UK singles chart records and statistics

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, where 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.

Most number ones
The following is a list of all the acts who are on eight 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.

Most weeks at number one by single
The record for most non-consecutive weeks at number one is 18 by Frankie Laine's "I Believe" in 1953. It spent nine weeks at number one, dropped down for a week, returned to number one for six weeks, dropped down for a further week and returned to number one for a third time for three 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.

Below is a table of all singles that have spent 10 or more weeks at the top of the charts:

Note: Songs denoted with an asterisk (*) 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 19 weeks, achieved by Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud", which debuted on the week ending 5 July 2014 and peaked on the week ending 8 November 2014.

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 six 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)

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
The following have writing credits on at least 12 UK 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.

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.

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.

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 last "Now and Then" in November 2023.

Elvis Presley has the longest time span 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.

Since the incorporation of streaming into the singles chart, the Official Charts Company have continued to compile a sales only chart. In week ending 27 April 2017 "Sign of the Times" by Harry Styles became the first number one in the sales-only chart to sell less than "No Tomorrow" by Orson, with 16,686 copies.

Longest and shortest songs to reach number one
In terms of a song's running length, "All Around the World" by Oasis (1998) at 9 minutes and 38 seconds is the longest song to reach No.1. "What Do You Want?" by Adam Faith at 1 minute 35 seconds (1959) is the shortest.

Non-English language number ones
Source:
 * "Je t'aime... moi non plus" – Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin (French – 11 October 1969 for one week)
 * "Chanson D'Amour" – The Manhattan Transfer (French/English – 12 March 1977 for three weeks)
 * "Begin the Beguine (Volver a Empezar)" – Julio Iglesias (Spanish/English – 5 December 1981 for one week)
 * "Rock Me Amadeus" – Falco (German/English – 10 May 1986 for one week)
 * "La Bamba" – Los Lobos (Spanish – 1 August 1987 for two weeks)
 * "Sadeness (Part I)" – Enigma (French/Latin/English – 19 January 1991 for one week)
 * "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" – Las Ketchup (Spanish/English – 19 October 2002 for one week)
 * "We No Speak Americano" – Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP (Neapolitan/English – 31 July 2010 for one week)
 * "Loca People" - Sak Noel (Spanish/English - 2 October 2011 for one week)
 * "Gangnam Style" – Psy (Korean/English – 6 October 2012 for one week)
 * "Despacito" – Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber (Spanish/English – 18 May 2017 for eleven non-consecutive weeks)

Songs that were number one for multiple artists

 * "I Believe" – Frankie Laine (1953) and Robson & Jerome (1995)
 * "Answer Me" – David Whitfield and Frankie Laine (both 1953)
 * "This Ole House" – Rosemary Clooney (1954) and Shakin' Stevens (1981)
 * "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" – Pérez Prado and Eddie Calvert (both 1955)
 * "Unchained Melody" – Jimmy Young (1955), The Righteous Brothers (1990), Robson & Jerome (1995) and Gareth Gates (2002)
 * "Singing the Blues" – Guy Mitchell and Tommy Steele (both 1957)
 * "Young Love" – Tab Hunter (1957) and Donny Osmond (1973)
 * "Mary's Boy Child" – Harry Belafonte (1957) and Boney M. (1978)
 * "Living Doll" – Cliff Richard (1959 with The Shadows, 1986 with The Young Ones)
 * "Can't Help Falling in Love" – Elvis Presley (1962) and UB40 (1993)
 * "You'll Never Walk Alone" – Gerry and the Pacemakers (1963), The Crowd (1985), Robson & Jerome (1996) and Michael Ball with Captain Tom Moore (2020)
 * "I Got You Babe" – Sonny & Cher (1965) and UB40 with Chrissie Hynde (1985)
 * "Somethin' Stupid" – Frank Sinatra with Nancy Sinatra (1967) and Robbie Williams with Nicole Kidman (2001)
 * "What a Wonderful World" – Louis Armstrong (1968) and Katie Melua with Eva Cassidy (2007)
 * "Baby Come Back" – The Equals (1968) and Pato Banton (1994)
 * "With a Little Help from My Friends" – Joe Cocker (1968), Wet Wet Wet (1988) and Sam & Mark (2004)
 * "Dizzy" – Tommy Roe (1969) and Vic Reeves with The Wonder Stuff (1991)
 * "Bridge over Troubled Water" – Simon & Garfunkel (1970) and Artists for Grenfell (2017)
 * "Spirit in the Sky" – Norman Greenbaum (1970), Doctor and the Medics (1986) and Gareth Gates (2003)
 * "Without You" – Nilsson (1972) and Mariah Carey (1994)
 * "Seasons in the Sun" – Terry Jacks (1974) and Westlife (1999)
 * "Everything I Own" – Ken Boothe (1974) and Boy George (1987)
 * "Barbados" – Typically Tropical (1975) and Vengaboys (1999, as "We're Going to Ibiza")
 * "Tragedy" – Bee Gees (1979) and Steps (1999)
 * "The Tide Is High" – Blondie (1980) and Atomic Kitten (2002)
 * "Uptown Girl" – Billy Joel (1983) and Westlife (2001)
 * "The Power of Love" – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984) and Gabrielle Aplin (2012)
 * "Do They Know It's Christmas?" – Band Aid (1984), Band Aid II (1989), Band Aid 20 (2004), Band Aid 30 (2014) and LadBaby (2022, as "Food Aid")
 * "When the Going Gets Tough" – Billy Ocean (1986) and Boyzone (1999)
 * "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" – The Hollies (1988) and The Justice Collective (2012)
 * "Eternal Flame" – The Bangles (1989) and Atomic Kitten (2001)
 * "You Are Not Alone" – Michael Jackson (1995) and The X Factor Finalists 2009 (2009)
 * "Lady Marmalade" – All Saints (1998) and Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink (2001)
 * "Mambo No. 5" – Lou Bega (1999) and Bob the Builder (2001)
 * "Against All Odds" – Mariah Carey with Westlife (2000) and Steve Brookstein (2005)
 * "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)" – Eamon and Frankee (both 2004, Frankee's version titled "F.U.R.B. (Fuck You Right Back)")
 * "Wake Me Up" – Avicii (2013) and Gareth Malone's All Star Choir (2014)
 * "Merry Christmas" – Ed Sheeran with Elton John and LadBaby featuring Ed Sheeran and Elton John (both 2021, LadBaby's version titled "Sausage Rolls for Everyone")

