2007 in British music charts
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| Charts |
This is a summary of the year 2007 in British music
Summary
January
2007 began with the introduction of new chart rules meaning that all songs legally downloaded over the internet can count towards chart positions, whether or not a "physical" version of a song is available to purchase.[1] Although Leona Lewis stayed at number one in her first week, the change was felt further down the charts with songs such as "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado, "You Don't Know" by Eminem all returning to the charts on downloads alone. Also, as a result of downloads being eligible at any time, JoJo charted at number twenty-two with "Too Little Too Late", two weeks before physical release. Since then, various other songs have charted long before their CD release, including The Fray, whose "How to Save a Life" charted at number 29 on January 21, two months before the CD's release. As a result, the CD release date was brought forward by a month.
Mika topped the singles chart on January 21 to knock Leona Lewis off the top with the song "Grace Kelly" with sales around 30,000, to become only the second song (after Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy") to go to #1 exclusively via download sales. Just Jack climbed to number two with "Starz in Their Eyes" and The View at three with "Same Jeans". Chris Moyles, BBC Radio 1 Breakfast DJ, decided to test the new chart rules by selecting a random track for the public to download (legally) to see if it would chart. The track was "Honey To The Bee" by Billie and it reached number 17 on 21 January on downloads alone.
March
Kaiser Chiefs claimed their first #1 album with Yours Truly, Angry Mob, which stayed at the top for two weeks despite a challenge by Arcade Fire's second album Neon Bible. Take That claimed their 10th #1 single with "Shine", replaced two weeks later by Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud, who collaborated on the official Comic Relief single "Walk This Way". The single earned Sugababes their fifth #1 single, and Girls Aloud their third. Ray Quinn, who came second in the 2006 series of The X Factor, went to #1 in the album charts with his self-titled album of swing covers, Ray Quinn.
April
Scottish duo The Proclaimers managed to score three weeks at the top of the singles chart with the unofficial Comic Relief single, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" with Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin, selling over 200,000 copies to date. American rock band Kings of Leon recorded their first #1 album in the UK with their third album, Because of the Times. American producer Timbaland went to #1 with "Give It to Me", which was also at the top at the same time in the States. "Give It to Me" was an all-star collaboration with both Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake. Another all-star collaboration replaced Timbaland at #1, with both Beyoncé and Shakira climbing to the top with "Beautiful Liar". Claiming both Beyoncé and Shakira their second UK #1 within a year and also Beyoncé her third #1 as a solo artist. The Arctic Monkeys' first single from their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare, "Brianstorm", only reached #2, behind Beyonce and Shakira's #1 hit.
Avril Lavigne charted with The Best Damn Thing giving her a third UK #1 album. It is only the second time that a female solo artist has ever scored three #1's in the UK with her first three albums, following Let Go (#1 in 2003) and Under My Skin (#1 in 2004). Norah Jones has also achieved this feat with her first three albums.
May
McFly gained their seventh #1 single with "Baby's Coming Back/Transylvania", but the song fell to #20 the following week, tying the record for the biggest fall from #1 with Elvis Presley. Rihanna went to #1 for the first time with "Umbrella" — a collaboration with Jay-Z — and would remain on top for the rest of the month. Linkin Park and Maroon 5 both got #1 albums in May, with Minutes to Midnight and It Won't Be Soon Before Long respectively.
June
The month of June began with Rihanna being at the #1 spot for both the singles and download chart. Her third album Good Girl Gone Bad also made it to the top in the albums chart. The White Stripes reached #2 with their single "Icky Thump". The 7" format of the single went on to become the UK's biggest selling 7" single in twenty years, which was partly due to a tie in with XL Records and NME (who had given away a free foldout 7" of new song "Rag and Bone", with space to include the "Icky Thump" 7"). The Traveling Wilburys went to #1 for the first time with The Traveling Wilburys Collection, followed by The White Stripes with their sixth album Icky Thump. Britain's most successful girl group the Spice Girls reformed and announced a farewell tour and a long overdue Greatest Hits.
July
Editors went to #1 for the first time with their second album An End Has a Start. They would be followed by #1 albums from The Chemical Brothers (We Are the Night), The Enemy (We'll Live and Die in these Towns) and Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts, whose album One Chance was the first since Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long to spend more than one week at #1.
