Taylor Swift’s Co-Writer Jack Antonoff Says They Never Expected ‘Anti-Hero’ to Reach No. 1
Taylor Swift’s latest album Midnights continues to dominate the album charts, while “Anti-Hero” remains the most popular song from the album. The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and continues to break records. Swift’s co-writer Jack Antonoff says they both didn’t expect the track to become as popular as it has.
‘Anti-Hero’ continues to break records for Taylor Swift
Swift continues to be one of the most popular recording artists in the world and has stacked up dozens of hit songs, such as “You Belong With Me,” “Style,” “Lover,” and “Shake it Off.” “Anti-Hero” is her latest song to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and it recently broke a personal record for the singer-songwriter.
“Anti-Hero” has remained No. 1 for eight consecutive weeks, passing “Blank Space” for the longest time a Swift song has remained at No. 1. “Anti-Hero” is one of 10 songs from Midnights to reach the top 10, the most for any album. Midnights was the best-selling album from 2022 and continues to break records on the charts.
Jack Antonoff says he and Swift were not expecting ‘Anti-Hero’ to reach No. 1
Midnights was co-written and produced by Swift and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff. According to Billboard, Antonoff is credited with co-writing 11 of the 13 songs from the original version of Midnights and he recorded a remix of “Anti-Hero” through his solo project Bleachers. On Jan. 17, Antonoff celebrated “Anti-Hero”’s accomplishment on his Instagram story, writing that he and Taylor Swift didn’t expect the song to reach these heights.
“Remembering right before ‘Anti-Hero came out, Taylor saying it’s her favorite song lyrically, and that’s why it’s [the] first single,” he wrote. “But it’s a strange and personal one, and we shouldn’t expect it to ever go number 1…. ‘Anti-Hero’ 8th week at 1 .. insane ..”
Back in October, when the album was released, Swift shared an Instagram post where she shared more details about her and Antonoff’s collaboration.
“We’d been toying with ideas and had written a few things we loved, but Midnights actually really coalesced and flowed out of us when our partners (both actors) did a film together in Panama,” Swift wrote. “Jack and I found ourselves back in New York, alone, recording every night, staying up late and exploring old memories and midnights past.”
Swift gives a shoutout to SZA as her songs continue to break records
In December, R&B singer SZA released her second album, SOS. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts and remained there for five consecutive weeks. As the two artists’ albums battle it out, many fans believed they also had a feud. However, Swift dispelled those rumors quickly. While celebrating the success of “Anti-Hero” on her Instagram story, Taylor Swift took a moment to compliment SZA on her latest album.
“Been listening to SZA’s album nonstop, absolutely adore her music,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “So much love and respect for her!!”
SZA responded to the shoutout, saying, “Congratulations to tay tay ! And thank you so much your album and writing is phenomenal … as ALWAYs.” “Anti-Hero” is still breaking records, and it won’t be surprising if it continues to break even more.
