2009 in British music charts

This is a summary of the year 2009 in British music. So far 10 singles have occupied the number-one spot including 7 new entries. Due to the increase in downloads over physical sales, singles now tend to enter the chart at a lower position, before climbing to the top a few weeks later: a trend which was previously unseen in the 90's/00's. The average sale for a number one up to 31 May is 69,958, a great improvement on last year. Sales are currently improving, although album sales are now on a large reduction compared to previous years. As of 24 May, three singles have been already certified platinum.

Summary

January

Alexandra Burke's "Hallelujah", the Christmas No.1 single of 2008, remained at the top of the singles chart for a third week on 4 January. One week later, however, American singer-songwriter Lady GaGa's debut single "Just Dance" went to number one, staying there for the remainder of the month. Elsewhere in January, Girls Aloud scored their lowest charting single to date however it was also their twentieth consecutive top ten single with "The Loving Kind", while Beyoncé returned to the top ten with "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", the second single from her I Am… Sasha Fierce album. American rapper Kid Cudi made his top ten debut with "Day 'n' Nite", and The Saturdays' third single "Issues" peaked at number four.

Kings of Leon's Only by the Night album, which spent two weeks at number one in 2008, returned to the top of the albums chart on 11 January on the strength of their recent single "Use Somebody", while The Script's eponymous debut album - another number one of last year - also returned to the peak of the chart. Indie rock band White Lies scored their first number one album when debut LP To Lose My Life... topped the charts on 25 January, while Lady GaGa's debut The Fame entered at number three.

February

Lady GaGa finally got knocked off the number one spot by Lily Allen who scored her second number one with "The Fear". Alesha Dixon's second single, "Breathe Slow" from her album The Alesha Show climbed up to number six, two weeks before it's CD release. It finally climed up to number three two weeks later, her highest peaking solo hit.

White Lies got knocked off from the number one album spot by Bruce Springsteen with his new album, Working on a Dream. Franz Ferdinand's third album, Tonight missed out at number two. Bruce Springsteen kept number one for another week, whilst The View's second album Which Bitch? entered at number four.

Legendary Rapper Eminem returned with "Crack a Bottle" which entered the singles chart at number four on downloads alone, his first hit in four years. This month also saw the re-entry of M.I.A with her song "Paper Planes" due to the Multi-BAFTA winning film Slumdog Millionaire. The lead single from the first The Prodigy album in five years, "Omen" peaked at number four on the singles chart.

BRIT Awards

Main article: 2009 BRIT Awards

At the 2009 BRIT Awards, Welsh singer Duffy cleaned up grabbing three out of the four she was nominated for. Coldplay didn't win a single award after also being nominated for four. Girls Aloud claimed their first BRIT for Best British Single ("The Promise"). Kings of Leon received two awards for Best International Group and Best International Album (Only by the Night). The night also saw first BRIT awards for Katy Perry for International Female Solo and Elbow for Best British Band.

March

Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first series of American Idol, scored her first UK number one single on 1 March with "My Life Would Suck Without You", the lead single from her fourth studio album All I Ever Wanted. Teenage country/pop singer Taylor Swift jumped 20 places to number two with "Love Story". Kelly Clarkson then got knocked down to number four by Flo Rida with "Right Round" who prevented The Saturdays from getting number one with "Just Can't Get Enough" which was the first time in 14 years that the Comic Relief song did not hit number one. The second Comic Relief song, "Barry Islands in the Stream" got to number one a week later and a week after that it got knocked off by Lady GaGa who gained a surprise second number one this year with "Poker Face". On 29 March , Noisettes entered the top forty for the first time with Don't Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go) at number two, Pussycat Dolls' new single "Jai Ho (You are My Destiny) with A.R. Rahman climbed to number five and "Halo" by Beyoncé got to number four.

Kings of Leon got knocked off from the number one album spot by The Prodigy with their first studio album in five years, Invaders Must Die. The Prodigy then got knocked off from number one by U2 with their first album in five years, No Line on the Horizon which outsold the rest of the top forty combined to claim the top spot. U2 kept the top spot the next week whilst Kelly Clarkson's album All I Ever Wanted went straight in at number four and Annie Lennox got to number two with The Annie Lennox Collection. On Mother's Day week Ronan Keating topped the albums chart with Songs For My Mother, while Annie Lennox stayed at number two.

