Drake had the best-selling single of 2016 with "One Dance", which spent 15 consecutive weeks at number-one, the longest running number-one of the digital era. He had a further three top 10 singles this year, two of which were collaborations with Rihanna.Lukas Forchhammer and his band Lukas Graham from Denmark reached number-one in the UK in February with their song "7 Years", which became the second best selling single of the year.Justin Bieber had five top 10 singles in 2016, the most of any artist. In January, he became the first-ever artist to occupy the entire top three of the UK Singles Chart with "Love Yourself", "Sorry" and "What Do You Mean?", which had all topped the chart in 2015. Bieber also occupied the top two in August thanks to his appearances on Major Lazer's "Cold Water" and DJ Snake's "Let Me Love You".Halsey reached the UK top 10 for the first time this year after providing guest vocals on The Chainsmokers' number-one hit "Closer".
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 both physical singles and digital downloads, with airplay figures excluded from the official chart.[2][3] From 6 July 2014, streaming figures became incorporated into the singles chart which means that a song will count as a sale, if streamed 100 times.[4] This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 2016, as well as singles which peaked in 2015 and 2017 but were in the top 10 in 2016. 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).
Seventy-five singles were in the top ten in 2016, the lowest number of unique top 10 singles in a calendar year since 1952, when twenty-five singles made the countdown. Ten singles from 2015 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "I Would Like" by Zara Larsson" was released in 2016 but did not reach its peak until 2017. "History" by One Direction was the only song from 2015 to reach its peak in 2016. Twenty-three artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2016. Anne-Marie, The Chainsmokers, Jonas Blue, Lukas Graham and Rag'n'Bone Man were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 2016.
Drake's single "One Dance" tied the second longest-running spell at number-one with "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet and also the most consecutive weeks at the top spot in the digital era. In January 2016, Justin Bieber held the top 3 spots in the chart in a single week, the first time an artist had achieved this in history. This year also saw the lowest number of unique chart toppers in the 21st century with ten, and the second lowest of all-time, only beaten by 1952, when Al Martino's "Here in My Heart" was the only single to reach number-one, albeit the chart only began in November that year.
"Love Yourself" by Canadian singer Justin Bieber returned to number-one for the first three weeks of 2016, giving the song a total of six weeks on top of the chart. The song had vacated the top spot for one week as the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir secured the 2015 Christmas number-one with "A Bridge Over You". The first new number-one single of the year was "Stitches" by his fellow countryman Shawn Mendes. Overall, ten different singles peaked at number-one in 2016 , with Justin Bieber (2) having the most singles hit that position.
Background
Multiple entries
Seventy-five singles charted in the top 10 in 2016, with sixty-four singles reaching their peak this year.
Twenty-three artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2016. Justin Bieber secured the record for most top 10 hits in 2016 with five hit singles.
Digital era chart record
The song One Dance by Drake spent a total of 15 consecutive weeks at number 1 making it the longest running number-one of the digital music era, breaking the record previous held by Rihanna and Jay-Z in 2007 with Umbrella which spent a total of 10 consecutive weeks at number-one. It is tied with Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" from 1991, taken from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves film soundtrack, which had held the all-time record outright for 25 years.
Justin Bieber becomes first-ever artist to occupy entire UK top three
On 8 January 2016 (14 January 2016, week ending), Canadian singer Justin Bieber made history when he became the first-ever artist to hold down the entire top three positions on the UK Singles Chart concurrently. "Love Yourself" was at number-one, followed by "Sorry" at number two and "What Do You Mean" at number three. All three songs had topped the chart in 2015.
Later in 2016, Bieber occupied the top two positions of the UK chart thanks to his appearances on Major Lazer's chart-topping single "Cold Water" and DJ Snake's number two hit "Let Me Love You".
Low turnover of number-ones
Only ten different singles peaked at number-one this year, marking 2016 as the year with the least different chart toppers since 1952, when just "Here in My Heart" by Al Martino reached the summit. However the chart only began in November 1952, making this the full year with the lowest turnover of number-one singles. In 1954, just eleven singles reached number-one, with 2007's total of seventeen the previous lowest this century until 2017, when fourteen different singles climbed to the coveted position. Additionally, just seventy-five singles placed in the top 10 during the year, the lowest number since 1952.
Chart debuts
Thirty-eight artists achieved their first top 10 single in 2016, either as a lead or featured artist. Of these, two went on to record another hit single that year: The Chainsmokers and Jonas Blue.
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.
Anne-Marie (pictured) and Sean Paul both provided vocals on Clean Bandit's "Rockabye", which spent nine weeks at the top of the UK charts and became the Christmas number-one of 2016.Shawn Mendes made his UK top 10 debut this year with two singles making the countdown, including his debut entry, "Stitches", which reached number-one for two weeks in January.
The following table shows artists who achieved two or more top 10 entries in 2016, including singles that reached their peak in 2015 or 2017. 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 2016 is also shown.
a "Never Forget You" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 7 January 2016 (week ending).
b "Sax" re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 7 January 2016 (week ending).
c "Light It Up" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 17 March 2016 (week ending).
d "Stitches" re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 24 March 2016 (week ending).
e "Pillowtalk" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 31 March 2016 (week ending).
f "Light It Up" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 14 April 2016 (week ending).
g "Purple Rain" entered the top 10 at number 6 on 5 May 2016 (week ending) following the death of Prince, having originally peaked at number 8 upon release in 1984.
h "In the Name of Love" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 29 September 2016 (week ending).
Ii "24K Magic" re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 10 November 2016 (week ending).
j "All I Want For Christmas Is You" re-entered the top 10 on 15 December 2016 (week ending) due to the song's reoccurring spike in popularity around the Christmas holiday season, having originally peaked at number 2 upon release in 1994.
k "24K Magic" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 5 January 2017 (week ending).
l "Shout Out to My Ex" re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 5 January 2017 (week ending).
m "Just Hold On" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 12 January 2017 (week ending).
n "Sexual" re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 12 January 2017 (week ending).
v Figure includes appearance on Tinie Tempah's "Girls Like".
w Figure includes appearances on Drake's "Too Good" and Calvin Harris' "This Is What You Came For".
x Figure includes appearances on Sia's "Cheap Thrills" and Clean Bandit's "Rockabye".
y Figure includes song that first charted in 2015 but peaked in 2016.
Related Research Articles
The discography of Canadian singer Justin Bieber consists of six studio albums, three remix albums, three compilation albums, two extended plays, 76 singles, and 10 promotional singles. Bieber has attained eight number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 and eight number-one albums on the US Billboard 200 charts. As of June 2019, Bieber has sold an estimated 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), he has sold 24 million albums and 120.5 million digital singles units as a lead artist, in the United States. Bieber was named the "Greatest Pop Star of 2016" by Billboard. He was also named the Billboard Year-End Top Male Artist for 2016 and placed number seven on the magazine's Decade-End Top Artists Chart for the 2010s.
Barbadian singer Rihanna has released 53 singles as lead artist, 17 singles as a featured artist, two charity singles, and four promotional singles. One of the best-selling artists of all time, her albums and singles sales as of 2018 stood at 250 million. In the United States, Rihanna has amassed 14 number-one songs and 32 top-ten songs on the Billboard Hot 100. She has tallied 60 weeks at number one and is the artist with the most weeks in the top ten (360). The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recognized Rihanna as the top-selling female digital singles artist, with 166.5 million certified units as of August 2023.
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