1. Gracie Abrams – ‘That’s so True’

The song off of Abrams’s deluxe version of ‘The Secret of Us‘ is currently on its seventh week charting. It debuted on UK charts at number nineteenth shortly after its release in October, and ever since it’s been a staple in the top five. It is Gracie’s first and only song to achieve this position. The artist will be beginning her UK tour in early March, performing at London’s O2 Arena for a sold out show.

2. Rosé and Bruno Mars – ‘Apt‘

On its 11th week in the top ten, ‘Apt’ has made numbers on radios and social media but has still to claim the number one position. It has charted at number two for three non-consecutive weeks, and its popularity has helped Rosé’s debut album ‘Rosie‘ peak at number four shortly after its release. Last week, Official Charts has revealed the song was close to dethroning Gracie’s number one hit: will next week bring a climb of charts for Rosé?

3. Lola Young – ‘Messy‘

The TikTok viral hit ‘Messy’ is on its ninth week on charts and is finally getting closer to becoming a certified chart-topper. It charted at number three last week and it is proving its longevity, challenging Gracie and Rosé. With three weeks spent in the top ten, it is Lola Young’s biggest hit to date and her only song to make it in the UK’s top 100.

4. Gigi Perez – ‘Sailor Song’

What started off as a viral song on social media has once again made its way back to the charts. It was Gigi Perez’s first song to chart in the UK, and it has now spent 24 weeks in the top 100. It has previously peaked at number one, and has spent 11 weeks in the top 10. It fell down the charts during the month of December but came back stronger than ever, and has spent the past two weeks at number four.

5. Jimin – ‘Who‘

Jimin’s ‘Who’ has made a big comeback on UK charts, climbing up from last week’s 64th position. It debuted on charts in August, peaking at number four in its debut week, but afterwards it failed to hold its position and fell out the charts. Last week, it made a comeback in the top 100 and quickly climbed back up; is it meant to stay this time?

After spending last week at number 21 and the previous two at number two, ‘That’s So True‘ by Gracie Abrams returned to number one, becoming the first number one song of 2025. ‘That’s So True’ became a hit after being released alongside the deluxe version of Abrams’s second full length album, ‘The Secret of Us‘, which also contains a song featuring Taylor Swift. It is Abrams’s first number one song, after ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry’ peaked at number four. The song is currently on its sixth week at number one and overall it has spent eleven weeks charting with a debut at number nineteen. In March, Abrams will embark on a completely sold out tour of the UK, where she’ll play the O2 Arena in London, which has a capacity of 20,000: a big step compared to the 2,000 people venues she played last year on her ‘Good Riddance Tour’.

At number two, Rosé and Bruno Mars are still going strong with their ‘Apt‘, originally released as the lead single for Rosé’s debut solo album ‘Rosie‘ which peaked at number one and spent two weeks in the UK top 100. The song, which has already become a radio classic, debuted at number four and eventually peaked at number two, always blocked by Abrams. Last week, the song was charting at number 28 but it made a comeback to the top spots of the charts big enough that it might even achieve that number one position in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, Bruno Mars’s collaboration with Lady Gaga ‘Die With a Smile‘ was included in the biggest songs of 2024, claiming the 37th spot in the list.

At number three, London-based Lola Young peaks with TikTok viral ‘Messy‘. The song first appeared on charts at the end of November at number 87. Slowly but steadily, it climbed charts and finally reached the top ten! Young was nominated for a BRITs rising star award back in 2021, and was included in BBC’s Sound of 2022 poll where she arrived fourth. Despite already being recognised in the UK music industry, Young gains her breakthrough song with ‘Messy’, which is the only song by the artist to ever chart. Official Charts included Young’s an artist to watch in 2025, and her hit song is predicted to achieve an even higher position in the weeks to come.

At number four, a big comeback for ‘Sailor Song‘ by Gigi Perez that had previously fallen out of the top ten; Perez takes back the top spots and tries to climb back to number one which ‘Sailor Song’ had achieved at the beginning of November. Number five is a song that is new to the top spots of charts: ‘The Days‘ by Chrystal, like Young, also had a slow ascent towards the number one position but it is now getting there and did not let the festive slump stop it!

