A Sore Point
This is almost certainly the first, and let's pray only, time that I have cause to compare a No.1 single to Herpes. But if ever there was a pop record to which the description "the gift that keeps on giving" could be applied, it is Rein Me In by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean.
After a three-week pause in proceedings, during which time tracks by Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift took its place, the longest of long-running hit singles oozes its way to the top of the charts once more. Its numbers are down on the highs of before, Rein Me In posting a mere 43,000 chart units to top the pile, but that's still over 10,000 more than its closest contender.
This now may get a bit numbers-heavy, but there is plenty to unpick. The song has now been No.1 for 14 non-consecutive weeks. That brings it level with Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran, both of which racked up the total with two spells at the summit. Only four songs in chart history have ever spent longer at the top - next in its sights is the 15-week runs of Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet (1994) and One Dance by Drake/Wizkid/Kyla (2015).
Rein Me In now becomes the first song in chart history to top the charts on four separate occasions as part of the same unbroken chart run. The only record to better that is Last Christmas by Wham which by dint of its multiple seasonal chart runs and the occasional spell at No.1 either side of Christmas itself (most recently last year just gone) has actually climbed to No.1 on seven separate occasions in five different calendar years. But we necessarily apply an asterisk to that. Among singles that have had one chart run and one alone, Rein Me In is now in a class of its own.
Originally available as a solo rendition on Sam Fender's People Watching album, the duet version of Rein Me In was released exactly one year ago last week, and as a result this is the track's 53rd consecutive week as a Top 40 single - now just one short of the record. This is furthermore its 36th non-consecutive week as a Top 10 single and its 26th week consecutively. That latter figure is now the longest unbroken Top 10 run of what you might call the modern era, beating the 25 weeks that Rema's Calm Down spent at the upper end of the chart in 2022 and 2023.
If the track is still a Top 10 single next week (it will be duh) it will equal the records for the longest total Top 10 run by a non-Christmas hit (presently held by As It Was by Harry Styles) and the second-longest consecutive Top 10 run of all time (Secret Love by Doris Day). The all-time records are, for now, some distance away. I Believe by Frankie Laine lasted 35 unbroken weeks. And a certain Mariah Carey Christmas record of which we will not speak has for now enjoyed 53 total weeks as a Top 10 record.
Intriguingly Fender's label aren't above a bit of chart manipulation of their own. This week was supposed to see the release of yet another limited edition 7-inch pressing of the song to mark its first anniversary. But at the last moment it was postponed - to next week. I see what they are doing. They want to engineer matching the Bryan Adams 16-week benchmark now they have the opportunity to do so.
The Other Olivia
Last week's No.1 single by Taylor Swift, no longer able to depend on a chunky physical sale, takes a 1-7 plunge of the kind you usually only see from ACR-encumbered tracks. Curiously the physical dump was originally scheduled to form part of her chart sale this week, meaning that instead of a 1-1-7 chart run she would have almost certainly have had a run of the order 1-5-1. You can decide for yourself if the effort to engineer this was worth it.
That leaves the way clear for Olivia Rodrigo to continue to otherwise dominate the Top 5, which she does for the second straight week. Stupid Song is No.2, The Cure is No.4 and Drop Dead is No.5. As you might expect, huge streams for her mean a second week at No.1 on the albums chart for You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love. That relegates the biggest new album of the week to No.2 - Official Charts are celebrating Myles Smith's My Mess My Heart My Life as having the highest first week sale for a debut album so far this year. He can consider himself unlucky, over 22,000 chart units would land you No.1 at any other time. But Ms Rodrigo is unsurpassable right now.
Meaning the only record in the singles chart Top 5 not featuring a performer called Olivia is Billie Jean from Michael Jackson, rebounding to No.3. And it is a drum we haven't had cause to bang for some time but it needs noting. Man I Need by the other Olivia - Dean - is No.11 this week with a sale of around 22,500. Meaning that without ACR it would be closer to 45,000 and the actual No.1 hit of the week.
Vacancy
The present chart-topper may be skilfully avoiding ACR at every turn, but a fair chunk of other hits have failed to do so this week, meaning stark and swift exits for some - most notably Dracula by Tame Impala (9-23) and Midnight Sun by Zara Larsson (10-24). Seven other songs from last week's Top 40 are now notably absent. And as shall be seen that leaves plenty of spaces for others to ascend into.
