The current UK #1 is “Too Sweet” by Hozier, his first UK chart-topper. This is the 10th example of the word “Sweet” appearing in either the title or the name of the act at #1. I could offer this as a challenge: how many others can you name? Usually when I do this I leave a gap between the challenge and the answers but I’ll just crack on and name them after the next paragraph.
The new singles chart will be announced just over two hours after this post is published. Hozier might have another week or more at #1 but I want to post this now in case he drops down the chart. 40 years ago most of us who followed the UK charts would have had an idea of how likely a song was to remain at #1 or to be replaced. Not these days, in my case at least.
There is a full list of the #1s containing the word “Sweet” at the end of this piece. In the case of “Sad Sweet Dreamer” (Sweet Sensation, 1974) the word appeared in both the title and the name of the act, the only time that this has happened. The only other act to feature the word was The Sweet, who had their only chart-topper in 1973 (“Blockbuster”).
The word “Sweetest” appears in brackets in the title of Jackie Wilson’s only UK #1 (“Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town”, 1986). It is not included in the following list. Nor is the 1953 #1 “I’m Walking Behind You” which is credited to Eddie Fisher with Sally Sweetland.
“My Sweet Lord”, the best-selling record of 1971, returned to the top in early 2002 but has only been included once in this list.
| Year | Title | Artist |
| 1963 | Sweets For My Sweet | The Searchers |
| 1971 | My Sweet Lord | George Harrison |
| 1973 | Blockbuster | The Sweet |
| 1974 | Sad Sweet Dreamer | Sweet Sensation |
| 1999 | Sweet Like Chocolate | Shanks & Bigfoot |
| 2012 | Sweet Nothing | Calvin Harris/Florence Welch |
| 2019 | Sweet But Psycho | Ava Max |
| 2021 | Sweet Melody | Little Mix |
| 2024 | Too Sweet | Hozier |
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