What is the longest song ever to chart on the Billboard Hot 100?

The longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, according to the Guinness record checked for this article, is André 3000's “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.” It runs 12 minutes 20 seconds and entered the December 2, 2023 chart at No. 90. This record measures runtime, not weeks on the chart.

The record in one comparison

Track	Runtime	Why it matters here
André 3000, “I Swear…”	12:20	The record entry identified by Guinness
Tool, “Fear Inoculum”	10:21	The previous record, which reached No. 93 in 2019
Taylor Swift, “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”	10:13	The 2021 No. 1 record, a narrower chart achievement

Billboard's reporting also identifies the André 3000 entry and its runtime. The record therefore does not depend on finding the longest file uploaded to a streaming platform. The recording must actually have entered this particular chart. A longer track elsewhere on an album does not qualify merely because the album was popular.

Why “longest song” produces several different answers

Chart language can use “longest” to describe either the duration of a recording or its chart longevity. “Longest-running No. 1” ordinarily concerns weeks at the top. “Longest song to reach No. 1” concerns the runtime of a recording that reached first place. “Longest song to enter the Hot 100” does not require a No. 1 peak at all.

For this question, the 12:20 recording's No. 90 entry is sufficient. It does not need to outrank a shorter hit. Conversely, a song that stays on the chart for many months is not a longer recording simply because it accumulates more chart weeks.

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Keep the chart name attached to the claim too. The Billboard Hot 100 is not the Billboard 200 albums chart, a genre chart, or another country's singles chart. A ranking from one cannot silently be substituted for another.

Check which version the duration describes

Album versions, radio edits, extended mixes, live performances, and music videos can have different lengths. A video may include dialogue or credits that are not part of the audio recording. For a runtime comparison, use the version and duration identified in the record report rather than whichever upload happens to appear first in search.

There is a related trap with multi-part releases: adding the durations of several tracks gives an album or suite total, not automatically one charting song's runtime. The comparison above follows the durations attached to the named recordings in the cited record coverage.

What this record does not claim

It does not make “I Swear…” the longest piece of music ever composed, the longest uninterrupted performance, or the longest officially released recording. Those categories have different rules and very different timescales. Our general longest-song overview separates those categories; the historical 2021 page keeps that year's question separate.

Record listings can change and online records are not necessarily updated instantly. The answer here reflects the record evidence reviewed in October 2026, not a claim that no later recording could ever qualify. To verify a future challenger, look for both a documented runtime and a dated Hot 100 entry. A streaming screenshot alone supplies only part of the evidence.

Sources and verification

Sources checked October 7, 2026.

• Guinness World Records: Longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100
• Billboard: Andre 3000 and New Blue Sun chart record
• Guinness World Records: All Too Well becomes longest Hot 100 No. 1