In which a Canadian manages to lose a popularity contest with an American in 2025.

1. Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”

The Superbowl half time show has never been a big deal in the UK before, but apparently this is a special year for some reason. “Not Like Us” reached number 6 on release last May and hung around for a decent amount of time – it had thirteen weeks in the top 40. It re-entered at 27 two weeks ago after the Grammys and climbed to 2 last week. Meanwhile, “Luther” climbs 10-4 and “All the Stars” climbs 11-5, so Kendrick has the maximum three tracks in the top 10.

Kendrick’s previous UK peak was number 4, shared by “Squabble Up” last year and, um, Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” from 2015. (“Luther” also climbs to that position this week.) The enduring popularity of “Not Like Us” would probably be galling for Drake at the best of times, but as it happens, he has a new album out this week. I’m sure we’ll be seeing the singles from that momentarily, right?

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Apparently we’re paying attention to the Superbowl half time show now, are we?

1. Lola Young – “Messy”

Four weeks. The logjammed top five which we’ve had of late is finally broken as a result of most of the tracks involved being hit by the downweighting rule, which was to be expected. We’ll come to their replacements in a bit.

7. Alex Warren – “Ordinary”

This is his first top 10 hit; his previous best was number 23 for “Carry You Home”, which rebounds to 28 this week. It’s a heartfelt ballad built to a familiar template, but pretty well done if you like that sort of thing. His other previous hit, “Burning Down”, re-enters at number 34.

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It’s the Grammys week, and it turns out that that has a noticeable impact on the top 40 these days. Plus, the Weeknd has an album out.

1. Lola Young – “Messy”

Three weeks and a very comfortable 20% margin over the number 2 single (which is still “APT” by Rosé & Bruno Mars – the top 5 is static for a second week running.

6. Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”

This is the second single from her upcoming album, but she also premiered the video during the Grammys. It’s a third consecutive top 10 hit for Lady Gaga, something she hasn’t managed since 2011. It’s very much a track in the vein of her imperial phase, though what on earth it’s about, I haven’t a clue.

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My god, a busy week on the singles chart. It’s been so long.

1. Lola Young – “Messy”

Two weeks. Her other credited single – as a guest on Tyler, The Creator’s “Like Him” – is at 36.

And one thing hasn’t changed – the top five is entirely non-movers.

6. Central Cee & Dave – “Sailor Song”
13. Central Cee & Lil Durk – “Truth in the Lies”

Central Cee’s album “Can’t Rush Greatness” is officially his first studio album, but it’s his second number one, because the album chart doesn’t care if you call it a mixtape. It gets the maximum three singles, with last week’s “GBP” hanging in there at number 7.

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At last, we have the first new number one of the year.

1. Lola Young – “Messy”

This has had a long road to number 1. The track was released last May. It didn’t make the top 100 until November and didn’t reach the top 40 until just before Christmas. It spent the last three weeks stuck at number 3. Lola Young herself has been around for years and seems to be a rare case of a major label sticking by someone until the hits came.

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There were some new releases this week, but nobody’s very interested in those. Instead, let’s see what’s going viral from the back catalogue!

1. Gracie Abrams – “That’s So True”

But first: eight non-consecutive weeks for this. It’s clinging on by its fingertips, with a lead of less than 2% over Rosé and Bruno Mars at 2. The top 4 is all non-movers and to be honest there’s very little movement in the top 10 period.

25. Alex Warren – “Carry You Home”

First of all, a resurgence of interest in a minor hit from last autumn. This had a four week run in the chart, peaking at number 32. It’s been hanging around in the lower reaches for ages but has had enough of a surge to get a reset on its downweighting, which helps it back into the top 40.

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Well, it’s still quiet on the singles chart and the albums are just plain dead. But things are starting to get back to normal.

1. Gracie Abrams – “That’s So True”

Seven weeks at number 1, and with a lead of more than two weeks over the number 2 single – which is still Rosé and Bruno Mars. The midweeks have this as its last week, though.

Number 5 is a rather odd re-entry for “Who” by Jimin, originally a number 4 hit in August. It has been hanging around the lower reaches for an extended period since then, but given that it only managed a week in the top 10 first time round, this is odd behaviour. It did qualify for a reset on the strength of last week’s increase in streams (following the Christmas clear-out), and that accounts for part of the jump, but it’s still curious. The midweeks have falling straight back to number 27, so there’s some sort of weird surge going on here, organic or otherwise.

21. SZA – “BMF”

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Welcome to the annual dead chart. The Christmas songs are all gone (well, aside from Tom Grennan at number 30) and a torrent of re-entries replace them, without much in the way of actual new music just yet.

1. Gracie Abrams – “That’s So True”

So, Gracie Abrams again. This was number 1 for five weeks before Christmas, spent three weeks being shunted down the chart, and now rebounds from number 21 to claim a sixth week at number 1. She also has “I Love You I’m Sorry” at 36 and “Close to You” at 37.

20. PAWSA & The Adventures of Stevie V – “Dirty Cash (Money Talks)”

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The final chart of the year covers the streaming period from 20 to 26 December, which means it covers the heaviest days of Christmas streaming. The one post-Christmas day makes no difference to that, and what we get is a chart in which the Christmas records surge even further, shouldering everything else aside. On top of that, the two biggest non-Christmas records both get hit by the downweighting rule this week, and drop straight out of the top 20 as a result. It’s a weird chart.

1. Wham! – “Last Christmas”

This is reassuringly normal, though. “Last Christmas” spends its third week at number 1 this year, and its tenth in total. It will be gone next week. So will all of the new entries listed below – and there are new entries, courtesy of the festive playlists.

30. Darlene Love – “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”

This charted for the first time in 2018, when it reached an all-time peak of 22. It’s been back most years since (2020 was the exception), usually landing in the 29-31 range. Love’s only other solo hit in the UK was “All Alone on Christmas” from the soundtrack of Home Alone 2, which reached number 31 at Christmas 1992. She was also the lead singer on “He’s a Rebel” by the Crystals (number 19 in 1962). I say “by the Crystals”, but “credited to the Crystals” would be more accurate – that particular track was recorded by Love’s group the Blossoms under their name because the real Crystals were off on tour at the time.

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In which the Christmas number one is quite uneventful, really.

1. Wham! – “Last Christmas”

Here we are again, with a back catalogue track as the Christmas number one, despite the disadvantage of being on permanent downweighting. “Last Christmas” is spending its second week at number 1 this year, its ninth in total. It was number 1 at Christmas 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Last year it was number 1 for four weeks, mind you. That won’t be happening this year. Next week’s chart will probably still be dominated by Christmas music, since Christmas Day is Wednesday and the chart period runs from Friday to Thursday. The week after that, it will all vanish, and George Michael won’t cross our mind against for another 11 months. (Seriously, when was the last time you heard anything else by him?)

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