The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom. Since 2004 the chart has been based on the sales of both physical singles and digital downloads, with airplay figures excluded from the official chart. This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 2012, as well as singles which peaked in 2011 and 2013 but were in the top 10 in 2012. The entry date is when the song appeared in the top 10 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).
One-hundred and forty-four singles were in the top ten in 2012. Eleven singles from 2011 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "Scream & Shout" by will.i.am & Britney Spears and "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift were released in 2012 but did not reach their peak until 2013. "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida and "Paradise" by Coldplay were the singles from 2011 to reach their peak in 2012. Forty-six artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2012.
The first number-one single of the year was "Paradise" by Coldplay. Overall, thirty-six different singles peaked at number-one in 2012, with Rita Ora (3) having the most singles hit that position.
Background Multiple entries One-hundred and forty-four singles charted in the top 10 in 2012, with one-hundred and thirty-three singles reaching their peak this year.
Forty-six artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2012. American rapper Flo Rida and Barbadian singer Rihanna shared the highest number of top ten singles in 2012 with five. Flo Rida recorded one solo single which reached the top spot – "Good Feeling" - and also featured on Olly Murs number-one single "Troublemaker". His other top ten entries were "Wild Ones" featuring Sia (number 4), "Whistle" (2) and "I Cry" (3). Rihanna had number-ones with "We Found Love" featuring Calvin Harris (released in 2011) and "Diamonds", and also charted in 2012 with "Where Have You Been" (6), "Stay" featuring Mikky Ekko (4) and a guest appearance on Coldplay's "Princess of China", which reached number four. Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, singers Emeli Sande and Rita Ora, will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas and French DJ David Guetta all had four top ten singles in 2012.
Chart debuts Thirty-nine artists achieved their first top 10 single in 2012, either as a lead or featured artist. Of these, four went on to record another hit single that year: Carly Rae Jepsen, Fun, Paloma Faith and Stooshe. Two artists scored two more top 10 singles: Conor Maynard and Lawson. Rita Ora had three other entries in her breakthrough year.
The following table (collapsed) does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo single. Artist Number of top 10s First entry Chart position Other entriesKnife Party1"Antidote"4—Gotye1"Somebody That I Used to Know"1—KimbraAlyssa Reid1"Alone Again"2—Jump SmokersRita Ora4"Hot Right Now"1"R.I.P." (1), "How We Do (Party)" (1), "Shine Ya Light" (10)Neon Hitch1"Ass Back Home"9—Stooshe2"Love Me"5"Black Heart" (3)Erick Morillo1"Elephant"3—Carly Rae Jepsen2"Call Me Maybe"1"Good Time" (5) Fun2"We Are Young"1"Some Nights" (7)Janelle Monáe1—Conor Maynard3"Can't Say No"2"Vegas Girl" (4), "Turn Around" (8)John Legend1"Ordinary People"4—Alex Clare1"Too Close"4—D'banj1"Oliver Twist"9—Paloma Faith2"Picking Up the Pieces"7"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (1)Rudimental1"Feel the Love"1—John NewmanLoreen1"Euphoria"3—Lawson3"When She Was Mine"4"Taking Over Me" (3), "Standing in the Dark" (6)The Commonwealth Band1"Sing"1—Precision Tunes1"Payphone"9—Eva Simons1"This Is Love"1—Karmin1"Brokenhearted"6—Ms D1"Heatwave"1—Redlight1"Lost in Your Love"5—Elbow1"One Day Like This"4—Trey Songz1"Simply Amazing"8—Porter Robinson1"Language"9—Sam and the Womp1"Bom Bom"1—Devlin1"Watchtower"7—Psy1"Gangnam Style"1—John Martin1"Don't You Worry Child"1—Childish Gambino1"Trouble"7—Gabrielle Aplin1"The Power of Love"1—The Lumineers1"Ho Hey"8—James Arthur1"Impossible"1—The Justice Collective1"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"1—
Songs from films Original songs from various films entered the top 10 throughout the year. These included "Skyfall" (from Skyfall), "Ill Manors" (from Ill Manors) and "Wide Awake" (Katy Perry: Part of Me).
