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AI songs on the charts: every case we could verify (2026)

Updated 29 September 2026, 7 min read, by the Lyro Music team

AI songs have reached real charts, mostly small ones. Breaking Rust’s “Walk My Walk” spent at least two weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart in November 2025, on a few thousand downloads a week (Billboard, 13 Nov 2025). Xania Monet became the first known AI artist on a Billboard radio chart (Billboard, 4 Nov 2025), and “Papaoutai (Afro Soul)”, an AI remix of a Stromae song, reached No. 68 on the UK Official Singles Chart in January 2026 (Official Charts). We found no verified AI song on the Billboard Hot 100. Since 30 July 2026, IFPI’s principles keep recordings that are not substantially human made off the official charts it manages (IFPI, 30 Jul 2026).

Every case we could verify

Each row was read on its source page on 29 Sep 2026. Positions, dates and the way AI was used are given in the source’s own terms.

Song and artistWhat it reachedWhenHow AI was used, per the sourceSource
“Walk My Walk”, Breaking RustNo. 1 on Billboard Country Digital Song SalesIts second week at No. 1 was the chart dated 15 Nov 2025An AI-powered country act; the songs are credited to songwriter Aubierre Rivaldo TaylorBillboard, 13 Nov 2025
“Livin’ on Borrowed Time”, Breaking RustNo. 5 on Country Digital Song Sales; later the most-streamed AI song in the US, 19 million on-demand audio streams in the USChart dated 1 Nov 2025; streams in Luminate’s 2026 midyear reportSame projectBillboard, 4 Nov 2025; Billboard, 15 Jul 2026
“How Was I Supposed to Know?”, Xania MonetNo. 1 on R&B Digital Song Sales; No. 20 peak on Hot R&B Songs; debut at No. 30 on Adult R&B Airplay, the first known AI artist on a Billboard radio chartNo. 1 on 20 Sep 2025; airplay chart dated 11 Nov 2025An animated avatar created by songwriter Telisha “Nikki” Jones, who writes the lyrics and makes the songs with Suno, with help from other peopleBillboard, 4 Nov 2025
“Let Go, Let God”, Xania MonetNo. 3 on Hot Gospel SongsChart dated 25 Oct 2025Same projectBillboard, 4 Nov 2025; Billboard, 11 Dec 2025
“Don’t Tread on Me”, Cain WalkerNo. 7 debut, then No. 3, on Country Digital Song SalesCharts dated 8 and 15 Nov 2025AI-assisted; the songs are credited to Dallas LittleBillboard, 4 Nov 2025; Billboard, 13 Nov 2025
“Find Your Rest”, Solomon RayNo. 18 on Hot Gospel Songs and No. 2 on Gospel Digital Song SalesCharts dated 15 Nov 2025AI-powered; the songs are credited to Christopher Jermaine TownsendBillboard, 4 Nov 2025
“Papaoutai (Afro Soul)”, Chill77, Unjaps and MikeeysmindNo. 68 on the UK Official Singles Chart, three weeks in the Top 100; 210.7 million streams, rank 282 worldwideFirst charted 29 Jan 2026; streams in the first half of 2026An AI remix of Stromae’s “Papaoutai”. Billboard reports that its copyright on Spotify is shared with Stromae’s label, MosaertOfficial Charts; Luminate Midyear Report 2026; Billboard, 15 Jul 2026
“Jag vet, du är inte min”, JacubNo. 1 on Spotify’s Swedish Top 50 and No. 14 in Norway, then excluded from Sweden’s official chartJanuary 2026Made by a team linked to the Danish publisher Stellar, which says AI tools were used as assisting instrumentsMusic Business Worldwide, 19 Jan 2026
“Celebrate Me”, IngaRoseNo. 1 on iTunes in the US, the UK, France, Canada and New ZealandApril 2026Made with Suno; the lyrics are described as human-writtenForbes, 17 Apr 2026
“I Run”, HAVEN.Spotify US and Global 502025Its creators say AI was used only to process the vocalsBillboard, 11 Dec 2025
“A Million Colors”, Vinih PrayTikTok Viral 502025Created with SunoBillboard, 11 Dec 2025
“We Are Charlie Kirk”, SplaxemaNo. 1 on Spotify’s US Viral 502025A meme song that spread on TikTokBillboard, 11 Dec 2025
The Velvet SundownMore than 1.4 million monthly listeners on SpotifyBy 3 Jul 2025, when it confirmed its use of AIA synthetic music project made with the support of AIBerklee, 22 Jul 2025
“First Day Out”, Trump The DonNo. 5 on Rap Digital Song Sales and R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales2023A parody by the rapper Hi-Rez, with AI filtering to imitate Donald Trump’s voiceBillboard, 4 Nov 2025

What these chart runs have in common

  • Small charts, small numbers. Most runs were on genre download charts. Billboard put “Walk My Walk” at more than 2,000 copies in one article and about 3,000 downloads in another for the week ending 6 Nov 2025, while the top song on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart that week sold 29,000 (Billboard, 13 Nov 2025; Billboard, 14 Nov 2025).
  • Far from the top. In the same week Breaking Rust ranked No. 228 among country artists by equivalent album units, which combine streams and sales (Billboard, 14 Nov 2025).
  • A named person behind almost every case. Billboard lists a songwriter or creator for nearly all the acts, and Xania Monet’s creator writes about 90% of the lyrics herself (Billboard, 4 Nov 2025).
  • Short-form video first. “Celebrate Me” was used as a sound in nearly 300,000 TikTok videos before it topped iTunes (Forbes, 17 Apr 2026).

