At last, turnover!

1. Sienna Spiro – “Great Expectation”

This has taken ten weeks to climb to number 1, which is positively sprightly by 2026 standards. Of course, there’s an asterisk here – if “Rein Me In” wasn’t subject to downweighting, it would be thrashing this track with a margin of more than a third. But you can make a fair case that the aim of that rule isn’t just to speed up the charts, it’s to attach less weight to tracks that are just hanging around on playlists.

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Well, the day has finally come. Last week, “Rein Me In” declined (and underperformed the market) for the third successive week. And so this week, it finally goes to ACR, ending its 23 weeks at number one, and relegating it to the gloomy depths of number 7. What exciting new music has this cleared the way for?

1. Ella Langley – “Choosin’ Texas” 

Oh. Right. Well, it’s not been number one before, I suppose. But it’s been on the top 40 for 31 weeks now, again without being relegated to ACR. She’s not a one-hit wonder – “Be Her” also charted a few weeks ago, and it’s currently at number 30. This is also the current US number one, though as a country song, international interest is not a given. The ponderous official video above doesn’t do it any favours either – if you’re going to talk over half the song, at least hire some people who can act.

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I know, this is getting predictable.

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

Twenty-three weeks at number one. Sixty-two weeks on the top 40. But wait… at last, at long last, “Rein Me In” has fallen by more than the market average for three weeks in a row. This means that next week it goes to ACR, and its streaming points will be halved. And while it still has a huge lead over the number 2 single, it’s not that huge. If it had been on ACR this week, it would have been at number 6. So, barring a miracle, this is it.

9. Dolly Parton – “Jolene”
12. Dolly Parton – “9 to 5”
13. Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers – “Islands in the Stream” 

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Altogether now…

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

Twenty-two weeks at number one, and still miles ahead of any competition. It has dropped more than the market for two weeks in a row, though, so there is a possibility that next week could be the last before it goes to ACR. We’ve said that before, though.

In terms of new entries, it’s a very quiet week.

16. Katseye – “Hootie Frutti”

This is the release week single from their 16-minute EP “Wild”, which technically qualifies for the album chart and enters there at number 2 – their first appearance on the album chart, as their debut “Beautiful Chaos” missed the top 40 last year. There are a lot of physical variants contributing to that position.

The video features two of the most laughably incongruous product placement shots you’ve ever seen. It does, however, tie “Animal” as their highest-debuting single. And perhaps more interestingly, “Animal” itself climbs to number 12 this week, the first time a Katseye single has actually improved on his debut position.

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Okay, it’s late in the week, let’s see if we can do this one quickly.

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

Twenty-one interminable weeks. It is dropping off now that the publicity from breaking the record has passed, though, so it’s probably only a matter of time before it finally, finally, goes to ACR and gets removed from number 1.

8. Madonna & Kylie Minogue – “Love Sensation” 

With a combined age of over 125, this is the single remix of a track from Madonna’s recent album. Unusually, it’s here almost entirely on sales, and two thirds of those are CDs. The midweeks have it vanishing. Still, the track’s not bad at all, and it suits Kylie.

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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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