BRIT Awards 2023: The numbers behind this year's Song of the Year nominees from Harry Styles, Cat Burns and more

This weekend, the 2023 BRIT Awards take place (for the first time ever in the ceremony's history - on a Saturday!) and one of the night's most anticipated moments will be seeing who will win the coveted Song of the Year award. 

So, in anticipation of Saturday's show, we're revealing the Official Charts numbers behind all ten of the nominess for this year's BRIT Award for Song of the Year.

Between them, the ten songs have collated seven Number 1 awards, spending a collective 32 weeks at the top of the Official Singles Chart and a mind-boggling total of a combined 1.1 billion streams.

So how do the BRIT Awards 2023 nominees for Song of the Year stack up? Let's dig in.

MORE: The BRIT Awards 2023 nominees in full

10. Merry Christmas
Artist: Ed Sheeran & Elton John
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK chart units: 589,000

A very rare honour indeed for an original Christmas song to be in the running for a BRIT Award but, then again, this is no ordinary Christmas song. Ed & Elton would take Merry Christmas to Number 1 at the end of 2021, capping off a sterling chart year for them both, while a remix of the song featuring LadBaby (Sausage Rolls For Everyone) would one week later become that year's Official Christmas Number 1.

Among the nominees for Song of the Year, Merry Christmas ranks as the biggest physical seller, while its total streams come out at over 64 million.

9. Forget Me
Artist: Lewis Capaldi
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK chart units: 654,000

Lewis' up-beat comeback single after a few years rest welcomed in perky synths into the world of his forthcoming second studio album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent.

An instant Number 1 debut on the Official Singles Chart, it became Lewis' third UK chart-topper, and he's recently added a fourth (Pointless) to his collection. In total, Forget Me has logged over 73 million combined streams across audio and video.

8. Baby
Artist: Aitch & Ashanti
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 2
Total UK chart units: 761,000

Ooh, baby, baby. Mancunian rapper Aitch joined forced with 00s R&B siren Ashanti for the summer anthem Baby, which sampled Ashanti's Rock Wit U, which originally peaked at Number 7 in 2003.

Baby shot up the Official Singles Chart in 2022, out-peaking Rock Wit U to ultimately reach Number 2 (just one of three songs in this list to miss the top spot) and secure Aitch his second single to peak at Number 2, after 2019's Taste (Make It Shine). It's streams max out at over 94 million.

7. Unholy
Artist: Sam Smith & Kim Petras
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK chart units: 768,000

A divine collaboration from Sam Smith and trans pop star Kim Petras, Unholy first went viral as a TikTok clip, before its release finally saw it debut at Number 1's - Sam's eighth and Kim's first-ever chart-topper. 

With 768,000 total chart sales and over 89 million streams, Unholy recently gifted Sam and Kim Petras a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group single, making Kim the first trans woman to take home the prize.

6. B.O.T.A (Baddest Of Them All)
Artist: Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK chart units: 776,000

She's the baddest of them all! East London DJ Eliza Rose debuted on the Official Singles Chart in a big way - B.O.T.A was one of the biggest tracks to be released during last year's renaissance of dance music in the UK charts, gifting the first Number 1 to Eliza Rose and the song's producer, Interplanetary Criminal. 

As of this week, B.O.T.A has claimed over 776,000 total UK chart units and streams in excess of 91 million.

The BRIT 2023 Awards host, Mo Gilligan

5. Green Green Grass
Artist: George Ezra
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 3
Total UK chart units: 848,000

Green Green Grass holds the distinction of being the lowest-charting single to be nominated for Song of the Year in 2023, although its peak of Number 3 is certainly nothing to sniff at. 

With 848,000 chart units and over 98 million combined streams, Green Green Grass was an extraordinary hit for George, helping its parent album, Gold Rush Kid, becoming George's third UK Number 1 album.

4. Starlight
Artist: Dave
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK chart units: 905,000

A surprise drop from Santan Dave, Starlight was a perky and fun little release following the release of his critically acclaimed sophomore album, We're All Alone In This Together. 

Debuting at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart, Starlight became Dave's second UK chart-topper, as well as breaking an Official Charts record, becoming the longest-running solo rap Number 1 in the UK. Its total UK chart units (905k) and combined streams (119 million) is a stark reminder of Dave's brilliance and commercial powers.

3. Afraid To Feel
Artist: LF SYSTEM
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK chart units: 1 million

Scottish DJ duo LF SYSTEM struck gold with AFRAID TO FEEL, their first single to chart on the Official Singles Chart, which ended up peaking at Number 1. 

It's eight-week reign at the top helped Afraid To Feel set the record for the longest-running dance Number 1 in the UK of this decade, and its the first track on this list to crack 1 million total UK chart units, matched with a very nice 118 million streams too.

2. Go
Artist: Cat Burns
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 2
Total UK chart units: 1.2 million

Despite originally being released in 2020, Go flew under the radar until (thanks to TikTok) it became British singer-songwriter Cat Burns' breakthrough single, managing to reach a peak of Number 2 on the Official Singles Chart, notching up over 1.2 million total UK chart units and 147 million combined streams in the process.

Go's heart-wrenching music video also ranks as the most-streamed visuals of the group, ranking in over 20 million video streams. Read more about Cat Burns' chart journey with Go here.

1. As It Was
Artist: Harry Styles
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK chart units: 1.7 million

Could it really have been anyone else? 

Harry Styles' mega-watt, blockbuster hit As It Was ranks as the biggest of this year's Song of the Year BRIT nominees - with a mind-numbing 1.7 million total UK chart sales, and over 193 million (!) streams and counting. 

Topping the Official Singles Chart for a total of 10 weeks, As It Was is officially the second longest-running Number 1 of the 2020s (behind Bad Habits' 11 weeks) and it was named the biggest song of 2022 to boot to.

With Harry also cleaning up at this week's Grammy Awards in the US, can he repeat the same trick at the BRITs? Time will only tell...

The BRIT Awards Song of the Year 2023 nominees in numbers

©2023 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

The BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard take place on Saturday February 11 2023, broadcast live on ITV and ITVX from the O2 Arena.