11 November 2023: The Beatles at #1 in the UK singles chart with their final release “Now and Then”.
The last time they were #1 here was in 1969, over 54 years ago, with “The Ballad of John and Yoko”. In the UK, until now, the Beatles had all of their chart-toppers in the 1960s. In other countries the band topped the charts well into the 1970s. “Let it Be” and a double A-side of “The Long and Winding Road” / “For You Blue” were both #1 in the USA in 1970. “Got to Get You Into My Life” was a Canadian #1 in 1976.
Looking back through other #1s on this date I can see that the Beatles were never top of the charts on 11 November before. It’s not much of a surprise. Most years their singles were released in time for Christmas, and the band had the Christmas #1 in four of the five years between 1963 and 1967. The run was interrupted by Tom Jones in 1966, with “Green, Green Grass of Home”. The only Beatles single to reach #1 any time in November during the 1960s was “She Loves You”, returning to the top for two weeks at the end of November 1963, before the five weeks that “I Want to Hold Your Hand” spent there.
Only two Beatles singles were released during November in the 1960s: “Love Me Do” in 1962 (peak position #17) and “Something” / “Come Together”. The latter was in the charts on 11 November 1969 but only reached a high of #4.
By contrast, Westlife were #1 on 11 November in four different years: “My Love” (2000), “Queen of My Heart” (2001), “Unbreakable” (2002) and “You Raise Me Up” (2005). In recent years the charts on this date have been dominated by female acts: Ariana Grande (“Thank U Next” in 2018, “Positions” in 2020), Tones & I (“Dance Monkey” in 2019), Adele (“Easy On Me, 2021) and Taylor Swift (“Anti-Hero”, 2022).
If you want to find any other patterns in #1s on this date here, for the first time on this Blog, is a list of all of them, going back to 1953. The dates are taken from the dates given in this list on the Official Chart Company website. Other date engines might give different results.
| Date | #1 Act | #1 Song |
| 1953 | David Whitfield | Answer Me |
| 1954 | Vera Lynn | My Son My Son |
| 1955 | Johnston Brothers | Hernando’s Hideaway |
| 1956 | Frankie Laine | A Woman In Love |
| 1957 | The Crickets | That’ll Be The Day |
| 1958 | Tommy Edwards | It’s All In The Game |
| 1959 | Cliff Richard & The Shadows | Travellin’ Light |
| 1960 | Elvis Presley | It’s Now Or Never |
| 1961 | Elvis Presley | Little Sister / His Latest Flame |
| 1962 | Frank Ifield | Lovesick Blues |
| 1963 | Gerry & The Pacemakers | You’ll Never Walk Alone |
| 1964 | Sandie Shaw | (There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me |
| 1965 | The Rolling Stones | Get Off My Cloud |
| 1966 | The Four Tops | Reach Out I’ll Be There |
| 1967 | The Foundations | Baby Now That I’ve Found You |
| 1968 | Joe Cocker | With A Little Help From My Friends |
| 1969 | The Archies | Sugar Sugar |
| 1970 | Matthews’ Southern Comfort | Woodstock |
| 1971 | Slade | Cos I Luv You |
| 1972 | Gilbert O’Sullivan | Clair |
| 1973 | Gary Glitter | I Love You Love Me Love |
| 1974 | David Essex | Gonna Make You A Star |
| 1975 | David Bowie | Space Oddity |
| 1976 | Chicago | If You Leave Me Now |
| 1977 | Abba | Name Of The Game |
| 1978 | John Travolta & Olivia Newton John | Summer Nights |
| 1979 | Dr Hook | When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman |
| 1980 | Blondie | The Tide Is High |
| 1981 | The Police | Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic |
| 1982 | Eddy Grant | I Don’t Wanna Dance |
| 1983 | Billy Joel | Uptown Girl |
| 1984 | Chaka Khan | I Feel For You |
| 1985 | Feargal Sharkey | A Good Heart |
| 1986 | Berlin | Take My Breath Away |
| 1987 | T’Pau | China In Your Hand |
| 1988 | Enya | Orinoco Flow |
| 1989 | Lisa Stansfield | All Around The World |
| 1990 | The Righteous Brothers | Unchained Melody |
| 1991 | Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff | Dizzy |
| 1992 | Boyz II Men | End Of The Road |
| 1993 | Meat Loaf | I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) |
| 1994 | Pato Banton | Baby Come Back |
| 1995 | Robson & Jerome | I Believe / Up On The Roof |
| 1996 | Robson & Jerome | What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted / Saturday Night At The Movies / You’ll Never Walk Alone |
| 1997 | Aqua | Barbie Girl |
| 1998 | Cher | Believe |
| 1999 | Geri Halliwell | Lift Me Up |
| 2000 | Westlife | My Love |
| 2001 | Westlife | Queen Of My Heart |
| 2002 | Westlife | Unbreakable |
| 2003 | Kylie Minogue | Slow |
| 2004 | Eminem | Just Lose It |
| 2005 | Westlife | You Raise Me Up |
| 2006 | Fedde Le Grande | Put Your Hands Up For Detroit |
| 2007 | Leona Lewis | Bleeding Love |
| 2008 | X Factor Finalists | Hero |
| 2009 | JLS | Everybody In Love |
| 2010 | Rihanna | Only Girl (In The World) |
| 2011 | Professor Green ft Emeli Sande | Read All About It |
| 2012 | Robbie Williams | Candy |
| 2013 | Storm Queen | Look Right Through |
| 2014 | Cheryl | I Don’t Care |
| 2015 | Adele | Hello |
| 2016 | Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie | Rockabye |
| 2017 | Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug | Havana |
| 2018 | Ariana Grande | Thank U Next |
| 2019 | Tones & I | Dance Monkey |
| 2020 | Ariana Grande | Positions |
| 2021 | Adele | Easy On Me |
| 2022 | Taylor Swift | Anti-Hero |
| 2023 | Beatles | Now and Then |
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The Compartments 