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Djo gets his first number one single in a chart littered with songs from Stranger Things. Olivia Dean remains at the top of the albums chart.

After missing out on a return to the top spot last week by a mere 500 “sales”, Taylor Swift’s The Fate Of Ophelia made another attempt to get an eighth week at number one. In the four weeks since the song fell from the top, there has been a new number one each week although that included two non-consecutive weeks for Wham’s Last Christmas.  However, Taylor Swift faced opposition from Djo’s End Of Everything. There are a lot of Stranger Things=related songs in the chart this week (more on that
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An unusual chart double as Harry Styles tops the singles chart while his former bandmate Louis Tomlinson has the number one album.

As mentioned in last week’s commentary, Harry Styles is the nearest current equivalent to Robbie Williams, someone who started life in a boyband and who has then achieved huge success as a solo artist. Like Williams with Take That, Styles was just sixteen when he became part of One Direction. Any member of a band who starts a solo career faces a difficult choice. They can continue with songs in a similar style to those released by their band, or they can do something different. As a boyband’s
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Olivia Dean battles against herself for the number one single, and against Charli XCX in the albums chart.

Olivia Dean battles against herself for the number one single, and against Charli XCX in the albums chart. There was a close race at the top of the singles chart this week. There was no real doubt that Olivia Dean would be getting her second number one single. The question was whether Sam Fender would get his first. Back in the days when the singles chart measured physical sales only (because that was all that was available), it was relatively unusual for a single to fall down the chart and
Chart

The KPop Demon Hunters and Taylor Swift battle it out for supremacy in the singles chart. Swift flies back to the top of the albums chart.

There was a close battle for the number one single this week between the two songs that have topped the chart for thirteen of the last fifteen weeks - Taylor Swift’s The Fate Of Ophelia and Golden by HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast. In Monday’s update Swift was ahead by just over 100 copies. By Wednesday she had extended her lead to around 1,000 chart sales. By the end of the week Taylor Swift was still in front, so The Fate Of Ophelia returns to the top after
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Sam Fender and Olivia Dean return to the top of the singles chart. Harry Styles gets a second week at number one in the album chart.

After being replaced by Harry Styles last week, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean climb back to number one in the singles chart with Rein Me In. The song has now had four weeks at the summit. It used to be fairly rare for a song to return to number one in the same chart run, but nowadays it is hardly worth highlighting. Rein Me In is already the second song to return to the summit this year. Bella Kay’s Iloveitiloveitiloveit climbs back up to number two. Harry Styles’ American Girls falls to number t
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Taylor Swift wins another tight race at the top of the singles chart. The albums chart is topped by 5 Seconds Of Summer.

There was another close battle at the top of the singles chart. In Wednesday's update Taylor Swift’s The Fate Of Ophelia had a lead of under 300 over Golden by HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast. This week they were joined by Raye’s Where Is My Husband. That was a few thousand behind, but the song had a physical release this week. It was unclear how many of those physical sales had been included in the update. By Friday, the top three were in the same order as on
Chart

Dave and Tems dance their way in the rain back to the top of the singles chart. Olivia Dean returns to number one in the albums chart.

After a week when it never seemed to stop raining, Dave and Tems climb back to the top of the singles chart with Raindance. The song’s last spell at number one lasted just a single week. Time will tell whether it falls so soon this time. Raye climbs back up to number two with Where Is My Husband. Djo’s End Of beginning remains at number three. Harry Style’s Aperture drops to number four after a week at the summit. Taylor Swift is at number five with The Fate Of Ophelia. Like last week, all of
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Dave gets his fourth number one single, helping Tems to get her first. Robbie Williams gets a record-breaking sixteenth number one album.

Dave’s Raindance entered the top ten last November and was one of the few non-festive songs to remain in the top forty for the whole of December. After climbing to number three last week, it now climbs to the summit to give him a fourth number one single. It also helps Tems, the featured artist, to get her first chart-topping single. Solder readers will remember that the UK experienced a lot of rainfall throughout Rihanna’s ten-week stay at number one with Umbrella. Judging by this week’s weathe
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Harry Styles gets another number one album but faces a tight battle in the singles chart.

Once the release date of Harry Styles’ new album Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally was announced, there was no doubt that this particular Friday the thirteenth would not be unlucky for him. There was no prospect of there being anything resembling a race, just a complete walkover. Let’s leave aside the fact that the people responsible for the title seem to have been determined to make some of us type a supposed sentence that makes no sense. Just a couple days after Harry Styles released his
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Sam Fender and Olivia Dean continue their reign at the top of the singles chart. BTS go to number one with their comeback album.

