Taylor Swift has secured a historic 16th No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Pop Airplay chart with her single I Knew It, I Knew You
for the week of August 22, 2026. The milestone moves her past Maroon 5 to claim sole possession of the all-time record for chart-toppers on the format.
Breaking Maroon 5’s Tie on the Adult Pop Airplay Chart
The race for adult pop radio dominance has a new single leader. Swift’s latest track, I Knew It, I Knew You,
jumps three spots to claim the top position on the August 22-dated ranking. Previously, Swift and Maroon 5 were tied with 15 No. 1 hits apiece in the history of the chart, which dates back to its debut in March 1996.
Adam Levine and company now sit in the second-place position with their tally of leaders. P!nk holds third place with 10 No. 1 hits, while Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran follow with eight each, according to industry data.
The Adult Pop Airplay chart tracks weekly plays on nearly 80 U.S. adult Top 40 radio stations, as tabulated by Mediabase and provided to Billboard by Luminate. Swift’s climb on the format spans more than a decade, beginning with her first chart-topper, I Knew You Were Trouble
in 2013.
From Toy Story 5 to Airplay Dominance
The record-breaking single carries a distinct pedigree, having been written specifically for Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5. Inspired by the film’s cowgirl character Jessie, the track functions as a tonal inversion of Sarah McLachlan’s mournful When She Loved Me
from Toy Story 2, focusing instead on themes of reunion.
“It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song,” he said. “Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable. The song is so deeply connected to Toy Story. So much so that on first listen, it instantly felt like it had always belonged there, like a long-lost family member. It was kismet.”
Andrew Stanton, Director, via Complex
When the song arrived in June, it made an immediate impact across multiple platforms. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Swift’s 15th leader on that listing. In doing so, it earned the distinction of becoming just the third song from an animated Disney movie to hit the top spot, and the first originating from its Pixar studio.
Streaming Records and Childhood Nostalgia
Before conquering radio waves, I Knew It, I Knew You
shattered streaming benchmarks across Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music within its first 24 hours of release. Spotify confirmed that the harmonica-and-banjo-infused track became the most-streamed country song in a single day by a female artist in the platform’s history.
“Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time,” Swift wrote. “Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once. And being a Toy Story kid from the age of 5 til now … is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond.”
Taylor Swift, via Instagram
Voice actress Joan Cusack, who has portrayed Jessie since Toy Story 2 in 1999, praised the collaboration to USA Today, calling it a great girl-power addition to the franchise that fits the movie perfectly.
A Decade-Long Run of Radio Hits
The steady accumulation of Adult Pop Airplay leaders highlights a distinct era of radio dominance for Swift. While Maroon 5 scored their first No. 1 on the format in 2004, their last leader arrived in 2021. By contrast, Swift has continued pushing forward, racking up nine No. 1 singles on the tally from 2021 to the present day.
Her extensive run of format leaders includes tracks such as “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Cruel Summer,” “Fortnight,” The Fate of Ophelia,
and “Opalite.” Earlier in the year, she also became the first artist to place three different songs simultaneously in the chart’s top 10, cementing an enduring relationship with adult pop radio listeners that shows no signs of slowing down.