Acts to occupy the top two
In addition, in the final week that Justin Bieber was at No. 1 and No. 2 with "Love Yourself" and "Sorry", "What Do You Mean" was at No. 3. For the first three weeks that Ed Sheeran was at No. 1 and No. 2 with "Shape of You" and "Galway Girl", "Castle on the Hill" was at No. 3, and for the first of these three weeks Sheeran's "Perfect", "New Man" and "Happier" were at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 respectively, prompting a change in chart rules so that only 3 of an artist's songs can appear in the chart at one time. When Harry Styles occupied the top two he was also at No. 3 with "Music for a Sushi Restaurant".
 * The Beatles
 * "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" (three weeks in December 1963)
 * "Hello, Goodbye" and "Magical Mystery Tour" (three weeks in December 1967)
 * John Travolta — "Summer Nights" (with Olivia Newton-John) and "Sandy" (one week in November 1978)
 * John Lennon — "Imagine" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"; "Woman" (both January 1981)
 * Frankie Goes to Hollywood — "Two Tribes" and "Relax" (two weeks in July 1984)
 * Madonna — "Into the Groove" and "Holiday" (one week in August 1985)
 * Justin Bieber
 * "Sorry" and "Love Yourself" (one week in November 2015); "Love Yourself" and "Sorry" (five non-consecutive weeks in December 2015 and January 2016)
 * "Cold Water" (with MØ & Major Lazer) and "Let Me Love You" (with DJ Snake) (three weeks in August 2016)
 * "Despacito" (with Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee) and "I'm the One" (with DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Quavo & Chance the Rapper) (four weeks in May and June 2017)
 * Ed Sheeran
 * "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill" (five weeks in January and February 2017); "How Would You Feel (Paean)" (one week in February 2017); "Galway Girl" (five weeks in March and April 2017)
 * "Perfect" and "River" (with Eminem) (three non-consecutive weeks in December 2017 and January 2018)
 * "Sausage Rolls for Everyone" (with LadBaby and Elton John) and "Merry Christmas" (with Elton John) (one week in December 2021)
 * Ariana Grande — "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" and "7 Rings" (one week in February 2019); "7 Rings" and "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" (one week in February 2019)
 * Adele — "Easy on Me" and "Oh My God" (one week in December 2021)
 * Elton John — "Sausage Rolls for Everyone" (with LadBaby and Ed Sheeran) and "Merry Christmas" (with Ed Sheeran) (one week in December 2021)
 * Harry Styles — "As It Was" and "Late Night Talking" (one week in May 2022)
 * Taylor Swift — "Is It Over Now?" and "Now That We Don't Talk" (one week in November 2023)
 * Sabrina Carpenter — "Please Please Please" and "Espresso" (three weeks in June and July 2024); "Espresso" and "Please Please Please" (two weeks in July 2024)