Gracie Abrams’s ‘That’s So True‘ was already viral among fans of the American artist before its release on the deluxe version of Abrams’s second full length album, titled ‘The Secret of Us'; the song had been performed by Abrams and co-writer Audrey Hobert at one of Abrams’s show, and successively it was announced by the latter that the song would be released on the deluxe version of the album. Mostly thanks to TikTok, the song reached a level of popularity that none of Abrams’s songs ever had in the past, becoming her first UK number one. Up until last week, the song charted at number two, second only to WHAM!’s ‘Last Christmas’; but this week, the song fell almost twenty spots down charting at number 21, lower than its debut. It is ‘That’s So True”s ninth week on the UK chart, the song previously spent over a month at number one but was dethroned by Christmas hits. Will Abrams fight back and climb charts once again, or is it time for a new chart-topping hit?

Similarly to Abrams, Rosè’s ‘APT‘ featuring Bruno Mars charted in the UK’s top five for well over a month, peaking at number two. The song was released as a lead single for Rosè’s debut album, titled ‘Rosie’, which was released earlier this month. A couple weeks after its release, the song debuted at number four on the UK Official Charts, and from then it went on to spend eight weeks charting in the top five and, despite never achieving the number one position, the song became a hit immediately after its chart debut. Last week, ‘APT’ claimed spot number five of UK charts, while this week it is currently charting at number 28, losing over twenty spots. Alike ‘That’s So True’, ‘APT’ also had to make space for Christmas hits, giving up its well-deserved spot in the top five: will ‘APT’ come back to top charts once the Christmas excitement has died down, or is its time as a certified chart-topper over?

As the UK’s top twenty is over taken by the festive hits, some honourable mentions of those songs that bravely climbed charts over the Christmas period are Lola Young’s ‘Messy‘, that currently charts in the 33rd spot but last week had peaked at number seven; Wicked’s ‘Defying Gravity’ is currently number 58 after charting in the 20th spot last week, Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Bed Chem‘ charts as 66 after claiming the 38th spot last week and Gigi Perez’s ‘Sailor Song‘ went from charting at number 34 last week to 68 this week.

Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” came back to the number one spot on charts last week, after the release of its extended version “The Anthology” on physical copies. It is the album’s tenth week at number one in the UK, and it marks Taylor Swift’s twelfth album at number one and thirtieth week at the top position. With “The Tortured Poets Departments: The Anthology” Swift made a career-marking album, which has broken records worldwide and quickly became a fan favourite.

Right after Swift, Sabrina Carpenter is still topping charts with her album “Short n Sweet”, currently on its sixteenth week in the top ten. The album previously peaked at number one on its debut week, and its singles made Carpenter this year’s charts queen. Ever since the album was released, it charted on the UK’s top three. “Short n Sweet” made Carpenter one of the biggest artists of the year, and perhaps of the decade. She will be headlining BST Hyde Park next summer, after her sold-out tour which will take her around the UK.

Michael Buble’s “Christmas” is currently at number three, but it’s likely that it will climb charts in the next couple weeks over Christmas. The album, originally released in 2011, is on its 117^th week on the UK’s top ten. It achieved the number one position various times in the past, spending six weeks at the top spot of charts in total. Buble’s climb is almost a yearly tradition, and the album has managed to make its way to the charts’ top ten every year since its release, achieving the number one in 2011, 2020, 2022 and 2023.

Rose’s album “Rosie”, released earlier this month, has climbed its way to number four on UK charts. One of the previously released singles, “APT”, in collaboration with Bruno Mars, has topped the songs charts for the past couple of weeks, becoming a worldwide hit. This is the album’s debut week on UK charts, but with the popularity of its singles it is likely that “Rosie” is here to stay.

At number five, Sabrina Carpenter debuts on charts with “Fruitcake”, a Christmas album originally released last year which is gaining popularity this year after Carpenter released her Christmas Special “A Nonsense Christmas” on Netflix, earlier this month. The album contains some new Christmas-themed songs, as well as some covers of all time Christmas classics.

