The Official Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2022

The UK's top songs of 2022, including hits from Harry Styles, Cat Burns, Kate Bush, Fireboy DML, Sam Fender, the cast of Encanto and more.
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Harry Styles claimed the UK's Official biggest song of 2022 with As It Was, the Official Charts Company can confirm today.

The lead single from Harry's third solo album Harry's House shifted 1.57 million chart units since its release in April 2022 to the year-end. As It Was also holds the distinction of being the UK's longest-running Number 1 of 2022, managing an epic 10 weeks at the top of the Official Singles Chart. The synth-pop track became Harry's second UK chart-topper, following 2017's debut single Sign Of The Times.

As It Was also leads the pack as the most-streamed song of the year, totalling over 180.9 million audio and video streams, and best-selling song physically and digitally with 65,000 copies sold. It also means Harry Styles lands the end-of-year chart double too, as Harry's House is crowned the UK biggest album of 2022.

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2022

Harry leads an all-British takeover of the Top 10 biggest tracks of the year in the UK, marking the first time ever that all ten of the year's most successful singles were released by, or featured, British artists - including Harry, Cat Burns, Scottish DJs LF SYSTEM, Sam Fender, Glass Animals and Kate Bush. It's the first time such a clean sweep for British music has happened since the music industry began publishing year-end sales charts more than 50 years ago.


See where Harry Styles' songs and albums charted.

2022 also continued the growth of streaming as the dominant way UK music fans consume their favourite songs and artists. The BPI calculates that more than 3 billion audio streams were generated on average every week in 2022, compared to around 1.3 billion each week five years earlier.

The UK’s audio streaming market has grown to meet this demand - more doubling from 68.1 billion to 159.3 billion audio streams and was last year over 40 times bigger than in 2012 (3.7bn audio streams). It now takes, on average, 1.3 million audio streams to break into the Official Singles Chart Top 40 and a combined 7 million audio and video streams to land a UK Number 1 single.

In second place is Ed Sheeran with 2021's biggest song, Bad Habits, which gobbled up 1.18 million chart units throughout 2022, proving Ed's reach is just as dynamic and powerful as ever. This year also saw Ed break a major Official Charts record - becoming the first artist ever to have four albums chart inside the Official Albums Chart Top 10 for a year or more.

Rounding out the Top 5 we have Ed once again, this time teaming up with Afrobeats superstar Fireboy DML on Peru (3), breakout BRITs Rising Star nominee Cat Burns with her Number 2-peaking single Go (4), and Ed's third entry, the scintillating former Number 1 single Shivers (5).

2022 also saw the year of an extraordinary renaissance for one of Britain's greatest pop stars. Kate Bush reaped the rewards of an intelligently placed sync of her 1985 single Running Up That Hill (6) in the fourth season of Netflix's landmark series Stranger Things. The song resonated with a new generation, enabling it to (finally) reach Number 1 in the UK, 35 years after its initial release, breaking a trio of Official Charts records in the process.

The extraordinary story of Running Up That Hill's renaissance and UK chart history

Also earning a place in the 2022 Top 10, we have Glass Animals' TikTok anthem Heat Waves (7), Lost Frequencies and Calum Scott's slow-burning hit Where Are You Now (8), LF SYSTEM's breakout Number 1 Afraid To Feel (9) and Sam Fender's first UK Top 10 single, Seventeen Going Under (10).

The cast of Encanto score two of the Top 40, with their record-breaking Number 1 smash We Don't Talk About Bruno landing at Number 11, and Surface Pressure finishing at Number 39.

More 2022 chart-toppers to make the year-end list include Starlight by Dave (14), abcdefu by Gayle (17), Unholy by Sam Smith & Kim Petras (31), and Forget Me by Lewis Capaldi (40).

2022's fastest-selling singles

As It Was also lays claim to another title this year - that of 2022's biggest first week for a single in the UK. In its opening seven days, As It Was pushed past 94,000 chart units, more than any other track this year.

As for the fastest-seller in its first week based on pure sales, that honour goes to LadBaby's record-breaking Official Christmas Number 1, Food Aid. The charity track totalled over 59,000 first-week copies, becoming the most-downloaded song of the year in the process too.

Breakout hits

Despite releasing her single Go originally in 2020, it was two years later that Cat Burns experienced the most extraordinary breakout year with the track peaking at Number 2 on the Official Singles Chart, and Cat getting nominated for the BRITs Rising Star Award and placing fourth on the BBC's Sound Of...2023 poll.

Dance music was also back in a big way this year, spearheaded by two rising UK acts who scored their first UK Number 1 singles; LF SYSTEM's Afraid To Feel (9) and Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal's B.O.T.A (Baddest Of Them All) (24) rank as two of the greatest successes of the year.

Other major dance releases include Irish duo Belters Only's Make Me Feel Good ft. Jazzy (12), Where Did You Go by Jax Jons ft. MNEK (16), Australian DJ Luude's hit Down Under with Colin Hay (23), and I'm Good (Blue) by David Guetta & Bebe Rexha (25) which spent a week at Number 1, netting Bebe her first chart-topper in the UK.

