Taylor Swift is making waves once again on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Her latest single, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” released through Pixar/Walt Disney/Republic/MCA Nashville, surges onto the June 20-dated chart at No. 8 with 19.4 million audience impressions during the tracking week ending June 11, following its June 5 debut.
The heartfelt, harmonica-driven track about lasting friendship from Toy Story 5 becomes Swift’s 19th Country Airplay top 10 hit and her first since “Red” peaked at No. 7 in December 2013, just before her transition into pop music with the release of 1989 in 2014. Since “Tim McGraw” earned her first Country Airplay top 10 in December 2006, Swift has accumulated seven chart-topping singles among her top 10 entries.
“I Knew It, I Knew You” also achieves a historic milestone, becoming the first song by a female artist to debut inside the Country Airplay top 10 since the chart launched in January 1990. Only one other song has ever entered the chart within the top 10: Garth Brooks’ “More Than a Memory,” which debuted at No. 1 in September 2007. At the time, Billboard noted that “Stations broke with longstanding programming philosophies” as Brooks returned from a multi-year hiatus.
Swift — who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 11 — earns her 40th appearance on the Country Airplay chart and her first since teaming up with Chris Stapleton on “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault),” which reached No. 23 in November 2021.
“I think Taylor is arguably the biggest music star in the world. [“I Knew It, I Knew You” is] part of one of the biggest films of the summer. It fits sonically and in style to what else is on country radio. All three of those things make it the easiest programming decision of the year,” Brent Michaels, PD/on-air personality at KRJK-FM and KUZZ-AM/FM Bakersfield, Calif., previously told Billboard. “If Taylor is creating music that fits alongside the other biggest hitmakers in country, we’re crazy to not go along for the ride. She moves the needle with every project.”
“Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time,” Swift shared June 1 on Instagram. “Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once. And being a @toystory kid from the age of 5 til now … is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond.”
Ella Langley Continues Her Reign at No. 1
Holding the top position on Country Airplay, Ella Langley’s “Be Her” secures a third consecutive week at No. 1 with 34.8 million audience impressions, an increase of 9%.
The achievement ties the longest stay atop the chart among Langley’s four No. 1 hits, matching the run of “Choosin’ Texas” from February to March.
Meanwhile, “Choosin’ Texas” climbs to No. 6 on the latest chart, while “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” her collaboration with Morgan Wallen, remains at its peak position of No. 10.
One week after becoming the first female artist to hold three songs simultaneously in the Country Airplay top 10, Langley extends the record by becoming the first artist of any gender to accomplish the feat in multiple consecutive weeks. Morgan Wallen previously managed three concurrent top-10 entries for a single week in April 2023.