Charity singles A number of singles recorded for charity reached the top 10 in the charts in 2012. The Sport Relief single was "Proud", recorded by former X Factor finalists JLS, peaking at number six on 31 March 2012.
Girls Aloud recorded the Children in Need single for 2012, entitled "Something New". It was the 21st top ten single of their career out of their twenty-two singles, a run only broken by previous release "Untouchable" (which reached number 11), peaking at number two on 1 December 2012.
A group of artists under the banner Justice Collective produced a cover of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (originally by The Hollies) to raise money for charities connected to the Hillsborough Disaster. It became the Christmas number one for that year, replacing James Arthur at the top spot on 29 December 2012.
Best-selling singles Gotye featuring Kimbra had the best-selling single of the year with "Somebody That I Used to Know". The song spent eighteen weeks in the top 10 (including five weeks at number one), sold over 1.318 million copies and was certified 2× platinum by the BPI (July 2013). "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen came in second place, selling more than 1.142 million copies and losing out by around 176,000 sales. Fun featuring Janelle Monáe's "We Are Young, "Titanium" from David Guetta featuring Sia and "Impossible" by James Arthur made up the top five. Singles by Psy, Nicki Minaj, Jessie J, Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa and Flo Rida featuring Sia were also in the top ten best-selling singles of the year.
Top-ten singles Key SymbolMeaning‡Single peaked in 2011 but still in chart in 2012.♦Single released in 2012 but peaked in 2013.(#)Year-end top-ten single position and rankEnteredThe date that the single first appeared in the chart.PeakHighest position that the single reached in the UK Singles Chart.
Entered (week ending)Weeksintop10 Single ArtistPeak Peakreached (week ending)WeeksatpeakSingles in 201114"We Found Love" ‡Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris167"Sexy and I Know It" ‡ LMFAO519"Earthquake" ‡ Labrinth featuring Tinie Tempah218"Lego House" ‡ Ed Sheeran5211"Good Feeling"Flo Rida118"Dance with Me Tonight" ‡Olly Murs118"Levels" ‡ Avicii436"Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)" ‡ Lloyd featuring André 3000 & Lil Wayne317"Paradise"Coldplay113"Cannonball" ‡Little Mix112"Wherever You Are" ‡Military Wives featuring Gareth Malone11Singles in 20127"Mama Do the Hump"Rizzle Kicks213"Troublemaker"Taio Cruz319"Domino" (#8)Jessie J1213"Titanium" (#4)David Guetta featuring Sia112"Antidote"Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party411"Kiss the Stars"Pixie Lott814"Twilight"Cover Drive1112"Wild Ones" (#10)Flo Rida featuring Sia4318"Somebody That I Used to Know" (#1)Gotye featuring Kimbra154"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" Kelly Clarkson832"International Love"Pitbull featuring Chris Brown1023"Alone Again"Alyssa Reid featuring Jump Smokers212"Born to Die"Lana Del Rey913"T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)"will.i.am featuring Jennifer Lopez & Mick Jagger315"Hot Right Now"DJ Fresh featuring Rita Ora118"Next to Me"Emeli Sandé231"One Thing"One Direction9111"Starships" (#7)Nicki Minaj214"Turn Me On" David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj821"Ass Back Home"Gym Class Heroes featuring Neon Hitch911"Rockstar"Dappy featuring Brian May211"Drunk"Ed Sheeran912"Love Me"Stooshe featuring Travie McCoy511"Bright Lights"Tinchy Stryder featuring Pixie Lott711"Seven Nation Army"Marcus Collins911"Elephant"Alexandra Burke featuring Erick Morillo311"Niggas in Paris"Jay-Z & Kanye West1013"Part of Me"Katy Perry115"She Doesn't Mind"Sean Paul233"Last Time"Labrinth411"Proud" JLS613"Turn Up the Music"Chris Brown111"Ill Manors"Plan B6112"Call Me Maybe" (#2)Carly Rae Jepsen142"Boyfriend"Justin