This is a summary of the year 2014 in British music charts.
The UK Singles Chart and UK Albums Chart are two of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) that calculates the best-selling singles/albums of the week in the United Kingdom. Since 2004 the chart has been based on the sales of both physical singles/albums and digital downloads, with airplay figures excluded from the official chart. From 6 July (chart dated week ending 12 July covering the sales in the first week of July), audio streaming became incorporated into the singles chart which means that a song gets the equivalent of one 'chart sale' if it is streamed 100 times. The OCC continues to compile a sales (only) chart and a streaming (only) chart. A total of 38 singles (the most since 2000) and 32 albums have claimed the top spot in 2014.
Number one artists In the singles chart, Pharrell Williams, Clean Bandit, Sam Smith, Route 94, DVBBS, Borgeous, 5 Seconds of Summer, Aloe Blacc, Sigma, Kiesza, Mr Probz, Secondcity, Ed Sheeran, Ella Henderson, Oliver Heldens, Ariana Grande, Rixton, Magic!, Nico & Vinz, Lilly Wood, Nicki Minaj, Meghan Trainor, Gareth Malone's All Star Choir, Band Aid 30, Mark Ronson and Ben Haenow have all claimed their first number 1 single as a lead artist. Williams (with "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines"), Smith (with "La La La"), and Blacc (not credited; with "Wake Me Up") had all reached number one as featured artists prior to 2014.
In the albums chart, Robbie Williams and Bastille returned to the top of the charts, having reached number 1 in 2013 with Swings Both Ways and Bad Blood. You Me at Six, Bombay Bicycle Club, Katy B, Pharrell Williams, Elbow, Sam Bailey, Sam Smith, Collabro, Royal Blood, alt-J, George Ezra, Ella Henderson and Ben Howard have all claimed their first number 1 album.
"Rather Be" by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne, "Happy" by Pharrell Williams and "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor have all spent the most weeks at number 1 in the singles chart with four and x by Ed Sheeran has spent the most weeks at number 1 in the albums chart with eleven.
Notable events and records "Happy" by Pharrell Williams became the first song released in the 2010s to be certified triple platinum based on sales of more than 1.55 million and 25 million streams by July. With "Happy", Williams is the only act apart from The Beatles to achieve three million-selling singles in a 12-month period. "Happy" also became only the third single in chart history, and the first for over 50 years, to return to number 1 more than once.
Cheryl broke the record for the most number one singles for a British female solo artist on 2 November with the release of "I Don't Care". The single sold over 82,000 copies in its first week and gave Cheryl her fifth UK number one. The record was previously jointly held by Rita Ora and Geri Halliwell.
"All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor became the first single ever to reach the top 40 on streams alone.
"Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran broke a record for the longest climb to number 1 within the top 40, having taken 19 weeks to reach the summit. On its return to number 1 on 13 December, it became the first song ever to peak at number 1 due to streaming, having sold less than the number 2.
The top 10 best-selling albums of the year were all by British artists.UK album chart for 2014 dominated by British artists
Number ones
Number-one singles The 'sales' figures since the chart week ending 12 July include a proportion for audio streams and cannot be compared to previous weeks. See separate 'Singles sales chart' below.
