‘Dance Monkey’ is the first U.S. top 5 hit written by a woman in a long time
‘Dance Monkey’ may be losing steam in Australia and the United Kingdom, but Tones And I’s monster hit is bullying the charts in the United States.
The record-smashing track single this week swings into the U.S. top 5 for the first time.
It its 18th cycle on the Billboard Hot 100, ‘Dance Monkey’ rises from its equal highest place of No. 7 to a new high of No. 5, beating hits by Lewis Capaldi, Arizona Zervas, Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and more.
Hot 100 chart
For some perspective, that’s higher than any 5 Seconds of Summer or Tame Impala song has managed in the U.S., the world’s biggest recorded music market.
That’s not all. ‘Dance Monkey’ becomes the first top five Hot 100 hit solely written by a woman in over eight years, Billboard reports. The last time it happened was when Whitney Houston’s version of Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ reached No. 3 in March 2012, after Houston’s death.
Watch Tones And I’s ‘Dance Monkey’:
It’s the latest accolade for a tune that has conquered charts like nothing that came before it.
In these parts, the eight-times platinum song ruled the ARIA Singles Chart for a whopping 24-weeks, easily an all-time record. And in the U.K., the song led the national singles survey for 11 weeks, the longest streak ever by a solo female artist.
Written by Tones and recorded with Brisbane producer Konstantin Kersting, the song has topped charts in at least 20 territories, it cracked APRA AMCOS’ The 1,000,000,000 List in record time, and it’s up for APRA’s song of the year.
Last year, Tones And I (real name Toni Watson) became the first Australian added to YouTube’s Artist on the Rise programme and, as previously reported, we can expect to hear new Tones music “very soon.”
‘Dance Monkey’ should continue to punch big numbers in the United States for some time yet. Her sold-out North America headline tour kicks off tonight (Feb. 11) at Roseland Theater in Portland, OR.
The last Australian recording to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 was Sia’s ‘Cheap Thrills’ featuring Sean Paul, in August 2016. Will ‘Dance Monkey’ get there? Wait and see.
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.