Up next on the UK’s albums chart is Chappell Roan with “The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess”, on its 35^th week charting, followed by Charli xcx’s “Brat”, Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX”, Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” and at number ten, The Weeknd’s “The Highlights”.

WHAM! “Last Christmas” is on its 103^rd week in the top 100, and eight as number one. The song first begun charting in 2007, many years after its first release in December 1984. It took almost forty years for the song to achieve the number one position, despite being one of the most popular Christmas songs ever released. It achieved the number one position in 2021 and 2023, peaking at one around Christmas in 2022 but failing to hold on to the position over Christmas day. Will it take the title again this year?

Right after “Last Christmas”, Gracie Abrams is still holding on to the top five with her hit song “That’s so True” off of the deluxe edition of “The Secret of Us”, her second full length album. This is Abrams’s first song to achieve such a high position, which has granted her a fanbase big enough to play a sold-out show at the London’s O2 Arena next year. Will Abrams hold on to the title long enough, or will it lose spots to give space to other Christmas hits?

At number three, Mariah Carey is getting closer and closer to that number one spot that “All I want for Christmas is You” has never reached over Christmas. In 2021 and 2023, the song reached the top spots of UK charts in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but each time lost the place before the Christmas number one of the year could be announced. Is this Mariah’s year? The song is already playing all over radios all throughout the UK, and it is perhaps seen worldwide as the most iconic of all Christmas songs. It’s only a couple more spots to climb, and the title goes to Carey!

Rosè and Bruno Mars’s “APT” is still charting in the top five, on its eight week in UK’s charts. After peaking at number two, the song has held on the top spots tight despite the growing number of Christmas songs climbing the charts.

Finally, at number five, Brenda Lee’s “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” is climbing up the charts. It’s its 78^th week charting, and has, so far, only peaked at number four in 2023. But this is the song’s fourth year in the top five. Does this mean 2024 is Lee’s year? Only time will tell.

The Christmas number one will be announced on the BBC Radio 1 on December 20.

The album opens with “number one girl‘’ the second single, released on November 22. Though the tone and balladic is probably unexpected for first time listeners after the initial release of “APT.”, it’s understandable that she would decide to release this as her second single – it shows who she is and what she is capable of. With lyrics such as “So what’s it going to take for you to want me? / I’d give it all up if you told me that I’d be / the number one girl in your eyes”, it perfectly sets the story that she’s going to tell should you listen to the album in order. The refrain of the song is a particular highlight, with the lyrics “The girl in your eyes” repeated in a high, wispy tone that reflects the longing feeling of the whole song perfectly.

The next two songs, “3am” and “two years” continue to set the scene of the toxic ex, reflecting her mindset. “3am” opens with the lyric “I just saw a red flag / Gonna pretend I didn’t see that.”, before building upon the guitar string melody with some bass and a catchy hook, “I just want it to be you”. The next song, “two years”, is decidedly slower pace, but opens up the recurring theme of trying to move on from her ex, but finding that “this love never dies”. A particular stand out lyric in this song is “I’ll always hate the fact that you ruined everybody after you”, which is an entire universal feeling anyone trying to move on from a relationship could understand encapsulated in a single lyric.

The single released on the same day as the album, “toxic till the end”, sets up the rest of the album by signalling the realisation that the ex in question was toxic. ROSÉ has referred to this ‘ex’ in interviews and playfully announces part way through the song, “Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the ex”. 

The album moves on to confident, upbeat “drinks or coffee”, which acts as the perfect bridge to the most upbeat track, “APT.” This single reached no.1 on the UK charts, creating anticipation for this album.  The following song is “gameboy”, still up beat, but lyrically melancholic, it refers to someone who acts like a good guy who took her love for granted. From “stay a little longer” with the longing for someone familiar to stay longer, even though they’re not good for you, to “not the same” with the acceptance of the inevitably of change in relationships, to “call it the end” where she is unsure of what to call her relationship anymore, “Do I call you an ex or do I call you my boyfriend? / Call you a lover, do I call you a friend?”.

