The biggest singles and albums of 2024 in the UK so far have been revealed this week by the Official Charts Company this week.
READ MORE: The best albums of 2024… so far!
Noah Kahan‘s ‘Stick Season’ is still the biggest single of 2024 so far after landing the Number One spot on the Official Singles Chart for seven consecutive weeks at the beginning of this year. The song remains the longest-running Number One single of the year so far.
According to the Official Charts Company data, ‘Stick Season’ has shifted 1.37million chart units, including 160million combined audio and video streams in 2024 so far. Originally released in 2022, the song’s lifetime total currently stands at 1.9million chart units and 218million streams in the UK.
Previously speaking to NME about the origins of the song’s title, Kahan shared: “Stick season is between fall and the snow. It’s a time of transition in the weather, but also in a lot of people’s lives.”
‘Loose Control’ by Teddy Swims follows Kahan as the Number Two biggest single of the year so far. The song also earned the achievement of the most digitally downloaded single of 2024 so far with 51,300 downloads.
Sabrina Carpenter also appeared on the singles list with her track ‘Espresso‘ which has garnered 763,000 combined chart units including 85.7million streams since its release back in April.
Others to make it to the list of biggest singles so far include Benson Boone with ‘Beautiful Things’, Hozier‘s ‘Too Sweet’, Beyoncé‘s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’, Cassö, D-Block Europe, and Raye‘s collab track ‘Prada’, Taylor Swift‘s ‘Cruel Summer’, Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ and Tate McRae‘s ‘Greedy’.
As for albums, Swift remains supreme with her 11th studio album ‘The Tortured Poets Department‘. Upon its release, the album spent seven of its 10 chart weeks at Number One, and the rest at Number Two.
According to Official Charts Company data, Swift’s LP has accumulated over 542,200 chart units, including 251,000 physical sales, making it the most physically-purchased LP of the year so far.
In a three-star review of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, NME wrote: “Swift seems to be in tireless pursuit for superstardom, yet the negative public opinion it can come with irks her, and it’s a tired theme now plaguing her discography and leaving little room for the poignant lyrical observations she excels at.
“It’s why the pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing — she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her Eras Tour, Swift said that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ came from a “need” to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”
Coming in at Number Two is The Weeknd‘s greatest hits album ‘The Highlights‘. Kahan’s album ‘Stick Season’ bagged the Number Three spot while Olivia Rodrigo’s second LP ‘Guts‘ arrived at Number Four.
In a five star review of Rodrigo’s sophomore effort, NME shared: “‘Guts’ doesn’t just feel transitional in a musical sense. It marks the end of Rodrigo’s teenage years, a moment that has gravity given that she recently said in a statement that she felt like she grew “10 years” between the ages of 18 and 20. Here, she offers blunt self-analysis while reflecting on wider cultural ideas of performance and swallowing anger in order to comply with the wants and needs of others. It works as a display of real power, range and versatility – all of which Rodrigo possesses in abundance.”
Billie Eilish scored the Number Five spot with her latest release ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft‘. In a four-star review of the singer’s third studio release, NME said: “Billie came into this process with aspirations to find herself, creatively and personally: ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ remains distinctly unique, a portrait of a singular talent entering young adulthood, exploring her queerness and experiencing the emotional thrill and (sometimes) catastrophe of chasing passion or falling in love. In trying to write an album for herself, she’s made one that will resonate harder than anything she’s done before.”
The UK’s biggest songs of 2024 so far are:
1. ‘Stick Season’ – Noah Kahan
2. ‘Lose Control’ – Teddy Swims
3. ‘Beautiful Things’ – Benson Boone
4. ‘Espresso’ – Sabrina Carpenter
5. ‘Too Sweet’ – Hozier
6. ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ – Beyoncé
7. ‘Prada’ – Cassö/Raye/D-Block Europe
8. ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ – Sophie Ellis-Bextor
9. ‘Cruel Summer’ – Taylor Swift
10. ‘Greedy’ – Tate McRae
The UK’s biggest albums of 2024 so far are:
1. ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ – Taylor Swift
2. ‘The Highlights’ – The Weeknd
3. ‘Stick Season’ – Noah Kahan
4. ‘Guts’ – Olivia Rodrigo
5. ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’ – Billie Eilish
6. ’50 Years – Dont Stop’ – Fleetwood Mac
7. ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ – Taylor Swift
8. ‘Curtain Call: The Hits’ – Eminem
9. ‘ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits’ – ABBA
10. ‘Diamonds’ – Elton John
You can see the full top 40 songs here and the full top 40 albums here courtesy of Official Charts.
The post These are the UK’s biggest singles and albums of 2024 so far appeared first on NME.