On July 22, Rihanna's "Umbrella" secured ten weeks at #1. In doing so, it overtook Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" as the longest runner at #1 in the 21st Century and became one of the most successful R&B/Hip-Hop singles of all time. The title also cursed the British summertime which was one of the wettest in living memory. However, her sales (354,431 copies sold) were still quite modest yet globally incredible.
After a massive ten weeks at #1, Rihanna was finally replaced by Timbaland's second #1 single of the year, "The Way I Are", featuring newcomers Keri Hilson and D.O.E., whilst Kate Nash stayed at #2 with her official debut single "Foundations".
August
The record for the shortest single to ever chart was broken, when Hans Zimmer's "Spider Pig", from The Simpsons Movie soundtrack, entered the chart at #24. The running time for the song is a mere 1:04.
Swedish singer Robyn earns her first UK top 40 #1, with the song "With Every Heartbeat". In the same week, Kate Nash made it to #1 in the albums chart with her debut album, Made of Bricks. Hip-Hop Star Kanye West debuts at #3 in the singles chart with "Stronger" based on downloads alone, and then also in the same week being the #1 of the downloads chart. "Stronger" rose to #1 in the singles chart the following week and stayed there for 2 weeks currently.
17 year-old Sean Kingston arrives at #2 in the chart on downloads alone.
September
On 2 September, Sean Kingston moves one place up the chart from #2 and earns his first #1 with the single "Beautiful Girls", Sean believes that he was inspired by music from his hero Jay-Z.
Girls Aloud returned to the charts with "Sexy! No, No, No..." which made it to #5, but fell 2 places to #7 the week after. They entered into the Guinness Book Of World Records, for having the most consecutive Top 10 hits in the UK for an all-female group.
In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins re-entered the chart at #17 after many years, due to its use in the new UK Cadburys Dairy Milk advert.
On 30 September, Radio 1 held a special UK Singles Chart edition for 40 years of Radio 1. Bruno Brooks and Mark Goodier, past presenters of the UK Singles Chart, played the biggest singles ever in the singles chart and showed highest stats from artists including Britney Spears, Gnarls Barkley, Will Young, Hear'Say, Bryan Adams,Rihanna and Eminem.
On this same day, Sugababes earned their sixth number one single with first single from their fifth studio album, "About You Now". Also, the Sugababes were the second artist (after Timbaland) to have two singles at number one in the year of 2007.
At 36 seconds long, "The Ladies' Bras" by Jonny Trunk & Wisbey became the shortest ever single to enter the UK Singles Chart, charting at number 27 on 30 September.
October
On 06 October the Sugababes manage to hold on to the top spot with "About You Now". Jennifer Lopez and The Stereophonics both make returns to the chart at numbers 11 and 12 with the singles "Do It Well" and "It Means Nothing" respectively. Kate Nash's second single fails to match the success of her debut, as "Mouthwash" peaks at number 23 (just two places ahead of "Foundations" which is in its 15th chart week).
Bruce Springsteen hits number one for the seventh time on the UK album charts with new album "Magic"
Charts
Number-one singles
| Issue date | Song title | Artist | Sales[2] |
| 7 January | "A Moment Like This" | Leona Lewis | 29,000 |
| 14 January | "A Moment Like This" | Leona Lewis | 23,500 |
| 21 January | "Grace Kelly" | Mika | 30,500 |
| 28 January | "Grace Kelly" | Mika | 38,500 |
| 4 February | "Grace Kelly" | Mika | 77,500 |
| 11 February | "Grace Kelly" | Mika | 55,000 |
| 18 February | "Grace Kelly" | Mika | 43,000 |
| 25 February | "Ruby" | Kaiser Chiefs | 38,000 |
| 4 March | "Shine" | Take That | 41,000 |
| 11 March | "Shine" | Take That | 27,000 |
| 18 March | "Walk This Way" | Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud | 51,500 |
| 25 March | "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" | The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin | 85,903 |
| 1 April | "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" | The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin | 56,000 |
| 8 April | "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" | The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin | 48,000 |
| 15 April | "Give It to Me" | Timbaland featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake | 29,760 |
