Welcome to James Masterton's Chart Watch UK – your essential weekly deep dive into the Official UK Charts!
As the longest-running British music column online, we bring you the ultimate guide to this week's Top 40, unraveling the stories behind the biggest new singles and chart-topping hits. Plus, explore our extensive archives, a treasure trove of nearly 1800 articles documenting three and a half decades of popular music history and expert analysis.
It is a week where records tumble every way you turn. Rein Me In is No.1 for the 16th week, something no single has done for 35 years. But that's just one of a string of longevity yardsticks it has hurdled. And Madonnna has a No.1 album for the first time since 2012. Who knew Gran still had it in her?
A week of pretty much nothing happening is perhaps surprisingly one full of plenty to talk about. What records is Rein Me In about to break? And which curious one does Ella Langley now technically hold? All answers are contained behind the lovely Ms Dean.
It's like Lex Luthor returning for Superman IV isn't it? "You thought you'd seen the last of me hadn't you? Well think again!" Rein Me In continues to make history at every turn - and now there are some other very important records within its sights.
It is Olivia Rodrigo's week! So here she is pretending not to be so sad for a girl so in love. Except for the one fly in the ointment - Taylor Swift finding 40,000 CD singles down the back of the sofa and nicking a second week at No.1 that she has no bloody business having otherwise. Girl fight!
