The UK’s biggest song of 2020 is The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights, the Official Charts Company can confirm.
The Canadian singer-songwriter’s mega hit racked up 2.2 million chart sales to top the end-of-year chart, made up of 195,000 downloads and 250 million streams. Blinding Lights spent eight weeks at Number 1 between February and April and features on his fourth studio album After Hours, which topped the Official Albums Chart last March.
The Weeknd
Meanwhile, the UK’s biggest song released in 2020 goes to Head & Heart by Joel Corry ft. MNEK. The track – which ranks fifth in the overall end-of-year chart - scored six weeks at Number 1 between July and September, racking up 1.22 million chart sales in 2020, including 149 million streams. Corry’s previous single, the Number 4-peaking Lonely, places 14th.
The news comes as music industry body the BPI revealed in its end-of-year report that streaming continued to surge in 2020 as fans turned to music in a difficult year, with streaming now accounting for 81% of UK music consumption.
139 billion audio streams were recorded in the UK in 2020 – up by over a fifth (22%) compared to 2019 – with nearly 200 artists being streamed over 100 million times. The Top 10 of those all saw their streams top half a billion across the year.
At Number 2 on the end-of-year chart is Tones & I's Dance Monkey which, despite first hitting the Official Chart in August 2019, continued to prove a powerhouse throughout 2020, logging 34 weeks inside the Top 40 across the year. Its 2020 chart sales were 1.6 million, while its total figure tops 2.7 million.
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa’s hugely successful 2020 is represented with two entries in the end-of-year Top 40 singles: Don’t Start Now at 6 and Physical at 19.
Other artists with multiple entries in the Top 40 are Lewis Capaldi with Before You Go (4), Someone You Loved (8), Bruises (24); Harry Styles with summer smash Watermelon Sugar (10), Adore You (16), and Falling (34); and British newcomer Nathan Dawe with Flowers ft. Jaykae (33) and Lighter ft. KSI (40).
2020’s Big Number 1s
Other chart-toppers from 2020 that feature in the end-of-year chart are DaBaby’s Rockstar ft. Roddy Ricch (7) – a six-week chart-topper and the UK’s Official Song of the Summer 2020 - and Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat) by 17-year-old New Zealand producer Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo (11).
Elsewhere, Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande’s one-week Number 1 Rain On Me is at 17, 24kGoldn’s Mood ft. Iann Dior finishes in 20th place, Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion’s September chart-topper WAP is at 23, Drake’s Toosie Slide places at 25, and Eminem’s Godzilla ft. Juice Wrld is 27th.
S1mba
Big breakthrough hits
Elsewhere, a handful artists who made their UK Top 40 debut in 2020 also feature, including Breaking Me by Topic ft. A7S at 15, a Number 3 hit in July, and Rover by Zimbabwean-born British rapper S1mba ft. DTG, a Top 5 hit in June, at 18.
Powfu’s Deathbead ft. Beabadoobee is at 21, Roxanne by US rapper/singer Arizona Zervas (31), This City by Australian musician Sam Fischer (35), and Blueberry Faygo by US rapper Lil Mosey (39).
The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2020
| TITLE | ARTIST | |
| 1 | BLINDING LIGHTS | WEEKND |
| 2 | DANCE MONKEY | TONES & I |
| 3 | ROSES | SAINT JHN |
| 4 | BEFORE YOU GO | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 5 | HEAD & HEART | JOEL CORRY FT MNEK |
| 6 | DON'T START NOW | DUA LIPA |
| 7 | ROCKSTAR | DABABY FT RODDY RICCH |
| 8 | SOMEONE YOU LOVED | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 9 | OWN IT | STORMZY/ED SHEERAN/BURNA BOY |
| 10 | WATERMELON SUGAR | HARRY STYLES |
| 11 | SAVAGE LOVE (LAXED - SIREN BEAT) | JAWSH 685 & JASON DERULO |
| 12 | THE BOX | RODDY RICCH |
| 13 | SAY SO | DOJA CAT |
| 14 | LONELY | JOEL CORRY |
| 15 | BREAKING ME | TOPIC FT A7S |
| 16 | ADORE YOU | HARRY STYLES |
| 17 | RAIN ON ME | LADY GAGA & ARIANA GRANDE |
| 18 | ROVER | S1MBA FT DTG |
| 19 | PHYSICAL | DUA LIPA |
| 20 | MOOD | 24KGOLDN FT IANN DIOR |
| 21 | DEATH BED | POWFU FT BEABADOOBEE |
| 22 | LIFE IS GOOD | FUTURE FT DRAKE |
| 23 | WAP | CARDI B FT MEGAN THEE STALLION |
| 24 | BRUISES | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 25 | TOOSIE SLIDE | DRAKE |
| 26 | BAD GUY | BILLIE EILISH |
| 27 | GODZILLA | EMINEM FT JUICE WRLD |
| 28 | MEMORIES | MAROON 5 |
| 29 | EVERYTHING I WANTED | BILLIE EILISH |
| 30 | INTENTIONS | JUSTIN BIEBER FT QUAVO |
| 31 | ROXANNE | ARIZONA ZERVAS |
| 32 | RAIN | AITCH/AJ TRACEY/TAY KEITH |
| 33 | FLOWERS | NATHAN DAWE FT JAYKAE |
| 34 | FALLING | HARRY STYLES |
| 35 | THIS CITY | SAM FISCHER |
| 36 | SAVAGE | MEGAN THEE STALLION |
| 37 | DINNER GUEST | AJ TRACEY FT MOSTACK |
| 38 | RIDE IT | REGARD |
| 39 | BLUEBERRY FAYGO | LIL MOSEY |
| 40 | LIGHTER | NATHAN DAWE FT KSI |
©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
This chart is compiled using sales and streaming equivalent sales combined.