| 22 April | "Beautiful Liar" | Beyoncé featuring Shakira | 37,500 |
| 29 April | "Beautiful Liar" | Beyoncé featuring Shakira | 35,000 |
| 6 May | "Beautiful Liar" | Beyoncé featuring Shakira | 28,000 |
| 13 May | "Baby's Coming Back / Transylvania" | McFly | 30,693 |
| 20 May | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 34,164 |
| 27 May | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 38,482 |
| 3 June | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 60,650 |
| 10 June | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 48,370 |
| 17 June | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 39,038 |
| 24 June | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 32,200 |
| 1 July | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 29,504 |
| 8 July | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 26,757 |
| 15 July | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 23,092 |
| 22 July | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | 24,000 |
| 29 July | "The Way I Are" | Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson and D.O.E. | 33,578 |
| 5 August | "The Way I Are" | Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson and D.O.E. | 32,592 |
| 12 August | "With Every Heartbeat" | Robyn with Kleerup | 34,842 |
| 19 August | "Stronger" | Kanye West | 36,804 |
| 26 August | "Stronger" | Kanye West | 32,915 |
| 2 September | "Beautiful Girls" | Sean Kingston | 55,144 |
| 9 September | "Beautiful Girls" | Sean Kingston | 41,787 |
| 16 September | "Beautiful Girls" | Sean Kingston | 32,348 |
| 23 September | "Beautiful Girls" | Sean Kingston | 26,248 |
| 30 September | "About You Now" | Sugababes | 34,068 |
| 07 October | "About You Now" | Sugababes | 54,788 |
| 14 October | "About You Now" | Sugababes | 22,067 |
Number-one albums
| Issue date | Album title | Artist | Sales[2] |
| 7 January | Beautiful World | Take That | 29,638 |
| 14 January | Back to Black | Amy Winehouse | 35,000 |
| 21 January | Back to Black | Amy Winehouse | 48,000 |
| 28 January | Hats Off to the Buskers (new release) | The View | 103,000 |
| 4 February | Not Too Late (new release) | Norah Jones | 60,500 |
| 11 February | Life in Cartoon Motion (new release) | Mika | 108,000 |
| 18 February | Life in Cartoon Motion | Mika | 81,500 |
| 25 February | Back to Black | Amy Winehouse | 47,000 |
| 4 March | Yours Truly, Angry Mob (new release) | Kaiser Chiefs | 151,000 |
| 11 March | Yours Truly, Angry Mob | Kaiser Chiefs | 66,225 |
| 18 March | Ray Quinn (new release) | Ray Quinn | 127,000 |
| 25 March | Beautiful World | Take That | 48,500 |
| 1 April | Beautiful World | Take That | 32,102 |
| 8 April | Because of the Times (new release) | Kings of Leon | 70,500 |
| 15 April | Because of the Times | Kings of Leon | 29,000 |
| 22 April | The Best Damn Thing (new release) | Avril Lavigne | 60,500 |
| 29 April | Favourite Worst Nightmare (new release) | Arctic Monkeys | 227,922 |
| 6 May | Favourite Worst Nightmare | Arctic Monkeys | 120,200 |
| 13 May | Favourite Worst Nightmare | Arctic Monkeys | 39,488 |
| 20 May | Minutes to Midnight (new release) | Linkin Park | 94,501 |
| 27 May | It Won't Be Soon Before Long (new release) | Maroon 5 | 73,517 |
| 3 June | It Won't Be Soon Before Long | Maroon 5 | 39,862 |
| 10 June | Good Girl Gone Bad (new release) | Rihanna | 53,722 |
| 17 June | The Traveling Wilburys Collection (new release) | Traveling Wilburys | 110,130 |
| 24 June | Icky Thump (new release) | The White Stripes | 66,000 |
| 1 July | An End Has a Start (new release) | Editors | 59,405 |
| 8 July | We Are the Night (new release) | The Chemical Brothers | 36,392 |
| 15 July | We'll Live and Die in these Towns (new release) | The Enemy | 39,191 |
| 22 July | One Chance (new release) | Paul Potts | 128,315 |
| 29 July | One Chance | Paul Potts | 75,494 |
| 5 August | One Chance | Paul Potts | 45,868 |
| 12 August | Made of Bricks (new release) | Kate Nash | 58,756 |
| 19 August | The King (new release) | Elvis Presley | 45,034 |
| 26 August | Hand Built by Robots | Newton Faulkner | 29,451 |
| 2 September | Hand Built by Robots | Newton Faulkner | 37,128 |
| 9 September | Once Upon a Time in the West (new release) | Hard-Fi | 54,169 |
| 16 September | Graduation (new release) | Kanye West | 84,611 |
| 23 September | All The Lost Souls (new release) | James Blunt | 117,966 |
| 30 September | Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (new release) | Foo Fighters | 135,685 |
