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The UK singles chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. In the 2000s the chart week ran from Sunday to Saturday, and the top 40 singles were revealed each Sunday on BBC Radio 1. At the start of the decade, before the advent of legal music downloads, it was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets, but in 2005 permanent downloads began to be included in the chart compilation.

During the 2000s, 274 singles reached the No. 1 position on the chart, the most of any decade so far. Over this period, Westlife were the most successful group and music act at reaching the top spot, with 11 No. 1 singles. Rihanna and Jay-Z's song "Umbrella" spent 10 weeks at No. 1 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 Singles Downloads Chart in 2004 led to a decrease in record sales and a reduction in the number of copies sold of a No. 1 record on the singles chart. Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" became the first song to reach the top of the charts based on downloads alone in 2006, remaining at No. 1 for nine consecutive weeks.

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. Lily Allen made herself known on the Internet through her Myspace page, and following this exposure, her debut single "Smile" peaked at No. 1. Three years later, her single "The Fear" topped the chart for four consecutive weeks, being the longest running No. 1 single of 2009.

Reality television shows played an important and influential role on the charts 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 runners-up Gareth Gates and Sam & Mark; 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 No. 1 from 2005 to 2008 came from an X Factor winner. Shayne Ward reached No. 1 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 No. 1 in 2002 with "Sound of the Underground." Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first series of American Idol achieved her first UK No. 1 single, "My Life Would Suck Without You", in 2009.

The first No. 1 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. "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine was the final No. 1 of the decade. In January 2005, a landmark was reached as the re-release of Elvis Presley's "One Night" became the 1,000th single to reach No. 1 in the singles chart.

Chart history

In 2000, 42 songs (not 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 ones 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.

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. In addition, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" was number one in December 2009 and climbed back to the top in January 2010.

Number-one singles

Statistics by decade

By artist

The following artists achieved four 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 in order to avoid overexposure.

Artists by total number of weeks at number one

Songs by total number of weeks at number one

• A. Total includes appearances on Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" and "Déjà Vu".
• B. Total does not include two weeks spent at number one at the end of 1999 with "I Have a Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun".
• D. Total includes collaboration with Dizzee Rascal.
• E. Total includes Band Aid 20.
• F. Total includes credit as Brian Potter.

By record label

The following record labels had five or more number ones on the UK Singles Chart during the 2000s.

Million-selling and Platinum records

In April 1973, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) began classifying singles and albums by the number of units shipped. The highest threshold is "Platinum" which, since 1989, is awarded to singles with over 600,000 units.

In July 2013, the BPI started a process of automatic certification regardless of original release dates, and since July 2014 audio streaming is included in the calculation of units at 100 streams equivalent to 1 sale or shipment. Hence, many of the singles released in the 2000s have been awarded certification in the 2010s.

For singles selling 1 million copies during the 2000s see List of best-selling singles of the 2000s (decade) in the United Kingdom

For a full list of singles which were released during the 2000s and have sold 1 million copies see List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom and sort the table by release date

For Platinum singles released during the 2000s see List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded since 2000

Notes

1. ^ The artist, song name, date of number-one and duration are those given by the Official Charts Company.
2. The record labels are those given by the OCC.
3. The certifications are those given by the British Phonographic Industry.
4. The number of sales required to qualify for Platinum, Gold and Silver discs was dropped in 1989 from the former thresholds of Silver (250,000 units), Gold (500,000 units), and Platinum (1,000,000 units) to the current thresholds of Silver (200,000 units), Gold (400,000 units), and Platinum (600,000 units)

References

General

• "All the number 1 singles". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 18 July 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
• Roberts, David (ed.). Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums (18th ed.).

Specific

1. Roberts, David (2005). Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums (18th ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 14. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
2. "New singles formats to save the charts". BBC News. 16 October 2003. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
3. Youngs, Ian (12 April 2005). "How downloads will change the chart". BBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
4. Davies, Rob (18 May 2008). "Legal downloads fail to revive record sales". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
5. Youngs, Ian (3 April 2006). "Digital hit seals chart revolution". BBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
6. "Downloads boost 2008 single sales". BBC News. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
7. "Elvis claims 1,000th number one". BBC. 16 January 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
8. "Record Breakers and trivia". everyHit.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
9. ^ "Chart Archive – 2000s Singles". everyHit.com. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
10. "All the Number One Singles: 2000". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
11. "All the Number One Singles: 2001". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
12. "All the Number One Singles: 2002". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
13. "All the Number One Singles: 2003". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
14. "All the Number One Singles: 2004". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
15. "All the Number One Singles: 2005". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 18 August 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
16. "All the Number One Singles: 2006". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
17. "All the Number One Singles: 2007". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
18. "All the Number One Singles: 2008". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
19. "All the Number One Singles: 2009". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
20. "Artist Chart History". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
21. "BRIT Certified". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
22. ^ "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
23. "International Certification Award levels" (PDF). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. March 2010. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
24. Gallup (4 February 1989). "The Top of the Pops Chart" (PDF). Record Mirror: 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
25. "Certified Awards – A Timeline" (PDF). BPI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
26. "BPI Certified Awards for Singles Now Include Streams". BPI. 8 July 2014. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2014.

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Other charts	Current Album Downloads Albums Streaming Audio Streaming Compilations Midweeks Progressive Record Store (2010s/2020s) Singles Downloads (2000s/2010s/2020s) List of UK Singles Sales Chart number ones UKHot40 Vinyl Albums Vinyl Singles The Official Big Top 40 Former 1952–1969 1Xtra Classical Singles Number-one EPs Fab 40 Fresh 40 Hit40UK Mersey Beat The Network Chart Show NME Official Subscription Plays Chart Pepsi Chart Pick of the Pops Record Mirror Top Pops
Related	Charts Plus Hit Music Media Research Information Bureau Music Week Official Charts Company The Official Chart Record Business Timeline of chart shows on UK radio UK Video Charts British Hit Singles & Albums The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles UKChartsPlus
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• Lists of UK singles chart number ones
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