Lady Gaga’s “Perfect Illusion” roars to a No. 1 debut on the Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart (dated Sept. 3) — weeks before the song is due. She leads a debut-filled top three, as Metallica’s “Hardwired” and Shawn Mendes’ “Mercy” enter at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
Gaga announced the “Perfect Illusion” title via Twitter on Aug. 17, adding that the song will premiere in September. The mere news of “Illusion” powered the track to No. 1 on the real-time Billboard + Twitter Trending 140 chart for more than eight hours in the first day after the announcement. “Illusion” is Gaga’s first leader among eight charted titles on the Top Tracks survey, which began in June 2014. It passes her previous high of No. 4 for “Til It Happens to You” last Octomber.
