The UK singles chart was first compiled in 1969. However, the records and statistics listed here date back to 1952 because the Official Charts Company counts a selected period of the New Musical Express chart (only from 1952 to 1960) and the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period prior to 11 February 1969, when multiples of competing charts coexisted side by side. For example, the BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and Top of the Pops prior to 1969 may not be listed here as chart-toppers since they do not meet the legacy criteria of the Charts Company.

Number one hits Most number ones

The following is a list of all the acts who are on 10 or more UK number one songs with an individual credit (meaning, the main artist or named separately as a featured artist – being part of a group does not count towards an individual's total).

Simply playing or singing on a single without credit will not count, or the top positions would almost certainly belong to session musicians such as Clem Cattini who is reported to have played drums on over 40 number ones.

Total Artist21 Elvis Presley 18 The Beatles 14 Cliff Richard Westlife Ed Sheeran 13 Madonna 12 Take That 11 Calvin HarrisEminem 10 Elton John

Most weeks at number one by artist Rank Artist Weeks at No. 1 1 Elvis Presley 80 2 The Beatles 70 3 Ed Sheeran 61 4 Cliff Richard 465 Calvin Harris39 Justin Bieber 7 Frankie Laine328 ABBA 31 Drake 10 Madonna 29 Take That

Most weeks at number one by single The record for most weeks at number one is 23, attained by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean's "Rein Me In" in 2026, non-consecutively. After taking 35 weeks to reach the top of the chart, it spent an initial three weeks at number one before dropping to number two for a week, then returning for five weeks at number one, dropped back down to number two for another week, rose back to number one for a further five weeks, dropped down yet again for two more weeks at number two and one at number four, before rising back to number one for ten consecutive weeks.

The longest unbroken run at number one is "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams, which spent 16 consecutive weeks in 1991.

Ed Sheeran is the only artist to ever have multiple songs spend 10 or more weeks at the top of the charts, achieving the feat with both "Shape of You" in 2017 and "Bad Habits" in 2021.

Weeks Artist Single Year23 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean "Rein Me In" 202618 Frankie Laine "I Believe" 195316 Bryan Adams "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" 199115 Wet Wet Wet "Love Is All Around" 1994 Drake "One Dance" 201614 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" 1975–76 and 1991–92 Ed Sheeran "Shape of You" 201713 Alex Warren "Ordinary" 2025 12Wham!"Last Christmas" 2021–202511 Slim Whitman "Rose Marie" 1955 Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee "Despacito" 2017 Tones and I "Dance Monkey" 2019 Ed Sheeran "Bad Habits" 202110 David Whitfield "Cara Mia" 1954 Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You" 1992–93 Rihanna "Umbrella" 2007 Harry Styles "As It Was" 2022 Miley Cyrus "Flowers"2023 Dave and Central Cee"Sprinter"Huntrix "Golden" 2025 Note: Songs denoted with a double dagger () spent non-consecutive weeks at number one.

Biggest climb to number one The single with the biggest climb to number one is "Marvin Gaye" by Charlie Puth featuring Meghan Trainor, which climbed from number 90 on the week ending 20 August 2015.

The biggest climb to number one within the top 40 goes to "So What" by Pink, which climbed from number 38 on the week ending 11 October 2008.

Biggest drop from number one The biggest drop from number one within the top 100 is to number 97. "Three Lions" by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds returned to number one for a third non-consecutive week on the week ending 19 July 2018, but in the following week it experienced a large drop after England's loss at the semifinals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. However, two singles have since fallen completely out of the chart after a week at number one: "Last Christmas" by Wham! on the weeks ending 14 January 2021 and 12 January 2023, and "Merry Christmas" by Ed Sheeran and Elton John on the week ending 13 January 2022.

Longest climb to number one "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey reached number one on its 104th non-consecutive week on the chart, debuting on the week ending 10 December 1994 and peaking on week ending 17 December 2020.

The longest climb to number one in a consecutive chart run is 36 weeks, achieved by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean's "Rein Me In", which debuted on the week ending 26 June 2025 and peaked on the week ending 26 February 2026.

In terms of overall surpassed time, the record is held by "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush, which first charted on the week ending 17 August 1985 and reached number one on the week ending 23 June 2022, almost 37 years since its first appearance on the chart.

Self-replacement at number one Since the inception of the UK Singles Chart in 1952 only seven acts have replaced themselves at the top of the UK charts with exactly the same billing (as opposed to featured credits or backing credits, for example 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows' and 'The Shadows' have had back to back number ones on four occasions): The Beatles – "I Want to Hold Your Hand" replaced "She Loves You" (14 December 1963) John Lennon – "Woman" replaced "Imagine" (7 February 1981) Elvis Presley – "One Night" / "I Got Stung" replaced "Jailhouse Rock" (22 January 2005) Justin Bieber – "Love Yourself" replaced "Sorry" (10 December 2015) Ariana Grande – "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" replaced "7 Rings" (21 February 2019); "7 Rings" replaced "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" (28 February 2019) Ed Sheeran – "Shivers" replaced "Bad Habits" (23 September 2021) Sabrina Carpenter – "Espresso" replaced "Please Please Please" (18 July 2024); "Please Please Please" replaced "Espresso" (1 August 2024)

In addition, Ariana Grande is the first female artist to replace herself, and the first artist to replace herself at Number 1 for two consecutive weeks.

