Sam Fender and Olivia Dean return to the top of the singles chart. Noah Kahan gets his second number one album.

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In returns to number one again, making it a total of nine weeks at the top for the song. It also means that one Olivia replaces another Olivia at the top for the second successive week. As nobody has pointed out any previous occasions since last week, I am assuming that this is only the second time in chart history that somebody has replaced another singer with the same forename at number one. Olivia Dean has another new entry with Baby Steps at number 31. It is the eighth song from The Art Of Loving to enter the top forty.

Rein Me In is only the eighth song in UK singles chart history to have three spells at number one in a single chart run. However, a closer look at the history of this phenomenon is an illustration of how things have changed since streaming data was included in the compilation of the chart.

The first song to have three separate spells at number one in the same chart run did so when the UK singles chart was less than a year old. Frankie Laine’s I Believe climbed to the summit in June 1953. It spent nine weeks at number one before dropping to number two. Just a week later, it returned to the top, spending a further six weeks there. After slipping back to number two for another week, it went back to the top for another three weeks. The total of eighteen weeks at number one remains a record over 70 years later.

In early 1957, Guy Mitchell’s version of Singing The Blues was the next song to have three goes at the top although each one lasted just seven days. One of the singles to topple Mitchell was Tommy Steele’s version of the same song. 

It didn’t happen again until 2014 when Pharell Williams’ Happy accumulated four weeks at number one in three spells with a five-week gap between the second and third. Since then it has also been achieved by Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean (2015, five weeks), Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber (2017, eleven weeks), The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights (2020, eight weeks) and Golden from K-Pop Demon Hunters and co. (2025, ten weeks). The fact that we now have six songs in just twelve years achieving this (compared with two in the previous 62 years) suggests that this will soon be an unremarkable feat. We will, instead, be waiting for the first song to have four spells at number one in a single chart run.

The other Olivia is, of course, Ms Rodrigo who was at number one last week with Drop Dead. That song slips to number two this week.

Justin Bieber stays at number three with Beauty And A Beat (with Nicki Minaj). Bieber is also at number six with Daisies while Yukon is at 27.

Tame Impala remains at number four with Dracula. Alex Warren’s Fever Dream is back up to number five.

The other new entry is from the number one album with five re-entries also linked to the albums chart, so let’s just deal with the other re-entry before moving on to the albums. That other re-entry is Sombr’s 12 To 12 at number 39.

On this May Day, there is, alas, no sign of a re-entry for The Beatles’ Help or Abba’s SOS.

Naoh Kahan’s Stick Season album clocked up 150 weeks in the chart last week. In those 150 weeks it became a rather unusual number one album in two, linked, ways. First, it came after his first two albums (released in 2019 and 2021) had made no impact on the chart whatsoever. Second, it took a very long time to get there. The album was released in 2022 and, initially, it suffered the same fate as the previous two. It finally entered the chart in June 2023. Then, as the title track took off as a single, the album returned to the chart and has stayed there ever since. It eventually spent a week at the summit in February 2024, sixteen months after it was released and in its 35th week in the top 100.

The continuing success of Stick Season meant that the follow-up was bound to get off to a far better start than Noah Kahan’s first three albums. That has proved to be the case, and in spectacular style. Not only did Monday’s update show that The Great Divide was at number one, it held a large lead over all others, including a new Foo Fighters album. It, therefore, becomes Kahan’s second number one album.

Three songs from The Great Divide are in the singles chart. Doors is a new entry at number twelve. Porch Light (which you might find very near a door) re-enters at number twenty. The title track, which reached number ten in February, is back at number seventeen.

As mentioned above, Foo Fighters released a new album last week. As their last three albums (and five of the last six) had all reached number one, the expectation was that Your Favorite Toy would provide stiff competition for Noah Kahan. However, as we have seen, that didn’t happen. It is a new entry at number two.

Despite largely poor reviews, the Michael Jackson biopic has attracted large audiences, making more money in its first weekend than any previous musical biopic. The soundtrack from the album is at number four this week. While most soundtrack albums are now only eligible for the compilations chart, this qualifies for the main chart as all songs are performed by Jackson, including some with the Jackson 5.

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Normally, the chart rules mean that only one compilation album by an artist qualifies for the chart. Streams of a song can only count towards one compilation album by that artist. However, if the albums have a significantly different tracklisting, more than one album can make the chart. This week, two more Michael Jackson collections have qualified. Number Ones is at number five with The Essential collection at fourteen. Furthermore, his classic 1982 album Thriller is at number eight and 1987’s Bad is at thirteen.

Three Michael Jackson songs have re-entered the singles chart. Billie Jean, a number one in 1983, is at number thirteen. Beat It (also 1983) is at number 22, one place ahead of Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough (1979). The latter two songs both peaked at number three in their original chart run.

Paul Weller is at number nineteen with Weller At The BBC (Vol 2). It features recordings from the whole of his career, including with The Jam and Style Council. There is also a version of What Was I Made For, performed with Billie Eilish.

Californian singer-songwriter Kehlani is at number 28 with an eponymous album, giving her a third top forty success.