List of UK top-ten singles in 2020

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 150:1 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 2020, as well as singles which peaked in 2019 and 2021 but were in the top 10 in 2020. 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).

One-hundred and four singles were in the top 10 this year. Eleven singles from 2019 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "Sweet Melody" by Little Mix, "34+35" by Ariana Grande, "This Christmas" by Jess Glynne, "Whoopty" by CJ and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Justin Bieber were all released in 2020 but did not reach their peak until 2021. "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey, "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi, Own It by Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy, "River" by Ellie Goulding and "Roxanne" by Arizona Zervas were the singles from 2019 to reach their peak in 2020. "Last Christmas" by Wham! was released in 2019 and re-entered the top 10 in 2020, but did not reach its peak until 2021. Twenty-two artists have scored multiple entries in the top ten in 2020. DaBaby, Doja Cat, Future, Megan Thee Stallion and Roddy Ricch were among the many artists who achieved their first top 10 single in 2020.

The first number-one single of the year was "River" by Ellie Goulding. Overall, eighteen different songs peaked at number-one in 2020, with Ariana Grande (2) having the most songs hit that position.

Background[edit]

Multiple entries[edit]

Sixty-one singles have charted in the top 10 in 2020 (as of 16 July 2020, week ending), with fifty-six singles reaching their peak this year (including the re-entries "All I Want for Christmas Is You", "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Fairytale of New York", "Happy Xmas (War is Over)", "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", "Last Christmas", "Merry Christmas Everyone" and "Step into Christmas", which charted in previous years but reached peaks on their latest chart run).

Sixteen artists have scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2020, with Dua Lipa and AJ Tracey sharing the record (as of 16 July 2020, week ending) for most hit singles this year with four, both including a feature on the charity single "Times Like These" with the Live Lounge Allstars.

Captain Tom Moore breaks records[edit]

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom led to several charity singles being released to raise money to support people fighting the disaster, among these Matt Lucas' "Thank You Baked Potato" and a new version of "We'll Meet Again" by Vera Lynn and Katherine Jenkins. Neither of these singles reached the official top 10, but one single did make a massive mark on the UK charts. Captain Tom Moore teamed up with Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Hope Choir to cover "You'll Never Walk Alone", the single reaching the top spot on 25 March 2020.^[6] Captain Tom had already become a national hero, on top of his time serving the country in the Second World War, after raising more than £28 million for NHS Charities Together through walking 100 laps of his garden during the nationwide lockdown, ahead of his 100th birthday on 30 April. He was also awarded a Pride of Britain Award the day before he reached number-one.^[7]

The single led the Official Chart Update but by 23 April, the day before the chart was revealed, its closest competitor - "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd - was catching up.^[8] However The Weeknd publicly backed "You'll Never Walk Alone" for number-one, encouraging the public to buy and stream it instead of "Blinding Lights" to give the single a final boost.^[9]

Captain Tom became the oldest person to have a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart in the sixty-eight years since it launched in 1952, at the age of 99 years and 11 months, while his co-performer Michael Ball also entered the record books as the eighth oldest (57 years and 9 months).^[10] Moore also became the first centenarian to celebrate a chart-topping single, as he was still at number-one on the day of his 100th birthday. The song itself was the fastest selling single since LadBaby's "I Love Sausage Rolls" in 2019, scoring 80,000 downloads in a week.

"You'll Never Walk Alone" also joined a list of only two other songs which have reached number-one with four different versions - "Unchained Melody" and "Do They Know It's Christmas?" are the other songs which have topped the chart on 4 occasions under four separate iterations. Gerry and the Pacemakers" (1963), The Crowd (1985) and Robson & Jerome (1996) were the previous artists to reach number-one with this song.^[6]

In a sad twist of fate, Captain Tom would himself die from COVID-19 on 2 February 2021.^[11]

Taylor Swift makes chart history[edit]

American singer Taylor Swift made chart history this year by becoming the first female artist to have three singles debut in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart in the same week (6 August 2020, week ending); "Cardigan" (6), "Exile" (8) and "The 1" (10). All three songs were taken from her album Folklore, which topped the UK Albums Chart. Swift went on to achieve another top 10 single, "Willow" (3) in December 2020 following the surprise release of her ninth studio album Evermore.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" finally reaches number-one[edit]

26 years after its initial release, Mariah Carey's festive classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You" finally reached number-one in the UK Singles Chart on 17 December 2020 (week ending).^[12] Upon its initial release in December 1994, the song spent three weeks at number 2,^[13] held off the top spot by East 17's "Stay Another Day". The song returned to the runner-up spot three more times; in 2017,^[14] in 2018^[15] and in 2019.^[16] The song also set a new UK chart record, reaching number-one in its seventieth week in the top 40; no other song in UK chart history has spent more weeks in the top 40 before reaching number-one.^[12] It held the top spot for a second week before being denied the UK's Christmas number-one single for 2020 by LadBaby's "Don't Stop Me Eatin'".

