Double number one for Harry Styles in the UK.
Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran and Kate Bush are among the UK's top-selling singles artists for 2022. The Official Charts Company has also revealed the country's top albums, vinyl and cassette releases.
For the first time since the annual chart figures began to be published more than five decades ago, the most popular songs of the year in the UK all belong to British artists.
Harry Styles took the top spot with his hit 'As It Was', with Ed Sheeran's 'Bad Habits' following close behind and Fireboy DML's collaboration with Sheeran on 'Peru' in third place.
Cat Burns' 'Go', Ed Sheeran's 'Shivers', Kate Bush's 'Running Up that Hill', which made a comeback with the help of 'Stranger Things', and Glass Animals' 'Heat Waves' all featured also high on the list.
Rounding out the top ten are 'Where Are You Now' by Lost Frequencies and Calum Scott, 'Afraid To Feel' by LF System and 'Seventeen Going Under' by Sam Fender.
Notably, Harry Styles' 'As It Was' and LF System's 'Afraid To Feel' are the only songs in the Top 10 released in 2022. Apart from Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' which was released in 1985, all other songs on the list were released in either 2020 or 2021.
Harry Styles also topped the UK's best-selling albums of 2022 with his latest record 'Harry's House'.
It's followed by Ed Sheeran's '=' (Equals), Taylor Swift's 'Midnights', The Weeknd's 'The Highlights' and Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour'. The second half of the list is occupied by best of compilations such as Eminem's 'Curtain Call', Elton John's 'Diamonds', Fleetwood Mac's '50 Years – Don't Stop', Little Mix's 'Between Us' and "Gold" by ABBA.
As the Guardian reports, music listening in the UK has jumped from 147 billion audio streams in 2021 to 159 billion in 2022, with more than three billion streams recorded on average each week last year.
However, digital downloads are down 18.9% from 2021 and purchases of physical albums – CDs, vinyl, cassettes and other formats – are down 13.1% overall.
However, vinyl sales rose for the 15th year in a row, hitting an all-time high of 5.5 million units sold.
Swift's 'Midnights' was the UK's best-selling vinyl of 2022, with Harry Styles' 'Harry's House' second, Arctic Monkeys' 'The Car' third, 'C'mon You Know' fourth by Liam Gallagher and fifth Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours'.
Cassette sales are up 5.2% in the UK in 2022 to 195,000.
The highest-selling cassette album in the UK market last year was Arctic Monkeys' 'The Car', which sold over 10,000 cassettes in less than three months since its release. Harry Styles' 'Harry's House', Florence + the Machine's 'Dance Fever', Muse's 'Will Of The People' and Central Cee's '23' round out the top five.
Top 10 UK Singles of 2022
1. Harry Styles – “As It Was”
2. Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits”
3. Fireboy DML and Ed Sheeran – “Peru”
4. Cat Burns – “Go”
5. Ed Sheeran – “Shivers”
6. Kate Bush – “Running Up That Hill”
7. Glass Animals – “Heat Waves”
8. Lost Frequencies and Calum Scott – “Where Are You Now”
9. LF System – “Afraid to Feel”
10. Sam Fender – “Seventeen Going Under”
The 10 most popular albums in the UK in 2022
1. Harry Styles – “Harry's House”
2. Ed Sheeran – “=”
3. Taylor Swift – “Midnights”
4. The Weeknd – “The Highlights”
5. Olivia Rodrigo – “Sour”
6. Eminem – “Curtain Call: The Hits”
7. Elton John – “Diamonds”
8. Fleetwood Mac – “50 Years – Don't Stop”
9. Little Mix – “Between Us”
10. ABBA – “Gold – Greatest Hits”