Songwriters with the most number one singles

Double A-sides and EPs count as one single rather than separate songs, and songs that have been number one for multiple artists are included as separate singles.

Number of singlesSongwriterWeeks at number oneJohn LennonPaul McCartneyMax MartinEd SheeranSteve MacCalvin HarrisDr. LukeWayne HectorBenny AnderssonBjörn UlvaeusMadonnaGary Barlow

Most consecutive number ones

The Beatles had 11 consecutive number ones with official releases on Parlophone between 1963 ("From Me to You") and 1966 ("Yellow Submarine" / "Eleanor Rigby"), though releases of archive material from their previous record company also charted during this time.

Even including the archive releases, they still have the most consecutive number ones with 7, from "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964 up to "Yellow Submarine" / " Eleanor Rigby" in 1966. They share this record with Westlife, who achieved this from their 1999 debut "Swear It Again" up to 2000's "My Love".

Most consecutive number ones from chart debut Spice Girls became the first British music act and girl group to have their first six singles reach number one on the UK singles chart between 1996 and 1997 with "Wannabe" in July 1996 to "Too Much" in December 1997.

Westlife became the first music act to have their first seven singles ("Swear It Again", "If I Let You Go", "Flying Without Wings", "I Have a Dream / "Seasons in the Sun", "Fool Again", "Against All Odds" and "My Love") to reach number one from 1999 to 2000. It took Westlife just over 18 months to achieve their first seven number ones, faster than any other music act.

Most songs to debut at number 1 on the chart

Acts with the most songs to debut at number 1 on the Official Singles Chart. Westlife claim the most number 1 debuts on the Official Singles Chart, with all 14 of their chart-toppers landing there in their first week.

Total Artist14 Westlife 10 Take That 9 Eminem 8 Spice Girls Oasis Ed Sheeran Ariana Grande 7 McFly Robbie Williams Calvin Harris Tinie Tempah Sam Smith Taylor Swift

Most number-one singles from one album

The following artists have had at least 3 number-one singles in the UK with a single album. No soundtracks have had 4 number-one singles as of today. Lady Gaga's The Fame and The Fame Monster are considered to be one album by the Official Charts Company. George Michael is credited as a sole singer for some number-one songs that are tracks on Wham! albums. Although "Merry Christmas" by Ed Sheeran and Elton John was a number-one single on a Christmas edition of Sheeran's album =, the special edition was later removed from stores, and the song is now listed as a single from John's album The Lockdown Sessions, therefore removing the third number-one single credit from Sheeran's album.

Total Artists Albums YearsWestlifeWestlife 4Take ThatEverything Changes Spice GirlsSpice B*WitchedB*Witched Dizzee RascalTongue n' Cheek Lady GagaThe Fame/The Fame Monster 3Wham!Make It Big Frankie Goes to HollywoodWelcome to the Pleasuredome MadonnaTrue Blue Take ThatNobody Else AquaAquarium Spice GirlsSpiceworld All SaintsAll Saints S Club 7Sunshine McFlyMotion in the Ocean Leona LewisSpirit Black Eyed PeasThe E.N.D. Alexandra BurkeOvercome Bruno MarsDoo-Wops & Hooligans Calvin HarrisMotion Sam SmithIn the Lonely Hour Justin BieberPurpose DrakeScorpion Ariana GrandeThank U, Next Ed SheeranNo.6 Collaborations Project Wham!The Final Lewis CapaldiBroken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent Sabrina CarpenterShort n' Sweet Taylor SwiftThe Life of a Showgirl2025–2026}

Longest span of number one singles

The Beatles have the longest time span of number one singles with 60 years between their first, "From Me to You" in May 1963, and their most recent, "Now and Then" in November 2023.

Elvis Presley has the longest timespan of number one singles for a solo artist, with over 47 years between his first number one "All Shook Up" in June 1957 and his most recent, the reissue of "It's Now or Never" in January 2005.

Kate Bush has the longest time span of number one singles for a female artist, with 44 years between her first number one "Wuthering Heights" in April 1978 and her second and most recent "Running Up That Hill" in June 2022.

Longest gap between two number one singles

The Beatles have the longest gap between two number ones, with 54 years between "The Ballad of John and Yoko" in June 1969 and "Now and Then" in November 2023.

Kate Bush has the longest gap between two number ones for a solo artist, with 44 years between her first "Wuthering Heights" in April 1978 and her second "Running Up That Hill" in June 2022.

Tom Jones has the longest gap between two number ones for a male artist, with over 42 years between "Green, Green Grass of Home" in December 1966 and his featured appearance on "(Barry) Islands in the Stream" in March 2009.

Lowest-selling number one The lowest weekly sale for a number one single is 17,694 copies held by Orson's "No Tomorrow" in 2006.

The addition of downloads to the UK charts meant that singles could reach number one with no physical copy being released. The first single to achieve this was Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" in early 2006. Since 2014, audio streaming has been included in the calculation of chart position, so it is now possible for a single to reach number one without selling any copies (if it were only available on streaming services). In the week ending 24 September 2015, "What Do You Mean?" by Justin Bieber became the first number one with over half of its chart sales made up of streaming points, with sales of 30,000 and 36,000 points from 3.6 million streams.