Oldest female artist to reach No.1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart

Kate Bush (UK, b. 30 July 1958) was 63 years 342 days old when “Running Up that Hill (A Deal with God)” spent a third week at No.1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart on 7 July 2022. The enigmatic singer-songwriter, who had previously hit No.1 with the self-penned “Wuthering Heights” at the age of 19 and was the first solo female artist to score a No.1 studio album (Never for Ever, 1980), was introduced to a whole new generation of fans when “Running Up that Hill” featured in Series 4 of the Netflix TV series Stranger Things.

Cher (USA, b. Cherilyn Sarkisian, 20 May 1946) was formerly the oldest solo female chart-topper on the UK’s singles chart with “Believe”, which nailed its seventh and final week at the top on 12 December 1998 when she was 52 years 206 days old.

Mariah Carey (b. 27 March 1969) was 53 years 263 days old on 15 Dec 2022, when “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returned to No.1 for the holiday season, but by that time Bush had already claimed the record at 63 years 342 days.

Bush is the fifth-oldest chart-topper since the first UK singles chart was published on 14 November 1952, behind Captain Tom Moore (100 years old in 2020), Elton John (74 in 2022), Tom Jones (68 in 2009) and Louis Armstrong (66 in 1968); of these, only Armstrong made it to No.1 as a solo artist with no other credited vocalists.