The Killers’ Mr Brightside overtakes Wonderwall to claim chart milestone

Virgin Radio

9 May 2024, 08:40

It started out with a kiss, and it's gone on to break records. 

Mr Brightside by The Killers was released 20 years ago this month (yes, we agree, it seems impossible that it came out so long ago) and has this week claimed a new milestone.

The indie anthem, that we have all yelled along to on more than one night out, has become the UK’s official biggest single of all time yet to reach Number One.

Whilst the song from the Las Vegas band only peaked at Number 10 upon its release, it has gone on to become the longest-running Top 100 hit in Official Chart history. But it has never made it to the top of the charts. Indeed, Number 10 remains its highest placing.

Based on the latest combined UK sales and streams of 5.57 million (which breaks down as 1.066m sales and 530,340,000 streams), the song is the third biggest song of all time in the UK when sales and streams are combined. And it has now been confirmed by the Official Charts to have overtaken Oasis’s Wonderwall in becoming the UK’s most successful song of all time yet to reach Number One.

Mr Brightside first landed in 2003 and was then re-released in 2004. Although it dropped out of the charts a few weeks later, it did re-enter and has now spent 408 weeks (and counting) in the Official Singles Chart Top 100.

As well as being the biggest song of all time not to reach Number 1 in the UK (sales and streams) and the third biggest song of all time in the UK, it is also the fifth most-streamed song of all time in the UK and the 143rd best-selling single of all time in the UK.

The official Top 10 biggest songs of all time never to reach Number 1 in the UK also includes All Of Me by John Legend, Hozier’s Take Me To Church and Christmas classic Fairytale Of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty Maccoll.

Also in the top ten of are Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran, Vance Joy’s Riptide, Pompeii by Bastille, Let Her Go by Passenger, and Budapest by George Ezra.