Sam Fender and Olivia Dean return to the top of the singles chart again. Olivia Rodrigo gets a second week at the top of the albums chart.

For the last few years, it has been assumed that the record for the most weeks at number one would be broken by Wham’s Last Christmas as it has been accumulating more weeks each year. Last Christmas has accumulated twelve weeks at the top, just behind the fifteen weeks of Wet Wet Wet’s Love Is All Around and sixteen weeks for Bryan Adams’ (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. Those two songs picked up all their weeks at the top in one single run.

The current record for most weeks at number one has been held since 1953 when Frankie Laine’s I Believe spent a total of eighteen weeks at the summit in three separate runs, albeit in the same chart run. Last Christmas is likely to match that eighteen week figure in 2027 or 2028 unless a massive new Christmas song keeps it off the top for at least one of the next few years. However, by then, I Believe may have lost its record to Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In.

Whether Rein Me In breaks the record for the most weeks at number one remains to be seen, but this week it achieves another record by becoming the first song to have four separate spells at number one in the same chart run. It entered the chart last June, so it was already quite old when it finally climbed to the top in February, in its 35th week in the top forty.. Last week it slip[ped to number four in its 52nd week in the top forty. Now, at the start of its second year in the top forty, it climbs back to number one bringing its total run at the summit to fourteen weeks. It is the longest-running number one single since Drake’s One Dance spent fifteen (consecutive) weeks at the top in 2016.

Olivia Rodrigo’s Stupid Song remains at number two. She is also at number four with The Cure and at five with Drop Dead. The only song in the top five not to feature someone called Olivia, Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, is at number three. Taylor Swift’s I Knew It, I Knew You falls to number seven after two weeks at number one.

The rest of the chart is only slightly more exciting than England’s incredibly boring 0-0 draw with Ghana in the World Cup earlier this week. Ella Langley’s Choosin’ Texas enters the top ten for the first time, at number nine, almost six months into its chart run. Earlier in its run, it spent five consecutive weeks at number 35. It has also spent five non-consecutive weeks at number sixteen. A number one around Christmas still can’t be ruled out!

While much of this week’s commentary is devoted to the longevity of Rein Me In at the top of the chart, one other long-running number one also earns a mention. Alex Warren’s Ordinary, which spent thirteen weeks at number one last year, climbs nine places to number 22. He also has a re-entry at number 35 with Fever Dream. 

Calvin Harris and Clementine Douglas re-entered the top forty at number 27 a few weeks ago with Blessings. It slumped to number 40 before falling further. Now it is back again at number 25. Oasis’s Wonderwall enters the top forty for the sixth time at number 33. Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull are back at number 32 with On The Floor, just a few wells after it last polluted the chart.

As well as his record-breaking dates at Wembley Stadium, Harry Styles has also found time for a lower-key appearance at the Festival Hall (a smaller audience, anyway) with an orchestra. Publicity surrounding both events, added to streams by people who attended one or more of them, give another boost to his songs. Sign Of The Times climbs nine places to number twenty. American Girls returns to the top ten, at number eight. Sadly, Aperture, a far better song than the rather bland American Girls, falls a couple places.

If anyone is wondering what has happened to the part of the commentary usually devoted to new entries, there aren’t any. Not a single one.

Olivia Rodrigo gets a second week at number one with You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love. It is the fifth album to get a second consecutive week at the top in the first half of 2026. In the whole of last year, there were just two.

Myles Smith-Thompson, better known simply as Myles Smith released his first single in 2023. It was a song called Sweater Weather, something which large parts of the UK, and elsewhere in Europe, definitely have not been experiencing this week. He had his first hit in 2024 when Stargazing reached the top ten. Nice To Meet You gave him a second top ten single at the beginning of the following year. Both of the latter songs appear on his debut album My Mess, My Heart, My Life which was released last week. Among the album’s co-writers are Ed Sheeran, Dan Smith (Bastille) and Niall Horan. The album led the way in the mid-week updates, although its lead on Wednesday was a narrow one. Therefore, it is no surprise that it enters at number two. If it is any consolation to him, it is at number one in the Vinyl Albums chart.

The Essential Michael Jackson is at number three. Harry Styles is at number four with Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. Olivia Dean’s The Art Of Loving is at number five.

For a band with just two core members, Placebo have a good claim to be truly multi-national. Singer Brian Molko is British / American (having been born in Belgium to an American father with French and Italian heritage) while guitarist Stefan Olsdal is Swedish / Luxembourgish. Molko’s androgynous appearance and high-pitched vocals made the band stand out. They had three top ten singles in the 1990s and continued to have top forty hits until the mid-noughties.

Only one of Placebo's top ten singles appear on Re-created, a collection - as its title suggests - of re-recordings of some of their songs. It is a new entry in this week’s chart at number fourteen.

After a succession of studio albums and live recordings achieved little or no chart success, duo When Rivers Meet made their breakthrough in 2023 when Aces Are High reached the top ten. They got a second top ten album last year with Addicted To You. Rhythm Rust and Static gives them a third chart hit as a new entry at number twenty.