Bieber211"Climax"Usher4114"We Are Young" (#3) Fun featuring Janelle Monáe111"Level Up"Sway812"Can't Say No"Conor Maynard211"Ordinary People"John Legend414"Laserlight"Jessie J featuring David Guetta522"So Good"B.o.B712"Let's Go"Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo217"Too Close"Alex Clare426"Drive By"Train614"Young"Tulisa111"Sparks"Cover Drive414"R.I.P."Rita Ora featuring Tinie Tempah121"Live My Life"Far East Movement featuring Justin Bieber715"Where Have You Been"Rihanna631"30 Days"711"Oliver Twist"D'banj912"Chasing the Sun"212"Picking Up the Pieces" Paloma Faith7111"Feel the Love"Rudimental featuring John Newman111"Euphoria"Loreen311"When She Was Mine"Lawson412"Sing"Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band featuring Military Wives119"Whistle"Flo Rida223"Scream"Usher512"The Power"DJ Fresh featuring Dizzee Rascal617"Princess of China"Coldplay & Rihanna414"Call My Name"Cheryl111"Payphone"Precision Tunes918"Payphone" (#9)Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa128"Black Heart"Stooshe315"This Is Love"will.i.am featuring Eva Simons116"Don't Wake Me Up"Chris Brown214"Wide Awake"Katy Perry928"Spectrum (Say My Name)"Florence and the Machine133"Pound the Alarm" Nicki Minaj812"Vegas Girl"Conor Maynard413"Brokenhearted"Karmin625"Heatwave"Wiley featuring Ms D124"We'll Be Coming Back"Calvin Harris featuring Example221"Taking Over Me"Lawson312"Lost in Your Love"Redlight514"How We Do (Party)"Rita Ora113"Read All About It, Pt. III"Emeli Sandé311"One Day Like This"Elbow411"Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) (2012 Remix)" Kate Bush612"Simply Amazing"Trey Songz811"Language"Porter Robinson914"Bom Bom"Sam and the Womp1110"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" Taylor Swift411"Watchtower"Devlin featuring Ed Sheeran712"Wonderful"Angel914"Wings"Little Mix112"Harder Than You Think" Public Enemy414"Good Time"Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen514"Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)"Ne-Yo116"Hall of Fame" featuring will.i.am123"Blow Me (One Last Kiss)"Pink313"Some Nights" Fun713"You Bring Me Joy"Amelia Lily216"I Cry"Flo Rida312"Say Nothing"Example2117"Gangnam Style" (#6)Psy112"She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)"David Guetta featuring Sia824"Turn Around"Conor Maynard featuring Ne-Yo8114"Diamonds"Rihanna112"Live While We're Young"One Direction316"Skyfall"Adele212"Anything Could Happen"Ellie Goulding526"Don't You Worry Child" Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin111"Trouble"Leona Lewis featuring Childish Gambino713"Sweet Nothing"Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch111"Standing in the Dark"Lawson613"One More Night"Maroon 58210"Beneath Your Beautiful" Labrinth featuring Emeli Sandé111"Hottest Girl in the World"JLS611"Wonder"Naughty Boy featuring Emeli Sandé1016"Candy" Robbie Williams122"Can You Hear Me? (Ayayaya)"Wiley featuring Skepta, JME & Ms D311"I Found You"311"Do You Think of Me?"Misha B911"Shine Ya Light"Rita Ora1015"Little Things"One Direction1110"Locked Out of Heaven"Bruno Mars231"DNA"Little Mix316"The Power of Love"Gabrielle Aplin111"Ho Hey"811"Love Is Easy"McFly1018"Troublemaker"Olly Murs featuring Flo Rida121"Something New" Girls Aloud213"Girl on Fire"Alicia Keys522"Die Young"Kesha711"Try"Pink817"Impossible" (#5)James Arthur139"Scream & Shout" ♦will.i.am & Britney Spears1210"Stay" Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko442"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" 1111"I Knew You Were Trouble" ♦Taylor Swift21
Entries by artist
The following table shows artists who achieved two or more top 10 entries in 2012, including singles that reached their peak in 2011 or 2013. The figures include both main artists and featured artists, while appearances on ensemble charity records are also counted for each artist. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 2012 is also shown.