Age records

 * Captain Tom Moore is the oldest artist to reach number one. He was exactly 100 years old when his rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" with Michael Ball reached number one on the week ending 30 April 2020.
 * Kate Bush is the oldest female artist to reach number one. She was age 63 years, 343 days when her 1985 single "Running Up That Hill" spent its third and final week at number one on the week ending 7 July 2022.
 * Jimmy Osmond is the youngest artist to reach number one. He was age 9 years, 252 days when "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" first reached number one on the week ending 23 December 1972.
 * Helen Shapiro is the youngest female artist to reach number one. She was age 14 years, 323 days when "You Don't Know" first reached number one on the week ending 16 August 1961.

Weeks on chart by single
Top 100: "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers (419 weeks)
 * Most weeks in the chart by a single:

Top 75: "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers (164 weeks)

Top 40: "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey (94 weeks)

Top 20: "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl (75 weeks)

Top 10: "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey (44 weeks)

Top 100: "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd (105 weeks)
 * Longest consecutive run in the chart by a single:

Top 75: "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd (103 weeks)

Top 40: "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran (54 weeks)

Top 20: "Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk (37 weeks) Top 10: "I Believe" by Frankie Laine (35 weeks)

Fastest selling singles
The fastest selling single in chart history is "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John, which sold 1.55 million copies in its first week (it sold 658,000 on the first day of release, 13 September 1997).

The fastest selling debut single is "Anything Is Possible/Evergreen" by Will Young, which sold 1.11 million copies in its first week on sale. Publicity had built up due to the televised talent contest Pop Idol with 8.7 million people phoning in to vote for the finalists.

The fastest selling single by a girl group is the Spice Girls' "2 Become 1", which sold over 462,000 copies during its first week on sale and over 763,000 copies in a fortnight. In total, the single has sold over 1.2 million copies.

Biggest-selling singles artists
Artists with references have been updated as the original list was published by the Official Charts Company during 2012. This means that positions on this list may not be 100% accurately reflected as most of the artists are still active and releasing new singles. This includes all singles (solo, duets and as featuring artists) and in all formats (vinyl, cassette, CD, digital). All singles with collaborations are counted several times on the list.


 * 1) Justin Bieber (32,000,000)
 * 2) Madonna (28,345,000)
 * 3) Coldplay (28,200,000)
 * 4) Rihanna (27,100,000)
 * 5) Michael Jackson (26,995,000)
 * 6) Beyoncé (22,870,000)
 * 7) Mariah Carey (22,400,000)
 * 8) The Beatles (22,100,000)
 * 9) Elton John (21,635,000)
 * 10) Cliff Richard (21,500,000)
 * 11) Westlife (12,854,000)
 * 12) Queen (12,800,000)
 * 13) Elvis Presley (12,205,000)
 * 14) David Bowie (12,000,000)
 * 15) ABBA (11,300,000)
 * 16) Ariana Grande (10,700,000)
 * 17) Paul McCartney (10,200,000)
 * 18) Kylie Minogue (10,100,000)
 * 19) The Rolling Stones (10,100,000)
 * 20) Rod Stewart
 * 21) Take That
 * 22) Stevie Wonder
 * 23) Oasis (9,079,000)
 * 24) Eminem
 * 25) Whitney Houston
 * 26) Spice Girls (8,500,000)
 * 27) George Michael
 * 28) Robbie Williams
 * 29) Bee Gees (7,600,000)
 * 30) U2 (7,500,000)
 * 31) Shakin' Stevens
 * 32) Britney Spears
 * 33) Lady Gaga (7,357,000)
 * 34) Status Quo (7,200,000)
 * 35) Boyzone (7,100,000)
 * 36) Blondie (7,037,000)
 * 37) The Black Eyed Peas (7,034,000)
 * 38) Boney M (6,859,000)
 * 39) Slade (6,856,000)
 * 40) Celine Dion
 * 41) UB40 (6,600,000)
 * 42) Olivia Newton-John
 * 43) Tom Jones

Artists with the most number 2 singles
The following artists have had at least five singles that stalled at number 2:

Songs with the most weeks at number 2
The following songs have all spent at least six weeks at number 2 without going higher on the chart:

Biggest selling non-number one
Based on purchases alone, the record is held by Oasis with their 1995 single "Wonderwall", with 1.55 million copies sold. The song spent a week at number two behind "I Believe" by Robson & Jerome. Including streaming data, the record is held by "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, which peaked at number 10 in 2004 and has been certified 9x Platinum for 5.4 million units.