+KeyBest-selling single of the year Chart date(week ending) Song Artist(s) Sales /chart sales References 4 January "Happy" Pharrell Williams 106,904 11 January "Timber" Pitbull featuring Kesha 138,891 18 January "Happy" Pharrell Williams 107,427 25 January 117,643 1 February "Rather Be" Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne 162,801 8 February 136,952 15 February 102,542 22 February 79,050 1 March "Money on My Mind" Sam Smith 108,013 8 March "Happy" Pharrell Williams 83,982 15 March "My Love" Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne 120,770 22 March "Tsunami (Jump)" DVBBS & Borgeous featuring Tinie Tempah 80,476 29 March "I Got U" Duke Dumont featuring Jax Jones 112,082 5 April "She Looks So Perfect" 5 Seconds of Summer 94,270 12 April "The Man" Aloe Blacc 88,369 19 April "Nobody to Love" Sigma 121,176 26 April "Hideaway" Kiesza 136,286 3 May "Waves" Mr Probz 126,702 10 May "Summer" Calvin Harris 100,168 17 May "Waves" Mr Probz 75,537 24 May "I Will Never Let You Down" Rita Ora 105,095 31 May "Stay with Me" Sam Smith 108,898 7 June "I Wanna Feel" Secondcity 82,050 14 June "Sing" Ed Sheeran 123,864 21 June "Ghost" Ella Henderson 132,360 28 June 83,022 5 July "Gecko (Overdrive)" Oliver Heldens & Becky Hill 76,517 12 July "Problem" Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea 112,903 19 July "It's My Birthday" will.i.am & Cody Wise 74,034 26 July "Me and My Broken Heart" Rixton 63,478 2 August "Crazy Stupid Love" Cheryl featuring Tinie Tempah 118,145 9 August "Rude" Magic! 85,169 16 August "Am I Wrong" Nico & Vinz 106,370 23 August 62,750 30 August "Lovers on the Sun" David Guetta featuring Sam Martin 71,165 6 September "Prayer in C" Lilly Wood & Robin Schulz 85,169 13 September 68,958 20 September "Blame" Calvin Harris featuring John Newman 70,312 27 September "Changing" Sigma featuring Paloma Faith 104,191 4 October "Bang Bang" Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj 99,837 11 October "All About That Bass" Meghan Trainor 143,750 18 October 100,942 25 October 108,857 1 November 82,163 8 November "Thinking Out Loud" Ed Sheeran 89,475 15 November "I Don't Care" Cheryl 82,346 22 November "Wake Me Up" Gareth Malone's All Star Choir 120,312 29 November "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 30 312,928 6 December "These Days" Take That 63,998 13 December "Thinking Out Loud" Ed Sheeran 58,503 20 December "Uptown Funk" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars 118,117 27 December "Something I Need" Ben Haenow 214,239
Number-one albums
+KeyBest-selling album of the year Chart date(week ending) Album Artist Sales References 4 January Swings Both Ways Robbie Williams 90,938 11 January Halcyon Ellie Goulding 37,507 18 January 26,456 25 January High Hopes Bruce Springsteen 48,620 1 February Halcyon Ellie Goulding 20,928 8 February Cavalier Youth You Me at Six 32,426 15 February So Long, See You Tomorrow Bombay Bicycle Club 19,646 22 February Little Red Katy B 22,892 1 March Bad Blood Bastille 18,334 8 March 16,548 15 March Girl Pharrell Williams 69,213 22 March The Take Off and Landing of Everything Elbow 46,211 29 March Symphonica George Michael 49,989 5 April The Power Of Love Sam Bailey 72,644 12 April Education, Education, Education & War Kaiser Chiefs 23,767 19 April 16,086 26 April Caustic Love Paolo Nutini 109,011 3 May 52,651 10 May 36,859 17 May Sheezus Lily Allen 35,414 24 May Xscape Michael Jackson 47,764 31 May Ghost Stories Coldplay 168,048 7 June In the Lonely Hour Sam Smith 101,752 14 June 48,538 21 June 48:13 Kasabian 70,339 28 June Ultraviolence Lana Del Rey 48,028 5 July x Ed Sheeran 182,427 12 July 93,270 19 July 52,152 26 July 39,375 2 August 33,283 9 August 31,229 16 August 29,741 23 August 27,208 30 August Stars Collabro 48,749 6 September Royal Blood Royal Blood 65,812 13 September In the Lonely Hour Sam Smith 30,081 20 September 30,398 27 September No Sound Without Silence The Script 42,546 4 October This Is All Yours alt-J 30,947 11 October Wanted on Voyage George Ezra 30,061 18 October 25,948 25 October Chapter One Ella Henderson 43,824 1 November I Forget Where We Were Ben Howard 44,993 8 November 1989 Taylor Swift 90,336 15 November x Ed Sheeran 45,431 22 November The Endless River Pink Floyd 139,351 29 November Four One Direction 141,780 6 December Never Been Better Olly Murs 92,597 13 December III Take That 144,538 20 December x Ed Sheeran 152,262 27 December 214,451
Number-one compilation albums
+KeyBest-selling compilation of the year Chart date(week ending) Album References 4 January Now 86 11 January 18 January 25 January The Trevor Nelson Collection 2 1 February 8 February 15 February Frozen 22 February I'm Every Woman 1 March Brit Awards 2014 8 March Eat Sleep Rave Repeat 15 March Frozen 22 March Now Running 2014 29 March Now Feel Good 5 April Your Songs 2014 12 April Frozen 19 April Now 87 26 April 3 May 10 May 17 May 24 May 31 May Frozen 7 June 14 June 21 June Eddie Stobart Trucking Songs - Trucking All Over The World 28 June Frozen 5 July Now Summer 12 July 19 July The Nation's Favourite Motown Songs 26 July Frozen 2 August Now 88 9 August 16 August 23 August 30 August 6 September 13 September 20 September 27 September Keep Calm and Chillout 4 October 11 October 18 October 25 October 1 November 8 November BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2014 15 November 22 November 29 November 6 December Now 89 13 December 20 December 27 December
Year end charts Biggest singles This chart published by the Official Charts Company on 31 December 2014 is based on sales and streams for the whole of 2014.
