Oh god, it’s going to be here forever.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

Twenty weeks. Last week, it set an all time record for the longest run at number one; the publicity from that has resulted in a sales boost, and so once again it’s off the hook for potential downweighting for another few weeks. It continues to have 20% lead over the number 2 single, and it simply can’t be stopped.

It’s maybe worth mentioning that while this sort of rein is unheard of on the singles chart, it’s not so exceptional where the album chart is concerned. Adele’s “21” had 23 weeks as the album number 1, and the South Pacific soundtrack was number 1 for the entirety of 1959.

4. Ariana Grande – “Petal”
15. Ariana Grande – “Kiss Me”

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Well, here we are.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In” 

That’s 19 weeks, and that is an all-time record, breaking last week’s tie with Frankie Laine’s “I Believe” from 1953. It should be noted that both of them did it with interrupted runs, and the record for the longest single run at number 1 is still 16 weeks, held by Bryan Adams. I’ve written before about whether this is really comparable with earlier years, since in theory you should expect a streaming chart (which picks up continued listening) to result in major hits sticking around for longer than a pure sales chart (which picks the point when people started listening).

Nineteen weeks is exceptional even in the modern era. It’s tempting to say that it’s unlikely to be broken any time soon, even under current chart rules. But then again, “Last Christmas” has been racking up weeks at number 1 in five out of the last six years. It currently has a total of 12 weeks, and sustaining that performance for another three or four years might be a stretch even if the chart rules aren’t changed in some way in the interim – and the continued dominance of zombie records must surely be causing some industry concern.

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Well, here we are.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

That’s eighteen weeks, and that does match the all-time record set by Frankie Laine’s “I Believe” in 1953. I’ve made the point before that this isn’t entirely comparable, because the 1953 chart was based on sales, so it was measuring the point when people started listening to the record, while the 2026 chart is measuring how long people continue listening. But the fact remains that 18 weeks is still exceptional even by modern standards, not least because it’s virtually impossible to last that long without peaking and getting hit by the downweighting rule. “Rein Me In” has lasted a year without triggering that rule, which is frankly astonishing.

The other thing to bear in mind is that both “Rein Me In” and “I Believe” had interrupted runs at the top. The record for the longest continuous run at number 1 is still 16 weeks, held by Bryan Adams.

If “Rein Me In” manages another week, it breaks the record. Improbably, the midweeks have it in a close fight with “Dai Dai” by Shakira and Burna Boy, despite the fact that the World Cup is over. I suspect it will get its 19th week, but you never know.

It is, shall we say, a quiet week for new entries.

36. BTS – “Normal”

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Ah, it’s one of those charts. The chart week covers data from Friday to Thursday, and so most of this week’s chart cover a period when the English were extremely excited about the football, and listening to lots of songs connected with the football, and then with one day left in the chart week, they got knocked out. So then the chart is published on Friday and, uh, yeah.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

But first! “Rein Me In” spends a 17th week at number one. It only needs one more week to tie the all time record set by Frankie Laine’s “I Believe” in 1953. It nudged its chart points up again this week – partly because it shipped a few thousand 7 inch singles, but it didn’t need those to have a commanding leads over the number 2 single. This means it can’t go to downweighting in the next few weeks and its chances of breaking the record look very good indeed.

Right, football…

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Well, this isn’t exactly a surprise.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

That’s sixteen weeks, and it continues to have a massive lead over the number two single (“Stupid Song” by Olivia Rodrigo). That passes Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around” and Drake’s “One Dance”, and draws level with Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)”. Adams did it in one go, mind you, and his record for the longest uninterrupted run at number 1 is going nowhere any time soon. Only one record has ever spent more weeks at number 1 – Frankie Laine’s “I Believe” in 1953 – and “Rein Me In” only has to manage another fortnight to match it.

That said, “Rein Me In” could finally go to downweighting next week – it’s fallen by more than the market average for two weeks in a row. There is, however, a physical 7″ single out which registers suspiciously few copies on this week’s chart, so they might be holding back distribution for next week to make sure that that doesn’t happen.

27. Journey – “Don’t Stop Believin'” 

Apparently this is being used in the football coverage or something. I wouldn’t know.

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We’re almost at the point where this has stopped being boring and started being interesting again.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

That’s 15 weeks at number 1, and it remains miles ahead of the number 2 single. Fifteen weeks is enough to tie with Drake’s “One Dance” and Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around”. There are only two tracks left to beat. Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” lasted 16 weeks in 1991, and “Rein Me In” only needs one more week to match that. The all-time record is 18 weeks, set by Frankie Laine’s “I Believe” in 1953. That could happen, but “Rein Me In” did drop in streams this week and it could yet get hit by downweighting before making it to 18 weeks.

27. Sombr – “My Body Isn’t Ready”

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This won’t take long – it’s spectacularly uneventful singles chart.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

Yes, this again. “Rein Me In” has now been on the top 40 for 53 weeks without interruption. The all-time record is 54 (held by Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”), and obviously “Rein Me In” is going to shatter that. In an admittedly very quiet week, it returns to number 1 for a fourteenth week. This ties it with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You”. Only four tracks have spent more weeks at number 1 – if it can manage another week (and it almost certainly will), then it will tie with Wet Wet Wet’s “Love is All Around” and Drake’s “One Dance” to be joint third.

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Well, someone still cares about being number one.

1. Taylor Swift – “I Knew It, I Knew You”

Two weeks, but that turns out to be because they held back over 40,000 CD copies to ship in week two. That accounts for more than half of its chart point this week; on streaming alone, it would have been number 7. That means we can be fairly sure that it won’t be number 1 next week. But hey, at least she has the satisfaction of stopping…

2. Olivia Rodrigo – “Stupid Song”

This is the release week single from her third album “You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love”, which enters the album chart as her third number 1. She also has “The Cure” at number 3 and “Drop Dead” at number 5, so this is still very much her week. The album has enough points to beat the rest of the top 10 combined, and while a majority of that comes from first-week physical sales, she would have been number 1 by a wide margin on streaming alone.

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You know, I think we might finally be rid of “Rein Me In”.

1. Taylor Swift – “I Knew It, I Knew You”

This is from the soundtrack of Toy Story 5, and yes, this collection of clips from previous Toy Story films is the official video. It’s a song written specifically for the film, from Jessie’s perspective. Taylor Swift doing her best Randy Newman, basically.

It’s her seventh UK number one single. The others are “Look What You Made Me Do” (2017), “Anti-Hero” (2022), “Is It Over Now (Taylor’s Version” (2023), “Fortnight” (2024), “Opalite” (2025) and “The Fate of Ophelia” (2025). The list skews very heavily to the later part of her career, though there’s a degree of bad luck in there, since she had number 2 hits in 2009, 2012 and 2014.

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Look, someone can beat “Rein Me In”!

1. Ariana Grande – “Hate That I Made You Love Me”

This is the lead single from her eighth album, and her eighth number 1. The others are “Problem” (2014), “Bang Bang” (2014), “Thank U, Next” (2018), “7 Rings” (2019), “Break Up With Your Girlfriend I’m Bored” (2019), “Rain On Me” (2020) and “Positions” (2020). She’s been unlucky not to add more since then – she’s reached number 2 twice.

There is an asterisk here: it didn’t actually beat “Rein Me In” in streaming. It’s number 1 by a margin of under 5,000 copies thanks to first-week sales to fans in download and physical format. And that’s with “Rein Me In” dropping off quite heavily this week. There’s still a huge gap between “Rein Me In” and the rest of the chart, but it’s unlikely to return to number 1 next week, since Taylor Swift has a new single out.

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