List of UK top-ten singles in 2018

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Dua Lipa provided vocals on Calvin Harris' "One Kiss", which spent eight weeks at number-one and became the best-selling single of 2018. Dua Lipa 02 08 2018 -18 (26884065608).jpg
Dua Lipa provided vocals on Calvin Harris' "One Kiss", which spent eight weeks at number-one and became the best-selling single of 2018.
Drake secured the most top 10 entries of any artist this year, with six in total, including three number-one hits: "God's Plan", "Nice for What" and "In My Feelings". Drake and Future 2016 Summer Sixteen Tour (cropped).jpg
Drake secured the most top 10 entries of any artist this year, with six in total, including three number-one hits: "God's Plan", "Nice for What" and "In My Feelings".
George Ezra scored two top 10 entries in 2018, including "Shotgun", which spent four non-consecutive weeks at number-one and became the third best selling single of the year. George Ezra - Frequency Festival - 2017-08-16-19-59-50-0002.jpg
George Ezra scored two top 10 entries in 2018, including "Shotgun", which spent four non-consecutive weeks at number-one and became the third best selling single of the year.
Bradley Cooper duetted with Lady Gaga on the song "Shallow", taken from the soundtrack of the film A Star Is Born. It entered the UK top 10 in October 2018, ultimately reaching the number-one spot for two weeks. "Shallow" went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Glasto17-44 (35547413626) Cropped.jpg
Bradley Cooper duetted with Lady Gaga on the song "Shallow", taken from the soundtrack of the film A Star Is Born . It entered the UK top 10 in October 2018, ultimately reaching the number-one spot for two weeks. "Shallow" went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom. [1] Since 2004 the chart has been based on the sales of both physical singles and digital downloads, with airplay figures excluded from the official chart. [2] [3] Since 2014, the singles chart has been based on both sales and streaming, with the ratio altered in 2017 to 300:1 streams and only three singles by the same artist eligible for the chart. [4] [5] From July 2018, video streams from YouTube Music and Spotify among others began to be counted for the Official Charts. This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 2018, as well as singles which peaked in 2017 and 2019 but were in the top 10 in 2018. The entry date is when the song appeared in the top 10 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).

Contents

Ninety-eight singles were in the top ten this year. Twelve singles from 2017 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" by Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus, "Rewrite the Stars" by James Arthur and Anne-Marie, "Sweet but Psycho" by Ava Max and "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee were all released in 2018 but did not reach their peak until 2019. "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl charted in the top 10 in 2017 and re-entered in 2018 but did not reach its peak until 2019. "Last Christmas" by Wham!, "Man's Not Hot" by Big Shaq, "17" by MK, "Let You Down" by NF, "River" by Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran and "I Miss You" by Clean Bandit featuring Julia Michaels were the singles from 2017 to reach their peak in 2018. Twenty-four artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2018. Ava Max, Cardi B, Dave, Freya Ridings and Travis Scott were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 2018.

“Three Lions (Football's Coming Home)” by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds set two new chart records this year. The single first released ahead of Euro 96 returned to number-one for the fourth time during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the only single to date to top the chart four times by the same artists. It also suffered the sharpest fall from the top spot, dropping 96 places the full chart week after England were knocked out of the tournament.

The 2017 Christmas number-one, "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran, remained at number-one for the first three weeks of 2018. The first new number-one single of the year was "River" by Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran. Overall, seventeen different singles peaked at number-one in 2018, with Drake (3) having the most singles hit that position.

Background

Multiple entries

Ninety-eight singles charted in the top 10 in 2018, with ninety-three singles reaching their peak this year (including the re-entries "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Fairytale of New York", "Last Christmas", "Merry Christmas Everyone" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" which charted in previous years but reached peaks on their latest chart run).

Twenty-four artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2018, with Drake securing the record for most hit singles this year with six.

Introduction of video streaming

In June 2018, the Official Charts Company announced that official video streams from YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal among other providers would become eligible for the chart from the following month alongside audio streams. [6] “Shotgun” by George Ezra was the first single to reach number-one under the new rules, topping the chart on 5 July 2018 (week ending). His combined sales included around 3 million views of the music video.

“Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 and Cardi B was another single to benefit from the Official Charts Company's inclusion of video streams, rising from 13 to number 10 as the most streamed video of that week.

Drake also claimed his third chart-topper of the year thanks in part to the chart alterations, after "In My Feelings" became the subject of a viral craze, with the public and celebrities recreating dance moves from the music video.

FIFA World Cup effect

“Three Lions” made chart history as the first song to reach number-one on four occasions with the same line-up. [7] The football anthem by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds renewed popularity was fuelled by a young England football team's unexpected success in reaching the FIFA World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1990. The song's refrain “It's Coming Home” was a soundtrack to the tournament and led to demand for the track.

The single led the iTunes sales chart and Spotify Top 50 chart in the days leading up to the game, but was only announced as number-one on 13 July 2018, two days after the team were eliminated against Croatia.

As a result, the popularity of the song rapidly faded and it set another new record as the fastest falling number-one single in history, dropping ninety-six places to number 97 the following week. This was the steepest chart decline from number-one since "A Bridge over You" by The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir went from Christmas number-one down to number 29 at the end of 2015.

Chart debuts

Forty artists achieved their first top 10 single in 2018, either as a lead or featured artist. XXXTentacion and Travis Scott both reached the top 10 on a second occasion. Cardi B had two other entries in her breakthrough year.

The following table (collapsed on desktop site) does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo single.

ArtistNumber of top 10sFirst entryChart positionOther entries
Cardi B 3"Finesse"5"I Like It", "Girls Like You"
Ramz 1"Barking"2—
Keala Settle 1"This Is Me"3—
The Greatest Showman Ensemble
Ina Wroldsen 1"Breathe"7—
Sigrid 1"Strangers"10—
Dan Caplen 1"These Days"1—
Portugal. The Man 1"Feel It Still"3—
SZA 1"All the Stars"5—
Chris Stapleton 1"Say Something"9—
Maren Morris 1"The Middle"7—
Lil Dicky 1"Freaky Friday"1—
Banx & Ranx 1"Answerphone"7—
Tom Walker 1"Leave a Light On"8—
Bad Bunny 1"I Like It"9—
XXXTentacion 2"Sad!"5"Falling Down"
Jack & Jack 1"Rise"3—
Dzeko 1"Jackie Chan"5—
Preme
Loud Luxury 1"Body"4—
Brando
Travis Scott 2"Sicko Mode"9"Zeze"
Benny Blanco 1"Eastside"1—
Juice Wrld 1"Lucid Dreams"10—
Joyner Lucas 1"Lucky You"6—
Lil Pump 1"I Love It"3—
Dynoro 1"In My Mind"8—
Gigi D'Agostino
Silk City 1"Electricity"4—
Lil Peep 1"Falling Down"10—
Freya Ridings 1"Lost Without You"9—
Dave 1"Funky Friday"1—
Fredo
Bradley Cooper 1"Shallow"1—
Kodak Black 1"Zeze"7—
Ava Max 1"Sweet but Psycho"1—
Dalton Harris 1"The Power of Love"4—
6ix9ine 1"Kika"9—
Tory Lanez
LadBaby 1"We Built This City"1—
Notes

Ina Wroldsen had previously had a top 10 entry as an uncredited artist when Calvin Harris and Disciples remixed a song she had written and sang on, "How Deep Is Your Love". The song went on to peak at number 2 in 2015. Macklemore joined forces with Rudimental, Jess Glynne and Dan Caplen for the number-one single "These Days". All his previous top 10 singles were alongside Ryan Lewis in the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Along with Quavo and Takeoff, Offset is part of the collective Migos whose first top 10 credit came on Calvin Harris' hit single "Slide" in 2017. Benny Blanco took on a lead artist tag for the first time on "Eastside", with Halsey and Khalid providing vocals, after years of chart success as a songwriter (beginning with Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008). The duo Silk City comprises producer Mark Ronson and DJ and record producer Diplo, who both had top 10 hits to their name, but were making their first appearance together on "Electricity".

Songs from films

Original songs from various films entered the top 10 throughout the year. These included "This Is Me" (from The Greatest Showman ), "For You" ( Fifty Shades Freed ), "All the Stars" ( Black Panther ), "Shallow" ( A Star Is Born and "Sunflower" ( Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse ). "Shallow" was the only one of these singles to reach the number-one spot.

Additionally, "Rewrite the Stars" by Anne-Marie and James Arthur also entered the top 10 at number 8, however despite being from The Greatest Showman , this entry was part of The Greatest Showman: Reimagined soundtrack. The original version was sung by Zac Efron and Zendaya in the film.

Best-selling singles

Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa had the best-selling single of the year with "One Kiss". The song spent 12 weeks in the top 10 (including eight weeks at number-one), sold over 1,200,000 copies and was certified 2× platinum by the BPI. "God's Plan" by Drake came in second place, while George Ezra's "Shotgun", "This is Me" by Keala Settle and "These Days" from Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplan made up the top five. Singles by Ed Sheeran, Drake ("Nice for What"), George Ezra ("Paradise"), Ariana Grande and Portugal. The Man were also in the top ten best-selling singles of the year.

Top-ten singles

Key
SymbolMeaning
‡Single peaked in 2017 but still in chart in 2018.
♦Single released in 2017 or 2018 but peaked in 2019.
(#)Year-end top-ten single position and rank
EnteredThe date that the single first appeared in the chart.
PeakHighest position that the single reached in the UK Singles Chart.
Entered
(week ending)		Weeks
in
top
10		SingleArtistPeakPeak
reached
(week ending)		Weeks
at
peak
Singles in 2017
21 September 201715"Havana" ‡ [A] Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug 19 November 20175
2 November 201714"Perfect" ‡ (#6) Ed Sheeran 114 December 20176
16 November 201711"Anywhere" ‡ Rita Ora 223 November 20173
23 November 20179"Man's Not Hot" Big Shaq 311 January 20181
30 November 20173"Wolves" ‡ [B] Selena Gomez & Marshmello 930 November 20173
7 December 20177"I Miss You" [C] Clean Bandit featuring Julia Michaels 425 January 20181
3"17" [D] MK 711 January 20181
14 December 20178"All I Want for Christmas Is You" ‡ [E] Mariah Carey 221 December 20172
7"Last Christmas" [F] Wham! 24 January 20181
6"Fairytale of New York" ♦ [G] The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl 43 January 20191
28 December 20179"River" Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran125 January 20181
4"Let You Down" [H] NF 618 January 20181
Singles in 2018
4 January 20181"Do They Know It's Christmas?" [I] [J] Band Aid 74 January 20181
1"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" [K] Brenda Lee 94 January 20181
1"Merry Christmas Everyone" [L] Shakin' Stevens 104 January 20181
11 January 20188"Barking" Ramz 225 January 20183
18 January 20186"Finesse" Bruno Mars & Cardi B 525 January 20181
4"I Know You" Craig David featuring Bastille 58 February 20181
25 January 20183"Never Be the Same" [M] Camila Cabello725 January 20181
4"Tip Toe" Jason Derulo featuring French Montana 51 February 20181
1 February 201810"God's Plan" (#2) Drake 11 February 20189
9"IDGAF" Dua Lipa 31 March 20183
13"This Is Me" (#4) Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble 322 February 20182
3"Breathe" [N] Jax Jones featuring Ina Wroldsen 78 February 20181
8 February 20181"Strangers" Sigrid 108 February 20181
15 February 201811"These Days" (#5) Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen 15 April 20181
11"Feel It Still" (#10) Portugal. The Man 322 March 20183
22 February 20184"For You" Liam Payne & Rita Ora822 February 20182
1 March 20185"All the Stars" Kendrick Lamar & SZA 51 March 20181
9"Friends"Marshmello & Anne-Marie 422 March 20183
8 March 201811"Psycho" Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla Sign 48 March 20181
3"Say Something" Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton 915 March 20182
22 March 20185"The Middle" [O] Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey 75 April 20181
