A number 1 we actually weren’t expecting!

1. Justin Bieber – “Daisies”

This entered at number 4 last week, and had only made it to number 2 by the midweeks. It winds up with around a 10% lead over MK.

Justin Bieber’s first hit was back in 2010, and this is his eighth number one. Three of them came from his 2015 album “Purpose”: “What do you Mean”, “Sorry” and “Love Yourself”. The others are guest vocals on other people’s tracks: “Cold Water” by Major Lazer in 2016, “I’m the One” by DJ Khaled in 2017 (to be fair, he’s the top billed actual artist on that track), the English-language remix of “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee in 2017, and “I Don’t Care” by Ed Sheeran in 2019. So it’s been six years since his last number 1, and a decade since he had one purely under his own power.

What that also tells you is that “Daisies” didn’t get to number 1 simply by virtue of being a Justin Bieber track – and it is an unusually good track from him. The midweeks say it won’t get a second week, but it’s a decent enough song to have here.

3. Alex Warren – “Eternity”

Is that a threat?

This is the fourth single from his album “You’ll Be Alright, Kid”, though there are enough oddities about that one that I’ll come back to it under teh album charts. Number 3 makes it his second-highest placing single (“Carry You Home” and “Bloodline” both got to 9). The video is… well, it’s certainly earnest.

“Ordinary” is still in the top 10 at number 7, by the way. And if it wasn’t subject to the downweighting rule, it would still be number 1.

17. Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee & the KPop Demon Hunters Cast – “Soda Pop”

Because the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack album is collectively credited to Cast of KPop Demon Hunters, it’s subject to the three-song rule, even though individual tracks are credited both to their fictional bands and their real-world singers. So the other Saja Boys track was previously disqualified, but now overtakes “How It’s Done” to become a technical new entry at number 17. Meanwhile, “Your Idol” climbs 23-14, and “Golden” climbs 9-4 – the midweeks have it climbing to number 1, which would be quite something.

While “Golden” is clearly a standout, it’s interesting to see two tracks from the demon boy band following it up, possibly because they hold up pretty well without the context of the film. “Soda Pop” is admittedly more fun in that context, since it suits the bad guys to have an irritatingly catchy track – but like “Your Idol”, part of the joke is simply that the boy band declaring their intention to consume the fans’ souls barely requires any tweaking at all from the real world boy band formula.

24. Oasis – “Wonderwall”

Three song rule again: “Acquiesce” drops to fourth place and gets replaced by “Wonderwall”. Meanwhile, “Don’t Look Back in Anger” is 22, and “Live Forever” is 23. “Wonderwall” was a number 2 hit in November 1995. It was held off the top by “I Believe” / “Up on the Roof” by Robson & Jerome, a track in no immediate danger of re-entering. The ironic easy listening version by the Mike Flowers Pops also reached number less than two months later. Ah, the 90s.

Look, the 90s was a different time. A time when the Mike Flowers Pops being remixed by the Aphex Twin seemed like a good idea to all invoved… and actually was.

The gap between the Mike Flowers Pops and 60s easy listening is now as great as the gap between today and the Mike Flowers Pops. Let’s pause to reflect on our mortality for a moment.

Speaking of which…

32. Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”

Obviously, this is here following the death of Ozzy Osbourne. The chart has this listed as a new entry because technically it’s a different release from the last time it was in the chart – people are streaming it from the album rather than buying the long-deleted single – but it was a number 4 hit on release in 1970. It also reached number 14 on reissue in 1980.

This week’s climbers:

• “Golden” by HUNTR/X, EJAE, Audrey Nuna Rei Ami & the KPop Demon Hunters Cast climbs 9-4.
• “No Broke Boys” by Disco Lines & Tinashe climbs 16-12.
• “Your Idol” by The Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee & the KPop Demon Hunters Cast  climbs 23-14.

And, um, that’s it. There are two re-entries down at the very bottom – “Cops & Robbers” by Samy Virji & Skepta at 39, and “APT” by Rosé & Bruno Mars at 40 – which means there are six tracks leaving the top 40 this week:

• “Rock That Body” by the Black Eyed Peas, after five weeks floating around the 30s. It peaked at 31.
• “Mystical Magical” by Benson Boone, with a 12 week run and a peak of 13. Meanwhile, “Beautiful Things” is still at number 11 in its 74th week on the top 40.
• “Show Me Love” by WiztheMC / bees&honey, which peaked at 3 and spent 18 weeks in the top 40. They have another single, “Take My Mind”, climbing from the lower reaches – it’s currently at 62.
• “Acquiesce” by Oasis had 2 weeks at number 17 but gets disqualified under the 3-song rule.
• “How It’s Done” by HUNTR/X et al had three weeks and climbed to 29 before being overtaken and getting disqualified under the same rule.
• “All I Can Take” by Justin Bieber had a week at number 33 – it actually does get disqualified by falling behind a different album track this week, but it would have dropped out of the top 40 anyway.

On the album chart:

1. Alex Warren – “You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1)”

So this is a bit weird. The official line is that “You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1)” was an EP that Alex Warren released in September 2024. In its original form, that record had ten songs and lasted half an hour, so it’s really more of a short album than an EP. It included “Burning Down” and “Carry You Home”, but not “Ordinary” or the singles that followed it.

The record that’s now at number 1 is an 11-track album with the entirety of the EP attached as a second disc, actually sold under the name “You’ll Be Alright, Kid”. The OCC appear to have classed it as an expanded re-release of disc 2, however, and so it’s listed on the chart under the original name and classed as a climber from 25 to 1. The previous version of the album has been floating around the album top 40 for 17 weeks already, though it took a few months to make any headway; its previous peak was number 9 in May.

2. Tyler, The Creator – “Don’t Tap The Glass”

His previous album “Chromakopia” was a number 1, but heck, he’s going up against Alex Warren here.

22. Black Sabbath – “The Ultimate Collection”

For obvious reasons. This particular collection reached number 20 on release in 2016.

29. Jim Legxacy – “Black British Music (2025)”

The “X” is silent. This is being billed as a mixtape, presumably on the view that 35 minutes is on the short side for an album. He’s yet to release anything that he classes as an album, although he’s been releasing material since 2019. This is his first appearance on the chart.

32. Panic Shack – “Panic Shack”

Cardiff indie band. It’s their first chart appearance.

38. Joe Bonamassa – “Breakthrough”

That’s his 17th solo studio album. The last one missed the top 40 entirely; he last charted in 2021 when “Time CLocks” reached number 13.