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 physical singles and digital downloads, with airplay figures excluded from the official chart.[2][3] Since 2014, the singles chart has been based on sales and streaming, with the ratio altered in 2017 to 150:1 stream 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, and singles that 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).
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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]
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.
g "Do They Know It's Christmas?" re-entered the top 10 on 2 January 2020 (week ending), having originally peaked at number 1 upon release in 1984.
h "Step into Christmas" re-entered the top 10 at its new peak of number 8 on 2 January 2020 (week ending). It originally peaked at number 24 on its initial release in 1973. It reached the top 10 for the first time on 3 January 2019 (week ending), originally peaking at number 10.
i "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" re-entered the top 10 on 2 January 2020 (week ending), having originally peaked at number 4 upon release in 1973.
j Figure includes a top-ten hit as a member of the group Wham!
k Figure includes an appearance on the "Do They Know It's Christmas?" charity single by Band Aid.
l "Dance Monkey" re-entered the top 10 at number 5 on 9 January 2020 (week ending).
m "Lose You to Love Me" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 9 January 2020 (week ending).
n "Don't Start Now" re-entered the top 10 at number 3 on 9 January 2020 (week ending).
o "Everything I Wanted" re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 9 January 2020 (week ending).
p "Roxanne" re-entered the top 10 at number 4 on 9 January 2020 (week ending).
q "Before You Go" re-entered the top 10 at number 2 on 9 January 2020 (week ending).
r "Someone You Loved" re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 16 January 2020 (week ending).
s "Everything I Wanted" re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 6 February 2020 (week ending).
t "Adore You" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 13 February 2020 (week ending).
u "Adore You" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 5 March 2020 (week ending).
v "Godzilla" re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 26 March 2020 (week ending).
w "Intentions" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 26 March 2020 (week ending).
x "Times Like These" entered the top 5 within 12 hours of the song's initial release (23 April 2020).[20]
y Figure includes a feature in the Live Lounge Allstars.
z "Say So" reached a new peak of number 2 following the subsequent release of the remix featuring Nicki Minaj.
aa "Savage" entered the top 10 at number 3 following the subsequent release of the remix featuring Beyoncé.
bb "Blinding Lights" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 18 June 2020 (week ending).
rr "All I Want for Christmas is You" re-entered the top 10 at number 2 on 10 December 2020 (week ending).
ss "Last Christmas" re-entered the top 10 at number 3 on 10 December 2020 (week ending).
tt "Fairytale of New York" re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 10 December 2020 (week ending).
uu "34+35" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 10 December 2020 (week ending).
vv "All I Want for Christmas is You" reached number-one in the UK Singles Chart for the first time ever on 17 December 2020 (week ending).
ww "Merry Christmas Everyone" re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 17 December 2020 (week ending).
xx "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 17 December 2020 (week ending). It first peaked at number 7 on 3 January 2019 (week ending).
yy "Do They Know It's Christmas?" re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 17 December 2020 (week ending).
zz "Step into Christmas" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 17 December 2020 (week ending).
aaa "Step into Christmas" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 31 December 2020 (week ending).
bbb "Last Christmas" reached number-one in the UK Singles Chart for the first time ever on 7 January 2021 (week ending).
ccc "Sweet Melody" re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 7 January 2021 (week ending).
ddd "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 7 January 2021 (week ending).
eee "Whoopty" re-entered the top 10 at number 3 on 14 January 2021 (week ending).
fff "Levitating" re-entered the top 10 at number 5 on 14 January 2021 (week ending).
ggg "34+35" re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 14 January 2021 (week ending).
hhh "You Broke Me First" re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 14 January 2021 (week ending).
iii "34+35" re-entered the top 10 at number 3 on 28 January 2021 (week ending).