29 March 201811"Paradise" (#8) George Ezra 25 April 20181
5 April 20188"Freaky Friday" Lil Dicky featuring Chris Brown 112 April 20181
7"Lullaby" Sigala & Paloma Faith 626 April 20181
12 April 20181"Call Out My Name" The Weeknd 712 April 20181
19 April 20189"Nice for What" (#7)Drake119 April 20181
12"One Kiss" (#1) Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa126 April 20188
3 May 20189"No Tears Left to Cry" (#9) Ariana Grande 23 May 20182
6"Answerphone" Banx & Ranx & Ella Eyre featuring Yxng Bane 531 May 20181
12"2002"Anne-Marie37 June 20185
10 May 20188"Better Now" [P] Post Malone621 June 20182
24 May 20182"This Is America" Childish Gambino 624 May 20181
5"Flames" David Guetta & Sia 731 May 20181
1"In My Blood" Shawn Mendes 1024 May 20181
31 May 20187"I'll Be There"Jess Glynne121 June 20181
7 June 20188"Solo" Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato 128 June 20181
14 June 201816"Shotgun" (#3) [Q] George Ezra15 July 20184
1"Yikes" Kanye West 1014 June 20181
21 June 20183"Leave a Light On" [R] Tom Walker 728 June 20181
7"I Like It" [S] Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin 85 July 20182
28 June 20187"If You're Over Me" Years & Years 65 July 20183
5 July 20181"Sad!" [T] XXXTentacion 55 July 20181
12 July 20184"Don't Matter to Me"Drake featuring Michael Jackson 212 July 20181
1"Nonstop"Drake412 July 20181
1"Emotionless"512 July 20181
12"Girls Like You" Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B726 July 20184
19 July 20181"Three Lions" [U] [V] Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds 119 July 20181
9"In My Feelings"Drake126 July 20184
6"Rise" Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack 32 August 20182
26 July 20185"God Is a Woman" [W] Ariana Grande426 July 20181
5"Youngblood" 5 Seconds of Summer 42 August 20181
5"Jackie Chan" Tiësto & Dzeko featuring Preme & Post Malone52 August 20181
9 August 20185"No Brainer" DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper & Quavo 316 August 20182
16 August 20188"Body" Loud Luxury featuring Brando420 September 20182
1"Sicko Mode" Travis Scott 916 August 20181
8"Taste" Tyga featuring Offset 520 September 20181
23 August 20188"Eastside" Benny Blanco, Halsey & Khalid 16 September 20181
30 August 201812"Promises"Calvin Harris & Sam Smith 113 September 20186
1"Breathin"Ariana Grande830 August 20181
6 September 20181"Lucid Dreams" Juice Wrld 106 September 20181
13 September 20182"The Ringer"Eminem413 September 20181
3"Lucky You"Eminem featuring Joyner Lucas 613 September 20181
2"Fall"Eminem820 September 20181
20 September 20186"I Love It"Kanye West & Lil Pump 320 September 20184
8"Happier"Marshmello & Bastille211 October 20181
27 September 20187"In My Mind" Dynoro & Gigi D'Agostino 511 October 20181
7"Electricity" Silk City & Dua Lipa411 October 20181
4 October 20184"All I Am"Jess Glynne711 October 20181
1"Falling Down" Lil Peep & XXXTentacion104 October 20181
11 October 20188"Let You Love Me"Rita Ora422 November 20181
7"Lost Without You" [X] Freya Ridings 911 October 20185
18 October 20188"Funky Friday" Dave featuring Fredo 118 October 20181
8"Shallow" Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper 11 November 20182
25 October 20189"Woman Like Me" Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj 28 November 20183
1 November 201813"Sunflower" ♦ [Y] Post Malone & Swae Lee 310 January 20191
7"Zeze" Kodak Black featuring Travis Scott & Offset78 November 20181
15 November 201812"Thank U, Next"Ariana Grande115 November 20186
7"Thursday"Jess Glynne36 December 20181
9"Without Me"Halsey313 December 20182
6 December 201812"Sweet but Psycho" ♦ Ava Max 13 January 20194
13 December 20181"The Power of Love" Dalton Harris featuring James Arthur 413 December 20181
3"Rewrite the Stars" ♦James Arthur & Anne-Marie717 January 20191
1"Kika" 6ix9ine featuring Tory Lanez 913 December 20181
10"Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" ♦ Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus 224 January 20191
27 December 20181"We Built This City" LadBaby 127 December 20181
1"Imagine"Ariana Grande827 December 20181

