History of the UK's longest-running No.1 as Sam Fender and Olivia Dean smash chart record

It’s taken all of 72 years and 330 days for Frankie Laine’s “I Believe” to surrender its record for the most weeks at No.1 on the UK Official Singles Chart.

I’ve been a devoted chart follower for more than 35 years, and, quite honestly, I never thought this day would come.

On 31 July (or 6 August, for those who prefer to catalogue the UK charts by their week-ending dates), Sam Fender and Olivia Dean fought off fierce competition from Shakira and Burna Boy’s FIFA World Cup anthem “Dai Dai” to log a 19th non-consecutive week at No.1 with “Rein Me In”.

History had been made. One of the longest-running and most prestigious UK chart records had fallen to a lad from North Shields and a girl from Haringey.

Fender, 32, and Dean, 27, were both more than 40 years shy of existing (!) when American crooner Laine (1913-2007) managed 18 non-consecutive weeks at No.1 – in blocks of nine, six and three weeks – in 1953, during the first full year of the UK singles chart’s operation.

Many have tried – and failed – to mimic Laine’s remarkable chart longevity since.

When I scribbled down my first UK Top 40 with a razor-sharp pencil in my bedroom in September 1991, listening to Mark Goodier count down those all-important numbers on Radio 1 on Sunday afternoon, it was in the midst of Bryan Adams’ 16-week staycation at the summit with “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”, which, alas, retains the record for the most consecutive weeks at No.1 on the UK Official Singles Chart.

You’ll remember the gravelly-voiced Canadian’s awesome power ballad from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, even if you don’t care to admit it.

Three years later, Wet Wet Wet’s cover of The Troggs’ “Love Is All Around” found its way on to the soundtrack of Richard Curtis’ romcom Four Weddings and a Funeral and lasted 15 weeks at No.1 before, unfathomably, the band ordered it to be deleted from sale, with better singles from the criminally underrated Picture This waiting patiently in the wings, radio-station bans in force and public apathy for the ubiquitous earworm at an all-time high.

Or so the story goes…

Sam and Olivia’s 16th week at No.1 (chart dated 16 July 2026) wiped the Wets from UK chart folklore as the longest-running UK No.1 by a UK act.

Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” enjoyed two spells at the top totalling 14 weeks in 1975-76 and, after Freddie Mercury’s death, in 1991-92. Fourteen was also the magic number for Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” in 2017 – the year after “One Dance” by Drake, featuring mates Wizkid and Kyla, somehow stuck it out for 15 weeks, then the longest-running UK No.1 by a duet.

Unbeknown to fans of 1950s balladry, Laine’s record was safe for another decade, with only Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” threatening the extraordinary with 13 chart-topping weeks in 2025.     

The very definition of a “slow-burner”, “Rein Me In”, a TikTok trend gone berserk that won Song of the Year at the 2026 BRITs, completed its toilsome trek to the top on 26 February 2026, after 36 consecutive weeks of chart action since a modest No.86 debut on 26 June 2025 – the longest climb to No.1 on the UK Official Singles Chart (consecutive chart run).

As you read this, the meandering ballad has now spent 59 consecutive weeks to’ing and fro’ing on the weekly countdown, 58 of which have been inside the Top 40 – the most consecutive weeks in the UK Top 40 (one single). Yet another record had been reined in (pun intended) by the redoubtable duo, this time Ed Sheeran’s unblemished 54-week adventure in 2014-15 with “Thinking Out Loud”.

“Rein Me In” has logged spells of three, five, five and six weeks at No.1 (and counting). Who will be brave enough to put an end to its, er, reign?

Read about more record-breaking music stars in our Arts and Entertainment section.

So what does its success mean for the UK Official Singles Chart, a British institution for almost 75 years, a weekly fixture that continues to fill column inches, fuel lively debate and make headlines around the world?

When the chart bods introduced the ACR (Accelerated Chart Ratio) rule in 2017, designed to speed up the turnover of new hits (and new talent) by ‘handicapping’ old or long-running titles trending downwards in streams or sales, little did they imagine Sam Fender and Olivia Dean would create the perfect storm of two wildly popular singers teaming up at just the right time – on a reworked version of a solo track that had already gained traction on Fender’s third studio album, People Watching – to down Laine and, arguably, land the telling blow in the chart records battle between hits old and new.

(Nor would they have bargained on the staying power of “Mr Brightside” by The Killers, an utterly outrageous 516 weeks – exactly twice its nearest rival – into a record-battering sojourn on the UK singles chart, with power to add.) 

Fans of Frankie Laine will mourn the passing of one of the great historical UK chart records, pointing to the fact that Laine’s physical singles-generated sales are a far cry from the “equivalent units” conundrum that’s become part and parcel of the streaming era. It’s a fair point.

But the dawn of the Sam and Olivia age also opens up endless possibilities and new records once thought to be untouchable. Many songs these days don’t just disappear from view and decompose. On the contrary, they regenerate with every new TikTok trend, Netflix series, mega-selling world tour, tabloid scandal or – dare I say it – death.

Yes, the oldies will always retain a number of chart achievements and significant ‘firsts’, but the sands of time have shifted seismically and so have the ways in which we consume music. In turn, so should our expectations.

This is so much more than a generational battle, or a matter of personal taste in balladry, or if 19 non-consecutive weeks today is a greater achievement than 18 non-consecutive weeks back then. It doesn’t have to polarize opinion to that extent.

Simply put, there’s room for Frankie Laine, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean to write their own chapters in the UK singles chart’s rich and varied history. It’s a new dawn, and we must embrace it wholeheartedly – just as we did when Elvis shocked the world with his hip-gyrating rock ‘n’ roll, or when The Beatles couldn’t even hear themselves play their own instruments during sell-out performances in front of raucous, screaming fans. 

The seasoned music fans I’ve spoken to since Friday’s historic chart update have been indifferent to the news of Sam and Olivia’s coronation, or, surprisingly, have not been aware of the achievement at all, despite it being plastered all over the media. In a world of information overload, and when attention spans are short, maybe securing the coveted No.1 spot (and staying there for multiple weeks) really doesn’t matter as much as it once did.

However, chart fans will argue that it matters just as much as it ever did, albeit amidst the unpredictability of an ever-shifting musical landscape.

It’s been refreshing to watch “Rein Me In” spark a surge of interest and breathe new life into the chart. It’s also given us here at GWR some new and exciting records to report on, and that can only be a good thing.

Header image: Alan West/Hogan Media/Shutterstock