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. Number one hits. 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". Self-replacement at number one. Since the inception of the UK Singles Chart in 1952 only  seven acts have replaced themselves at the top of the UK charts with exactly the same billing (as opposed to any named artist, for example 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows' and 'The Shadows' have had back to back number ones on four occasions): 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. 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. 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" & "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. 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/Shortest song 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. Source: 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. Top 100: "Mr Brightside" by The Killers (311 weeks) Most weeks. Weeks on chart by single. Top 75: "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran (130 weeks) Top 40: "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl (79 weeks) Top 100: “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd (105 weeks) Top 75: "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd (103 weeks) Top 40: "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran (54 weeks) Sales. 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 sold over 1.2 million copies  to date. The fastest number one single music act and band is Westlife with its first seven consecutive number one singles and fourteen number one singles in total. They are also the second music act to have the longest string of number ones in UK history. 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. Outside number one. Biggest selling non-number one. The record is held by Maroon 5 with their 2011 single, "Moves Like Jagger", with 1.55 million copies sold. The song peaked at number two for seven weeks. The record was formerly held by Wham! for their 1984 Christmas release, "Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants", until it finally charted at the top spot in 2021. 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 I ’m Yours by Jason Mraz with sales over 1.8m and never charted higher than No. 11. You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates has never charted in the top 100; despite this, it has over 1 million chart sales, being certified 2× Platinum. Other records. 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. On 22 June 2008, both songs in the top two were there on downloads alone: On 31 August 2008, the top three were download-only at the time: On 1 March 2009, the top four were all download-only: By 13 February 2010, the whole top 9 consisted of download-only songs: