Well, it took a month and a half but at last 2026 gives us a busy chart.

1. Taylor Swift – “Opalite”

“Opalite” already reached number 2 as an album track on release in October, and it was still inside the top 20, but it’s being promoted as a single now, complete with video. Supposedly she had the video idea while appearing on the Graham Norton Show, which is why everyone who was on that episode has cameos in it.

It’s an obvious choice of single and the only thing it really had going against it was the fact that it had been out for so long already. But although it’s way past its initial peak, its streams more than doubled over the last week, which means that it jumps from 15 to 1. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s only her sixth number 1 – the others are “The Fate of Ophelia” (2025), “Fortnight” (2024), “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version)” (2023), “Anti-Hero” (2022) and the incongruous “Look What You made Me Do” (2017).

4. Bad Bunny – “DtMF”
18. Bad Bunny – “NUEVAYoL”
20. Bad Bunny – “BAILE INoLVIDABLE”

Bad Bunny doesn’t have anything approaching the same profile in the UK as he does in America. For understandable reasons, he has no real interest in Anglophone markets where the Latino population is negligible, and British audiences tend to have little interest in foreign language material, at least in any context where understanding the lyrics seems to matter. The album “Debi Tírar Más Fotos” did well enough on release last January, reaching number 13, but the only single to chart on release was “DtMF”, which got to 26. The labum now re-enters at number 2.

Obviously, he’s here because of the Superbowl performance, which is enough of a cultural event to get attention in the UK despite the language barrier. This is interesting, because very few people care about the Superbowl itself – despite its cultural hegemony in the western world, the USA has consistently failed to interest the rest of the world in its favoured sports. Perhaps there’s a political dimension here, and it certainly can’t help draw attention to the show, but bear in mind that we saw something similar last year with Kendrick Lamar.

14. Sombr – “Homewrecker”

His fifth top 40 hit in less than a year. It’s not on last year’s album, so either we’re into the next promotional cycle, or this one’s going on the special edition.

25. Tame Impala – “Dracula”

This reached number 21 last year, and aside from the Christmas break, it’s been hanging around the low end of the chart ever since. It’s re-entered because of a remix which is basically just the same track turned into a duet with Jennie from Blackpink. Technically the original remains the lead version, though, so she doesn’t get a chart credit.

27. Myles Smith & Niall Horan – “Drive Safe” 

Polite stomp-clap would-be anthem, as you’d expect. Fine if you like that sort of thing. Niall Horan has had a respectable enough career after One Direction – this is his ninth top 40 hit, although admittedly the previous one was in 2023.

29. Justin Bieber – “YUKON”

Originally a number 12 hit last August. Presumably it’s back because he performed it at the Grammys.

30. Dominic Fike – “Babydoll”

You might (or might not) remember his big UK hit “3 Nights”, which reached number 3 in 2019. He also got a track called “misses” to number 34 last year. I can only assume TikTok is responsible for the appearance of this 99-second song, which is from an EP he released in 2018.

37. Calvin Harris & Kasabian – “Release the Pressure”

Calvin Harris has now had a top 40 hit single in every calendar year since 2007. He’s joined on this one by… hold on, Kasabian? Kasabian?!? They haven’t had a hit single in twelve years. To be honest, it’s a bit of a technicality that they’ve got one now, since this seems to be basically a collaboration between Harris and their lead singer Sergio Pizzorno, rather than the whole band. It sounds a lot better than I was expecting, I’ll be honest.

39. Bella Kay – “iloveitiloveitiloveit”

Chart debut. She’s from California, and this has been climbing from the lower reaches for a couple of weeks. Apparently this counts as an upbeat track by her standards. Quite good, I think.

40. Addison Rae – “Fame is a Gun”

This had a six week run last summer, when it peaked at number 23. It’s been floating around the 40s since mid January.

This week’s climbers:

• “Stateside” by PinkPantheress climbs 13-10 to become her seocnd top 10 hit. The first was “Boy’s a Liar”, and that was back in 2022.
• “Just the Way You Are” by Milky climbs 35-23.
• “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley climbs 38-35.

The eleven tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “I Run” by HAVEN. featuring Kaitlin Aragon peaked at 9 and lasted 11 weeks.
• “Purple Rain” by Prince & The Revolution had a five week run, peaking at 12.
• “Phantom” by EsDeeKid & Rico Ace had a total of 17 weeks either side of Christmas, and peaked at 12.
• “4 Raws” by EsDeeKid had a total of eight weeks, mostly after Christmas, and peaked at 20.
• “What it Sounds Like” by HUNTR/X entered at number 13 back in October, after a long stretch when it was disqualified under the three-song rule, and managed a total of 12 weeks in total (with the obligatory Christmas break).
• “Century” by EsDeeKid had 13 weeks (with a short interruption over Christmas), peaking at 10.
• “WGFT” by Gunna & Burna Boy had a three-week run as a re-entry, peaking at 30
• “Back to Friends” by Sombr was a re-entry at 36 last week.
• “No Broke Boys” by Disco Lines & Tinashe had a six-week run as a re-entry, peaking at 26.
• “Tit for Tat” by Tate McRae was a re-entry last week at 39.
• “Talk of the Town” by Fred again.., Sammy Virji & Reggie was a re-entry last week at 40.

On the album chart, “The Art of Loving” by Olivia Dean is number 1 for a seventh non-consecutive week; it’s now sold more than 100,000 physical copies. “Debi Tírar Más Fotos” by Bad Bunny is number 2.

3. J Cole – “The Fall-Off”

The singles from this fell just short of the top 40 – “Two Six”, above, got to number 46. It’s very good. Number 3 makes this J Cole’s highest placing album since 2021.

6. Joji – “Piss in the Wind”

His fourth album, and it matches 2020’s “Nectar” as his highest-placing. The single “Pixelated Kisses” reached number 37 last year.

16. Lorien Testard – “Clair Obscur – Expedition 33 – OST”

He’s a French composer, and this video game soundtrack is his first appearance on the album chart. It’s been available digitally for months, but this is the physical release – there’s a relatively normal album of highlights, and a box set which is literally everything from the soundtrack, even tracks that are seventeen seconds long, and which clocks in at eight hours.

21. Ist Ist – “Dagger”

Their fifth album, the second to chart, and very slightly the higher placing of the two.

36. Marnz Malone – “Yaqeen”

Debut album. He’s a rapper born in Jamaica who grew up in Birmingham; he’s just out of jail and has been deported, which probably explains why this video is filmed in Dubai.

37. Crystal Tides – “Toothpaste”

Debut album – they’re an indie band from Portsmouth, and this is self-released.