Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s “Rein Me In” spent its 16th week at No. 1 on July 10, becoming the longest-running No. 1 single by a British act in U.K. chart history. The duet pushed past Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around,” which had held that British-act mark for 31 years.
The scale of the run matters because this was not a quick burst to the summit. “Rein Me In” took 35 weeks from its chart debut to reach No. 1 in February, then stayed there long enough to draw level with Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” as the joint second longest-running No. 1 overall on the Official U.K. Singles Chart.
That place in the record books also reflects how the song was built. It first appeared on Fender’s Mercury Prize-winning 2025 album People Watching, then was remixed last summer with a new verse from Dean. Fender said that putting “the alternative narrative” on the track made it “really universal” and “opened the floodgates,” while also calling it “a toe tapper” and “officially a banger.”
The oddity is that the song now holds one record while sitting just behind another. It is the longest-running No. 1 by a British act, yet it shares the No. 2 spot overall with Bryan Adams and still trails Frankie Laine’s “I Believe,” which spent 18 weeks at No. 1 in 1953. That split shows how narrowly the milestone is defined: nationality gives Fender and Dean the British-act crown, but the all-time list is still led by a song from another era.
The sustained run has also changed the week-to-week chart story around it. Olivia Rodrigo’s “Stupid Song” stayed at No. 2, Ariana Grande’s “Hate That I Made You Love Me” held No. 3, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” sat at No. 4 and Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” rose four spots to No. 5. For Fender, the latest milestone is less a spike than the end point of a months-long climb — and the next chart update will show whether “Rein Me In” can keep extending a run that has already rewritten the British record books.