April

On the first chart of April, Lady GaGa stayed at number one on the singles chart with "Poker Face", Metro Station's debut song "Shake It" climbed to number six and La Roux's song "In for the Kill" climbed up into the top ten after a fortnight at number eleven, reaching number seven. The next week La Roux climbed higher to number four, Calvin Harris knocked Lady GaGa off the top with "I'm Not Alone" and Ciara's new single, "Love Sex Magic" with Justin Timberlake entered at number six. On 19 April, Calvin Harris stayed at number one for a second week with "I'm Not Alone". La Roux climbed 2 places to number two, knocking Lady GaGa to number three, and Pussycat Dolls to number four. Eminem gained the highest new entry with "We Made You". On 26 April the abtly titled "Number 1" by Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz went straight in at number one. Curiously, despite 23 releases since chart records began, no other single has ever reached number one, referencing its chart position in the title. They saw off competition from La Roux, who was a non mover at 2 whilst Calvin Harris dropped two places to number 3. Climbers included Eminem who rose three places to 5 and Lily Allen rose one place to 9. Lady GaGa however dropped one place to number 4 and Ciara Feat. Justin Timberlake also slightly dropped.

On the first albums chart of the month, Lady GaGa finally climbed to number one with The Fame, knocking off Ronan Keating with Songs For My Mother and Flo Rida's second album R.O.O.T.S. debuted at number five, becoming his highest charting album to date. The next week Lady GaGa kept number one with new albums from Doves at number two and Bat for Lashes with Two Suns at number five. On 26 April Lady GaGa kept her reign over the albums chart keeping her album "The Fame" at the summit for a month despite heavy competition from Depeche Mode.

May

On the first chart of May, the top two remained static, whilst at three, pushing Lady GaGa and Calvin Harris down one each, was Ironik and Chipmunk's remix of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer". Girls Aloud climbed to number eleven, therefore breaking their run of consecutive top tens with "Untouchable". The next week Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz got knocked down to number two as Black Eyed Peas' comeback single "Boom Boom Pow" debuted at the top on downloads alone. Lily Allen and Eminem both benifited from physicals as they went to number five and four respectively. Black Eyed Peas were knocked from number 1 by another new entry, Dizzee Rascal with his new hit "Bonkers". Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak also had a top ten placing with "Fairytale".

Lady GaGa finally got knocked from the number one album spot by Bob Dylan with Together Through Life, his first studio album in almost three years. The Enemy's new album Music for the People went straight in at number two. On 17 May Bob Dylan got knocked down seven places by Green Day's new album 21st Century Breakdown which only had two days of sales to get to number 1. The long awaited comeback album from legendary musician Eminem titled Relapse goes straight to the top becoming this years fastest selling album with over 166,000 copies in its first week in the UK. Also in the top ten was Madness' new album and Journal for Plague Lovers by Manic Street Preachers at numbers five and three respectively.

Number Ones

Number-one singles

Issue date	Song	Artist	Sales
4 January	"Hallelujah"	Alexandra Burke	104,454
11 January	"Just Dance"	Lady GaGa Feat. Colby O'Donis	65,764
18 January	"Just Dance"	Lady GaGa Feat. Colby O'Donis	77,351
25 January	"Just Dance"	Lady GaGa Feat. Colby O'Donis	74,139
1 February	"The Fear"	Lily Allen	83,367
8 February	"The Fear"	Lily Allen	69,002
15 February	"The Fear"	Lily Allen	59,671
22 February	"The Fear"	Lily Allen	45,629
1 March	"My Life Would Suck Without You"	Kelly Clarkson	51,115
8 March	"Right Round"	Flo Rida Feat. Ke$ha	72,101
15 March	"Islands in the Stream"	Vanessa Jenkins & Bryn West Feat. Sir Tom Jones & Robin Gibb	87,177
22 March	"Poker Face"	Lady GaGa	53,699
29 March	"Poker Face"	Lady GaGa	57,781
5 April	"Poker Face"	Lady GaGa	55,318
12 April	"I'm Not Alone"	Calvin Harris	66,970
19 April	"I'm Not Alone"	Calvin Harris	62,012
26 April	"Number 1"	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz	72,257
3 May	"Number 1"	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz	72,374
10 May	"Number 1"	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz	57,150
17 May	"Boom Boom Pow"	Black Eyed Peas	74,440
24 May	"Bonkers"	Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden	114,165
31 May	"Bonkers"	Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden	63,141

