Sam Fender and Olivia Dean earn the first Number 1-debut of 2025

While the Number 1-debut has become a staple and defining trait of the 2020s, oddly enough, not one song managed to debut atop my personal chart in 2025, yet. By this time last year, five songs earned a Number 1-debut, whereas this year, the highest anyone has gotten was #3 by Roxy Dekker’s “Casual” in March. This week, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean finally earn the first Number 1-debut of 2025 with their duet version of “Rein Me In”. The duet was debuted live on June 6, 2025, during Sam Fender his headline show at London Stadium, where Olivia Dean was one of two support acts during the show. It was originally included on Fender’s third studio album People Watching, which spawned two Number 1s; the title track and “Little Bit Closer”. As “Rein Me In” debuts atop the chart, Sam Fender earns his seventh Number 1-hit. The North Shields-singer now ties with Justin Timberlake as the male artist with the second most #1s of all time. The male artists with the most Number 1s are Calvin Harris, One Direction, Robbie Williams and Ronnie Flex – all with eight Number 1s. Meanwhile, Olivia Dean now earns her first ever Number 1-hit. She has been an up-and-comer for some time now. In 2021, she was named the breakthrough artist of the year by Amazon Music and, in 2023, Dean was selected as BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year. Olivia Dean previously scored two Top 20-hits on this chart; last year’s breakthrough "The Hardest Part” and the current “Nice To Each Other”.

Further down, JADE continues to tease her upcoming solo debut as she unleashes “Plastic Box” up at #16. It is inspired by Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” and other ‘happy-but-dancing’ pop songs, much like Mabel’s About Last Night. The music video references Madonna her “Don’t Tell Me”, continuing JADE’s tradition of paying homage to previous pop icons through her art. Between winning Best Pop at the BRITs and performing at Glastonbury soon, JADE’s upcoming That's Showbiz Baby! is shaping up to become one of the most exciting releases of this year. It will include her Number 1-song “Angel of My Dreams” and the follow-up hits “Fantasy”, “IT Girl” and the recent gold-certified “FUFN (F*ck You for Now)”. JADE’s new “Plastic Box” debuts at #16 this week, earning JADE her sixth Top 40-entry as a solo artist. It marks JADE her lowest debut yet. She now ties with Perrie as the Little Mix-alumna with the most solo Top 40-songs signed to her name.

Meanwhile, American DJ and record producer MK debuts with “Dior” featuring Chrystal at #35. The thumping dance track has already hit #5 on the UK Singles Charts. We previously met Chrystal on the UK Top 10-song “The Days” featuring The Notion, which stalled at #35 on my personal chart as well, though it did chart for a few weeks. Kris Kross Amsterdam round out the Top 40 with “Ze Komt Uit Amsterdam” to celebrate Amsterdam’s 750^th birthday. It is an ode to the Dutch capital and interpolates Maggie MacNeals’s Eurovision hit “Amsterdam” which finished in fifth place in 1980. As expected, Kris Kross Amsterdam are once again joined by popular Dutch singers to bring the vocals – this time by Andre Hazes Jr., the son of the legendary late Amsterdam-born singer Andre Hazes. His music is still very well-known in the Netherlands and Flanders; Dua Lipa even covered his ballad during her Radical Optimism Tour. “Ze Komt Uit Amsterdam” also features popular singer Tabitha. She worked with Kris Kross Amsterdam before on the juggernaut Number 1-hits “Hij Is Van Mij” and “Moment” in 2019.

As we reach the halfway point of 2025, it is time to rank the biggest singles of the year so far. Coming out on top, Chappell Roan takes the crown with the celebratory “Pink Pony Club”. The song has never reached the top of the charts during its chart run, stalling at #2 for five non-consecutive weeks instead. Its success was boosted by a performance at this year’s Grammys. If “Pink Pony Club” is to become the biggest record of 2025 at the end of the year, it would become the first ever song to be the year-end’s best-seller without ever reaching #1. Currently in second place, we have Lady Gaga’s return-to-form “Abracadabra”. It became the second Number 1-hit off Mayhem and held four weeks at the top. Pommelien Thijs takes third place with her folk-pop hit “Atlas” – the year’s longest-running Number 1-song so far with six weeks. Dutch singer and producer Antoon takes fourth place with “Beetje Van Mij”, while Bad Bunny settles for fifth with the viral “DtMF”. The rest of the year-end’s Top 10 so far is occupied by the #2-hits “Sports Car”, “Messy”, “Lotje” and Sam Fender’s “People Watching” and “Arm’s Length”.

Newly certified

“Little Bit Closer” – Sam Fender GOLD

Best-scoring songs of 2025 so far

1. “Pink Pony Club” – Chappell Roan
2. “Abracadabra” – Lady Gaga
3. “Atlas” – Pommelien Thijs
4. “Beetje Van Mij” – Antoon
5. “DtMF” – Bad Bunny
6. “Sports Car” – Tate McRae
7. “Messy” – Lola Young
8. “People Watching” – Sam Fender
9. “Lotje” – U.V.S.V. / N.V.V.S.U.
10. “Arm’s Length” – Sam Fender