Based on purchases, the biggest selling single to peak at number three is New Order's "Blue Monday", which has sold over a million copies. However, it garnered its total sales via two further remixes of the track, meaning its one million sales are attributed over all three releases. The biggest selling release to peak at number three is Ed Sheeran's "The A Team", which has sold over 1,067,000 copies since its 2011 release. The biggest selling single never to make the top 5 is "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, which peaked at number 6 and has sold more copies than "The A Team". The biggest selling single not to reach the top 10 is "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri with physical sales of 844,000 and a peak of number 11.

Simultaneously charting songs and singles

 * "Unchained Melody" is the only song to have four versions by different artists charting in the Top 20 at the same time (Al Hibbler, Les Baxter, Jimmy Young and Liberace in June 1955).
 * "Hallelujah" charted in the same week in December 2008 with three artists (Alexandra Burke at No. 1, Jeff Buckley at No. 2, Leonard Cohen at No. 36). It is also the second time in UK single chart where different versions hold the top two spots (the first being Singing the Blues).
 * "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" charted for 3 different artists (The Jackson 5 at No. 30, Bruce Springsteen at No. 48 and Michael Buble at No. 82) on 28 December 2018.
 * "White Christmas" also charted by three different artists (Bing Crosby at No. 31, Gwen Stefani at No. 62 and Glee Cast featuring Chris Colfer & Darren Criss at No. 98) on 28 December 2018.

Most hits without reaching...

 * Most Number 2 hits without reaching Number 1: Sash! (5)
 * Most Top 5 hits without reaching Number 1: Janet Jackson (9)
 * Most Top 75 hits without reaching Number 1: Glee Cast (100)
 * Most Top 75 hits without reaching the Top 10: The 1975 (27)
 * Most Top 40 hits without reaching the Top 10: Super Furry Animals (19)
 * Most Number 11 hits without reaching the Top 10: Lethal Bizzle (3)
 * Most Top 75 hits without reaching the Top 40: Gorky's Zygotic Mynci (8)

First to...

 * On 8 January 2016 Justin Bieber became the first artist in history to hold the top three positions in the UK Official Singles Chart. He achieved this feat as "Love Yourself", "Sorry" and "What Do You Mean?" charted at positions one, two and three simultaneously.
 * The first song to have four separate spells at number one with the same artist line-up was "Three Lions" by Baddiel & Skinner and The Lightning Seeds. The original 1996 version had two one-week stints in 1996, while the 1998 re-work had one three-week spell at the top. The 2018 FIFA World Cup propelled it to a record-breaking fourth outing at the top in July 2018.
 * The first week when all the Top 10 singles (actually Top 12) stayed at the previous week's positions (other than Xmas or other "frozen" charts) occurred on 7 June 2019. This is only true of the combined sales and streaming chart; in the sales only chart, only the top two positions were static and there was a new entry.
 * On 29 July 2021 Little Mix became the first girl group in history to spend 100 weeks inside the UK singles chart Top 10.

Downloads
Downloads grew steadily in popularity after first being integrated into the chart in 2005. In early September 2004, the UK Official Download Chart was launched, and a new live recording of Westlife's "Flying Without Wings" was the first number-one. The first number one to chart without ever receiving a UK physical release was Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" in June 2008. As of 2012, very few songs are given a physical release, and almost the entire chart is released solely on digital download and, since 2014, streaming.

On 22 June 2008, both songs in the top two were there on downloads alone:


 * 1) "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay
 * 2) "Closer" by Ne-Yo

On 31 August 2008, the top three were download-only at the time:


 * 1) "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry
 * 2) "Pjanoo" by Eric Prydz
 * 3) "Disturbia" by Rihanna

On 1 March 2009, the top four were all download-only:


 * 1) "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson
 * 2) "Love Story" by Taylor Swift
 * 3) "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga
 * 4) "Dead and Gone" by T.I. (feat. Justin Timberlake)

By 13 February 2010, the whole top 9 consisted of download-only songs:


 * 1) "Fireflies" by Owl City
 * 2) "Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)" by Jedward (feat. Vanilla Ice)
 * 3) "If We Ever Meet Again" by Timbaland (feat. Katy Perry)
 * 4) "Don't Stop Believin'" by Glee Cast
 * 5) "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" by Alicia Keys
 * 6) "Replay" by Iyaz
 * 7) "Starstrukk" by 3OH!3 (feat. Katy Perry)
 * 8) "One Shot" by JLS
 * 9) "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey