The Voice UK is back! But which judge wins the battle of the charts?

Their task is to spot and nurture talent, and with decades of pop experience between them, they should know what they’re doing! But when it comes to their own chart stories, who’s got the most to shout about?

We went poking in the archives to see how our fearsome four shape up for a veritable chart fact fest! Who’s the greatest of them all? That’s for you to decide. But if you need a few facts at hand to help you along, you’re in the right place…

will.i.am

Kicking things off, it’s the reigning champ! Will won last year's series with Jermain Jackman – and he certainly won't be eager to hand over his crown. Will’s chart story spans 13 years, starting off with the Black Eyed Peas’ first Top 40 hit Request & Line, which peaked at Number 31 in 2001. It would take another couple of years before they’d hit Number 1 for the first time, with Where Is The Love.

Flying solo, he had his first feature on Pussycat Dolls’ brilliant 2006 Number 2 hit Beep. His first Top 40 hit as a lead artist came a year later, when I Got It From My Mama peaked at Number 38. His first Top 10 hit as a lead artist came in 2008, when Heartbreaker FT Cheryl Cole hit Number 4. And then there was Number 1 after Number 1…

CHART SPAN: 13 years (First chart hit 2001, most recent in 2014)
NUMBER 1 HITS: Ten! With the Black Eyed Peas, he has five: Where Is The Love (2003), Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling, Meet Me Halfway (all 2009) and The Time (Dirty Bit) from 2010. Solo he’s scored five too. Two as a featured artist, on Usher’s OMG (2010) and Script’s Hall Of Fame (2012) and three as the main man: This Is Love FT Eva Simons, Scream & Shout FT Britney Spears (both 2012) and It's My Birthday FT Cody Wise in summer 2014.
MILLION-SELLERS: I Gotta Feeling has sold over 1.3 million copies.
CHART STATS: Ten Number 1s, 26 Top 10s (13 with Black Eyed Peas; 13 solo) and 38 Top 40 hits (17 with the Peas and 21 solo).
CHART FACT: In 2009, Black Eyed Peas had three consecutive Number 1s in five months.

Ricky Wilson

Yorkshire lad Ricky Wilson is back for a second series, and gunning for victory after his finalist last year Christina Marie lost out. It’s 10 years since Kaiser Chiefs’ debut Top 40 hit I Predict A Riot reached Number 22 – the following year it would be reissued with Sink A Ship and give them a third Top 10!

Their first Top 10 was Oh My God, and other tracks like Everyday I Love You Less And Less and Never Miss A Beat also made it. After an absence of six years from the Official Singles Chart, they returned to the Top 40 with Coming Home, from Number 1 album Education, Education, Education & War.

CHART SPAN: Ten years. First hit was late 2004 and most recent was just last year.
NUMBER 1 HITS: One, Ruby in 2007.
MILLION-SELLERS: None so far…
CHART STATS: Including rereleases, one chart-topper, five Top 10s and eleven Top 40 hits.
CHART FACT: The Kaiser Chiefs’ debut album Employment has sold over 2 million copies.

Tom Jones

The world legend might be a tad overused these days, but if anyone deserves that accolade, it's Sir Tom. From his very first Number 1 It’s Not Unusual in 1965, the voice from the valleys has enjoyed a varied career, with varying degrees of success and an enviable fearlessness when it comes to trying out new sounds and collaborations.

A CPF of King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley back in the '60s, what Tom doesn't know about the music biz probably isn't worth knowing. His longest run of consecutive Top 10s is seven – from Green Green Grass Of Home in 1966 to Help Yourself in 1968.

CHART SPAN: 44 years (First hit 1965, most recent chart entry was in 2009)
NUMBER 1 HITS: Three. It’s Not Unusual (1965), Green Green Grass Of Home (1966) and 23 years later, Islands In The Stream with ‘Vanessa Jenkins’, ‘Bryn West’ and Robin Gibb for Comic Relief in 2009.
MILLION-SELLERS: The Green, Green Grass Of Home has sold over 1.2 million copies.
CHART STATS: Three Number 1s, 20 Top 10s and 37 Top 40 entries, including reissues.
CHART FACT: Tom’s been in and out of the Official Singles Chart over the years. His longest absence was 10 years – his next hit after 1977’s Number 40 Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow was 1987’s Boy From Nowhere, which reached Number 2.

Rita Ora

It wouldn't be a new series of The Voice without a new recruit, and with Kylie having to vacate her chair thanks to other commitments, who else could fill that big comfy seat but Rita Ora? She's not been around too long but she has certainly packed plenty in. Rita scored three consecutive Number 1s with her first three singles, with her DJ Fresh collaboration Hot Right Now kicking things off in 2012.

She's already got herself an enviable international profile and has worked with some of pop's brightest stars, including Iggy Azalea, Tinie Tempah and, of course, former paramour Calvin Harris. She may be a newbie, but Rita's got plenty of pop pals – her contacts list is a pretty star-studded affair. Her next single is a collabo with Charli XCX called Doing It – it's out 8 February.

CHART SPAN: Two and a half years – but they've been hit-packed
NUMBER 1 HITS: Four. Hot Right Now, RIP FT Tinie Tempah, How We Do (Party) (all 2012), I Will Never Let You Down (2014)
MILLION-SELLERS: Not yet. Biggest seller Hot Right Now is halfway there.
CHART STATS: Four Number 1s, six Top 10s, eight Top 40 hits.
CHART FACT: In 2014, Rita briefly matched the record for the most Number 1 singles by a UK female artist with Geri Halliwell (four). Cheryl Fernandez-Versini matched this before smashing it with I Don't Care, which took her to five. There's still time for our Rita yet, though…

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