Sam Fender and Olivia Dean have just ended a 32-year reign by claiming the record for the longest run at No 1 for a British act. Their duet Rein Me In spent its 16th week at the top this week, according to the Official Charts Company.
The pair have finally eclipsed Wet Wet Wet, whose 1994 hit Love is All Around held the record for 15 weeks. While the former champions enjoyed a consecutive streak, Fender and Dean have drifted in and out of the top spot since February.
“Take that, Marti Pellow!” Fender told the Official Charts Company. He described the song’s success as “ridiculous” and noted that every Friday has become an excuse to party.
The track also secured the longest consecutive Top 40 run ever with 55 weeks, beating a previous record held by Ed Sheeran for Thinking Out Loud. However, two international acts still hold the crown. Canada’s Bryan Adams tied them with 16 weeks in 1991, while US singer Frankie Laine holds the absolute record with 18 weeks in 1953.
Rein Me In began as a track on Fender’s 2025 album People Watching, which won the Mercury prize. It was released as a single in June 2025 after Dean added a verse to provide an alternative narrative. The duo took home song of the year at the Brit awards in February.
Dean has seen her own meteoric rise this year, winning three Mobos, three Brit awards, and a Grammy for best new artist. Her single Man I Need hit No 1 in October 2025, and her album The Art of Loving has remained in the top five since that same month.
This victory is a rare feat because of a 2017 rule designed to stop the charts from feeling stale. The Official Charts Company halves the value of streams for songs that decline for three consecutive weeks after ten weeks in the Top 100. Only four songs have survived this rule to pass ten weeks at No 1, including Alex Warren’s Ordinary last year.
Elsewhere this week, Oasis’s Wonderwall hit No 11 following England’s World Cup wins. Madonna also claimed the album chart with Confessions II, becoming the first US female artist to hit No 1 across five decades. She beat Sienna Spiro, whose debut album Visitor reached No 2.