LadBaby gets third Christmas number-one[edit]

LadBaby returned for a third time with a parody song about sausage rolls, once again raising money for the Trussell Trust foodbank charity. His song "Don't Stop Me Eatin' - a take on "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey - hit the top spot at Christmas, giving him a third successive Christmas number-one.

The single was a follow-up to his chart toppers "We Built This City" (2018) and "I Love Sausage Rolls" (2019) and also saw the duo (real name Mark and Roxanne Hoyle) match the record of the Beatles and Spice Girls as the only acts with three Christmas number-one singles.

Chart debuts[edit]

Forty-seven artists achieved their first charting top 10 single in 2020, either as a lead or featured artist. Of these, three went on to record another hit single that year: 24kGoldn, BTS and Megan Thee Stallion. Pop Smoke and Roddy Ricch both achieved two more chart hits in their 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.

Notes

The line-up of Live Lounge Allstars featured a selection of artists who had previously had a top-ten single as part of a group but did not have a solo credit to their name. This includes Ben Johnston, James Johnston and Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro), Dave Grohl (Nirvana and Foo Fighters), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) and Luke Hemmings (5 Seconds of Summer). Ben Thatcher and Mike Kerr, who make up the band Royal Blood, were also debutants to the upper-reaches of the chart, as Royal Blood's highest placing to date was "Figure It Out" which reached number 43 in 2014. Fraser T. Smith had also worked on numerous top 10 singles for different artists, including "Broken Strings" by James Morrison and Nelly Furtado (2008), but this is the first single where he is individually credited.

Songs from films[edit]

The only song from a film which entered the top 10 this year was "No Time to Die" (from No Time to Die). The film was initially scheduled to be released in November 2019, but, due to the departure of Danny Boyle as director and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, its release date was delayed several times. The film was eventually released in the UK on 30 September 2021.

Charity singles[edit]

A number of singles recorded for charity reached the top ten in the charts in 2020. Captain Tom Moore joined forces with Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir to raise funds to support the NHS during the COVID-19 crisis. Their cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone" reached the top of the charts on the week ending 30 April 2020.^[6]

BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge organised a supergroup named Live Lounge Allstars to record "Times Like These" during the Coronavirus crisis, with the contributors including Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding, Chris Martin, Dua Lipa and Rag'n'Bone Man all singing their own parts from their homes due to social distancing. The single entered the chart at number 5 on the 24 April 2020 (week ending 30 April 2020), less than 12 hours after release.^[17] The following week, it reached number-one, becoming the first song produced by BBC Radio 1 to top the chart, and the first BBC release to peak at number-one since "Perfect Day" in 1997.

Following the success of "Times Like These", BBC Radio 2 organised its own supergroup, BBC Radio 2 Allstars to record "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" as the official single for that year's Children in Need appeal,^[18] with the contributors including Kylie Minogue, Bryan Adams, Cher, Jess Glynne and Robbie Williams^[18] all singing their parts from their own homes due to social distancing. The single entered the chart at number 7 on 20 November 2020 (week ending 26 November 2020).^[19]

Best-selling singles[edit]

The Weeknd had the best-selling single of the year with "Blinding Lights". The song spent 22 weeks in the top 10 (including eight weeks at number-one), sold over 1,800,000 copies and was certified 3× platinum by the BPI. "Dance Monkey" by Tones & I came in second place, while Saint Jhn's "Roses", "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi and "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry featuring MNEK made up the top five. Songs by Dua Lipa, DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, Lewis Capaldi ("Someone You Loved"), Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy and Harry Styles were also in the top ten best-selling singles of the year.

Top-ten singles[edit]

Key

Entries by artist[edit]

The following table shows artists who have achieved two or more top 10 entries in 2020, including singles that reached their peak in 2019. 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 2020 is also shown.

Notes[edit]

See also[edit]

• 2020 in British music
• List of number-one singles from the 2020s (UK)

References[edit]

General

• "Six decades of singles charts". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2017.

Specific

External links[edit]

• 2020 singles chart archive at the Official Charts Company (click on relevant week)