The Wire
10.07.26
Rein Me In: Sam Fender and Olivia Dean now own the longest-running British number one ever
// Coda · 2 min read
Sam Fender and Olivia Dean's "Rein Me In" is now officially the longest-running number one single by a British act in UK chart history. Sixteen non-consecutive weeks at the top since June 2025, past the record Wet Wet Wet set in 1994 with "Love Is All Around" and its fifteen-week run, a record that had stood for 32 years. The only company left at that altitude is Bryan Adams, whose "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" still holds the longest consecutive run at sixteen straight weeks.
The song has been collecting everything on its way up. Song of the year at the 2026 BRIT Awards. Fender's first UK number one, Dean's second. A duet released in June 2025 that simply refused to leave.
The full run, per the Official Charts: 16 weeks at number one, 38 weeks inside the top 10, 54 in the top 20, and 56 weeks on the chart in total. Over a year without leaving.
We shot both of them before the song existed: Olivia Dean at a church show in Berlin in March 2023, before the big breakthrough, and Sam Fender on a Sziget stage five months later. Now they end up at the top of the charts together, on a record like this. The archive only tells you later what it was worth.
Credits
Olivia Dean at Emmaus-Kirche, Berlin, March 2023, shot by Colin Darbyshire. Sam Fender at Sziget Festival 2023, shot by Colin Darbyshire and Annelies Vollmuller for Coda Photos.
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