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean hold on at the top of the singles chart. Rein Me In now has a total of five weeks at number one. It is the longest-running number one since Taylor Swift’s The Fate Of Ophelia spent seven weeks at the summit in October and November last year. Like Rein Me In, that song had two separate runs at the top. Last week BTS released a new album.There is more on that to come, but the album’s release has also had an impact on the singles chart with three tracks entering this we
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Rein Me In holds for a 3rd week and Gorillaz grab a 3rd album number one

Rein Me In holds at the top and Gorillaz grab a 3rd album number one. Simon is unable to do the commentary today and this is a shoddy replacement bus service, so there may be errors. Or not! Brits winner for Song Of The Year Rein Me In gets a post-win boost to hold at one for a 3rd week for Sam Fender and Olivia Dean as it faced strong competition from Alex Warren’s new track Fever Dream. I downloaded both so neither benefitted from my purchase! Alex Warren has to make do with number 3 for now
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Sam Fender and Olivia Dean get a second week at the top of the singles chart. Mumford And Sons get their fourth number one album.

After completing a marathon journey to the top of the chart last week, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In gets a second week at number one. The song first appeared on Fender’s People Watching album released early last year. Dean was invited to choose a song from the album to sing as a duet. She chose Rein Me In and Fender has been rewarded with his first number one single. Olivia Dean can also be found at number two with So Easy (To Fall In Love). Pink Pantheress jumps six places to numbe
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Rein Me In gets that record 19th week on top, Charli xcx gets a 4th album number one

Rein Me In gets that record 19th week on top, Charli xcx gets a 4th album number one Sam Fender and Olivia Dean do the seemingly impossible and take the chart record by a slender margin. Rein Me In was trailing in the first two chart updates, by a declining margin as memories of the World Cup half-time show fade, but Shakira couldnt quite get that second chart-topper with Dai Dai. Burna Boy's flame therefore has been extinguished too. Ah well, maybe in four years time then. With thanks to Simon
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Raye re-enters at the top of the singles chart as a flood of re-entries replace the Christmas songs. Olivia Dean follows a highly successful 2025 by claiming the first number one album of 2026.

The Christmas period has been a problem for the Official Charts Company (OCC) since streaming was included in the calculations for the chart. This became more pronounced when they introduced the Accelerated Chart Ratio (ACR) whereby the value of a song’s streams was downgraded if streams were declining for three weeks and the song had been in the chart for ten weeks. Because streamers started listening mostly to Christmas songs, almost all other songs saw their streaming figures decline. Songs
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The Suedehead Chart Commentary - An Apology

Unfortunately, a domestic emergency means that I have been unable to write a Chart Commentary this week. John (popchartfreak) is also unable to provide his usual replacement commentary. I'm very sorry about this. Normal service will be resumed next week. In the meantime, congratulations to Sienna Spiro on her first UK number one single.
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Sam & Olivia make it a 20 week Rein reign, Ariana's 6th number 1 Petal blooms on Albums

Sam & Olivia make it a 20 week Rein reign, Ariana's 6th number 1 Petal blooms on Albums After the headline news of last week, the number one record extends further to 20 weeks non-consecutive weeks on top. Stating the obvious but Sam Fender and Olivia Dean are only 6 weeks away from a full 6 months on top. Half a year! 5% of the decade. Dai Dai dies back a bit on combined sales but holds at 2 for Shakira and Burna Boy. I just bought it. You're welcome!  Ariana Grande has a new album, and
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Another close race at the top of the singles chart is won once again by Sienna Spiro. Former Mercury Prize-winners Ezra Collective get their first number one album.

With no recent release making any impact near the top of the chart or threatening to be the new Rein Me In, there was another close race for number one in the singles chart. In Wednesday’s update the top four were separated by roughly 1,600 chart sales. I could have chosen to prepare a separate commentary for each possible top four. However, there are 24 different combinations, so I didn’t. The leader in Wednesday’s update was Sienna Spiro’s Great Expectation which climbed to the top last week
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It's a 21st for Rein Me In as The Reytons climb the album pinnacle

It's a 21st for Rein Me In as The Reytons climb the album pinnacle Boosted by all the media articles, the record-breaking keeps on going for Rein Me In with a 21st non-consecutive week on top of the single-track chart, and that 6 months total for Sam Fender and Olivia Dean is looking increasingly likely week on week. That the only serious contender continues to be the World Cup song after the competition has ended underlines how difficult other tracks find it to get the ball in the back of the