Teddy Swims brought a “Cruel Summer” to the winter season at the BBC Radio 1 on Thursday (Jan. 10), performing a cover of Taylor Swift’s Lover hit at the Live Lounge.
The 31-year-old singer put a soulful spin on the track, adding his raspy vocals to the hook. “It’s new, the shape of your body / It’s blue, the feeling I’ve got / And it’s ooh, whoa, oh / It’s a cruel summer,” he sang.
Back in the fall, “Cruel Summer” rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart dated Oct. 28, 2023 — four years after its initial release. With “Cruel Summer,” Swift joins an elite club of artists with 10 or more No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. In response, Swift and her co-writer Jack Antonoff shared their excitement over the accomplishment on Instagram, talking over each other as they thank fans for all their support. “The song that we said was the best song, but we thought, ‘Oh, you know what? This will be our secret best song.’ That’s what we thought,” Antonoff said of “Cruel Summer,” before Swift chimes in: “We just wanted to say thank you so much for making ‘Cruel Summer’ a Hot 100 No. 1, and it’s not even summer anymore. It’s deep fall, I’m wearing a sweater.”
Watch Teddy Swims’ cover of “Cruel Summer” below.