Luminate, which measures streams and sales, sums it up: “individual AI-generated tracks have yet to make a profound, long-term impact on consumption behavior” (Luminate Midyear Report 2026).

The rules that now keep some AI songs off the charts

  • IFPI, 30 July 2026. Recordings made with generative AI services must not be included in official charts where there is reason to believe they fail any of these tests: the AI service is properly authorised and lawful, the recording is substantially human made, it raises no manipulation concerns, it complies with the law, including personality rights, it does not breach the AI service’s terms, and its use of AI is signalled to listeners on streaming services. IFPI applies this to the charts it manages in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, and is working to extend it to more than 20 other chart programmes (IFPI, 30 Jul 2026).
  • Sweden, January 2026. IFPI Sweden kept “Jag vet, du är inte min” off Sverigetopplistan. Its chief executive, Ludvig Werner: “if it is a song that is mainly AI-generated, it does not have the right to be on the top list” (Music Business Worldwide, 19 Jan 2026).
  • US radio, November 2025. iHeartRadio’s “Guaranteed Human” pledge says it will not “play AI music that features synthetic vocalists pretending to be human” (Billboard, 11 Dec 2025).
  • How Billboard spots AI. It checks artist pages, cross-checks songs with Deezer’s AI detection tool and contacts the creators (Billboard, 13 Nov 2025).

What this means if you release AI music

  • Put yourself in the song. Official charts that follow IFPI’s principles look for recordings that are substantially human made. Your own lyrics, your own vocal, or your arrangement and edits are the human part. How much is enough is decided by each chart, not by us.
  • Say that AI was used. Signalling AI use on streaming services is one of IFPI’s tests, and platforms have their own labels. See what Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and TikTok allow.
  • Never buy streams. Manipulation keeps a track off the charts, and fraud filters catch bought plays.
  • Do not imitate a real artist. Personality rights are part of IFPI’s tests, and Lyro does not make songs in a named artist’s voice.

Every paid Lyro plan includes a commercial licence, so you can release what you make. Our guide can you monetise AI music? covers distributors and royalties, and how to make a viral TikTok song with AI covers the hook-first method.

How this page is checked

Every row was read on the page it cites, on the date in that source’s label. We leave out cases we could only find on Wikipedia or on sites that copy other reports, and we keep each source’s own wording, because “AI-powered”, “AI-assisted” and “AI-generated” mean different things. When a source corrects a figure, we update the row and the date at the top.

Questions

Has an AI song ever been No. 1 on a Billboard chart?

Yes, on genre sales charts. “Walk My Walk” by Breaking Rust topped Country Digital Song Sales for at least two weeks in November 2025, and Xania Monet’s “How Was I Supposed to Know?” topped R&B Digital Song Sales in September 2025 (Billboard, 13 Nov 2025; Billboard, 4 Nov 2025). We found no verified AI song on the Billboard Hot 100.

Who was the first AI artist on a Billboard radio chart?

Xania Monet, created by songwriter Telisha Jones. “How Was I Supposed to Know?” debuted at No. 30 on the Adult R&B Airplay chart dated 11 Nov 2025 (Billboard, 4 Nov 2025).

What is the most streamed AI song?

“Papaoutai (Afro Soul)”, an AI remix of Stromae’s song, had 210.7 million streams in the first half of 2026, rank 282 worldwide (Luminate Midyear Report 2026). In the US the most streamed in Luminate’s 2026 midyear report was Breaking Rust’s “Livin’ on Borrowed Time”, with 19 million on-demand audio streams (Billboard, 15 Jul 2026).

Are AI-generated songs allowed on official charts?

Increasingly not, unless they are substantially human made. IFPI’s principles of 30 Jul 2026 apply to the charts it manages and are being extended to more than 20 other chart programmes, and IFPI Sweden already excluded a mainly AI-generated song in January 2026 (IFPI, 30 Jul 2026; Music Business Worldwide, 19 Jan 2026).

Can an AI song still go viral?

Yes. “Celebrate Me” by IngaRose topped iTunes in five countries after nearly 300,000 TikTok videos used it (Forbes, 17 Apr 2026). Most AI songs never do: on Deezer, AI music is more than half of daily uploads but only 1 to 3% of streams (Deezer, 21 Jul 2026).

Sources

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