November 18, 20204 yr I don’t think New Rules is anything that special, but what’s been great is how she’s grown as an artist since.
November 19, 20204 yr Mariah I knew would be here. Crazy how huge it’s been and how eventually it’ll be the biggest song ever bc of streams it gets every year and this year might even be its biggest year yet :lol: A 90s song managing to sell more copies than every other female song bar four songs across a decade two decades after its original release is legendary. Chandelier was the song I didn’t work out on the list! I had no idea it was as big as this at all! I just looked at it’s OCC chart run though and wow at the amount of weeks it spent on there. I completely overlooked this one. I think because of its peak and it’s initial chart performance I always thought it’s success was more moderate and that Cheap Thrills was the bigger hit. I was so wrong! New Rules was gigantic at the time. That viral video release was such a spectacle. I agree why did it not get pushed earlier it was screaming for a release but that definitely turned Dua into what she is today. Her real breakthrough “Umbrella” like hit where she went from pop girl with potential to major potential future superstar. I’d love to know who turned down New Rules! There’s so many gigantic pop female solo hits that were turned down or recorded by someone else first :P
November 19, 20204 yr Author 02. HELLO- Adele (2,225,000) PEAK POSITION: 1 YEAR: 2015 Remember the anticipation for this one? Lead single from “25” was launched with an enigmatic advert in the middle of “X Factor” which just showed the lyrics as the opening lines of the song flashed up. Needless to say we lapped it up- 332k in week one, that’s the fifth highest weekly sale of the decade (all the others were either charity records or X Factor winning tracks) and easily became her second UK No 1 single by a cool 231k. It sold 1.1 million in just 10 weeks and has since doubled that figure, needless to say it also debuted at No 1 in the US. Adele clarified its meaning “"I felt all of us were moving on, and it's not about an ex-relationship, a love relationship, it's about my relationship with everyone that I love. It's not that we have fallen out, we've all got our lives going on and I needed to write that song so they would all hear it, because I'm not in touch with them. “"Hello from the other side"” signifies the other side of becoming an adult, making it out alive from your late teens, early twenties” YQHsXMglC9A DfG6VKnjrVw
November 19, 20204 yr Author 01. SOMEONE LIKE YOU- Adele (2,492,000) PEAK POSITION: 1 YEAR: 2011 Do you remember THAT BRITS performance? The moment a bona-fide star was born? Her performance of this track sent it surging from No 47 to No 1 just 5 days later and made the singer the first living artist ever to have 2 records in the top 5 on both the singles and album charts simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964. And all that without even a promo at that point! It spent 5 weeks at the top becoming the biggest single of the year and the 16th biggest of the decade, and naturally was a US #1. Thematically it was about her ex relationship with an older man (popularly thought to be fashion photographer Alex Sturrock though never confirmed) “"When I was writing it I was feeling pretty miserable and pretty lonely, which I guess kind of contradicts 'Rolling in the Deep'. Whereas that was about me saying, 'I'm going to be fine without you', this is me on my knees really. I can imagine being about 40 and looking for him again, only to turn up and find that he's settled with a beautiful wife and beautiful kids and he's completely happy... and I'm still on my own. The song's about that and I'm scared at the thought of that.” So that’s our winner and if the 2010’s belonged to any female act then Adele must be that woman, she has 8 songs on the list, more than any other, and still has the power to shift albums that no other female act today can! hLQl3WQQoQ0 qemWRToNYJY
November 19, 20204 yr Author Top 100 female solo hits of the 2010s 01. Someone Like You Adele 2,492,000 02. Hello Adele 2,225,000 03. New Rules Dua Lipa 2,210,000 04. Chandelier Sia 1,961,000 05. All I Want For Christmas Is You Mariah Carey 1,937,000 06. Call Me Maybe Carly Rae Jepsen 1,858,000 07. Love Me Like You Do Ellie Goulding 1,831,000 08. Lush Life Zara Larsson 1,829,000 09. Roar Katy Perry 1,821,000 10. Rolling In The Deep Adele 1,701,000 11. Shake It Off Taylor Swift 1,692,000 12. A Thousand Years Christina Perri 1,669,000 13. One Last Time Ariana Grande 1,647,000 14. Ghost Ella Henderson 1,642,000 15. Let It Go Idina Menzel 1,629,000 16. Hold My Hand Jess Glynne 1,587,000 17. Sweet But Psycho Ava Max 1,577,000 18. Diamonds Rihanna 1,564,000 19. Firework Katy Perry 1,517,000 20. All About That Bass Meghan Trainor 1,508,000 21. 