Olivia Dean makes it two weeks at Number 1

Neo-soul singer Olivia Dean solidifies herself as 2025’s breakout star as “Man I Need” holds a second week at Number 1 on my chart. Having been making waves in the UK music scene for a good few years now, everything accelerated as her festival appearances garnered critical acclaim and listed her as “the one to watch”. Her debut album helped her become BBC’s Artist of the Year and take over Glastonbury. This year, Olivia Dean managed to receive even wider mainstream recognition as she contributed “It Isn’t Perfect” to the new Bridget Jones-film’s soundtrack and duetted with Sam Fender on “Rein Me In” – which was good for a Number 1-debut on my personal chart and becoming 2025’s longest-running chart-topper so far. Meanwhile, her song “Nice to Each Other” quickly became a streaming juggernaut and peaked at #7 following “Rein Me In” its success, while her previous leading single “Dive” re-entered the Top 40. With “Man I Need” now up at Number 1, Olivia Dean establishes herself as this year’s big breakout star, like Chappell Roan or Sabrina Carpenter last year. Additionally, “Rein Me In” with Sam Fender reached double platinum status and “Nice to Each Other” is certified gold. It is nearly perfect and it might be for a while!

Perrie makes a shout out to her ex on her new single “If He Wanted To He Would”. It is the big single release ahead of her recently announced debut album, aptly titled just Perrie. The announcement came at the end of a creative restart, as Perrie explained she was unhappy with the results of her solo output so far. Thus, previous singles such as “Tears” or “Rollercoaster” will not be excluded on her debut, not even to buff the streaming figures. Debut song “Forget About Us” – a knock-out Number 1 upon its release”–and the reassuring “You Go Your Way”, however, are included on the little mix. The new “If He Wanted To He Would” moves into the Top 10 this week at #7, earning the Little Mix-alumna her third solo Top 10-hit. So far, it has proven to be rare for a Little Mix-solo song to reach the Top 10 if it not did so immediately upon its release. For example, Jade’s “Plastic Box” or Leigh-Anne’s “Stealing Love” debuted outside the Top 10 and never made it up there after. That makes Perrie an exception, as her ”Christmas Magic” reached the Top 10 for the first time in its fourth week on the list. Perrie’s new song its success is boosted by the release of the promotional song “Cute Aggression”, which functions as “If He Wanted To He Would”’s B-side.

Since the start of the decade, Belgian singer Pommelien Thijs has quickly become one of the strongest selling Belgian artists in recent memory. She launched her career as the lead actress on the popular tv-series #LikeMe and then collaborated with Dutch colleague Jaap Reesema on the Christmas Number 1 “Nu Wij Niet Meer Praten”. Following that spectacular breakthrough, more Belgian hit singles quickly followed, most of them included on her multi-platinum debut album. Success in The Netherlands was a bit more difficult to achieve, but this year, the Southern star crossed over to the North with hit songs such as “Het Midden” and “Atlas” – both knock-out Number 1s on my personal list. “Atlas” also ranks as the highest-scoring song of 2025 so far on my personal chart, having racked up more than 115,000 points and been certified triple-platinum. Pommelien Thijs now continues to tease her new upcoming album with the odd “Ben Je Klaar?”. Whereas “Atlas” could easily have been a Gracie Abrams-single, the new “Ben Je Klaar?” is much more reminiscent of Billie Eilish’s eclectic “Happier Than Ever”. It peaks at #9 this week, earning Pommelien Thijs her sixth Top 10-hit to date.

