Charli XCX Becomes First British Artist to Reach No. 1 on U.K. Singles Chart in 2024
Written by djfrosty on August 9, 2024
Finally! We’re well into August and it took up until this week for a British act to reach No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart in 2024.
Charli XCX achieves the feat as her remix of “Guess,” featuring Billie Eilish, debuts at No. 1. It’s the first song by a British artist to top the Official U.K. Singles Chart since Wham!’s 1984 holiday perennial “Last Christmas” wrapped up a four-week run at No. 1 over the 2023 holidays. Since then, the No. 1 spot on the U.K. chart was held by seven American acts and one Irish act (Hozier, who led for two weeks with “Too Sweet”).
Sabrina Carpenter has held the top spot on the Official U.K. Singles Chart for a total of 12 weeks (so far) in 2024 – seven for “Espresso” and five for “Please Please Please.” The other hits by American acts that have topped the U.K. chart so far in 2024 are Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” (seven weeks), Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” (five weeks), Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (two weeks), Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone’s “Fortnight” (one week) and Eminem‘s “Houdini” (two weeks).
“Guess” becomes Charli’s second No. 1 in the U.K. — and her first as a lead artist. She first topped the chart in 2013 as the featured artist on Icona Pop’s “I Love It.”
Trending on Billboard
“Guess” is the third U.K. chart-topper for Eilish, which is two more than she has had in her home country. (“Bad Guy” remains her only No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 to date.) Moreover, “Guess” is Eilish’s first U.K. No. 1 that wasn’t from a film. Her two previous U.K. No. 1s are “No Time to Die” (2020) and “What Was I Made For?” (2023), her Oscar-winning songs from the James Bond film of the same name and Barbie, respectively.
“Guess” first appeared on the deluxe edition of Charli XCX’s album Brat, dubbed Brat and It’s the Same but There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not.
“Guess” has yet to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, but, writing in the weekly Trending Up column, Jason Lipshutz suggests that that will soon change: “Don’t be shocked if ‘Guess’ crashes the top 20 of the Hot 100 next week.”
Chappell Roan’s first full-length album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, reaches No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart in its 17th week. That’s higher than the album has climbed on the Billboard 200, where it inches up to No. 4 this week, its highest ranking to date.
Roan is the ninth American artist to reach No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums chart in 2024, following Green Day, Kahan, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Swift, Eilish, Gracie Abrams and Eminem.