These are the biggest songs and albums of 2023 so far

The UK’s biggest songs and albums of 2023 so far have been revealed – check out the lists below.

• READ MORE: The best albums of 2023… so far!

Coming in at Number One on the Official Charts Company‘s rundown of the 40 biggest tracks of the past six months is Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’, the lead single from the singer’s eighth album ‘Endless Summer Vacation’.

The track gave Cyrus her first UK chart-topper in almost a decade, and achieved a 10-week stay at Number One.

‘Flowers’ shifted 1.2million UK chart units overall since its release in January, according to data obtained by the Official Charts Company. The single racked up more than 147million streams and in excess of 80,000 downloads, making it the most-streamed and most-downloaded song of 2023 so far.

Additionally, ‘Flowers’ claimed the biggest week of any track this year – pushing 126,000 chart units during its second week at Number One.

Cyrus also scored the longest-running UK Number One by a female artist, equalling the 10-week stint of Whitney Houston‘s ‘I Will Always Love You’ and Rihanna‘s ‘Umbrella’.

Coming in at Number Two on the Official Charts Company‘s biggest songs of 2023 so far is ‘Escapism’ by RAYE. The 070 Shake-featuring single gave the London singer her first UK Number One in January.

RAYE told NME at the time that the feat felt like the “ultimate validation” as an independent artist. ‘Escapism’ has since shifted over 850,000 chart units in total.

The rest of the top five consists of SZA‘s ‘Kill Bill’ (Number Three), PinkPantheress‘ ‘Boy’s A Liar’ (Number Four) and Taylor Swift‘s ‘Anti-Hero’ (Number Five).

The top 10 biggest songs of the year so far are as follows (see the full Top 40 here):

01. ‘Flowers’ – Miley Cyrus
02. ‘Escapism’ – RAYE feat. 070 Shake 
03. ‘Kill Bill’ – SZA
04. ‘Boy’s A Liar’ – PinkPantheress
05. ‘Anti-Hero’ – Taylor Swift
06. ‘Calm Down’ – Rema 
07. ‘Miracle’ – Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding
08. ‘People’ – Libianca 
09. ‘As It Was’ – Harry Styles 
10. ‘Sure Thing’ – Miguel  

Topping the albums list, meanwhile, is The Weeknd‘s 2021 greatest hits collection ‘The Highlights’. The record peaked at Number Two on the UK albums chart upon its release. In addition, the Canadian artist holds the Number 27 spot on the biggest albums of the year so far with 2016’s ‘Starboy’.

Taylor Swift’s multiple record-breaking 2022 album ‘Midnights’ is at Number Two. Elsewhere, Swift appears in the Top 40 with four more of her studio LPs: ‘1989’ (Number 16), ‘Lover’ (Number 19), ‘Folklore’ (Number 23) and ‘Reputation’ (Number 34).

Harry Styles is at Number Three with his third solo album, last year’s ‘Harry’s House’, followed by SZA’s ‘SOS’ (Number Four).

Boasting the biggest 2023-released album so far is Lewis Capaldi with his second full-length project ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’ (Number Six). The record’s inclusion in the list comes less than two months after its release. Capaldi’s 2019 debut, ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’, is at Number 10.

Elton John‘s 2017 greatest hits album ‘Diamonds’ is at Number Five, while career-spanning compilations from Eminem and Fleetwood Mac also feature at Number Seven and Number Nine, respectively.

The top 10 biggest albums of the year so far are as follows (see the full Top 40 here):

01. ‘The Highlights’ – The Weeknd
02. ‘Midnights’ – Taylor Swift
03. ‘Harry’s House – Harry Styles
04. ‘SOS’ – SZA
05. ‘Diamonds’ – Elton John 
06. ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’ – Lewis Capaldi 
07. ‘Curtain Call – The Hits’ – Eminem 
08. ‘-‘ – Ed Sheeran 
09. ’50 Years – Don’t Stop’ – Fleetwood Mac 
10. ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’– Lewis Capaldi 

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