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March 8 is International Women's Day, and to celebrate we're looking at the most-streamed tracks by female artists in the UK.

The UK's most-streamed song by a female artist is Dance Monkey by Australian singer-songwriter Tones & I, with 344.1 million plays, according to Official Charts Company data. The track, released in 2019, also holds the UK record for the longest-reigning Number 1 single by a female artist, at 11 weeks.

In second is Dua Lipa, whose breakout global smash (and two-week UK Number 1) New Rules claims the UK's most-played song by a British female artist, with 261.1 million plays. Dua's huge chart success over the past three years is recognised with three more appearances in the Top 40, with Calvin Harris collaboration One Kiss (on which she holds a joint-lead credit) at 4 (258 million streams), Don't Start Now at 11 and IDGAF at 22.

Billie Eilish's Number 2-peaking Bad Guy ranks third on 258.5 million plays, while Lady Gaga’s 2018’s Number 1 Shallow with Bradley Cooper rounds out the Top 5 on 253 million plays.

US singer Ava Max claims the most-streamed debut single by a female artist with Sweet But Psycho, placing sixth overall on 243.7 million streams, while Mariah Carey’s 1994 festive classic All I Want For Christmas Is You is seventh, on 235 million – the oldest song on the chart.

Camila Cabello features twice in the Top 40 with her Number 1 hits Havana (8) and Senorita (with Shawn Mendes, 12), as does Sia with Cheap Thrills (9) and Chandelier (17), while British star Mabel makes a double appearance with Don’t Call Me Up (14) and Finders Keepers (40). Fellow Brit Anne-Marie scores two entries with 2002 at 10 and Friends with Marshmello at 23.

Elsewhere, streaming powerhouse Ariana Grande has the most entries in the Top 40 with five, leading with Thank U, Next at 13, and Little Mix are the only girl group in the chart, with three placings: Shout Out To My Ex at 19, Black Magic at 30, and Touch at 34.

Official Top 40 most-streamed singles by female artists

POS TITLE ARTIST PEAK
1 DANCE MONKEY TONES & I 1 (344.1m)
2 NEW RULES DUA LIPA 1 (261.1m)
3 BAD GUY BILLIE EILISH 2 (258.5m)
4 ONE KISS CALVIN HARRIS & DUA LIPA 1 (258.0m)
5 SHALLOW LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER 1 (253.0m)
6 SWEET BUT PSYCHO AVA MAX 1 (243.7m)
7 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU MARIAH CAREY 1 (235.0m)
8 HAVANA CAMILA CABELLO FT YOUNG THUG 1
9 CHEAP THRILLS SIA 2
10 2002 ANNE-MARIE 3
11 DON'T START NOW DUA LIPA 2
12 SENORITA SHAWN MENDES & CAMILA CABELLO 1
13 THANK U NEXT ARIANA GRANDE 1
14 DON'T CALL ME UP MABEL 3
15 NO TEARS LEFT TO CRY ARIANA GRANDE 2
16 LUSH LIFE ZARA LARSSON 3
17 CHANDELIER SIA 6
18 7 RINGS ARIANA GRANDE 1
19 SHOUT OUT TO MY EX LITTLE MIX 1
20 I LIKE IT CARDI B/BAD BUNNY/J BALVIN 8
21 HELLO ADELE 1
22 IDGAF DUA LIPA 3
23 FRIENDS MARSHMELLO & ANNE-MARIE 4
24 ONE LAST TIME ARIANA GRANDE 2
25 HIGHER LOVE KYGO & WHITNEY HOUSTON 2
26 WITHOUT ME HALSEY 3
27 DANCING WITH A STRANGER SAM SMITH & NORMANI 3
28 WORK RIHANNA FT DRAKE 2
29 WORK FROM HOME FIFTH HARMONY FT TY DOLLA SIGN 2
30 BLACK MAGIC LITTLE MIX 1
31 I'LL BE THERE JESS GLYNNE 1
32 SOMEONE LIKE YOU ADELE 1
33 LOST WITHOUT YOU FREYA RIDINGS 9
34 TOUCH LITTLE MIX 4
35 CAME HERE FOR LOVE SIGALA & ELLA EYRE 6
36 A THOUSAND YEARS CHRISTINA PERRI 11
37 SIDE TO SIDE ARIANA GRANDE FT NICKI MINAJ 4
38 REWRITE THE STARS ZAC EFRON & ZENDAYA 16
39 LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO ELLIE GOULDING 1
40 FINDERS KEEPERS MABEL FT KOJO FUNDS 8

Go Tones *.*

'I Like It' sticks out in the top 20, it doesn't seem anywhere near as big as the others.

Finders Keepers being in the top 40 seems bizarre. The list is very skewed towards the last 5 years (understandable given it's in relation to streaming) so there's a real absence of lots of big name legacy females like Britney, Madonna, Xtina, etc.

This will change overtime as we are seeing legacy songs improving year on year. Will be interesting to see how it looks in another 5 years time.

Shallow

I think the most surprising one in that list is A Thousand Years! Those consistent streams have made a big impact over time.

Eventually "All i want for Christmas" will take over and by far. Its a pity that Mariah has realsed so many great songs and all she will be remembered for is a Christmas classic.