The Official Top 40 most-streamed songs of 2020
| TITLE | ARTIST | |
| 1 | BLINDING LIGHTS | WEEKND |
| 2 | DANCE MONKEY | TONES & I |
| 3 | ROSES | SAINT JHN |
| 4 | ROCKSTAR | DABABY FT RODDY RICCH |
| 5 | BEFORE YOU GO | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 6 | HEAD & HEART | JOEL CORRY FT MNEK |
| 7 | DON'T START NOW | DUA LIPA |
| 8 | SOMEONE YOU LOVED | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 9 | THE BOX | RODDY RICCH |
| 10 | LIFE IS GOOD | FUTURE FT DRAKE |
| 11 | OWN IT | STORMZY/ED SHEERAN/BURNA BOY |
| 12 | SAVAGE LOVE (LAXED - SIREN BEAT) | JAWSH 685 & JASON DERULO |
| 13 | ROVER | S1MBA FT DTG |
| 14 | WATERMELON SUGAR | HARRY STYLES |
| 15 | SAY SO | DOJA CAT |
| 16 | LONELY | JOEL CORRY |
| 17 | MOOD | 24KGOLDN FT IANN DIOR |
| 18 | WAP | CARDI B FT MEGAN THEE STALLION |
| 19 | ADORE YOU | HARRY STYLES |
| 20 | RAIN ON ME | LADY GAGA & ARIANA GRANDE |
| 21 | BREAKING ME | TOPIC FT A7S |
| 22 | PHYSICAL | DUA LIPA |
| 23 | DEATH BED | POWFU FT BEABADOOBEE |
| 24 | GODZILLA | EMINEM FT JUICE WRLD |
| 25 | BRUISES | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 26 | BABY SHARK | PINKFONG |
| 27 | TOOSIE SLIDE | DRAKE |
| 28 | RAIN | AITCH/AJ TRACEY/TAY KEITH |
| 29 | BLUEBERRY FAYGO | LIL MOSEY |
| 30 | BAD GUY | BILLIE EILISH |
| 31 | ROXANNE | ARIZONA ZERVAS |
| 32 | MEMORIES | MAROON 5 |
| 33 | EVERYTHING I WANTED | BILLIE EILISH |
| 34 | INTENTIONS | JUSTIN BIEBER FT QUAVO |
| 35 | MOOD SWINGS | POP SMOKE FT LIL TJAY |
| 36 | FLOWERS | NATHAN DAWE FT JAYKAE |
| 37 | SAVAGE | MEGAN THEE STALLION |
| 38 | I DON'T CARE | ED SHEERAN & JUSTIN BIEBER |
| 39 | RIDE IT | REGARD |
| 40 | PERFECT | ED SHEERAN |
©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
The Official Top 40 best-selling songs of 2020
| TITLE | ARTIST | |
| 1 | BLINDING LIGHTS | WEEKND |
| 2 | DON'T STOP ME EATIN' | LADBABY |
| 3 | TIMES LIKE THESE (BBC RADIO 1 STAY HOME) | LIVE LOUNGE ALLSTARS |
| 4 | YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE | MICHAEL BALL/CAPTAIN TOM MOORE |
| 5 | DANCE MONKEY | TONES & I |
| 6 | HEAD & HEART | JOEL CORRY FT MNEK |
| 7 | ROSES | SAINT JHN |
| 8 | SAVAGE LOVE (LAXED - SIREN BEAT) | JAWSH 685 & JASON DERULO |
| 9 | BEFORE YOU GO | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 10 | PHYSICAL | DUA LIPA |
| 11 | MIDNIGHT SKY | MILEY CYRUS |
| 12 | RAIN ON ME | LADY GAGA & ARIANA GRANDE |
| 13 | BREAKING ME | TOPIC FT A7S |
| 14 | DON'T START NOW | DUA LIPA |
| 15 | DYNAMITE | BTS |
| 16 | NO TIME TO DIE | BILLIE EILISH |
| 17 | WATERMELON SUGAR | HARRY STYLES |
| 18 | ADORE YOU | HARRY STYLES |
| 19 | KINGS & QUEENS | AVA MAX |
| 20 | BORIS JOHNSON IS A F**KING C**T | K**TS |
| 21 | FALLING | HARRY STYLES |
| 22 | SAY SO | DOJA CAT |
| 23 | SOMEONE YOU LOVED | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 24 | MEMORIES | MAROON 5 |
| 25 | DEATH BED | POWFU FT BEABADOOBEE |
| 26 | DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT | JUBEL FT NEIMY |
| 27 | LONELY | JOEL CORRY |
| 28 | LOOKING FOR ME | PAUL WOOLFORD & DIPLO/LOMAX |
| 29 | LASTING LOVER | SIGALA & JAMES ARTHUR |
| 30 | ROCKSTAR | DABABY FT RODDY RICCH |
| 31 | OWN IT | STORMZY/ED SHEERAN/BURNA BOY |
| 32 | LIGHTER | NATHAN DAWE FT KSI |
| 33 | BREAK UP SONG | LITTLE MIX |
| 34 | STUPID LOVE | LADY GAGA |
| 35 | BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU | BECKY HILL FT SHIFT K3Y |
| 36 | BAD GUY | BILLIE EILISH |
| 37 | STOP CRYING YOUR HEART OUT | BBC CHILDREN IN NEED |
| 38 | EVERYTHING I WANTED | BILLIE EILISH |
| 39 | TICK TOCK | CLEAN BANDIT/MABEL/24KGOLDN |
| 40 | IF THE WORLD WAS ENDING | JP SAXE FT JULIA MICHAELS |
©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
This chart is based on pure sales (downloads and physical sales) only.