One of those gaps is filled by Harry Styles whose own catalogue continues a resurgence in the wake of his stadium dates. American Girls is back in the Top 10 once more with a 10-8 rise to ensure six of the current Top 10 are either current or former No.1 singles of varying vintage. The other vacant rung is - finally! - occupied by Ella Langley's Choosin' Texas which moves 14-9 to finally reach the Top 10 at the 25th time of asking. Believe it or not, that isn't quite a record for the slowest climb into the upper end of the chart. That is still held by the 1984 hit White Lines (Don't Do It) by Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. That reached the Top 10 for the first time in its 30th week in total as a Top 100 hit single - exactly 42 years ago this week.
Keep Talking
There may not be much in the way of new songs in the Top 20, but those existing hits continue to make slow and steady progress and indeed there are a larger than usual number of climbs to new peaks among them. They include Free Your Mind by Prospa and Cloonee (No.12), On2Nite by Silva Bumpa (making a huge leap to No.14), Material Lover by Sienna Spiro (No.15), Talk To You by ANOTR and 54 Ultra (No.16), Earrings by Malcolm Todd (No.17) and in further country invasion news Boston by Stella Lefty (No.18).
COME ON ENGLAND
But by far the most notable climb into the Top 20 is that of Dai Dai by Shakira and Burna Boy. A climb to No.19 ensures it becomes the highest charting official World Cup anthem to date, and perhaps just as notably Shakira's highest charting single for 12 years. When it comes to selecting songs to be the theme for tournaments FIFA prove themselves to be competent football administrators. Because in truth official World Cup songs tend to be a bit rubbish. Since the concept was invented in 1990 only a tiny handful have become chart hits, and none at all ones of any notable size. The full tragic list is:
1994 - Gloryland by Daryl Hall and The Sounds Of Blackness (No.36 after it was also used by ITV as their tournament theme)
1998 - The Cup Of Life by Ricky Martin (No.29).
2010 - Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) by Shakira (No.21)
2014 - We Are One (Ola Ola) by Pitbull (No.29)
However, this list should include a further honourable mention for FIFA's own Shakira. While her 2006 single Hips Don't Lie wasn't an official tournament anthem it was included on the official tie-in compilation album and was performed (in its "Bamboo Mix" at the closing ceremony). That was a celebrated and quite long-running No.1 hit.
All the charting football-themed hits from last week sag a little bit, but they are at least joined by one with a tangential link. A dressing room favourite of the England team, Wonderwall by Oasis re-charts at No.33. Meaning it has now re-entered the Top 40 for the last three years running.
Aztec Gold Not Mentioned
I mentioned above that Gloryland made the charts in 1994 as both the official tournament anthem and the theme to ITV's coverage. The tradition of the broadcasters' own theme songs making the charts has died a death since the 1990s, meaning that at least for now there is no room for Rascal Flatts and their version of Life Is A Highway which is being used by ITV to great effect, 20 years after it first appeared on the soundtrack of "Cars".
The last TV theme to reach the Top 40 concurrent with its use on screen was the Rendez-Vous '98 by Jean-Michel Jarre and Apollo Four Forty, ITV once again propelling that to No.12. That same year the BBC used Pavane by the Wimbledon Choral Society as its theme, one which did not chart at the time but which did make No.45 that Christmas as the backing to a Des Lynam rendition of the poem If. The BBC used Tarantula by Faithless as their theme to the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea, a track which had already reached No.29 the previous year. The coverage alas did not see it re-chart, meaning the last BBC World Cup theme to be a hit was the most famous one of all: Nessun Dorma by Luciano Pavarotti was a No.2 hit for the 1990 event.
Revived Yawn
The now traditional end of column look at the up and comers milling around the lower end of the Top 40 this week has to uniquely focus on older and back catalogue tracks. Because they are the only ones actually making any kind of chart waves. This is one of those weeks when nothing has landed properly amongst the newer releases, leaving the path clear for the revivals to gain further toeholds.
Blessings by Calvin Harris and Clementine Douglas isn't that old of course, a Top 10 single on its way to the Top 3 exactly one year ago. But its second coming continues to impress, the track back in the Top 40 and at a new 2026 peak of No.25. The One That Got Away by Katy Perry is also enjoying a surge, rising to a new 2026 peak of No.28, just ten places below the all-time peak it scaled in early 2012. And then there's On The Floor by Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, a No.1 hit 15 years ago but now at another peak for this year at No.32.
I should stress, none of those are necessarily as a result of dramatically increased streaming consumption, they are just rising to fill the gaps left by ACR-ed hits. But optics are everything, nobody really cares about the underlying details. They are hits - vintage hits - that just seem to be getting bigger at every turn. Meanwhile the highest "new" entry of the week is a song from 31 years ago. For truly contemporary songs you have to look at the very bottom end of the Top 100. The highest-ranked previously uncharted single this week is Jamaican (Bam Bam) by Hugel and Solto which debuts at No.90. But even that was actually first released last November,.
