Alex Warren’s Rise to Fame
The US singer Alex Warren has made history with his hit song "Ordinary", which has spent 12 weeks at number one in Great Britain. This achievement marks the longest chart reign since Ed Sheeran’s "Shape of You" in 2017. According to the Official Charts Company, Warren wrote the song for his wife after their wedding last year.
Breaking Records
"Ordinary" has broken the 70-year-old record for most consecutive weeks at number one by a US artist, surpassing Slim Whitman’s "Rose Marie", which spent 11 weeks at the top in 1955. The song shows no signs of slowing down, remaining the biggest song on Spotify in Great Britain with 33% more streams than its next rival.
The Longest Running Number Ones in History
The longest running number one in history is still held by Frankie Laine’s "I Believe", which spent 18 weeks at the top in 1953. Other notable long-running number ones include:
- Bryan Adams’ "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" – 16 weeks, 1991
- Wet Wet Wet’s "Love Is All Around" – 15 weeks, 1994
- Drake’s "One Dance" – 15 weeks, 2016
- Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody" – 14 weeks, 1975/6 and 1991/2
- Ed Sheeran’s "Shape of You" – 14 weeks, 2017
- Alex Warren’s "Ordinary" – 12 weeks, 2025
From TikTok to Chart-Topping Success
Warren found fame as one of the founders of the Hype House, a TikTok collective that lived together in Los Angeles during the pandemic. He reached the top 10 with "Carry You Home" last year, and his career as a heartthrob folk-pop singer-songwriter exploded with "Ordinary", which is currently number one in the USA.
A Crossover Hit
"It’s enormous," said James Masterton, who writes the Chart Watch UK blog. "It’s a crossover hit single in a good old-fashioned sense, and in a way that we haven’t seen for some time." "Ordinary" has become a popular wedding song, and Warren’s label has even released a wedding version.
The Changing Music Landscape
Despite its massive success, "Ordinary" is not an ubiquitous phenomenon like Bryan Adams’ and Wet Wet Wet’s hits, which topped the charts every week on the BBC Chart Show. "The fragmentation of the media means the ability to draw attention to large groups of people is not what it used to be," said Masterton.
The Longest Running Number Ones of the 2020s
The longest running number ones of the 2020s include:
- Alex Warren’s "Ordinary" – 12 weeks, 2025
- Ed Sheeran’s "Bad Habits" – 11 weeks, 2021
- Harry Styles’ "As It Was" – 10 weeks, 2022
- Miley Cyrus’ "Flowers" – 10 weeks, 2023
- Dave & Central Cee’s "Sprinter" – 10 weeks, 2023
Chart Rules and Success
"Ordinary" is the longest running number one since the chart rules were changed in 2017 to prevent the top 40 from being blocked by songs that have culminated their popularity. The chart formula automatically demotes songs that have had three consecutive weeks with falling streaming numbers compared to the rest of the market. However, "Ordinary" has managed to hold up so far.
