After leaving Little Mix, Jesy Nelson scores her first solo Number 1-hit with “BOYZ” featuring Nicki Minaj

After Jesy Nelson left Little Mix in December last year to focus on her mental health, many big fans worried that the British singer would retire the music industry. However, after an initial small break from social media, the Essex-born star started the extensive promotion for her debut single, which was met with extremely high anticipation. This week, Jesy Nelson finally released her debut song “BOYZ” which features Nicki Minaj. Its massive promotion surely paid off, as the new single debuts at Number 1 with the highest opening numbers of the year so far. It has been streamed over fifty-five times across various platforms, including Spotify and YouTube. “BOYZ” is Jesy Nelson her first Number 1-hit as a solo artist and her eleventh overall, counting her discography with Little Mix. The featured Nicki Minaj bags her ninth chart-topping single; funnily enough, her last Number 1-hit was 2018’s “Woman Like Me” with Little Mix. “BOYZ” barely has any competition, as it outstreams its closest competitor – “Heat Waves” by the Glass Animals – nearly three to one.

For the first time this year, two songs debut inside the Top 10 – Sam Fender soars to fifth place with his new song “Spit of You”, taken from his new sophomore studio album Seventeen Going Under. The song was streamed over twenty times across numerous platforms according to my last.fm. Its predecessors all benefited from Fender his new album release; the title track moves back to third place, “Get You Down” reaches a new peak at Number 13 and “Aye” moves up eleven places to Number 25. The album itself was my most-streamed album of the week with ease, outperforming its closest competitor by over one hundred streams. The fourth single “Spit of You” is Sam Fender his fifth song to peak inside the Top 10 and his biggest opening week to date.

Further down, Antoon & Sterre aim for the Top 10 with their newest collaboration “Zo Ben Jij” which was the highest new entry of last week. Aided by the release of Jesy Nelson’s debut solo single, Little Mix’s “Love (Sweet Love)” also shoots up the charts, reaching a new peak at #16 this week. Lil Nas X his “That’s What I Want” keeps on climbing – finishing at Number 18 – and Dutch duo Donnie and René Froger break the Top 30 with their hilarious Dutch pub anthem “Bon Gepakt”.

At Number 32, Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue debuts with “A Second to Midnight”, her new collaboration with Years & Years-singer Olly Alexander. Earlier this year, Minogue scored her first Top 3-hit since “Higher” peaked at Number 1 in 2011, while Alexander made released his first solo single “Starstruck” – which was later remixed to feature Minogue. At Number 38, the Italian Eurovision-winners Måneskin debut with “Mammamia”, the follow-up to the massively popular “Zitte e Buoni” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave”. The single is already a success across streaming services and is set to perform well on the international charts.

To celebrate the release of Jesy Nelson her first song as a solo artist, I have decided to honour the girl group members of the past who made a solo career for themselves. Destiny’s Child spawned two impressive solo stars: Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé. Kelly scored back-to-back hits between 2002 and 2003 with “Dilemma”, “Stole” and “Can’t Nobody” before scoring a comeback Number 1-hit with “When Love Takes Over” in 2009. Beyoncé went on to become one of the most successful singers of all time, scoring forty-three Top 40-hits of which six went to Number 1. All five of the Spice Girls had solo success, a rarity in the music industry. Four out of five have scored a Number 1-hit on this chart – sorry Mel B! – while all scored at least one Top 10-single. Geri Halliwell had the biggest hit with “It’s Raining Men”, while Mel C had the most longevity as a solo recording artist. America’s Camila Cabello and Nicole Scherzinger are one of the best examples of girl group stars to claim solo success. The Pussycat Dolls’ Scherzinger made it big with collaborations alongside Timbaland, will.i.am., and 50 Cent, even topping the charts with “Don’t Hold Your Breath”, while Cabello scored massive international hits with “Havana” and “Señorita”, which surpassed her biggest records with Fifth Harmony. The UK’s Cheryl (Girls Aloud), Alesha Dixon (Mis-Teeq) and Louise (Eternal) all scored a Top 10-hit as a solo artist, with their biggest hits including “Fight For This Love”, “The Boy Does Nothing” and “Naked”. For a list of girl group members-gone-solo their most-successful debut songs as a soloist, see the Top 10 below this chart.