“too bad for us”, an unusually long song, sounds like acceptance with lyrics like  “Now the roses don’t grow here / I guess that love does what it does” reflecting the lack of control. The album wraps up with “Dance All Night”,  upbeat but a little melancholic – the lyrics telling the story of what she would change if she could – “I would dance all night, not care about the heartache in my life”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ROSÉ (@roses_are_rosie)

The album is mostly English, the only Korean being used in “APT.”, the title of which is a play on the Korean drinking game, 아파트, the Korean word for “apartment”. The song is a reminder of her status as one of the most well-known K-pop idols in the world, but also a bridge between her two main languages and identities as an Australian-Korean.

ROSÉ has referred to writing this album as therapy, and it truly does feel that personal. The sounds, lyrics and song order makes “Rosie” sonically cohesive, cathartic listen. She said she named her album “Rosie” because that is what her friends call her, and through listening to this album you’re given a glimpse of such a personal part of her life. Group members JISOO, JENNIE and LISA all took to Instagram stories to publicly congratulate ROSÉ. Given the chart success of her single “APT.” in the UK and her album already sitting at no.2 on the Korean Hanteo daily physical album chart (currently only topped by girl group, TWICE), the album is sure to rise up charts around the world in its first week of release. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Official Charts (@officialcharts)

American singers Gracie Abrams and Gigi Perez hold their positions tight, and the latter is once again at number two with the viral hit “Sailor Song” which first begun getting recognition over tiktok. This is the first of Perez’s songs which achieves such popularity and success, being at its 18th week charting and having already achieved the first position. Currently, Perez counts almost 28 million listeners on spotify and a million followers on TikTok.

Rosè and Bruno Mars’s “Apt” is also firm on their number three position, on their sixth week charting. This is one of Rosè’s first releases as a solo artist, and its success is really a testament to the singer’s talent. It is also Bruno Mars’s second hit song this year, as he had previously peaked at number two with his collaboration with Lady Gaga titled “Die With a Smile”. 

British singer Sam Fender, who last week was peaking at number four with his song “People Watching” is now charting at number 11, at its second week charting. “The Door” by Teddy Swims, which we saw last week peaking at number 5, has now gone down to number 9 at its 32rd week charting. 

Instead, positions number four, five and six are now taken by Kendrick Lamar who has recently released his sixth studio album “GNX”. The first single off the album, titled “Luther”, a collaboration with SZA, is currently peaking at number five. The song “Squabble Up” holds number four and “TV off”, featuring Lefty Gunplay, holds number six. Lamar’s new album is expected to take over more sosta in the top ten chart in the upcoming weeks and is already gaining popularity and success at its first week on charts. The album is currently at number one on UK album charts. 

Number seven is, to no surprise, held by Wicked’s “Defying Gravity”: the iconic song originally performed by Idina Menzel, now in the movie version sung by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

Only a few days before December, positions 8 and 10 are taken by two of the most iconic modern Christmas hits: “Last Christmas” by WHAM and “All I want for Christmas is you” by Mariah Carey. Both songs have previously peaked at number one and have spent countless weeks in charts. Both songs are expected to rise as the Christmas excitement grows and are surely going to be some of the most played songs on radio for the upcoming month. 

“That’s So True” is Gracie Abrams’s first song to be peaking at number one in the UK; her album “The Secret of Us”, released in June, peaked at number one but only held on to the title for a week. Abrams had previously teased the song at various concerts, where it had become a fan favorite.

The second spot on the UK top five goes to Gigi Perez’s “Sailor Song”. It is Perez’s first song to achieve the top ten and to peak at number one. The American artist had first teased a snippet of the song on TikTok, where it went viral with over 5 million views; Perez had previously released a few singles and EPs, but they had failed to gain her the recognition and popularity that she is achieving thanks to “Sailor Song”: the song is, in fact, on its 17^th week on the top 75 and will likely continue to top charts.

