Artists who replaced themselves at Number 1 on the Official UK Singles Chart

If you're going to be knocked off Number 1 by anybody, it may as well be by somebody you really care about – yourself! Ousting your own work off the top spot is a pretty rare occurrence on the Official Chart, but it does happen, albeit very, very rarely. But who's managed it? We've done some digging in the archives.

Singles

The Beatles

W/E December 14, 1963

1963 was the year The Beatles truly hit their stride, landing their first three of their overall 17 Number 1s. Advance orders of I Want To Hold Your Hand reportedly exceeded 1 million and would have debuted at the top on the day of its release, had it not been blocked by their first million-seller She Loves You. No matter, though, as it soared to Number 1 the following week.

John Lennon

W/E February 7, 1981

In the months after his untimely death in December 1980, John Lennon's music flooded back into the chart, with his signature hit from 1975 Imagine returning to Number 1. The first single issued after his death, Woman - an ode to his wife Yoko - replaced Imagine at the top in February.

MORE: Acts with the most Number 1 singles on the Official Chart

Elvis Presley

W/E January 22, 2005

Reissues of Elvis' 18 Number 1 singles, released weekly in 2005, saw One Night return to the top spot, and also become the UK's Official 1,000th Number 1.

Justin Bieber

W/E December 10, 2015

Justin was in full chart domination mode at the end of 2015, when his acoustic ballad Love Yourself replaced is electronic banger Sorry at the top. Three weeks later, he became the first artist ever to hold Numbers 1, 2 and 3 in the same week, and was the recipient of the first Official Chart Record Breaker Award.

Ed Sheeran

W/E January 25, 2018

After dominating 2017 with his Divide album and its singles, Ed kicked off 2018 with another Number 1, this time as a guest feature on Eminem's River. The song ousted his single Perfect - the 2017 Official Christmas Number 1 - from the summit. 

Ariana Grande

W/E February 21, 2019

W/E February 28, 2019

Not only is Ariana the first female artist to replace herself at Number 1, she claims the rare feat of replacing herself at Number 1 twice in back-to-back weeks around the release of her Thank U, Next album in 2019. 

Ed Sheeran

W/E September 23, 2021

Ed ended Bad Habits' 11-week reign at Number 1 with Shivers, the second single from his = album. The singer-songwriter helped Shivers secure the top spot with a limited run of CD singles, shifting 9,000 physical copies in its first week. 

Ed Sheeran & Elton John

W/E December 30, 2021

Ed Sheeran does it again - this time alongside his good friend Elton John. Their collaborative single Merry Christmas spent two weeks at Number 1 in December 2021, before they joined LadBaby as featured artists on his fourth go at the Christmas Number 1 - a sausage roll-themed cover of Merry Christmas.

The duo then repeated this feat once again a week later - toppling Sausage Rolls For Everyone and replacing themselves at Number 1 (again) with Merry Christmas.

W/E January 6, 2022

Sabrina Carpenter

W/E July 18, 2024

Sabrina Carpenter became only the second woman to replace herself at Number 1, when summery bop Espresso earned its sixth non-consecutive week at the top following three weeks' reign with follow-up Please Please Please... And then did it again two weeks later when Please Please Please returned to the top.

W/E August 1, 2024

Albums

Replacing yourself at the top of the Official Albums Chart is slightly rarer, with it only happening on six occasions. In February 2016, David Bowie's final studio album Blackstar get knocked off the summit by his 2002 retrospective Best Of Bowie following his passing the previous month.

Before Bowie, Michael Jackson replaced himself at the top in July 2009, when his Essential hits album knocked Number 1s off pole position following his death. 

Stepping even farther back in time, 35 years before that, folk-rock artist Mike Oldfield achieved the feat in October 1974 with Tubular Bells/Hergest Ridge, while Bob Dylan managed two successive Number 1s in May 1965 with Bringing It All Back Home and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. 

Finally, The Beatles have replaced themselves at the top on no less than two separate occasions. The first was in December 1963 with With The Beatles and Please Please Me, and the second was almost exactly a year later with Beatles For Sale/A Hard Day's Night.