It's official: You Me At Six are parting ways and undertaking a final, farewell tour in 2024-2025.
In cinematic, dramatic fashion perfectly fitting for a group splitting after 20 years, last night (31 January) You Me At Six broke hearts the world over with this emotionally-charged announcement on social media:
"2005-2025. This is the end.
Thank you for being the heartbeat of this band.
Final live shows taking place 2024/2025."
In other words, (to paraphrase Josh Franceschi in Fireworks) they had a good run, now they're setting themselves free </3
With nearly 20 years of success under their belt, YMAS are one of the most reliable bands in pop-rock; their stadium-sized choruses and relatable lyrics have earned the Surrey band a global fanbase.
The five-piece have never really been a singles act, with just five Top 40 hits, but their run of form on the Official Albums Chart speaks for itself: seven consecutive Top 10s, including two Number 1s with 2014's Cavalier Youth and 2021's Suckapunch. (Justice for Number 25-peaking debut Take Off Your Colours)
To celebrate their incredible career, and for those of us who aren't quite ready to say goodbye, we reveal the band's Official Top 40 biggest songs for the first time. But first, a closer look at the Top 5.
The trailer for the band's chart-topping Cavalier Youth album, Lived A Lie is YMAS at their boldest and most commercial, with a towering chorus that proved they were more than capable of stadium-filling rock.
Featuring guest vocals from Bring Me The Horizon's Oli Sykes, Bite My Tongue - taken from their third album Sinners Never Sleep - is YMAS at their darkest, with Franceschi once admitting the song is the band at their heaviest and angriest. The track is their fourth biggest, with its total count including 16.2 million streams.
A highlight from their second album Hold Me Down, Stay With Me - which has 14.9 million streams in the UK - is a slice of blistering emo-pop-rock that has comes from the same stable as Kings of Leon's Use Somebody.
The band's final single from their Night People album, Take On The World is the record's big ballad moment and is a rare co-write for YMAS, penned with James Bay, Jake Bugg and songwriter Iain Archer (Snow Patrol). The band's second most-streamed song (just!) with 26.4m listens, Josh Franceschi said of the track: "It's kinda like a declaration saying, 'Life isn't easy but whatever happens, I hope I can make it easier for you and take away some of the sting.'"
The song that sent the band stratospheric, Underdog's humungous chorus was a noticeable step up from their 2008 debut Take Off Your Colours - and helped the band score their first Top 10 on the Official Albums Chart with Hold Me Down.
Despite not being one of their five UK Top 40 singles (peaking at 49) and pre-dating the streaming era by four years, it's their most-played song in the UK, with 27.7 million streams, and their biggest track overall.
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