Joseph's Hit 40

She made her triumphant comeback last week, and now Kesha returns to my chart, scoring a new personal best as Praying becomes her very first #1. The emotional track, which talks about her experiences with Dr. Luke, is her first single as a lead artist since 2013's Crazy Kids, although she's scored hits with Pitbull collaboration Timber and Zedd collaboration True Colors since then. Overall, it's her fourth top 10 in my chart, with her previous personal best being the #2 peaking Die Young from 2012.

Whilst the #1 this week was clear, Demi Lovato puts in a strong showing as she debuts at #2 with new single Sorry Not Sorry, released on Tuesday 11th. Demi's still yet to have a #1 as a lead artist, although her collaborations with The Vamps and Cheat Codes both made it all the way to the top. Sorry Not Sorry joins Cool for the Summer and Instruction as #2 hits in her discography. It becomes her 11th top 10 hit, and first as a lead artist since Body Say made #5 last year.

Also no stranger to the top 10 is Dua Lipa, who scored her very first top 10 hit with Be the One at the very end of 2015. Since then, she's gone on to have a total of five top 10s, including #1 hit Scared to Be Lonely with Martin Garrix, and this week she scores her sixth top 10 as New Rules enters straight away at #4. It outpeaks all bar two of her singles as a lead artist, matching Hotter Than Hell's #4 peak and finishing just two spots behind Blow Your Mind (Mwah)'s #2 peak. New Rules was boosted this week by the start of its single push, including the premiere of its fantastic music video.

The fourth new entry in this week's top 5 comes from another post-album single, this time from Harry Styles. Harry's debut solo single Sign of the Times entered at #1 in my chart just hours after its premiere, and as of this week is the longest runner in my current top 40, as well as being the only song to spend more than 2 weeks at the top this year. Two Ghosts is the follow-up single and makes a very impressive start at #5, giving Harry his second top 10 hit as a solo artist, and his 20th overall if you include his One Direction hits.

The final new song in this week's top 10 is a re-entry from Hailee Steinfeld. Hailee's previous single Starving became a top 5 hit in its first full week, and eventually peaked at #3, although its follow-up Most Girls got off to a much slower start. It debuted at #26 earlier this year but dropped out and hasn't been seen again until now, as it re-enters at #6, giving Hailee her second top 10 hit.

Outside the top 10, we see a few new faces in the chart for the first time. Finnish singer ALMA makes her debut at #15 with Chasing Highs, not to be confused with French singer and Eurovision artist Alma who scored a #40 hit with Requiem earlier this year. Also, new at #35 are INDIIA and Whitney Phillips with their song Out of Love, the first chart hit for both artists.

Among the new faces we also have some big names, including FO&O's new single Hurt Like We Did at #34, Sabrina Carpenter's Why at #23, and Zedd & Liam Payne's collaboration Get Low at #40. Selena Gomez is also new in at #13 alongside Gucci Mane on Fetish, but more on that next week when it undoubtedly climbs!