5 random chart facts of the week that will make you go "ooooh"

A decade of getting drenched with Rihanna, bridges, water and more chart quirks…
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Never mind fake news, here are the real facts – some highlights from this week's Official Chart that will make your head spin:

1

The highest climber in this week's Official Singles Chart Top 40 belongs to Selena Gomez, who zooms 20 places to break back into the top flight at Number 33. 

2

We have a brand new Number 1 on this week's chart, the charity single put together by Simon Cowell to raise money for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in London. Artists for Grenfell's Bridge Over Troubled Water was only released on Wednesday, but scored huge first-week sales of 170,000 across all formats. The UK has a healthy tradition of charity singles – indeed the top two bestselling singles of all time were released in aid of charity.

Elton John's reimagining of Candle In The Wind, following the death of Princess Diana in 1997, raised money for the princess's charities, and Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas was specially recorded and released in aid of the famine in Ethiopia. The most recent charity single to hit Number 1 was, funnily enough, a song also based on Bridge Over Troubled Water – The Lewisham & Greenwhich NHS Choir snared the Christmas Number 1 with A Bridge Over You.

MORE: The UK's million-selling singles

3

Bridge over Troubled Water has hit Number 1 before – the original, from Simon & Garfunkel, spent three weeks at the top in 1970. The track had had two further Top 40 appearances, for Linda Clifford in 1979 (29) and for PJB feat Hannah and her Sisters in 1991 (29). Altogether 20 songs featuring a bridge in the title, and four have made Number 1 – the other two are All Saints' cover of Under the Bridge from 1998 and another charity single from Cher, Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton – Love Can Build A Bridge raised money for Comic Relief, hitting the top spot in 1995.

MORE: All the Number 1s of the Official Singles Chart ever

4

This week's Top 10 features FIVE artists who appear on more than one song. Justin Bieber has three credited appearances: Despacito (2), 2U (8) and I'm The One (9). DJ Khaled is on 2: Wild Thoughts (3) and I'm The One. Quavo is also on 2: Strip That Down (4) and I'm The One. And although not credited for both, Liam Payne and Stormzy makes two appearances – Liam on Strip That Down, and Stormzy on Little Mix's Power (10), with both guys contributing to the Artists For Grenfell track at Number 1.

5

Rihanna is back in the Top 10 this week for the first time in a year, her 30th appearance there thanks to DJ Khaled. Ten years ago this week, she was halfway through a 10-week run at the top with Umbrella, in the middle of one of the wettest and most miserable summers ever. Umbrella has sold 867,600 copies and has been streamed over 15.8 million times since we started counting in 2014. But fast forward to 2017 and sunnier skies – is Umbrella still doing the business?  

MORE: See all Rihanna's UK hit singles and albums in her Official Chart archive

Got a chart fact you've been dying to know? Fancy seeing it right here? Tweet us using #ChartFact (funnily enough) and we might just pick yours!

Take a look at this week's full Official Singles Chart Top 100

 

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