Artists with more UK No1s than Cheryl Fernandez-Versini

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has become the first British female soloist to achieve five No 1 singles on the official UK chart – but she still has a long way to go before she breaks the record for most No 1s ever.

Her song I Don't Care beat Ed Sheeran and Meghan Trainor to the top spot yesterday, making Cheryl the most successful female British solo artist in terms of No 1s.

She was previously neck and neck with Geri Halliwell and Rita Ora, who each have four UK No 1s. They are ahead of other female British artists with three No 1s, including Lily Allen, Leona Lewis, Pixie Lott, Billie Piper and Sandie Shaw.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Cheryl will need to push out a lot more top hits if she wants to become the artist with the most UK No 1 singles ever. That honour is still held by Elvis Presley, who managed to retain the top spot after his death. The Beatles became the first artists to have 17 No 1s with the The Ballad of John and Yoko in 1969, but Elvis outshone them from beyond the grave with four more No 1s in 2002 and 2005, bringing his grand total to 21.

Here are the top artists and their total number of UK No 1s:

• Elvis Presley (21)
• The Beatles (17)
• Westlife and Cliff Richard (including his hits with The Shadows) (14)
• Madonna (13)
• Take That (11)
• Abba and the Spice Girls (9)
• The Rolling Stones, Rihanna, Eminem and Oasis (8)
• Calvin Harris, Robbie Williams, McFly, U2, Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Michael Jackson and George Michael (7)
• David Guetta, Britney Spears, Sugababes, Queen, Boyzone, JLS, Blondie, Rod Stewart, Slade (6)

There are a dozen other artists who have had five No 1s in the UK, including Beyonce, All Saints and the Bee Gees. Cheryl also achieved four number ones as part of Girls Aloud and another as part of the Helping Haiti charity ensemble singing Everybody Hurts, but she was not individually credited for these.