Official Charts Flashback 2009: Lily Allen – The Fear

It’s five years since our favourite bolshy popstar ditched the prom dresses and trainers and scored her second Number 1.

When she made her chart debut in 2006, Lily Allen was certainly a breath of fresh air. Frank but friendly, naughty but nice, Lily was the perfect antidiote to some of our more media-trained popstars.

Following her first big hit Smile and huge debut album Alright Still, all eyes were on Lily to see what she’d do next. And she certainly didn’t disappoint, she came back with The Fear, a cautionary tale of fame and fortune, tinged with Lily’s special brand of bittersweet barbs.

The Fear went straight in at Number 1 in early February and stayed there for a month, spending its last week at the top this very week in 2009. Thanks to its colourful, tongue-in-cheek video and the general joy that Lily was back, the track spent 16 weeks in the Top 40. It’s sold 560,000 copies so far and is Lily’s biggest selling single in the UK.

Both Lily’s albums, Alright Still (2006) and It’s Not Me It’s You (2009) have passed 1,000,000 copies in sales.

Lily has enjoyed 14 Top 40 hits, including three chart-toppers – 2006’s Smile and 2013’s Somewhere Only We Know being the other two – and nine Top 10s, including her collaborations with Mark Ronson (2007’s Number 8 hit Oh My God), Professor Green (2010’s Number 5 Just Be Good To Green) and T-Pain (2011’s 5 O’Clock).

Watch the video for Lily’s latest single, Air Balloon, before we go through the rest of the Top 5 this week in 2009.

2: Lady Gaga – Just Dance

A non-mover, this former Number 1 is Lady Gaga’s third best selling single and has sold 940,000 copies. Take a look at the week Just Dance, Gaga’s very first hit, got a Flashback all of its own.

3: Kings Of Leon – Use Somebody

The Nashville family quartet’s follow-up to Number 1 Sex On Fire leapt into the Top 10 for the first time this week in 2009. It would be their penultimate Top 10, but despite peaking at Number 2, Use Somebody would go on to sell over a million copies. Take a look at Sex On Fire’s Official Charts Flashback.

4: Prodigy – Omen

Experimental, hard dance act Prodigy had their very first back in 1991, with Charly, which hit Number 3. Almost 18 years later, they were onto their 10th, with this track. It would go no higher than this position, but the guys can console themselves with their two previous Number 1s, Firestarter and Breathe, both from 1996.

5: Alesha Dixon – Breathe Slow

Former Mis-Teeq rapper and Strictly Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon fell two places from her peak of Number 3 with Breathe Slow. The ballad was the follow-up to The Boy Does Nothing and is her second biggest solo seller. It’s also her highest chart peak by herself, although Mis-Teeq hit Number 2 twice, with All I Want (2001) and Scandalous (2003).

Take a look at last week's Official Charts Flashback from 1999, featuring the one and only Britney Spears.