Number-one albums

Issue date	Album title	Artist	Sales
4 January	The Circus	Take That	46,958
11 January	Only by the Night	Kings of Leon	27,115
18 January	The Script	The Script	32,978
25 January	To Lose My Life...	White Lies	28,916
1 February	Working on a Dream	Bruce Springsteen	67,316
8 February	Working on a Dream	Bruce Springsteen	26,158
15 February	It's Not Me, It's You	Lily Allen	112,568
22 February	Only by the Night	Kings of Leon	67,001
1 March	Invaders Must Die	The Prodigy	97,254
8 March	No Line on the Horizon	U2	157,926
15 March	No Line on the Horizon	U2	44,261
22 March	Songs For My Mother	Ronan Keating	87,030
29 March	Songs For My Mother	Ronan Keating	36,847
5 April	The Fame	Lady GaGa	38,031
12 April	The Fame	Lady GaGa	44,978
19 April	The Fame	Lady GaGa	32,802
26 April	The Fame	Lady GaGa	33,828
3 May	Together Through Life	Bob Dylan	42,839
10 May	Together Through Life	Bob Dylan	28,425
17 May	21st Century Breakdown	Green Day	79,770
24 May	Relapse	Eminem	166,952
31 May	Relapse	Eminem	54,078
7 June	Sunny Side Up	Paolo Nutini

Number-one downloads

Issue date	Song	Artist
7 January	"Hallelujah"	Alexandra Burke
14 January	"Just Dance"	Lady GaGa Feat. Colby O'Donis
21 January	"Just Dance"	Lady GaGa Feat. Colby O'Donis
28 January	"Just Dance"	Lady GaGa Feat. Colby O'Donis
4 February	"The Fear"	Lily Allen
11 February	"The Fear"	Lily Allen
18 February	"The Fear"	Lily Allen
25 February	"The Fear"	Lily Allen
4 March	"My Life Would Suck Without You"	Kelly Clarkson
11 March	"Right Round"	Flo Rida Feat. Ke$ha
18 March	"Right Round"	Flo Rida Feat. Ke$ha
25 March	"Poker Face"	Lady GaGa
1 April	"Poker Face"	Lady GaGa
8 April	"Poker Face"	Lady GaGa
15 April	"I'm Not Alone"	Calvin Harris
22 April	"I'm Not Alone"	Calvin Harris
29 April	"Number 1"	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz
6 May	"Number 1"	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz
13 May	"Number 1"	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz
20 May	"Boom Boom Pow"	Black Eyed Peas
27 May	"Bonkers"	Dizzee Rascal & Armand van Helden
3 June	"Bonkers"	Dizzee Rascal & Armand van Helden

Other Charts

• R&B number-one singles of 2009
• R&B number-one albums of 2009
• Dance number-one singles of 2009
• Indie number-one singles of 2009
• Rock number-one singles of 2009

Charts

Current Top 10 singles

• As of 31 May 2009

This Week	Last Week	Artist	Song	Weeks	Peak
1	1	Dizzee Rascal & Armand van Helden	"Bonkers"	2	1(2)
2	2	Black Eyed Peas	"Boom Boom Pow"	3	1(1)
3	New	Agnes	"Release Me"	1	3
4	3	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz	"Number 1"	6	1(3)
5	5	Daniel Merriweather	"Red"	2	5
6	8	Soulja Boy Tell 'Em Feat. Sammie	"Kiss Me Thru the Phone"	4	6
7	6	La Roux	"In for the Kill"	11	2
8	New	The Veronicas	"Untouched"	1	8
9	7	Lily Allen	"Not Fair"	10	5
10	4	Eminem	"We Made You"	7	4

Current Top 10 albums

• As of 1 June 2009

This Week	Last Week	Artist	Album	Weeks	Peak
1	New	Paolo Nutini	Sunny Side Up	1	1(1)
2	New	Daniel Merriweather	Love & War	1	2
3	1	Eminem	Relapse	3	1(2)
4	2	Escala	Escala	2	2
5	New	Paul Potts	Passione	1	5
6	4	Lily Allen	It's Not Me, It's You	17	1(1)
7	3	Green Day	21st Century Breakdown	4	1(1)
8	7	Pink	Can't Take/Missunderstood/Try This/I'm Not Dead	2	7
9	6	The Prodigy	Invaders Must Die	15	1(1)
10	5	Lady GaGa	The Fame	21	1(4)

Current Top 10 downloads

• As of 3 June 2009

This Week	Last Week	Artist	Song Title	Weeks	Peak
1	1	Dizzee Rascal & Armand van Helden	"Bonkers"	2	1(2)
2	2	Black Eyed Peas	"Boom Boom Pow"	3	1(1)
3	New	Agnes	"Release Me"	1	3
4	3	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz	"Number 1"	6	1(3)
5	4	Daniel Merriweather	"Red"	2	4
6	8	Soulja Boy Tell 'Em Feat. Sammie	"Kiss Me Thru the Phone"	4	6
7	6	La Roux	"In for the Kill"	11	2
8	New	The Veronicas	"Untouched"	1	8
9	7	Lily Allen	"Not Fair"	9	5
10	5	Eminem	"We Made You"	7	4

