Rihanna Blasts to Best U.K. Chart Position In 10 Years
It’s another week, another U.K. No. 1 for Taylor Swift as “Anti-Hero” (EMI) logs a second stint at the summit, while Rihanna enjoys a comeback to savor.
“Anti-Hero” pulls in 7 million U.K. streams for its second cycle atop the Official Chart, ahead of Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” (EMI), holding at No. 2.
Swift earns a second consecutive chart double, with Midnights extending its reign on the albums survey for a second week, and two more tracks from it impact the singles chart top 10 – “Lavender Haze,” down 3-6, and “Snow on the Beach” featuring Lana Del Rey, down 8-4.
Rihanna’s return to music is an instant hit with British music fans, as “Lift Me Up” (Def Jam), lifted from the Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, opens at No. 3. That’s the week’s highest debut, and RiRi’s highest charting solo single in 10 years, since “Diamonds” led the survey in 2012.
Meanwhile Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz’s EDM tune “Miss You” (Atlantic) lifts 8-3 for a new peak position, while Beyoncé’s Renaissance number “Cuff It” (Columbia/Parkwood Entertainment) bounces 11-9, and venbee & goddard’s “messy in heaven” (Columbia) lifts 14-11 for a peak position in its sixth week.
Further down the list, Meghan Trainor’s “Made You Look” (Epic) cracks the top 20 for the first time, lifting 28-14, while close behind, SZA bags her fifth U.K. top 20 with “Shirt” (RCA/Top Dawg), new at No. 17.
Australian singer and songwriter Dean Lewis is on the move with his tear-jerker, “How Do I Say Goodbye” (Island Records Australia), up 31-23, while Dermot Kennedy’s “Kiss Me” is also on a high, up 34-28.
Halloween has come and gone, though some ghoulish favorites are making their presence felt on the top 40. Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” (Arista) theme blasts to No. 32, and Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash” (Themonstermash.com) returns at No. 38.
The highest climber on the Official Albums Chart, published Nov. 4, belongs to British producer Fred Again, with “Delilah (Pull Me Out of This)” (via Atlantic), soaring 71-35. “Delilah” appears on Fred Against trilogy-completing LP Actual Life 3, which appears at No. 4 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart this week, for a career high.
Lars Brandle
Billboard