Number 1 today in 2010: Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance returns to the top

We love a comeback in the Official Singles Chart, but you don’t have to have been out of action for years to be the comeback kid – sometimes it only takes a couple of weeks.

Released amid a flurry of promotion and online activity at the back end of 2009, Bad Romance was Lady Gaga’s biggest single yet. Thanks to a controversial – and, incidentally, brilliant – video, Bad Romance rocketed straight to the top spot just a week before the Official Christmas Number 1 was announced.

A huge battle between Rage Against The Machine and Joe McElderry to knock her off ensued, which Rage Against The Machine won, but we couldn’t help but feel Bad Romance had been dethroned prematurely. Joe and Rage Against The Machine swapped places the following week, but a fortnight in the cold wasn’t enough to put Gaga off. The first song everybody wanted to hear after tearing down their Christmas decorations was Bad Romance, and the track soared back to Number 1 this week five years ago.

Packed full of hooks and filling dancefloors across the country. Bad Romance was the cherry on the top of an amazing 12 months for Lady Gaga. It was her third Number 1 – following debut hit Just Dance and follow-up Poker Face – and launched her reissue of her Number 1 album The Fame. The Fame Monster – as the new collection of songs was called – helped the album rocket back into the Top 10, passing the million sales mark just before Christmas!

And the million-selling marvellousness doesn’t end there. Bad Romance itself was the second Lady Gaga single to make it after Poker Face – reaching the milestone in summer 2013 .

The Fame Monster would produce another Number 1 in just a few weeks, Telephone FT Beyoncé. Coincidentally, neither act has scored a chart-topping single since. Time for a reunion, maybe, ladies? You know it makes sense.

The Fame has spent seven non-consecutive weeks at Number 1 in total and sold 2.9 million copies in the UK! Two more Number 1 albums were to come: Born This Way (2011) and Artpop (2013).

So while the top of the Official Singles Chart was giving it plenty of Gaga ooh la la, what was happening in the rest of the Top 10. Kick off your armadillo heels and sit back while we reveal all…

2: Joe McElderry – The Climb

The X Factor winner was denied the Christmas Number 1 by Rage Against The Machine but did taste the sweet nectar doled out in the throne room of the Official Singles Chart eventually. Gaga wanted seconds, however, so Joe was out on his ear after a week. Still he can be consoled by the fact that The Climb has sold over 810,000 copies in the UK.

3: Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway

The Black Eyed Peas had a pretty good 2009, with three Number 1s – Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling and this, all in the space of a few months. It almost looked like Meet Me Halfway could reclaim the top spot with this New Year resurgence, but it wasn’t to be. They did have another chart-topper that year with The Time (Dirty Bit). Meet Me Halfway has sold over 850,000 copies in the UK.

4: Ke$ha – Tik Tok

She dropped the dollar sign from her name a while back, but rewind to 2010 and the brash breath of fresh air was enjoying her first ever solo hit. She was on Flo Rida’s Number 1 Right Round earlier in 2009, but now she was going it alone, peaking right here at Number 4. Ten more Top 40 hits were to follow, including two chart-toppers: We R Who We R in 2011 and 2014’s Timber with Pitbull, which was the sixth bestselling single of the year (and Number 1 this time last year). Tik Tok has sold 695,000 copies in the UK.

5: Cheryl Cole FT will.i.am – 3 Words

Another spot in the Top 5 for will.i.am this week in 2010, and his second credited collaboration with Cheryl Cole (as was) following 2008’s Number 4 peak for Heartbreaker, which 3 Words matched. The track has sold 340,000 copies in the UK.

6: 3Oh3 FT Katy Perry – Starstrukk

7: Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’

8: Rihanna – Russian Roulette

9: Robbie Williams – You Know Me

10: Chipmunk FT Talay Riley – Look For Me

And this time last year…

This week in 2014, it was Pitbull and Kesha atop the Official Singles Chart, ending Pharrell’s reign with Happy, although it was only temporary – he would be back the following week! Take a look at the whole Top 40 this time last year.