Top 20 singles of 2009 thus far

As of May 31, 2009

Position	Song title	Artist	Artist Nationality	Sales	Peak	Certification (Overall)
1	"Just Dance"	Lady GaGa feat. Colby O'Donis		654,304	1	Platinum
2	"Poker Face"	Lady GaGa		652,861	1	Platinum
3	"The Fear"	Lily Allen		435,633	1	Gold
4	"In for the Kill"	La Roux		429,622	2	Gold
5	"Broken Strings"	James Morrison Feat. Nelly Furtado	,	385,688	2	Gold
6	"Right Round"	Flo Rida Feat. Ke$ha		381,153	1	Silver
7	"Use Somebody"	Kings of Leon		366,144	2 (in 2008)	Gold
8	"Day 'N' Nite"	Kid Cudi Vs. Crookers	,	334,224	2	Silver
9	"Number 1"	Tinchy Stryder Feat. N-Dubz		326,446	1	Silver
10	"Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)"	A.R. Rahman Feat. Pussycat Dolls	,	315,434	3	Silver
11	"I'm Not Alone"	Calvin Harris		309,615	1	Silver
12	"Halo"	Beyoncé		306,500	4	Silver
13	"Love Story"	Taylor Swift		306,465	2	Silver
14	"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"	Beyoncé		291,470	7	Silver
15	"Breathe Slow"	Alesha Dixon		282,920	3	Silver
16	"Dead and Gone"	T.I. Feat. Justin Timberlake		281,770	4	Silver
17	"My Life Would Suck Without You"	Kelly Clarkson		272,065	1	Silver
18	"Take Me Back"	Tinchy Stryder Feat. Taio Cruz		250,770	3	Silver
19	"Don't Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go)"	The Noisettes		244,420	2	Silver
20	"Hallelujah"	Alexandra Burke		238,500	1	Platinum

Top 20 Albums of 2009 thus far

As of May 31 2009

Position	Album title	Artist	Artist Nationality	Sales	Peak	Certification (Overall)
1	Only by the Night'	Kings Of Leon		643,913	1	6 x Platinum
2	The Fame	Lady GaGa		506,184	1	Platinum
3	It's Not Me, It's You	Lily Allen		437,730	1	Platinum
4	Invaders Must Die	The Prodigy		350,702	1	Platinum
5	I Am... Sasha Fierce	Beyoncé		340,365	3	2 x Platinum
6	The Circus	Take That		309,808	1	5 x Platinum
7	No Line On the Horizon	U2		305,257	1	Platinum
8	Songs for You, Truths for Me	James Morrison		293,916	3	Platinum
9	Rockferry	Duffy		279,748	1 (in 2008)	6 x Platinum
10	The Seldom Seen Kid	Elbow		259,304	5	Platinum
11	Funhouse	Pink		248,312	1 (in 2008)	2 x Platinum
12	Day & Age	The Killers		243,550	1 (in 2008)	3 x Platinum
13	Fleet Foxes	Fleet Foxes		234,620	6	Gold
14	The Script	The Script		228,890	1	2 x Platinum
15	The Collection	Annie Lennox		226,490	2	Gold
16	Freedom	Akon		223,130	6	Platinum
17	Relapse	Eminem		221,030	1	Gold
18	Songs For My Mother	Ronan Keating		197,580	1	Gold
19	We Started Nothing	The Ting Tings		179,370	1 (in 2008)	Platinum
20	The Alesha Show	Alesha Dixon		176,730	11	Gold

British Music awards

BRIT Awards

The 2009 BRIT Awards were hosted by James Corden, Matthew Horne and Kylie Minogue on February 18 2009 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.

• British Male Solo Artist: Paul Weller
• British Female Solo Artist: Duffy
• British Breakthrough Act: Duffy
• British Group: Elbow
• British Live Act: Iron Maiden Somewhere Back in Time World Tour
• British Single: Girls Aloud "The Promise"
• Mastercard British Album: Duffy - Rockferry
• International Male Solo Artist: Kanye West
• International Female Solo Artist: Katy Perry
• International Group: Kings of Leon
• International Album: Kings of Leon - Only By the Night
• Critic's Choice: Florence And The Machine
• Outstanding Contribution to Music: Pet Shop Boys
• Producer's Award: Bernard Butler

Mercury Prize

The 2009 Mercury Prize will be awarded later on this year.

Popjustice £20 Music Prize

The 2009 Popjustice £20 Music Prize will be awarded later on this year.

Record of the Year

The The Record of the Year will be awarded in December 2009.