Sam Fender and Olivia Dean lead an unchanged Top 3

Following a spectacular Number 1-debut – the first of 2025 to be exact – Sam Fender and Olivia Dean easily hold the crown position for a third week. Last week, their duet version of “Rein Me In” opened at the top with the highest numbers of 2025 so far. The soft duet was debuted live on June 6, 2025, during Sam Fender his headline show at London Stadium, where Olivia Dean was one of two supporting acts during the show. It was originally included on his third album People Watching, which spawned two Number 1s; the title track and “Little Bit Closer”. “Rein Me In” marks Sam Fender his seventh chart-topper on this list, tying the North Shields-born singer with Justin Timberlake as the male artist with the second most #1s of all time. Meanwhile, Olivia Dean earned her first Number 1-record. It also boosts her solo song “Nice to Each Other” higher up my chart, currently at #13, nearly earning Dean her first solo Top 10-entry. Sam Fender and Olivia Dean lead an unchanged Top 3 this week; Sabrina Carpenter is determined to take over the top position with “Manchild” for a second non-consecutive week at Number 1. Meanwhile, Sam Fender’s own “Little Bit Closer” remains at #3 again for second week.

My name is Pink and it’s really nice to meet you! – up fourteen places into the Top 10, PinkPantheress lands at #8 this week with the viral “Illegal”. The garage track is backed by a viral promotion and her set the Woodsies Stage at Glastonbury Festival a few weekends ago. The song samples "Dark & Long (Dark Train)" by Underworld and continues PinkPantheress’s tradition of honouring rave culture and UK-garage through her music. “Illegal” was included on Pink her critically acclaimed second mixtape Fancy That, which also included the previous Top 10-single “Tonight” and made the Top 3 on the UK Albums Charts. This kind of momentum may seem sudden, but PinkPantheress has been working very hard for a long time. After she won the BBC’s Sound of… Poll in 2022, PinkPantheress broke out into the mainstream with “Boy’s a Liar” featuring Ice Spice and made it all the way op to Number 1. Smart collaborations and a feature on the Barbie Soundtrack helped carve a niche fanbase. PinkPantheress is not going anywhere but up any time soon.

The 1990s saw the meteoric rise of the Spice Girls. The 2000s were dominated by Destiny’s Child, the Sugababes and Girls Aloud. The 2010s were backed by Little Mix and Fifth Harmony. However, this decade has not spawned a significant girl group, yet. R&B-based girl group FLO tried their luck on the charts and Blackpink scored some cross-over hits on my chart, but it’s all far off the heights set by the girl groups who came before them. Enter, Yoonchae Jeong, Megan Skiendiel, Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Sophia Laforteza and Manon Bannerman: also known as KATSEYE. A collaboration between South Korean entertainment business Hybe and Geffen Records, they are a global girl group that first rose to prominence on the Netflix docu Popstar Academy. They created buzz with their song “Gnarly” and it was remixed to feature Ice Spice. KATSEYE now earn the highest debut of the week with their new summer song “Gabriela”. It was written in the late 2010s and has been offered to Aniita and Rita Ora, but it has finally landed with the girls of KATSEYE. Described as a modern day “Jolene”, maybe this could kickstart KATSEYE their career and welcome back the age of the girl group. KATSEYE’s “Gabriela” starts off at #30 – the lowest top new entry of 2025 so far.

The best-scoring song by a girl group is, of course, the Spice Girls’ classic “Wannabe”. It spent eleven weeks at Number 1 between 1996 and 1998 and was the first of twelve consecutive Number 1s for the all-conquering girl band. “Wannabe” actually ranks as the highest-scoring song of all time and it was the song with the most weeks at Number 1, but that record was overtaken in 2009 by Cheryl Cole with “Fight For This Love”. Speaking of Chezza – Girls Aloud’s 2008-hit “The Promise” is the second best -scoring single by a girl band. It was the last of eight Number 1s and finished as the second biggest hit of the entire 2000s, only behind Duffy’s “Warwick Avenue”. Little Mix’s “Shout Out to My Ex” is the third best-scoring single by a girl group. It was taken from their fourth album Glory Days, which was – quite literally – Little Mix’s glory days; every single off the record peaked at Number 1 on my chart, but none was a successful as its lead. The list is furthermore completed by other legendary girl bands, such as Destiny’s Child, the Sugababes, Fifth Harmony, All Saints, K3 and Linda, Roos & Jessica. It is up to KATSEYE to claim their place in this impressive pop pantheon.

Further down, Irish dance-pop singer Jazzy declares the summer season as opened with “High On Me” in collaboration with Rossi. The Dublin-born star scored a big summer hit with 2023’s “Giving Me”; reaching diamond status in her native Ireland and reaching #3 on my chart. Other songs have stuck on the UK Singles Charts as well, including last year’s platinum “Some Days”. Teaming up with London-based DJ Rossi, “High On Me” earns Jazzy her fourth Top 40-hit at #37. Kylie Minogue returns to the Top 40 following the Tension Tour in The Netherlands and Belgium with “Edge of Saturday Night”; the house-pop song with The Blessed Madonna. It has originally peaked at #28 during its chart run last summer, but it now makes a comeback at #39 following Minogue’s acclaimed tour across Europe.

Newly certified

“What Was That” – Lorde GOLD

“Hart In Brand” – Froukje & S10 GOLD

Biggest songs by girl groups of all time

1. “Wannabe” – Spice Girls
2. “The Promise” – Girls Aloud
3. “Shout Out to My Ex” – Little Mix
4. “Spice Up Your Life” – Spice Girls
5. “Who Do You Think You Are” – Spice Girls
6. “Sound of the Underground” – Girls Aloud
7. “Work From Home” – Fifth Harmony
8. “The Ketchup Song” – Las Ketchup
9. “Ademnood” – Linda, Roos & Jessica
10. “Viva Forever” – Spice Girls