"Never," the lead single from Swift's fourth studio album, "Red," due Oct. 22 on Big Machine Records, soars to No. 1 on the Hot 100 fueled by a record 623,000 downloads sold in its first week, according to SoundScan. The sum marks the highest one-week digital sales total by a female artist and is second among all acts only to Flo Rida's "Right Round," which sold 636,000 the week of Feb. 28, 2009, also its debut frame. "Never" instantly becomes Swift's fourth No. 1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart.
 
Swift's 'Never' Blasts Onto Country, Pop, Adult Radio Charts
 
After the song was released late Monday (Aug. 13), the first two days of radio airplay for "Never" (aided by promotional play on more than 300 Clear Channel Media and Entertainment-owned stations) enabled the song's No. 25 start on Hot 100 Airplay last week (40 million all-format audience impressions, according to Nielsen BDS). Following is first full week of radio availability, "Never" jumps 25-14 (52 million, up 29%) on Hot 100 Airplay. As previously reported, the song enters a host of genre airplay charts this week, including Hot Country Songs, where its No. 13 launch is the highest by a woman in the 22 years that BDS data has powered the survey.
 
While "Never" has not yet been made available to streaming services that also contribute to the Hot 100's data pool, the song outranks the No. 2 song on the chart, and last week's No. 1, Flo Rida's "Whistle," by an almost two-to-one chart points ratio. "Whistle" slips 1-2 on the Hot 100 despite rising 12-8 on Radio Songs (74 million, up 12%). It likewise falls 1-2 on Hot Digital Songs (199,000, down 8%), while gaining on On-Demand Songs (773,000 on-demand streams, up 3%, according to BDS), where it holds at No. 3.