Sam Fender breaks record to score first Number One single as Charli XCX tops UK album chart

Sam Fender has claimed his first ever Number One single with his Olivia Dean collab ‘Rein Me In’, while Charli XCX’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ has topped the albums chart.

‘Rein Me In’ was first released last June and in finally reaching the summit of the chart today (February 20), it has broken the record for the most consecutive weeks spent in the Top 40 before reaching the top. Its 35-week climb has broken the previous record of 19 weeks set by Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ in 2014.

It is Fender’s first ever Number One single and it beats his previous high of Number Three for ‘Seventeen Going Under’ in 2021.

For Dean, she now occupies three of the top four spots in the Singles Chart, with ‘So Easy (To Fall In Love)’ rising to Number Two and her previous chart-topper ‘Man I Need’ coming in at Number Four.

Elsewhere, the 2016 social media trend is borne out by Zara Larsson’s ‘Lush Life’ rising to Number Three, the same peak it reached ten years ago, while Bad Bunny sees a resurgence after his Super Bowl halftime show, with ‘DTMF’ coming in at Number Five.

Official UK Singles Chart, 20-26 February 2026 

1) Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – ‘Rein Me In’ 
2) Olivia Dean – ‘So Easy (To Fall In Love)’ 
3) Zara Larsson – ‘Lush Life’ 
4) Olivia Dean – ‘Man I Need’ 
5) Bad Bunny – ‘DTMF’ 
6) Bruno Mars – ‘I Just Might’ 
7) Sombr – ‘Homewrecker’ 
8) Taylor Swift – ‘Opalite’ 
9) PinkPantheress – ‘Stateside’ 
10) Harry Styles – ‘Aperture’ 

In the albums chart, Charli XCX has claimed the third Number One of her career with her soundtrack record to Emerald Fennell’s new film Wuthering Heights. It follows her previous chart-toppers ‘Crash’ (2022) and ‘Brat’ (2024), and it is her eighth Top 40 album in total.

‘Wuthering Heights’ has also topped the Official Vinyl Albums Chart this week, while the film has soared to the top of the UK box office on its first week of release.

It knocks Olivia Dean’s debut album ‘The Art Of Loving’ down to Number Two, while Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits album ‘50 Years – Don’t Stop’ continues to fly high at Number Three.

Official UK Albums Chart, 20-26 February 2026 

1) Charli XCX – ‘Wuthering Heights’ 
2) Olivia Dean – ‘The Art Of Loving’ 
3) Fleetwood Mac – ‘50 Years – Don’t Stop’ 
4) The Weeknd – ‘The Highlights’ 
5) Bad Bunny – ‘Debi Tirar Mas Fotos’ 
6) Michael Jackson – ‘The Essential’ 
7) Ed Sheeran – ‘+ – = Divide X – Tour Collection’ 
8) Sabrina Carpenter – ‘Man’s Best Friend’ 
9) Alex Warren – ‘You’ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1)’ 
10) Sabrina Carpenter – ‘Short N’ Sweet’ 

Fender is nominated for a number of BRIT Awards ahead of the ceremony in Manchester next week (February 28), including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for his Mercury Prize-winning ‘People Watching’.

Charli, meanwhile, has seen her new film The Moment released into cinemas today, a music industry satire that NME has awarded three stars and noted: “The Moment is too protracted and tonally uneven to work as a great mockumentary, but it has plenty of meme-worthy moments that TikTok will lap up. If that sounds like faint praise, well, just remember it was enough to make Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn a sensation back in 2023.”

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