List of posthumous number ones on the UK singles chart explained

The death of a popular musician, and likewise, the use of a dead musician's work in advertising, often causes a sharp increase in sales of the musician's recordings and associated products; this has led to a number of posthumous number one singles in the UK and elsewhere.[1] [2] [3] The phenomenon, a topic of discussion in both the media and academia,[4] has occurred 20 times in the UK since 1959.

The UK Singles Chart is a record chart compiled on behalf of the British record industry based on sales of singles in the UK. Since 1997, the chart has been compiled by The Official Charts Company and was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets until 2006, when digital downloads were included in the chart compilation.[5] [6] Streaming was added to the methodology in 2014.[7] The UK Singles Chart originated in 1952, when New Musical Express (NME) published the first chart of singles sales.[8] The first deceased artist to top the charts was Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash on 3 February 1959. Three weeks later his song "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" entered the charts, and in April it reached number one. In the 1960s Eddie Cochran and Jim Reeves achieved their first and only UK number ones after their deaths, as did Jimi Hendrix in 1970.[9]

In August 1977 the "King of Rock'n Roll",[10] Elvis Presley, died of a heart attack and his song "Way Down", which was already in the charts at the time, quickly climbed to number one.[11] Presley achieved four further posthumous number ones in the 2000s. In 2002 his song "A Little Less Conversation", a little-known former B-side, topped the charts after being remixed by Dutch dance music producer Junkie XL for a television advertisement for Nike, which broke Presley's long-standing tie with The Beatles for the most UK number ones.[12] Three years later three of his singles returned to the top spot when all his previous number one singles were re-issued to mark what would have been his 70th birthday.[13]

In late 1980 and early 1981 three singles by John Lennon reached number one in quick succession following his murder on 8 December 1980. His fellow former member of The Beatles, George Harrison, achieved a posthumous number one in 2002 when a re-issue of his song "My Sweet Lord", originally a number one in 1971, entered the chart at number one. In doing so, he knocked "More than a Woman" by American singer Aaliyah from the top spot, the first time that two deceased artists had topped the charts in consecutive weeks.[14]

Number ones

The following singles were all explicitly credited (either wholly or partially) to deceased artists when they reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. Singles featuring deceased artists who did not receive an explicit credit (e.g. as a member of a band), such as the 1991 re-release of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" following the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury and the 2021 chart performance of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" just over four years after George Michael's death, are not included.

Artistscope=colSingleDate of deathReached
number one[15] 		Weeks at
number one		class=unsortableRef.
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore"[16] 3[17]
"Three Steps to Heaven"[18] 2[19]
"Distant Drums"[20] 5[21]
"Voodoo Chile"[22] 1[23]
"Way Down"[24] 5[25]
"(Just Like) Starting Over"[26] 1[27]
"Imagine"4
"Woman"2[28]
"Reet Petite"[29] 4[30]
"Living on My Own"[31] 2[32]
Aaliyah"More Than a Woman"[33] 1
"My Sweet Lord"[34] 1
"A Little Less Conversation"4[35]
"Jailhouse Rock"1
"One Night" / "I Got Stung"1
"It's Now or Never"1[36]
2Pac"Ghetto Gospel"[37] 3
"Nasty Girl"[38] 2[39]
"What a Wonderful World"[40] 1[41]
Juice Wrld"Godzilla"[42] 1[43]

See also

References

General
Specific

Notes and References

  1. News: Sales of Amy Winehouse records surge. The Independent. 25 July 2011. 24 August 2011. Rosa. Silverman. London.
  2. News: Michael Jackson sales surge expected to last months. Reuters. Ed. Christman. Bruno, Antony . 3 July 2009. 24 August 2011.
  3. News: Is that my bassline I can hear?. The Guardian. Marcus. Gray. 26 October 2007. 24 August 2011. London.
  4. Web site: Selling The Drama. University of Zurich. 11 February 2011. 9 September 2011. Leif. Brandes. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923234006/http://www.eea-esem.com/files/papers/EEA-ESEM/2011/686/selling%20the%20drama_v06.pdf. 2015-09-23. dead.
  5. Roberts, p.14
  6. News: New singles formats to save the charts. BBC News. 16 October 2003 . 24 July 2011.
  7. News: Kreisler. Lauren. UK's Official Singles Chart to include streaming data for first time. 7 July 2014. Official Charts Company. 22 June 2014.
  8. News: The story of the single . . 24 July 2011. 23 March 2001.
  9. Roberts, pp.113, 237, 417
  10. News: Elvis. . . the King of rock'n'roll who'll never lose his crown. The Scotsman. 30 August 2011. 13 August 2007. Jim. Gilchrist. Edinburgh.
  11. Roberts, p.399
  12. News: Elvis makes chart history. 16 June 2002. 25 July 2011. BBC News.
  13. Web site: Jailhouse Rock tops UK singles chart. 10 January 2005. Music Week. 25 July 2011. Alan. Jones.
  14. Web site: George Harrison and Aaliyah's posthumous double header. James. Hurley. MSN Music. 7 May 2011. 25 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120315105156/http://music.uk.msn.com/photos/photos.aspx?ucsort=0&cp-documentid=156997342&page=3. 15 March 2012. dead.
  15. Roberts, p.644
  16. News: 1959: Buddy Holly killed in air crash. BBC News. 25 July 2011. 3 February 1959.
  17. Web site: All the Number 1 Singles . 24 August 2011 . . unfit . https://archive.today/20090323081036/http://theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_songs.php . March 23, 2009 .
  18. Web site: Eddie Cochran. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  19. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 1960. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110809082010/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1960/. 9 August 2011.
  20. Web site: Jim Reeves. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  21. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 1966. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110615073500/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1966/. 15 June 2011.
  22. Web site: Jimi Hendrix. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  23. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 1970. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110217112306/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1970/. 17 February 2011.
  24. News: 1977: Rock and roll 'king' Presley dies. BBC News. 25 July 2011. 16 August 1977.
  25. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 1977. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110615085707/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1977/. 15 June 2011.
  26. News: 1980: John Lennon shot dead. BBC News. 25 July 2011. 8 December 1980.
  27. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 1980. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120606152247/http://www.officialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1980/. 6 June 2012.
  28. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 1981. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100601004346/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1981. 1 June 2010.
  29. Web site: Jackie Wilson. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  30. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 1986. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100601005121/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1986. 1 June 2010.
  31. Web site: Freddie Mercury. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  32. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 1993. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110615101634/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1993/. 15 June 2011.
  33. Web site: Aaliyah. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  34. Web site: George Harrison. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  35. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 2002. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110615100416/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/2002/. 15 June 2011.
  36. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 2005. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110818115841/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/2005. 18 August 2011.
  37. Web site: 2Pac. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  38. Web site: The Notorious B.I.G.. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  39. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 2006. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110817045842/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/2006. 17 August 2011.
  40. Web site: Eva Cassidy. Allmusic. 25 July 2011.
  41. Web site: All the Number One Singles: 2007. 23 August 2011. The Official UK Charts Company. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110811234748/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/2007. 11 August 2011.
  42. News: Juice Wrld death: Chicago-born rapper dies aged 21. White. Adam. 8 December 2019. The Independent. 24 January 2020.
  43. Web site: Eminem scores Official UK Chart Double as Music To Be Murdered By and Godzilla debut at Number 1. 24 January 2020. The Official UK Charts Company. Rob. Copsey.

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