MORE: Official Charts' Artists To Watch for 2023

Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022

POS TITLE ARTIST PEAK
1 AS IT WAS HARRY STYLES 1
2 BAD HABITS ED SHEERAN 1
3 PERU FIREBOY DML & ED SHEERAN 2
4 GO CAT BURNS 2
5 SHIVERS ED SHEERAN 1
6 RUNNING UP THAT HILL KATE BUSH 1
7 HEAT WAVES GLASS ANIMALS 5
8 WHERE ARE YOU NOW LOST FREQUENCIES/CALUM SCOTT 3
9 AFRAID TO FEEL LF SYSTEM 1
10 SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER SAM FENDER 3
11 WE DON'T TALK ABOUT BRUNO GAITAN/CASTILLO/ADASSA/FELIZ 1
12 MAKE ME FEEL GOOD BELTERS ONLY FT JAZZY 4
13 COLD HEART ELTON JOHN & DUA LIPA 1
14 STARLIGHT DAVE 1
15 GREEN GREEN GRASS GEORGE EZRA 3
16 WHERE DID YOU GO JAX JONES FT MNEK 7
17 ABCDEFU GAYLE 1
18 BABY AITCH/ASHANTI 2
19 ABOUT DAMN TIME LIZZO 3
20 I AIN'T WORRIED ONEREPUBLIC 3
21 CRAZY WHAT LOVE CAN DO DAVID GUETTA/HILL/HENDERSON 5
22 EASY ON ME ADELE 1
23 DOWN UNDER LUUDE FT COLIN HAY 5
24 B.O.T.A. (BADDEST OF THEM ALL) ELIZA ROSE/INTERPLANETARY 1
25 I'M GOOD (BLUE) DAVID GUETTA & BEBE REXHA 1
26 LAST LAST BURNA BOY 4
27 ANOTHER LOVE TOM ODELL 10
28 FIRST CLASS JACK HARLOW 2
29 MR BRIGHTSIDE KILLERS 10
30 STAY KID LAROI & JUSTIN BIEBER 2
31 UNHOLY SAM SMITH & KIM PETRAS 1
32 LATE NIGHT TALKING HARRY STYLES 2
33 OVERSEAS D-BLOCK EUROPE FT CENTRAL CEE 6
34 BAM BAM CAMILA CABELLO FT ED SHEERAN 7
35 LAST CHRISTMAS WHAM 1
36 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU MARIAH CAREY 1
37 SAVE YOUR TEARS THE WEEKND 2
38 BREAK MY SOUL BEYONCE 2
39 SURFACE PRESSURE JESSICA DARROW 3
40 FORGET ME LEWIS CAPALDI 1

©2023 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
Compiled using physical and digital sales combined with streaming figures.

Official Top 40 most-streamed songs of 2022

POS TITLE ARTIST
1 AS IT WAS HARRY STYLES
2 BAD HABITS ED SHEERAN
3 GO CAT BURNS
4 PERU FIREBOY DML & ED SHEERAN
5 HEAT WAVES GLASS ANIMALS
6 SHIVERS ED SHEERAN
7 WE DON'T TALK ABOUT BRUNO GAITAN/CASTILLO/ADASSA/FELIZ
8 RUNNING UP THAT HILL KATE BUSH
9 WHERE ARE YOU NOW LOST FREQUENCIES/CALUM SCOTT
10 MAKE ME FEEL GOOD BELTERS ONLY FT JAZZY
11 STARLIGHT DAVE
12 AFRAID TO FEEL LF SYSTEM
13 SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER SAM FENDER
14 COLD HEART ELTON JOHN & DUA LIPA
15 EASY ON ME ADELE
16 OVERSEAS D-BLOCK EUROPE FT CENTRAL CEE
17 BABY AITCH/ASHANTI
18 GREEN GREEN GRASS GEORGE EZRA
19 ABCDEFU GAYLE
20 ANOTHER LOVE TOM ODELL
21 LAST LAST BURNA BOY
22 I AIN'T WORRIED ONEREPUBLIC
23 ABOUT DAMN TIME LIZZO
24 WHERE DID YOU GO JAX JONES FT MNEK
25 DOWN UNDER LUUDE FT COLIN HAY
26 STAY KID LAROI & JUSTIN BIEBER
27 CRAZY WHAT LOVE CAN DO DAVID GUETTA/HILL/HENDERSON
28 SURFACE PRESSURE JESSICA DARROW
29 B.O.T.A. (BADDEST OF THEM ALL) ELIZA ROSE/INTERPLANETARY
30 BMW BAD BOY CHILLER CREW
31 MR BRIGHTSIDE KILLERS
32 SAVE YOUR TEARS WEEKND
33 FIRST CLASS JACK HARLOW
34 I'M GOOD (BLUE) DAVID GUETTA & BEBE REXHA
35 LAST CHRISTMAS WHAM
36 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU MARIAH CAREY
37 UNHOLY SAM SMITH & KIM PETRAS
38 BAM BAM CAMILA CABELLO FT ED SHEERAN
39 LATE NIGHT TALKING HARRY STYLES
40 UNDER THE INFLUENCE CHRIS BROWN

©2023 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
Compiled using audio and video streams.

