The reign of “Royals” has officially come to an end.
After nine weeks at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100, Lorde’s breakthrough, multi-format smash is no longer the number one song in America.
Given the gradually fading, albeit still immense, enthusiasm for the song, the fall from grace was expected.
Less expected: the identity of the song that ascended to the throne.
While most music insiders–and Billboard itself–expected Eminem’s “The Monster (featuring Rihanna)” to usurp the crown, the honor instead went to Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” The emotional ballad returns to the top spot after a two-week stint earlier this fall.
Fueling the “Wrecking Ball” rebound was a whopping 137% increase in streaming activity, which elevated the song from number fourteen to number one on the Billboard Streaming Songs chart.
Fueling the surge in streaming activity? Comedian Stephen Kardynal, whose “Wrecking Ball” parody went viral. Since releasing on November 26, the Chatroulette-themed parody has attracted nearly 67 million global views.
According to Billboard, of the song’s 18.6 million registered weekly streams, only 24% came from Cyrus’ official “Wrecking Ball” video.
Had Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” not poetically reclaimed number one from the song to which it first yielded the throne, “The Monster” would have overtaken “Royals” this week. The Eminem-Rihanna collaboration holds at number two, while Lorde’s track slips to number three.
Pitbull’s “Timber (featuring Ke$ha)” climbs to number four, besting OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” (5), Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” (6), Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” (7), One Direction’s “Story of My Life” (8), Katy Perry’s “Roar” (9) and A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera’s “Say Something” (10).