| 07 October | Magic (new release) | Bruce Springsteen | 77,692 |
| 14 October | Change (new release) | Sugababes |
Number-one downloads
| Issue date | Song Title | Artist |
| 3 January | "A Moment like This" | Leona Lewis |
| 10 January | "Patience" | Take That |
| 17 January | "Grace Kelly" | Mika |
| 24 January | "Grace Kelly" | Mika |
| 31 January | "Grace Kelly" | Mika |
| 7 February | "Grace Kelly" | Mika |
| 14 February | "Grace Kelly" | Mika |
| 21 February | "Grace Kelly" | Mika |
| 28 February | "Ruby" | Kaiser Chiefs |
| 7 March | "Ruby" | Kaiser Chiefs |
| 14 March | "Ruby" | Kaiser Chiefs |
| 21 March | "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" | The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin |
| 28 March | "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" | The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin |
| 4 April | "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" | The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin |
| 11 April | "Girlfriend" | Avril Lavigne |
| 18 April | "Stop Me" | Mark Ronson Featuring Daniel Merriweather |
| 25 April | "Beautiful Liar" | Beyoncé featuring Shakira |
| 2 May | "Beautiful Liar" | Beyoncé featuring Shakira |
| 9 May | "Beautiful Liar" | Beyonce featuring Shakira |
| 16 May | "Cupid's Chokehold" | Gym Class Heroes featuring Patrick Stump |
| 23 May | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z |
| 30 May | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z |
| 6 June | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z |
| 13 June | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z |
| 20 June | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z |
| 27 June | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z |
| 4 July | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z |
| 11 July | "Umbrella" | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z |
| 18 July | "The Way I Are" | Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson and D.O.E. |
| 25 July | "The Way I Are" | Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson and D.O.E. |
| 1 August | "Foundations" | Kate Nash |
| 8 August | "Foundations" | Kate Nash |
| 15 August | "Stronger" | Kanye West |
| 22 August | "Stronger" | Kanye West |
| 29 August | "Beautiful Girls" | Sean Kingston |
| 5 September | "Beautiful Girls" | Sean Kingston |
| 12 September | "Hey There Delilah" | Plain White T's |
| 19 September | "Hey There Delilah" | Plain White T's |
| 26 September | "Ayo Technology" | 50 Cent featuring Justin Timberlake |
| 3 October | "About You Now" | Sugababes |
| 10 October | "About You Now" | Sugababes |
Current Top 10 singles
| This Week | Last Week | Song Title | Artist(s) | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "About You Now" | Sugababes | 4 |
| 2 | 5 | "Let Me Think About It" | Ida Corr vs. Fedde Le Grande | 2 |
| 3 | 2 | "If That's OK with You/No U Hang Up" | Shayne Ward | 2 |
| 4 | 3 | "Ayo Technology" | 50 Cent | 6 |
| 5 | 6 | "Hey There Delilah" | Plain White T's | 12 |
| 6 | 4 | "Beautiful Girls" | Sean Kingston | 5 |
| 7 | 12 | "Valerie" | Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse | 4 |
| 8 | 16 | "1234" | Feist | ? |
| 9 | 9 | "She's So Lovely" | Scouting for Girls | 6 |
| 10 | 9 | "Stronger" | Kanye West | ? |
Music awards
2007 BRIT Awards
The 2007 BRIT Awards were hosted by Russell Brand on February 14, 2007.
- British male solo artist: James Morrison
- British female solo artist: Amy Winehouse
- British group: Arctic Monkeys
- MasterCard British album: Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
- British single: Take That - "Patience"
- British breakthrough act: The Fratellis
- British live act: Muse
- International male solo artist: Justin Timberlake
- International female solo artist: Nelly Furtado
- International group: The Killers
- International album: The Killers - Sam's Town
- International breakthrough act: Orson
- Outstanding Contribution to Music: Oasis
Mercury Music Prize
The 2007 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future.
Popjustice £20 Music Prize
The 2007 Popjustice £20 Music Prize was awarded to Amy Winehouse for her song "Rehab" from the album Back to Black.
Record of the Year
The Record of the Year will be awarded in December 2007.
References
- ^ "Chart rules are changing!" bbc.co.uk, accessed 2007-01-07
- ^ a b Sales figures sourced from Music Week Subscription Required