The current UK #1 is “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé. It is coming to the end of its fourth week at the top. In an hour or two we’ll know if it has made it to a fifth week. Its predecessor, “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan, spent 7 weeks at #1, the first new chart-topper or 2024. It took over from “Last Christmas” by Wham!

“Texas Hold ‘Em” is Beyoncé’s first UK #1 since “Telephone” in 2010, which was credited to Lady Gaga & Beyoncé. It is the third or possibly fourth UK #1 to feature the name of a US State in its title. “Massachusetts” (The Bee Gees, 1968) and “California Gurls” (Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, 2010) both refer to US States. ”Mississippi” (Pussycat, 1976) refers specifically to the river (“Where the Mississippi rolls down to the sea…”) but Mississippi is also a state, so maybe it should be included as well. A quick search shows that it became the 20th US state on 10 December 1817.

This Trivia piece from 2019 (“… UK #1s that feature places”) lists other place names that appear in the titles of UK #1 songs. There was mention of Carolina (“Carolina Moon”, Connie Francis, 1958) but that doesn’t refer specifically to North or South Carolina. I didn’t include “Dakota” (Stereophonics, 2005) in that list because the song doesn’t appear to relate to North Dakota or South Dakota. It implies a girl’s name, but the word “Dakota” does not appear in the lyrics.

This makes it a candidate for other Trivia lists elsewhere on this Blog, “UK #1 hit singles containing girls’ names” (2016) and “UK #1 hit singles: the title is not in the song” (2017). I see that the latter piece was updated to include “Head & Heart” (Joel Corry featuring MNEK, 2020). I will have to update it again to include the two most recent #1s. The phrases “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “Stick Season” do not feature in the lyrics of these songs. It’s the first time that two chart-toppers in a row have titles that do not appear anywhere in the lyrics of the songs themselves.