Ariana Grande makes biggest streaming debut of 2024 with “We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” opens at No. 1 Advertising signThe Streaming Songs chart dated March 23.
“We Can't Be Friends” earned 32.6 million official streams in the US in its first week (March 8-14), according to Luminate.
It surpasses the 29.2 million streams garnered by Megan Thee Stallion's “Hiss” in its first week (Feb. 10) to become the biggest debut week for a song in 2024. And it's the biggest bow of any song after three songs from Drake's 2023 album For all dogs launched Oct. 21, 2023, survey: “First Person Shooter,” with J. Cole (42.2 million), “IDGAF,” with Yeat (40.8 million) and “Virginia Beach” (34, 5 million).
The song also has the second-biggest week of any non-holiday song this year, second only to “Carnival” by Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign. The Rich the Kid– and Playboi Carti song amassed 33.7 million streams as of March 16, its fourth week on the chart and third at No. 1.
“We Can't Be Friends” and “Carnival” are the only non-holiday songs to have more than 30 million streams in a given week this year.
It's Grande's sixth No. 1 on Streaming Songs, a chart that began in 2013. That ties her with Justin Bieber for the third-most reigns in the chart's history. Drake leads all acts with 20 reigns.
Most No. 1, Streaming Songs
20, Drake
8, Taylor Swift
6, Ariana Grande
6, Justin Bieber
5, Travis Scott
4, Beyonce
4, Cardi B
4, Kanye West
4, Lil Baby
4, Megan Thee Stallion
She first topped the chart with “Thank U, Next,” a seven-week leader starting in November 2018. Before “We Can't Be Friends,” she was last topped by “Yes, And?” , for a week this January.
And “Can't We Be Friends” and “Yeah, and?” are songs from Eternal sunshine, Grande's seventh studio album, which simultaneously debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 227,000 equivalent album units earned, as previously reported. All 12 chart-eligible songs from the LP appear on Streaming Songs, including four of the top 10. the No. 1 track follows “The Boy Is Mine” (No. 7, 17.6 million streams), “Yes, And?” (No. 8, 17.3 million streams) and “Supernatural” (No. 9, 16.4 million streams).
As previously reported, “We Can't Be Friends” also debuts at No. 1 on the multi-metric Billboard Hot 100.
