Rihanna had a 10-week run at the top of the UK Singles Chart, along with Jay-Z, with "Umbrella".

The UK Singles Chart is a record chart compiled by The Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, and the top 40 singles are revealed each Sunday on BBC Radio 1. The chart, however, does not factor airplay into its rankings. Before the advent of music downloads, it was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets, but since 2005 downloads have been included in the chart formulation.^[1][2]

During the 2000s, 267 singles have reached the number-one position on the chart, as of 13 September 2009. Over this period, Westlife have been the most successful group at reaching the top spot, with 11 number-one singles. Rihanna and Jay-Z's song "Umbrella" spent 10 weeks at number one in 2007, the longest spell at the top of the charts since Wet Wet Wet's 1994 hit "Love Is All Around", which topped the charts for 15 weeks. The Internet allowed music to be heard by vast numbers of people on social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace; it also increased piracy. This and the introduction of the UK Download Chart in 2004^[3] led to a decrease in record sales and a reduction in the number of copies sold of a number-one record on the singles chart.^[4] Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" became the first song to reach the top of the charts based on downloads alone in 2006, remaining at number one for nine consecutive weeks.^[5] Physical single sales had been falling for more than a decade but digital single sales finally turned the trend around in 2008 with combined physical and digital single sales growing 33% over the previous year.^[6] Lily Allen made herself known on the Internet through her MySpace page, and following this exposure, sales of her debut single "Smile" peaked at number one.

Reality television shows produced several successful artists during the decade. Hear’Say won the original series of Popstars in 2000 and topped the charts with their debut single "Pure and Simple". A trend developed as this feat was replicated by Pop Idol winners Will Young (2002) and Michelle McManus (2003), and runner-up Gareth Gates; 2002 Fame Academy winner David Sneddon, and the winner of the first series of The X Factor, Steve Brookstein, in 2005. Reality television winners did especially well during the Christmas season; every Christmas number one from 2005 to 2008 came from an X Factor winner. Shayne Ward reached number one in 2005 with "That's My Goal", and he was followed by Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke. Girls Aloud, the Popstars: The Rivals winners, also had the Christmas number one in 2002 with "Sound of the Underground."

The first number one of the decade, the double-A side "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun" by Westlife, was a holdover from the end of 1999.
"Fight For This Love" by Cheryl Cole is number-one as of 25 October 2009.

[edit] Chart history

Britney Spears hit the top spot with "Oops!... I Did It Again" and "Born to Make You Happy" in 2000, and with "Toxic" and "Everytime" in 2004.

Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" became the first song to reach number one on downloads alone in 2006.

Leona Lewis saw her debut single, "A Moment Like This", reach number one in 2006; two more chart-toppers followed, including "Bleeding Love" which had a 7-week reign at number one in 2007.

American group Black Eyed Peas spent 7 weeks at number one with Where Is the Love? in 2003. The song's chorus was sung by Justin Timberlake. They got 2 #1s in 2009, Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling, they both got #1 twice.

James Blunt had a big hit with "You're Beautiful" in 2005, spending 5 weeks at number one.

Westlife had 11 number-one singles between 2000 and 2009, including "Against All Odds", a duet with Mariah Carey in 2000.

t.A.T.u., the Russian duo, caused controversy with the video for their sole number one, "All the Things She Said" in January 2003.

Sugababes are the most successful British female group of the decade with 7 number-one singles. Their first number one was "Freak Like Me" in 2002.

Kylie Minogue scored her second number one of the decade with "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" in 2001, selling more than 1.1 Million copies. This song was to become the biggest selling single by a female of the 21st century.

Madonna holds the record for the most number-one singles by a female artist during the decade. She topped the chart for a fifth time in 2008 with "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.

Lady Gaga's debut single and second single both charted at number one in 2009.

Pixie Lott's debut single and second single both reached number 1 in 2009

In 2000, 43 songs (including Westlife's "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun" which first reached number one at the end of 1999) hit the top spot, a UK charts record for most number-one hits in a calendar year. The year 2000 also holds the record for most consecutive weeks with a new number one, with a different single hitting the number-one spot every week from 24 June to 16 September.^[7]

In 2007, 18 different songs reached number one, the lowest amount during the 2000s so far.

Six songs returned to the top of the charts for two separate spells. These were; "Don't Stop Movin'" by S Club 7 [2001], "Gotta Get Thru This" by Daniel Bedingfield [2001–2002], "Call on Me" by Eric Prydz [2004], "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean [2006] and "Boom Boom Pow" [2009] and "I Gotta Feeling" [2009] by the Black Eyed Peas.

[edit] 2000

[edit] 2001

[edit] 2002

[edit] 2003

[edit] 2004

[edit] 2005

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2007

[edit] 2008

[edit] 2009

[edit] By artist

The following artists have achieved five or more number-one hits during the 2000s. A number of artists had number-one singles on their own as well as part of a collaboration. Madonna, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake's song "4 Minutes", for example, is counted for all three artists because they were credited on the cover, while "Where is the Love" does not count for Timberlake as he did not receive artist credit on that track to avoid overexposure. Appearances on Band Aid 20's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" are included even though artists did not receive individual credit on the cover.

• A. ^  Total includes appearance on the "Do They Know It's Christmas?" single.
• B. ^  Total includes Destiny's Child's singles "Independent Women Part I" and "Survivor".
• F ^  Includes appearences in all four Girls Aloud number 1 singles

[edit] By total number of weeks at number-one

• A. ^  Total does not include 2 weeks spent at number one at the end of 1999 with "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun".
• B. ^  Total includes appearances on Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyoncé's "Crazy In Love" and "Déjà Vu".
• C. ^  Total includes appearance on Girls Aloud Singles.
• d. ^  Total includes appearance on Destiny's Child Singles.

[edit] Million-selling singles

Since the beginning of 2000, eleven number-one singles have sold over 1 million copies in the UK. Five have been the debut singles of talent show contestants; two, "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "(Is This The Way To) Amarillo", have been charity singles; and one, "Can We Fix It?", was a novelty record.^[8]

[edit] See also

• List of number-one music downloads (UK)
• List of number-one singles (by radio airplay) from the 2000s (UK)

[edit] References

General

• "All the number 1 singles". The Official Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_songs.php?show=6. Retrieved 15 February 2009. 
• Roberts, David, ed. Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums (18th edition). 

Specific