In November 2023, Taylor Swift added to her total number of Hot 100 No. 1s with her single “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault].” The tune debuted atop the chart, giving the superstar her latest new ruler. For months afterward, the song continued to perform well, but somewhat suddenly, the title has vanished from the tally. It was still riding fairly high until recently…so what happened?
This week marks the first Hot 100 chart in months that doesn’t include “Is It Over Now?” The track had maintained a constant presence on the tally ever since it opened at No. 1, but now it’s completely gone.
“Is It Over Now?” was removed from the Hot 100 by Billboard, as it suffered from what’s known as the recurrent rule. The rule stipulates that any track that has spent at least 20 weeks on the chart must rank inside the top 50 in order to remain on the tally. If it falls below the No. 50 spot, the company automatically takes the title off the list.
Swift’s most recent new leader racked up 22 stays on the Hot 100, but it couldn’t compete with back-to-back albums that inundated the chart with new hits. It’s not necessarily gone for good, though something truly special would have to happen for the cut to find its way back to the ranking.
This week, the Hot 100 is flush with songs from Beyoncé’s new album Cowboy Carter. 21 tracks from the project debut on the chart, while the first two singles from the set also find space on the list. That deluge pushes plenty of tunes down the list, or, in the case of “Is It Over Now?,” off the chart entirely.
The week before Cowboy Carter invaded the Hot 100, “Is It Over Now?” was already slipping down the ranking. Future and Metro Boomin’s first collaborative album We Don’t Trust You also sent many songs to the chart just one frame before Beyoncé appeared.
Last week, “Is It Over Now?” sat at No. 47 on the Hot 100–just above that important No. 50 mark. The frame prior, it was up at No. 31. Two periods in a row of intense competition from some of the biggest stars in the music industry proved to be too much for the single, and now it’s gone.
While Swift’s song may be done with, she likely isn’t too hurt by its removal. The superstar is about to unleash her new album The Tortured Poets Department this coming Friday (April 19), and that title is bound to dominate the Hot 100 in a similar fashion to how the projects by Beyoncé and Future and Boomin did–only perhaps in an even more impressive fashion.