Take THAT, Gary! Robbie Williams equals Gary Barlow’s career tally as Candy hits Number 1

Take THAT, Gary!

Robbie Williams grins cheekily today as the Official Charts Company presents him with his Official Number 1 Award for Candy and confirms he has now officially equalled Gary Barlow’s career tally for Number 1 singles.

New single Candy has today given Robbie Williams his first UK Number 1 in eight years and the 14th Number 1 of his career (including Take That and solo material), meaning he has drawn level with his mate (and Candy co-writer) Gary Barlow. This puts both singers now on a par with chart legend Cliff Richard, impressively leaving them behind only the four members of The Beatles as British individuals with 14 or more Number 1 singles on the UK’s Official Chart.

Robbie tells OfficialCharts.com

“Number 1 - YEAH! So chuffed, really, really happy that Candy reached the top spot. Good work Team Williams and thanks to everyone who got it there. I'm so excited about this album and this is a great start.”

Candy is also Robbie’s fastest-selling single in the UK since Rock DJ hit the top spot 12 years ago, and with a staggering 137 000 copies sold this week, it’s the fastest-selling male artist single of the year, and the third fastest-selling single of 2012 overall.

Official Charts Company Managing Director, Martin Talbot says "Congratulations to Robbie on his 14th Number 1 single this week with Candy. As this month marks 60 years of the British institution that is the Official Singles Chart, the Official Charts Company is delighted to see Robbie Williams well and truly securing his place amongst the all time chart legends here in the UK. Well done!"

The single is co-written by Gary Barlow and 'Todd' Terje Olsen and is Robbie’s first Number 1 solo single since 2004’s Radio - his seventh solo Number 1 overall.

Last week’s chart toppers Labrinth FT Emeli Sandé with Beneath Your Beautiful drop to Number 2 on this week’s Official Singles Chart, but still deliver a superb sale of over 102,000 copies. At Number 3 is a new entry from Wiley FT Skepta/JME/Ms D with Can You Hear Me (Ayayaya), which becomes Wiley’s second Top 3 single in three months and follows this summer’s chart topper Heatwave.

Still riding high at Number 4 with their anthem Don’t You Worry Child is Swedish House Mafia, while Adele climbs two places to Number 5 with Bond theme Skyfall.

New Entries And Highest Climbers

In addition to Robbie and Wiley there are three new entries on this week’s Official Singles Chart Top 40.

At Number 25 is new Official Albums Chart topper Calvin Harris FT Tinie Tempah with Drinking From The Bottle, singer-songwriter Ben Howard is at Number 32 with Burgh Island, while Hot Natured & Ali Love come in at Number 40 with Benediction.

Following their performance on last weekend’s X Factor, Fun FT Janelle Monae jump 39 places back into the Official Singles Chart Top 20 this week. We Are Young ends the week at Number 13, while the band’s second single Some Nights leaps 15 places to Number 23. Asaf Avidan & The Mojos climb 18 places to Number 30 with One Day / Reckoning Song, while Lumineers climb eleven places to Number 12 with Ho Hey.

The Official Singles Chart Top 10 is as follows:

© 2012 The Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.