Entries by artist

US record producer and songwriter Benny Blanco teamed up with American singers Halsey and Khalid for the hit single "Eastside", which entered the UK top 10 in August of this year and spent a week at number-one. Benny Bowtie 2018.jpg
US record producer and songwriter Benny Blanco teamed up with American singers Halsey and Khalid for the hit single "Eastside", which entered the UK top 10 in August of this year and spent a week at number-one.
Demi Lovato achieved her first UK number-one single in June 2018 after providing vocals on Clean Bandit's "Solo", which lasted eight weeks in the top 10. Demi Lovato 8 (41898569045).jpg
Demi Lovato achieved her first UK number-one single in June 2018 after providing vocals on Clean Bandit's "Solo", which lasted eight weeks in the top 10.

The following table shows artists who have achieved two or more top 10 entries in 2018, including singles that reached their peak in 2017. The figures include both main artists and featured artists, while appearances on ensemble charity records are also counted for each artist. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 2018 is also shown.

EntriesArtistWeeksSingles
6
Drake 29"Don't Matter to Me", "Emotionless", "God's Plan", "In My Feelings", "Nice for What", "Nonstop"
5 Ariana Grande 22"Breathin", "God Is a Woman", "Imagine", "No Tears Left to Cry", "Thank U, Next"
4 Jess Glynne [Z] 27"All I Am", "I'll Be There", "These Days", "Thursday"
Eminem 10"Fall", "Lucky You", "River", "The Ringer",
Post Malone [AA] [BB] 31"Better Now", "Jackie Chan", "Psycho", "Sunflower"
3 Cardi B [CC] 21"Finesse", "Girls Like You", "I Like It",
Marshmello [DD] 16"Friends", "Happier", "Wolves",
Dua Lipa 28"Electricity", "IDGAF", "One Kiss",
Rita Ora [DD] 18"Anywhere", "For You", "Let You Love Me"
Anne-Marie 22"2002", "Friends", "Rewrite the Stars"
2 Camila Cabello [DD] 4"Havana", "Never Be the Same"
Ed Sheeran [DD] [EE] 7"Perfect", "River"
George Ezra 26"Paradise", "Shotgun"
Clean Bandit 11"I Miss You", "Solo"
Bastille [FF] 12"Happier", "I Know You",
George Michael [GG] [HH] [II] 4"Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Last Christmas"
Calvin Harris 24"One Kiss", "Promises"
James Arthur 1"Rewrite the Stars", "The Power of Love",
Mark Ronson [JJ] 10"Electricity", "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart"
Kanye West 7"I Love It", "Yikes",
XXXTentacion 2"Falling Down", "Sad!"
Travis Scott 7"Sicko Mode, "Zeze"
Offset [KK] [LL] 14"Taste, "Zeze"
Halsey 15"Eastside", "Without Me"

Notes

See also

References

General

Specific

  1. ↑ "The Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Roberts, David (2005). Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums (18th edition). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 14. ISBN   1-904994-00-8.
  3. ↑ "New singles formats to save the charts". BBC News . 16 October 2003. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  4. ↑ "Official Singles Chart rules are changing to help new bands break through". Newsbeat. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Homewood, Ben (19 December 2016). "Official Charts Company changes conversion rate to reflect rise in streaming". Music Week. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "The Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  7. ↑ "Three Lions breaks chart record". BBC News. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
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