Well, we are now at week 42 on the 2026 calendar and it’s fair to say the UK Singles Chart has been quite unique this year. I have been updating my followers whenever there has been a change at the top, a new No. 1, but for 23 of those 42 weeks it remained the same – Sam & Olivia’s version of Rein Me In. Having just reviewed the complete list of No. 1s, something else jumps out – there were only four weeks when a male solo artist topped the chart (and one of those artists was Djo/Joe Keery whose role in the final season of Stranger Things probably helped propel his song to the No. 1 spot back in January). Dave’s song Raindance was given a hefty leg up by featuring the beautiful vocals of Tems and once Sam Fender recorded Rein Me In with Olivia Dean (who swept the board at the Brits this year) they were on course for their record-breaking run. No bands at all so far this year at No. 1 and 38 of the 42 weeks featured a woman. Is this a record I wonder or is it just that the fashion in music is leaning towards female solo artists at the moment?
The boys and girls of 2026 so far – lots of female faces there!
The Artists and Their Songs
Raye – Where Is My Husband (1 week)
Djo – End Of Beginning (2 weeks)
Dave/Tems – Raindance (2 weeks)
Harry Styles – Aperture (1 week)
Taylor Swift – Opalite (1 week)
Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – Rein Me In (23 weeks)
Harry Styles – American Girls (1 week)
Olivia Rodrigo – Drop Dead (1 week)
Ariana Grande – Hate That I Made You love Me (1 week)
Taylor Swift – I Knew It, I Knew You (2 weeks)
Ella Langley – Choosin’ Texas (1 week)
Sienna Spiro – Great Expectation (3 weeks)
Taylor Swift – Patient Zero (3 weeks)
It’s now 30 years since the Spice Girls leapt to fame and it seems “Girl Power” (not that it was ever an actual movement!) is back. Another nod to Girl Power came in the form of a musical I went to see last week at our local theatre. SIX is a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII, presented in the form of a singing competition and pop concert. Last time it came to town my friend and I missed out on tickets but this time we were lucky, albeit our seats were in the 2nd Circle.
If like me you love the whole history of the Tudor period (I’m a great fan of Philippa Gregory’s historical novels), you will already know the wives’ stories but in this very colourful show, they vie with each other to determine who suffered the most at the hands of their shared husband. It was very much updated for the modern age with the artist Holbein’s portrait of Anne of Cleves going onto a dating app that presented a choice of potential brides. Henry chose Anne as we know, but soon rejected her and annulled the marriage, claiming she failed to resemble her “profile picture”. Fortunately the wives ultimately realise they are only known because of their connection to Henry, so by forming the band SIX, they reclaim their individual identities and rewrite their stories. The show started life at the Edinburgh Festival but it has now wowed audiences in the West End and on Broadway. I am really lucky to have a great theatre that hosts these kind of shows only 10 minutes from my home.
We were allowed to film footage during the last five minutes of the show – honest!
So, “What’s It All About?” – Every decade has music, that looking back, was very much of its time. Popular music in the ’90s was awash with boy bands and girl bands, some of them more successful than others and if you were in your early teens back then you will really enjoy looking back at those days. There is a series on BBC Sounds at the moment documenting the career of the 5 Spices. Of course the ’90s was also the era of Britpop and Oasis shocked everyone last year by reuniting and touring (topping up the pension funds), but that was more for the blokes I think. At this point in the 2020s, it seems we are awash with female and male solo artists, but no doubt after a while that will change as the public move on to something else.
As for Girl Power, at age 30 DD has had a very different life to the one I lived up to then, mainly in her relationships with others I think. I love how she always had as many boy “friends” as girl friends which I didn’t have (we were all very awkward with the opposite sex as teens), and she has way more emotional intelligence than I had at the same age. Opportunities for her have been very equal to those for men which was still not the case for me back in the day. Did this have anything to do with the Spice Girls and their Girl Power I wonder? Probably not, but fun to look back.
I will leave you with the current No. 1, Patient Zero by Taylor Swift. This is her third of 2026 so despite having time off to plan a wedding, she still seems to be able to rattle off top tunes. The song uses medical metaphors to recount an emotionally abusive relationship and the narrator is consoling someone experiencing the same issues, at the hands of the same man (Taylor must have an awfully good lawyer). The verses consist of Taylor’s conversational lead vocals with pointed inflections and “uh-huh” responses.
Until next time…
Patient Zero Lyrics
(Song by Taylor Swift/Max Martin/Shellback)
If you wanna party with somebody who might know
About the devil on his shoulder under his halo
When the toxins take their hold, you’d rather die than let it go
But if you’re sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero
I’ve gotta be honest, I’ve been expecting your call
No, it’s not a bad time at all
I heard somebody saying there’s trouble in paradise
And my lips are sealed tight now
It’s not for me to tell
Someone else what to do
But if you wanna party with somebody who might know
About the devil on his shoulder under his halo
When the toxins take their hold, you’d rather die than let it go
But if you’re sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero
I bet he burst into your life like fireworks
I bet he even said “I love you” first
And when you saw another woman coming out of his place
I bet he kissed the rain off your face
Now he seems bored by you
And you don’t know what to do
But if you wanna party with somebody who might know
About the devil on his shoulder under his halo
When the toxins take their hold, you’d rather die than let it go
But if you’re sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero (I was patient)
I was patient zero
So let’s get into it
I know he charmed your family and friends
And you thought it’s ’cause he loves you
But it’s ’cause he loves how everybody else loves him (Uh-huh)
I know it seems like he shines so bright
But he’s bathing in your reflected light
On a free solo social climb (Uh-huh)
Take it from somebody who lost his games but won the race
Take it from someone who said all of this to his face
Someone who knows she’s more than just the chase
Someone who had him and walked away
And so
If you wanna party with somebody who might know
About the devil on his shoulder under his halo
When the toxins take their hold, you’d rather die than let it go
But if you’re sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero
So if you wanna kick it, then I’m with it, I’ve been there
Felt the reeling, done the healing, said the curses and prayers
When the fever turns a dreamer into a pathetic ghost
If he’s killing you, I see you
I was patient zero, oh