@gigi4perezFinally put verses on sailor song

♬ original sound – Gigi Perez

Rosé and Bruno Mars with their duet “Apt” (the title refers to the Korean pronunciation of “apartment” and a drinking game Rosé often plays) have achieved the third position on UK charts. It’s the song’s fifth week in the top 75 UK charts: first released in mid-October, it’s the first single off of Rosé’s debut studio album “Rosie”. The song’s current peak is number three, but it is expected to reach higher positions in the upcoming weeks. Earlier this year, Bruno Mars’s collaboration with Lady Gaga titled “Die with a Smile” had peaked at number 2 and stayed on charts for 14 weeks.

Sam Fender’s “People Watching” is peaking at number four, after being released only ten days ago. The British singer has announced that a new record will follow the release of this single and has already announced tour dates for 2025. “People Watching” is Fender’s third single to achieve the UK’s top ten, following “Seventeen Going Under” and a duet of the song “Homesick” with Noah Kahan. With many upcoming (and past!) sold out shows, Sam Fender is the voice of a generation, and will surely become one of the UK’s greatest stars.

Lastly, the fifth spot on UK’s charts sees Teddy Swim’s “The Door”. It is the singer’s second song to reach the top five, previously “Lose Control”, off the same album as “The Door”, had peaked at number two. His debut album “I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy – Part 1”, released last year, peaked at number 21 but stayed on the charts for 45 weeks.

Have a look at UK charts here.

BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ has achieved her first no.1 on the UK Big Top 40 with her single ‘APT’, a collaboration with Bruno Mars. The girl group member is no stranger to UK charts, as BLACKPINK are known for hit singles, such as ‘How You Like That’, ‘Shut Down’, and ‘Pink Venom’, all of which also charted. She has also become the highest charting female K-pop soloist on the Official Singles Chart Top 40 with the single, peaking at no.2. It’s by no means her first entry into the chart. The idol already has 8 UK top 40 singles with her group, BLACKPINK.

‘APT’ while different from the hard hitting, girl boss sound BLACKPINK are known for, still maintains the catchy chorus that is so integral to any k-pop song. The song is based on a Korean drinking game and ROSÉ wrote the lyrics herself. She later got Bruno Mars to collaborate as her solo work is in partnership with Atlantic Records, where Bruno Mars is also under contract.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ROSÉ (@roses_are_rosie)

BLACKPINK are a South Korean K-pop quartet that debuted in 2016. Since the popularity of Korean music has risen, BLACKPINK are probably one of the most well-known girl groups in the world. Since early in their career they have broken record after record, including the most viewed Korean music video in 2018 with ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’, becoming the first K-pop girl group to perform at the popular US music festival Coachella in 2019, to becoming the first k-pop girl group to have a song reach 1 billion streams on Spotify in March of this year.  They have visited the UK on multiple tours including three times for their ‘Born Pink’ world tour on November 30, and December 1 both in 2022 as well as performing at BST Hyde Park as headliners on July 3, 2023. They made history as the first K-pop act to headline a major UK festival and garnered a sold-out audience of 65,000. The members were also given honorary MBE’s by King Charles in 2023 during the President and First Lady of South Korea’s state visit to the UK.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BLΛƆKPIИK (@blackpinkofficial)

The 27-year-old New Zealand-born singer is the only member of BLACKPINK to sign to an existing label for her solo career, THE BLACK LABEL, rather than creating her own company as fellow members JISOO, JENNIE and LISA did. JENNIE, 28,  is also currently charting on the UK Top 40 with her single ‘Mantra’, which peaked at 37 after its release last month. Thai-born LISA, also 27, has released solo music this year too, charting in the top 75 on the UK charts. Eldest member JISOO, 29, has yet to release solo music since BLACKPINK separated from company YG Entertainment in December 2023. The group remains with YG Entertainment for their group activities and according to entertainment company, BLACKPINK will have a comeback in 2025 as well as embark on a world tour. Given that BLACKPINK has visited the UK on their previous two world tours, they are likely to be back next year.

They are no strangers to global success including in the UK music scene, and will likely continue to appear with subsequent releases as a group. ROSÉ is set to release her first full-length album, ‘Rosie’, on December 6th. It will be her first release since her single album ‘-R-‘ in 2021.