Sam Fender and Olivia Dean break chart record with 16 weeks

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean have broken a 32-year-old British chart record, with their duet "Rein Me In" now holding the longest run at number one for a UK act. The song has spent 16 weeks at the top of the UK singles chart, surpassing the 15-week record set by Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around" in the summer of 1994.

The achievement was confirmed this week, with the track's 16-week total officially eclipsing the previous benchmark. The duet version of the song, originally from Fender's 2025 album People Watching, was released as a single in June 2025. Its sustained success has seen it tie with Bryan Adams's "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" as the joint second-longest-running number one single of all time in the UK. Only Frankie Laine's "I Believe," with 18 weeks at number one in 1953, has a longer total run.

Fender reacted to the news by celebrating the song's improbable journey, stating that its success has been "ridiculous" and that every Friday has been "an excuse to party." He credited his collaborator, Olivia Dean, for much of the song's broad appeal, saying her contribution of an "alternative narrative" made the story universal and "opened the floodgates." The pair have...