2002 Anne-Marie 1,422,000 22. Make You Feel My Love Adele 1,403,000 23. Only Girl (In The World) Rihanna 1,384,000 24. Starships Nicki Minaj 1,356,000 25. Bad Guy Billie Eilish 1,341,000 26. Jar Of Hearts Christina Perri 1,317,000 27. IDGAF Dua Lipa 1,303,000 28. Anywhere Rita Ora 1,302,000 29. No Tears Left To Cry Ariana Grande 1,291,000 30. Fast Car Tracey Chapman 1,277,000 31. Burn Ellie Goulding 1,267,000 32. Thank U Next Ariana Grande 1,243,000 33. Don't Be So Hard On Yourself Jess Glynne 1,243,000 34. How Long Will I Love You Ellie Goulding 1,211,000 35. Set Fire To The Rain Adele 1,210,000 36. Skinny Love Birdy 1,204,000 37. I Knew You Were Trouble Taylor Swift 1,188,000 38. Your Song Rita Ora 1,178,000 39. Into You Ariana Grande 1,168,000 40. Pretty Girl Maggie Lindemann 1,164,000 41. When We Were Young Adele 1,145,000 42. Halo Beyonce 1,139,000 43. I'll Be There Jess Glynne 1,138,000 44. Dance Monkey Tones & I 1,122,000 45. Elastic Heart Sia 1,115,000 46. Skyfall Adele 1,113,000 47. Somewhere Only We Know Lily Allen 1,071,000 48. Don't Call Me Up Mabel 1,070,000 49. Blank Space Taylor Swift 1,044,000 50. Your Song Ellie Goulding 1,041,000 51. Be The One Dua Lipa 1,039,000 52. Domino Jessie J 1,037,000 53. Lost Without You Freya Ridings 1,021,000 54. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) Adele 1,017,000 55. What About Us Pink 1,004,000 56. 7 Rings Ariana Grande 1,001,000 57. Call On Me Starley 1,001,000 58. Fight Song Rachel Platten 999,000 59. Without Me Halsey 959,000 60. Hideaway Kiesza 957,000 61. S & M Rihanna 954,000 62. Born This Way Lady Gaga 936,000 63. I Really Like You Carly Rae Jepsen 922,000 64. Take Me Home Jess Glynne 922,000 65. Bad Romance Lady Gaga 916,000 66. Crazy In Love Beyonce 910,000 67. Royals Lorde 907,000 68. Wrecking Ball Miley Cyrus 899,000 69. Never Enough Loren Allred 897,000 70. Rude Boy Rihanna 884,000 71. Wings Birdy 879,000 72. Thursday Jess Glynne 873,000 73. Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Alicia Keys 873,000 74. Read All About It Part III Emeli Sande 869,000 75. Where Have You Been Rihanna 869,000 76. Party In The USA Miley Cyrus 869,000 77. Sax Fleur East 865,000 78. Let You Love Me Rita Ora 865,000 79. Teenage Dream Katy Perry 859,000 80. Ciao Adios Anne-Marie 858,000 81. I Will Never Let You Down Rita Ora 840,000 82. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Taylor Swift 839,000 83. Crying In The Club Camila Cabello 838,000 84. We Can't Stop Miley Cyrus 833,000 85. Best Thing I Never Had Beyonce 828,000 86. Issues Julia Michaels 826,000 87. Next To Me Emeli Sande 824,000 88. Only Love Can Hurt Like This Paloma Faith 824,000 89. Do It Like A Dude Jessie J 816,000 90. Video Games Lana Del Rey 815,000 91. Chasing Highs Alma 812,000 92. Mr Saxobeat Alexandra Stan 803,000 93. Never Be The Same Camila Cabello 787,000 94. Say Something Karen Harding 787,000 95. Alarm Anne-Marie 783,000 96. Dangerous Woman Ariana Grande 783,000 97. Look What You Made Me Do Taylor Swift 773,000 98. Edge Of Glory Lady Gaga 769,000 99. Love On Top Beyonce 766,600 100. Hotter Than Hell Dua Lipa 758,000
November 19, 20204 yr I find Hello melodramatic and overblown. Someone Like You is for me the Someone You Loved of the early 2010s (though Adele’s a better singer than Capaldi) - a piano ballad about heartbreak that became ubiquitous but musically isn’t really that inspiring. If only it could be Set Fire to the Rain and Skyfall in the Top 2!
November 19, 20204 yr Hello isn’t anything special, I think being Adele’s big comeback helped it initially. Someone Like You is very deserving of this title though. I’m not a huge Adele fan but she has something special here.
November 19, 20204 yr 'Hello' is definitely my least favourite of the singles from '25' (and I prefer all of the big hits from '21' + 'Skyfall' as well) but it's still great. Thanks for putting this together btw Gezza, has been fun to follow ~
November 19, 20204 yr That's a great top two, I don't care what anyone says. And *that* advert for 'Hello' in the middle of an X Factor ad break was without a doubt one of the TV moments of the decade! Thanks for this countdown, I've really enjoyed it :)
November 21, 20204 yr Thanks for this countdown. I definitely expected that winner but it is amongst the most famous songs ever and that BRITs performance was just breathtaking to watch at the time. Some real surprises along the way but I’m glad that the winner was one what genuinely feels like a huge cultural smash.
November 22, 20204 yr I'm still disappointed that SLY "only" ended up 16th overall for the 2010s, so I'm glad it remained the best-selling female solo hit throughout the decade. Thanks for this, Gezza!
November 22, 20204 yr I'm still disappointed that SLY "only" ended up 16th overall for the 2010s, so I'm glad it remained the best-selling female solo hit throughout the decade. Thanks for this, Gezza! It would have been interesting to see a sales only chart of the decade. Mr Brightside ‘outselling’ Someone Like You doesn’t sit right.
November 23, 20204 yr It would have been interesting to see a sales only chart of the decade. Mr Brightside ‘outselling’ Someone Like You doesn’t sit right. I'd be really interested to see the sales only version too. Off the top of my head: Someone Like You would be #1 by a mile (~1.7M?) Call Me Maybe would be #2 (~1.4M?) Others over 1M: Roar Rolling in the Deep Diamonds Firework Only Girl Starships Jar of hearts Think Hello was in the 900Ks but not sure if it made 1M. Anything released after that would be nowhere.
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