Just like Olivia Dean or Pommelien Thijs, pop icon Lady Gaga also enjoyed an enormously successful year already. Her ballad “Die with a Smile” with Bruno Mars continued to dominate the charts after its release last year, while her sixth studio album Mayhem spawned the Number 1-hit “Abracadabra” for four weeks. That same album received a digital reissue this week to include the brand-new song “The Dead Dance”. The song is a synth-pop bop about feelings of hopelessness in love. It has been recorded for the second season of Netflix’s hit drama Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega. That some horror vibe can be found in “The Dead Dance” its music video, as it has been directed by none other than horror icon Tim Burton. It also makes for an excellent continuation of the horror-infused elements found in the videos for “Disease” and “Abracadabra” – all the signs of another excellent era by Lady Gaga. “The Dead Dance” starts off at #22, the highest new entry of this week. Its success is further boosted by a stellar performance at the 2025 Video Music Awards. This entire year is just one big victory lap for the pop icon that is Lady Gaga!

Further down, Dutch singer Bente debuts at #34 with the soft pop song “Hoe Hou Ik Dat Vast”. Bente is a musical protégée that has been making music for a while now, mostly independent stuff, but 2025 is shaping up to become her big breakthrough year thanks to her joining the popular musical tv-series Beste Zangers. Bente made the Top 40 two times before, both with collaborations: first on 2021’s Top 20-hit “Nee Is Nee” with Maan and then with the low-flying “Als Geen Ander” with Meau. This time, Bente is joined by Dutch rock group BLØF, who are definitely not a stranger to the Top 40. No, BLØF have scored forty-three Top 40-hits, including two multi-platinum Number 1s. Calvin Harris comes in at #38 with his new late summer duet “Ocean” featuring Jessie Reyez. He recently appeared on the list with “Blessings”, which was a Top 3 hit across Europe and a solid Top 20-entry on this small chart. It is the second time Harris worked with singer Jessie Reyez; they also joined up alongside Sam Smith on their “I’m Not Here to Make Friends”. Reyez could also have been heard as the uncredited vocals on Calvin Harris and Sam Smith their massive Number 1-hit “Promises” from 2018.

As Perrie enters the Top 10 with “If He Wanted to He Would”, Leigh-Anne up in the Top 40, and Jade set to release her debut solo album this week – it is high time to find out how successfully each singer navigated the charts since Little Mix disbanded. The biggest Little Mix solo song is Jade’s “Angel Of My Dreams”. The electroclash pop hit is a personal love letter to the music industry, which Jade loves and hates. Despite missing out on the top spot upon its release, “Angel Of My Dreams” nabbed the top position in its fourth week on the charts, and rode the Top 40 far longer than any of her ex-colleagues. It also received critical acclaim for its sound and themes, nabbing an important BRITs nomination for Song of the Year. Perrie’s “Forget About Us” ranks second so far. The Ed Sheeran-penned song is the only Little Mix-solo song to spend more than one week atop the chart; it spent two! Leigh-Anne’s UK -garage track “Don’t Say Love” ranks third; it was a knock-out Number 1-hit upon release and the first Little Mix-solo song to reach gold status. Collectively, also counting Jesy Nelson’s short-lived career, the Little Mix ladies have scored four Number 1s – one each! A rare achievement not even matched by the Spice Girls – and eleven Top 10-hits, most of them by Jade.

Newly certified

“Nice to Each Other” – Olivia Dean GOLD

“Zaazaa” – Frenna & Shallipopi PLATINUM

Biggest Little Mix solo hits

1. “Angel Of My Dreams” – JADE [#1] (17 weeks)
2. “Forget About Us” – Perrie [#1 x 2 weeks] (12 weeks)
3. “Don’t Say Love” – Leigh-Anne [#1] (12 weeks)
4. “FUFN (F*ck You For Now)” – JADE [#4] (14 weeks)
5. “My Love” – Leigh-Anne & Ayra Starr [#3] (15 weeks)
6. “IT Girl” – JADE [#6] (15 weeks)
7. “Boyz” – Jesy Nelson & Nicki Minaj [#1] (10 weeks)
8. “Fantasy” – JADE [#5] (13 weeks)
9. “Plastic Box” – JADE [#15] (11 weeks)
10. “Christmas Magic” – Perrie [#4] (7 weeks)