The Official Songs of the Summer 2010

2010: the year the iPad was born, England turned out another consistent World Cup performance, and Matt Cardle went from unknown handyman to Rihanna collaborator and Christmas Number 1 holder.

The summer of 2010 may have been a wash-out for the most part, but that didn't stop a flurry of summery bangers taking over the Official Singles Chart. That said, the mood of the nation may have been reflected in the song's top selling single of the season: Love The Way You Lie by Eminem and Rihanna. 

There was little that could stand in the way of the fiery hip-hop ballad becoming a huge hit: a collaboration between the leaders in rap and pop was always going to have trouble not finding some level chart success. Eminem was making what was heralded as a return to form on his Recovery album, while Rihanna had recently wrapped up her hugely successful Good Girl Gone Bad era and was on the cusp of kicking off her Loud album campaign (the red hair making its debut here). 

Co-written by Eminem with US singer-songwriter Skylar Grey (who would go on to be a regular collaborator) and Alex Da Kid, Eminem asked Rihanna to join him on the song as both had experienced high profile difficult past relationships.

While its success was somewhat expected, few could have predicted it would become Eminem's second biggest song - and one of the best-sellers of all time. Despite being the biggest song of the summer, it didn't actually hit Number 1, spending four non-consecutive weeks in second place; but it did go on to be the UK's Official best-selling song of the year.

The UK's second biggest song of summer 2010 was Katy Perry's Calirfornia Gurls. The sun-soaked ode to the West Coast featuring Snoop Dogg - apparently a response to Jay-Z's love letter to New York, Empire State Of Mind - spent two weeks at Number 1 in July, shifting 217,000 copies in that time, and 584,000 during the summer period (between the first week of June and the last of August).

In third, another rap-pop ballad dominated the charts and airwaves that summer: Airplanes by B.o.B and Paramore's Hayley Williams scaled the Top 40 throughout June and hit Number 1 at the end of July.

That summer also saw an unexpected hit from Australian band Yolanda Be Cool and producer DCUP. We No Speak Americano reached Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart in July and spent the entire summer in the Top 10, finishing as the season's fourth biggest song. Rouding out the Top 5 is Somali-Canadian rapper and singer K'naan with Wavin' Flag; the uplifting reggae fusion singalong was Coca-Cola's 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem and spent two weeks at Number 2. 

Other notable hits in the summer of 2010 include Flo Rida and David Guetta's chart-topping Club Can't Handle Me; the breakout hit for Eliza Doolittle with folk-pop-jazz number Pack Up; Lady Gaga's Alejandro reached the Top 10; and Kylie Minogue scored a Top 5 hit with All The Lovers.

The Official Top 40 Songs of the Summer 2010

Listen to this Top 40 as a playlist on: Spotify | Deezer | Apple Music

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