With his new song, As It Was, Harry Styles has dethroned Dave from the top spot, ending his four-week reign.
According to the Official Charts Company, the star’s breezy, effervescent pop single had the highest opening week of the year thus far, with 94,000 chart sales.
Over the previous week, it has been streamed 10.5 million times.
In addition to the four number ones he earned as a member of One Direction, this is Styles’ second solo number one.
It’s the first single from the singer’s forthcoming third album, Harry’s House, which will be released on May 20.
While a website for the album suggests it will reflect on themes of isolation, domesticity, and belonging, with daily messages like “Whisper to your houseplants / Sing to your neighbors” and “Every place you’ve ever been will never stay the same and neither will you,” the title is a nod to the Joni Mitchell song of the same name.
He said, “It gives you almost like a birds-eye perspective of the world and your life.”
Harry’s House is the follow-up to the Grammy Award-winning Fine Line, which established Styles as a legitimate solo artist after a string of failed beginnings.
In the summers of 2020 and 2021, the song Watermelon Sugar was a worldwide smash, selling 1.2 million copies in the UK alone.
As It Became, the star’s first number one song since his breakthrough single, Sign Of The Times, five years ago, has benefited from riding the crest of that wave.
As a consequence, Dave’s Starlight drops to second place, with Aitch and Ashanti’s Baby coming in third.
Camila Cabello’s Bam Bam, which deals with her breakup with Shawn Mendes, is at number 10 and is projected to climb higher next week owing to the arrival of her third album, Familia.
When You’re Gone, Mendes’ personal reflection on the end of a romance, hits the Top 40 at number 32.
Unlimited Love is Red Hot Chili Peppers’ sixth number one album on the album chart.
After only one week, the band’s first album with guitarist John Frusciante since 2009 dethrones Michael Buble’s Higher.
Following her Grammy triumph this week, Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour advances five spots to number three, while The Wanted’s greatest hits collection re-enters the list at number 22 following singer Tom Parker’s terrible death from brain cancer.