Position Sales position Title Artist Peakposition Sales Streams Combined sales 1 1 "Happy" Pharrell Williams 1 1,500,000 35,000,000 1,850,000 2 2 "Rather Be" Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne 1 1,130,000 39,700,000 1,527,000 3 3 "All of Me" John Legend 2 851,000 34,900,000 1,200,000 4 4 "Waves" Mr Probz 1815,000 32,100,0001,136,000 5 7 "Thinking Out Loud" Ed Sheeran 1 735,000 27,500,0001,010,000 6 5 "Ghost" Ella Henderson 1 757,000 7 8 "Stay with Me" Sam Smith 1 29,100,000 8 9 "All About That Bass" Meghan Trainor 1 651,000 9 6 "Timber" Pitbull featuring Kesha 1 744,000 10 13 "Budapest" George Ezra 3 11 12 "Sing" Ed Sheeran 1 12 16 "Rude" Magic! 1 13 10 "Let It Go" Idina Menzel 11 636,000 14 11 "Shake It Off" Taylor Swift 2 0 15 17 "Hideaway" Kiesza 1 16 14 "My Love" Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne 1 17 15 "Nobody to Love" Sigma 1 18 19 "Money on My Mind" Sam Smith 1 19 22 "Summer" Calvin Harris 1 600,000 20 18 "Dark Horse" Katy Perry featuring Juicy J 4 21 29 "Am I Wrong" Nico & Vinz 1 22 26 "Prayer in C" Lilly Wood & Robin Schulz 1 23 27 "Problem" Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea 1 24 30 "I'm Not the Only One" Sam Smith 3 25 25 "Bang Bang" Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj 1 26 21 "I Got U" Duke Dumont 1 27 "Don't" Ed Sheeran 8 28 37 "Blame" Calvin Harris featuring John Newman 1 29 20 "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 30 1 30 23 "Uptown Funk" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars 1 6,000,000 31 33 "Fancy" Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX 5 32 "Chandelier" Sia 6 33 24 "Hey Brother" Avicii 3 34 34 "Changing" Sigma featuring Paloma Faith 1 35 40 "Gecko (Overdrive)" Oliver Heldens & Becky Hill 1 36 28 "I Will Never Let You Down" Rita Ora 1 37 32 "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" Paloma Faith 6 38 "Blame It on Me" George Ezra 6 39 31 "Say Something" A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera 4 40 "A Sky Full of Stars" Coldplay 8 41 38 "Loyal" Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne & Tyga 10 42 "Riptide" Vance Joy 10 43 "Steal My Girl" One Direction 3 44 "Counting Stars" OneRepublic 10 45 35 "How Long Will I Love You" Ellie Goulding 5 46 "Crazy Stupid Love" Cheryl featuring Tinie Tempah 1 47 "Black Widow" Iggy Azalea featuring Rita Ora 4 48 "Wiggle" Jason Derulo featuring Snoop Dogg 8 49 36 "Feelin' Myself" will.i.am featuring French Montana, Wiz Khalifa & Miley Cyrus 2 50 "She Looks So Perfect" 5 Seconds of Summer 1 Note: figures without a reference must always be deduced from the two others according to these operations: Sales + (Streams/100) = Chart sales / (Chart sales - Sales)*100 = Streams / Chart sales - (Streams/100) = Sales
Biggest-selling albums