The top Lonely songs on the Official UK Charts

Just because a song is about loneliness, it doesn't mean you can't bust a move to it.
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Just because a song is about loneliness, it doesn't mean you can't bust a move to it. Joel Corry is proving that with his new single Lonely, which this week became his second UK Top 10 hit on the Official Singles Chart.

The floorfiller is about standing on your own two feet, not falling for a former beau's renewed interest in you now that they're bored.

That said, there are plenty of 'Lonely' songs (that is, tracks with 'lonely' in the title) that are about relishing in misery, and sometimes there's nothing wrong with that! 

In total, 56 tracks with 'Lonely' in the title have reached the Official Singles Chart Top 40, with 23 of them reaching the Top 10. Seems like lots of us like being a misery guts. A further six songs have the similar 'Loneliness' in the title. 

Glam rockers Mud were the first to take a lonely song to Number 1 back in 1974 with their heart-tugging Christmas Number 1 Lonely This Christmas. It's also one of the most popular lonely, with 31 million streams since records began in 2014.

German producer Tomcraft then took Loneliness to the top of the Official Chart in 2003. The last lonely Number 1 was Akon's single in 2005, a song that put the rapper firmly on the map after surpassing the success of his Top 5 debut single Locked Up. To date, Akon's Lonely - which features a sped-up sample of Bobby Vinton's Mr. Lonely - has 470,000 pure sales and has been streamed 16.3 million times.

Oddly, three versions of the exact same song with lonely in the title all charted in the space of two months in 1955, just three years into the Official Singles Chart's lifespan. Written in the 1920s, Happy Days and Lonely Nights was revived in the early 50s by US trio The Fontaine Sisters. While their version was unreleased here, it did spur on three different takes: Suzi Miller & The Johnstone Brothers reached 14, Frankie Vaughan's rendition peaked at 12 two weeks later, and then Ruby Murray trumped them both, topping out at 6 three weeks after. 

Other 'Lonely' chart highlights include Cliff Richard's 23rd Top 10 hit I'm The Lonely One from 1964, Paul McCartney's Number 2 hit No More Lonely Nights (Ballad) from 1984, Janet Jackson's Top 5 single with I Get Lonely from 1998, and Ricky Martin & Christina Aguilera teaming up for the 2001 Number 4 hit Nobody Wants To Be Lonely.

In recent years, the likes of Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa, Avicii ft. Rita Ora, and Lauv & Anne-Marie have all released Top 40 'Lonely' hits.

Every Official UK Chart Top 40 'Lonely' song  

Listen to this (and more) as a playlist on Spotify and Deezer.

TITLE ARTIST PEAK YEAR
LONELY JOEL CORRY 14 2020
F**K I'M LONELY LAUV & ANNE-MARIE 32 2019
LONELY TOGETHER AVICII FT. RITA ORA 4 2017
SCARED TO BE LONELY MARTIN GARRIX & DUA LIPA 14 2017
LONELY SKY BEN & JAMIE HAZELBY FT. CHRIS DE BURGH 35 2011
ARE YOU TRYING TO BE LONELY? ANDY LEWIS & PAUL WELLER 31 2007
LEAVE ME ALONE (I'M LONELY) P!NK 34 2007
LONELY AT THE TOP THE ORDINARY BOYS 10 2006
NEVER BE LONELY THE FEELING 9 2006
KILLING LONELINESS HIM 26 2006
LONELY NO MORE ROB THOMAS 11 2005
OWNER OF A LONELY HEART MAX GRAHAM VS YES 9 2005
LOVE STEALS US FROM LONELINESS IDLEWILD 16 2005
LONELY AKON 1 2005
SAD AND LONELY SECRET MACHINES 38 2005
LONELINESS TOMCRAFT 1 2003
SO LONELY JAKATTA 8 2002
NOBODY WANTS TO BE LONELY RICKY MARTIN WITH CHRISTINA AGUILERA 4 2001
THE LONELY ONE ALICE DEEJAY 16 2000
SHOW ME THE MEANING OF BEING LONELY BACKSTREET BOYS 3 2000
LONELY, CRYIN', ONLY THERAPY? 32 1998
I GET LONELY JANET JACKSON 5 1998
I'M SO LONELY CAST 14 1997
LONELY PETER ANDRE 6 1997
4 SEASONS OF LONELINESS BOYS II MEN 10 1997
AGE OF LONELINESS ENIGMA 21 1994
LONELY SYMPHONY FRANCIS RUFFELLE 25 1994
ONLY THE LONELY T'PAU 28 1989
JUST DON'T WANT TO BE LONELY FREDDIE MCGREGOR 9 1987
NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS (BALLAD) PAUL MCCARTNEY 2 1984
OWNER OF A LONELY HEART YES 28 1983
EVER SO LONELY MONSOON 12 1982
LONELY TOGETHER BARRY MANILOW 21 1980
DEAR MISS LONELY HEARTS PHIL LYNOTT 32 1980
SO LONELY THE POLICE 6 1980
LONELY BOY ANDREW GOLD 11 1977
LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS MUD 1 1974
(HEY THERE) LONELY GIRL EDDIE HOLMAN 4 1974
JUST DON'T WANT TO BE LONELY THE MAIN INGREDIENT 9 1974
LONELY DAYS, LONELY NIGHTS DON DOWNING 32 1973
I'VE BEEN LONELY FOR SO LONG FREDERICK KNIGHT 22 1972
LONELY DAYS BEE GEES 33 1970
LONELINESS DES O'CONNOR 18 1969
CHRISTMAS WILL BE JUST ANOTHER LONELY DAY BRENDA LEE 25 1964
I'M THE LONELY ONE CLIFF RICHARD 8 1964
LONELY BOY, LONELY GUITAR DUANE EDDY 35 1963
THE LONELY BULL (EL SOLO TORRO) TIJUANA BRASS 22 1963
DEAR LONELY HEARTS NAT KING COLE 37 1962
LONELY MR. ACKER BILK 14 1962
LITTLE MISS LONELY HELEN SHAPIRO 8 1962
LONELY CITY JOHN LEYTON 14 1962
LONELY PUP (IN A CHRISTMAS SHOP) ADAM FAITH 4 1960
THE LONELY MAN THEME CLIFF ADAMS ORCHESTRA 39 1960
ONLY THE LONELY ROY ORBISON 1 1960
WHY SHOULD I BE LONELY TONY BRENT 24 1959
LONELY BOY PAUL ANKA 3 1959
GEE BUT IT'S LONELY PAT BOONE 30 1958
LONELY BALLERINA MANTOVANI 16 1955
HAPPY DAYS AND LONELY NIGHTS RUBY MURRAY 6 1955
HAPPY DAYS AND LONELY NIGHTS FRANKIE VAUGHAN 12 1955
HAPPY DAYS AND LONELY NIGHTS SUZI MILLER AND THE JOHNSTON BROTHERS 14 1955
(OH BABY MINE) I GET SO LONELY THE FOUR KNIGHTS 5 1954
SEVEN LONELY DAYS GISELE MACKENZIE 6 1953

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View every Lonely song that has charted in the Official UK Top 100

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Jonathan Wadman

2

If you're including songs with 'loneliness' in the title, how about 'loneliest' as well? Then you could have 'The Loneliest Man in the World' by the Tourists, which reached no. 32 in 1979