Hozier overtakes Benson Boone, now leading race for first Number 1 single with Too Sweet

Stop the press! Hozier has just overtaken Benson Boone and Beyoncé, setting his sights to top the Official Singles Chart for the first time ever this week.

Too Sweet, the lead track from Unreal Unearth: Unheard, the expanded deluxe edition of the Irish singer-songwriter's (real name Andrew John Hozier-Byrne) third album, Unreal Unearth.

That LP became Hozier's first to reach Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart last year, lead by the single Eat Your Young, which peaked at Number 22 on the Official Singles Chart - it was Hozier's first Top 40 single in the UK since 2015's Someone New, which reached Number 19. 

The success of both Unreal Unearth and Eat Your Young seems to have opened the floodgates, and Hozier pounced at exactly the right time with new material for his hungry fans. 

As it stands today (April 9), Too Sweet has leapfrogged Benson Boone's Beautiful Things and Beyoncé's TEXAS HOLD 'EM (both former UK Number 1 singles) to currently stand at Number 1 - although his lead is tight at the moment, not quite 1,000 chart units in front of Beautiful Things at Number 2.

If Hozier manages to hold on until Friday, Too Sweet will become Hozier's first chart-topping single in the UK. It has already become his second-ever UK Top 10 single, and his highest-peaking since breakthrough single, the gothic, gospel tinge of Take Me To Church, hit Number 2 in 2014.

But the fight is not over yet - the weekly count for the Official Singles Chart ends at 12am on Friday, with the results broadcasting live on The Official Chart on BBC Radio 1 from 4pm, where Jack Saunders will reveal the UK's Official Number 1 single.

Until then, keep your eyes peeled on OfficialCharts.com...