Official Top 40 best-selling songs of 2022

POS TITLE ARTIST
1 AS IT WAS HARRY STYLES
2 FOOD AID LADBABY
3 SPACE MAN SAM RYDER
4 GREEN GREEN GRASS GEORGE EZRA
5 I'M GOOD (BLUE) DAVID GUETTA & BEBE REXHA
6 CHRISTMAS DRILLINGS SIDEMEN
7 RUNNING UP THAT HILL KATE BUSH
8 AFRAID TO FEEL LF SYSTEM
9 WHERE ARE YOU NOW LOST FREQUENCIES/CALUM SCOTT
10 FORGET ME LEWIS CAPALDI
11 F**K THE TORIES K**TS
12 THE JOKER AND THE QUEEN ED SHEERAN
13 CRAZY WHAT LOVE CAN DO DAVID GUETTA/HILL/HENDERSON
14 WHERE DID YOU GO JAX JONES FT MNEK
15 PERU FIREBOY DML & ED SHEERAN
16 ABOUT DAMN TIME LIZZO
17 CELESTIAL ED SHEERAN
18 COLD HEART ELTON JOHN & DUA LIPA
19 ANYONE FOR YOU GEORGE EZRA
20 MAKE ME FEEL GOOD BELTERS ONLY FT JAZZY
21 BAM BAM CAMILA CABELLO FT ED SHEERAN
22 HOLD MY HAND LADY GAGA
23 WE DON'T TALK ABOUT BRUNO GAITAN/CASTILLO/ADASSA/FELIZ
24 BREAK MY SOUL BEYONCE
25 SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER SAM FENDER
26 BAD HABITS ED SHEERAN
27 SHIVERS ED SHEERAN
28 I AIN'T WORRIED ONEREPUBLIC
29 UNHOLY SAM SMITH & KIM PETRAS
30 B.O.T.A. (BADDEST OF THEM ALL) ELIZA ROSE/INTERPLANETARY
31 LATE NIGHT TALKING HARRY STYLES
32 HOLD ME CLOSER ELTON JOHN & BRITNEY SPEARS
33 BIG ENERGY LATTO/MARIAH CAREY/DJ KHALED
34 ALL FOR YOU CIAN DUCROT
35 ABCDEFU GAYLE
36 UNSTOPPABLE SIA
37 NOT OVER YET KSI FT TOM GRENNAN
38 DOWN UNDER LUUDE FT COLIN HAY
39 GO CAT BURNS
40 KISS ME DERMOT KENNEDY

©2023 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved. 
Compiled using physical and digital download sales only.

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2023 so far

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2023 so far

 

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Sidney Kitty

0

How was BLACKPINK's Shut Down or Pink Venom not apart?

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Ger Forde

0

Any chance OCC of revealing the year-end charts for Ireland?!

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Rob Parkinson

1

Great to see One Republic getting in top 20, all the songs that went No.1 above it, all finished lower - BOTA, I'm good, unholy and the no.2s. Obviously this can be said for a few singles especially all those fighting when Harry was No.1, have to feel for belters only here who have way outsold many No.1s too but was such fierce competition at the top of the charts at the time it's good to see what songs we're performing over all and not just for a week or 2 before flying out

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Brett

2

The right song is no1. The popularity of Mr Brightside is unreal. Good to see Tom Odell in there but a shame most people liking Another love don't listen to the rest of his catalogue! Love the quirk that both songs with such longevity peaked at no 10 back when we had a real chart.

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Piran

4

'Food Aid', 'Christmas Drillings' & 'F**k The Tories' being as high as they are on the sales list just shows how dead downloads are outside of Christmas! 😭

Glad to see 'Afraid To Feel' & especially 'Seventeen Going Under' sneaking in the Top 10 of the overall chart though. :)

H

HazDaSprinter

1

I'm not actually angry at this chart. Just 1 thing: WHY ISNT DOJA by CENTRAL CEE HERE???

C

Conor

2

its in the mid 70s region, don't know the exact number. it is in the top 100 though

NN

Nu No

1

Taylor Swift is not on ANY of these TOP 40 Song Charts of 2022?
Not on Official TOP 40 and not even Streaming only or Pure Sales Chart?

This means that basically her huge album sales come mostly from a group of a few thousands fans that had most of them buying most of the 29 different versions of the album and streaming most of the songs there non-stop since it was out.

Congrats to Ed Sheeran! The #01 song of 2021 was still #02 in 2022 and he end up having 3 songs inside the Year End TOP 5 and 4 inside the TOP 40! He also had 6 songs among the Year End Pure Sales TOP 40 which is VERY IMPRESSIVE!

G

George

0

You're forgetting that Taylor Swift's album and singles came out in late October, they never had much chance on catching up to the Top 100 for the rest of the year which had most of the year to collect sales compared to Swift who only had 9-10 weeks to do so, it's not really a fair comparison.

J

JK

0

That wasn't a problem for Adele last year, so what Nu No said is totally true, a rabid small but loud fan base is disturbing the market buying the 29 versiones of the same songs and albums of TS, she manipulates so easily her minions