You Can't 'Rein Them In'

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean have made UK chart history. Their duet, ‘Rein Me In’, has become the longest-running UK Number One single of all time after spending a record-breaking 19 non-consecutive weeks at the summit. 

The record had previously belonged to Frankie Laine’s ‘I Believe’, which accumulated 18 weeks at Number One across three separate runs in 1953. It was a remarkable achievement that remained untouched for 73 years. At the time, the UK Singles Chart had existed for less than a year and contained only 12 songs.

Several enormous hits came close to surpassing Laine in the decades that followed. Bryan Adams’s ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It for You’ spent 16 consecutive weeks at Number One in 1991, while Wet Wet Wet’s ‘Love Is All Around’ remained there for 15 weeks in 1994. Both were sweeping power ballads propelled by major film placements, and both inspired as much exasperation as celebration as their reigns continued. More recently, Drake’s ‘One Dance’ spent 15 weeks at Number One in 2016, while Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ managed 14 weeks the following year.

Released more than a year ago, ‘Rein Me In’ took 35 weeks to reach Number One after first entering the UK chart. It finally climbed to the summit in early 2026, giving Fender the first chart-topping single of his career.
Its journey has been anything but conventional. ‘Rein Me In’ is the only song in UK chart history to return to Number One four times during the same chart run. It has also spent 58 consecutive weeks inside the UK Top 40.

Of those 58 weeks, 31 have been spent consecutively inside the Top 10, giving ‘Rein Me In’ the longest uninterrupted Top 10 run since the chart began. Its reign at the summit has been broken by brief spells from Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, but Fender and Dean have repeatedly fought their way back.

“This is a historic achievement,” said Ben Mortimer, President of Polydor Label Group. “The accolades have continued to grow throughout this incredible journey, but to surpass a benchmark set by the great Frankie Laine more than 70 years ago is almost unimaginable. Seeing Sam and Olivia, two homegrown stars, break the record is something we’re so proud of.”

Jo Charrington, President of Capitol UK, added: “There is something completely undeniable about Sam and Olivia together on this record. They created a song that people have continued to return to week after week. To see that connection translate into the longest Number One run in the history of the UK chart is a landmark achievement.”

On hearing the news, Fender admitted that he was “completely lost for words”, adding: “Thank you so much to Olivia Dean and the fans for making this song the juggernaut that it is.”

The extraordinary success of ‘Rein Me In’ reinforces the enduring power of British guitar music, traditional songwriting and genuinely distinctive voices. It does not possess the theatrical, blockbuster scale of something like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, yet it has a chorus that feels instantly familiar and was built to be sung back by thousands of people.

Whether it ranks alongside Fender’s finest songs, such as ‘Seventeen Going Under’ or ‘Hypersonic Missiles’, is open to debate. ‘Rein Me In’ is far more understated, constructed around acoustic, country-influenced guitar, gentle piano and the natural chemistry between its two singers. In that respect, it has something in common with ‘Wonderwall’. Neither song overwhelms the listener with complexity. Instead, each turns a simple progression, a memorable chorus and a relatable emotional sentiment into something capable of connecting with an enormous audience.

The record also captures two artists at defining points in their careers. When the duet was released in the summer of 2025, Fender was effectively introducing Dean to the vast stadium audiences he had spent years building. She was already acclaimed and successful, but she had not yet reached the commercial level that would soon follow.

The release of ‘The Art of Loving’, supported by a succession of enormously successful singles, transformed that position. ‘Man I Need’ surpassed one billion streams, while Dean’s warmth, personality and unmistakable voice carried her into the centre of British popular culture. What initially appeared to be an established stadium artist giving a rising singer greater exposure gradually became a meeting between two of the country’s defining stars.

That evolution helps explain the remarkable staying power of ‘Rein Me In’. It has benefited from Fender and Dean dominating British music simultaneously, but its success cannot be reduced to their individual fame. Listeners have continued to return because the collaboration feels natural. Their voices complement one another, the arrangement leaves room for the emotion to breathe, and the chorus possesses the kind of simplicity that becomes more powerful through repetition.

‘Rein Me In’ may not be the loudest, most ambitious or even the greatest song either artist has recorded. It has, however, become the song that defined their shared moment. In doing so, Fender and Dean have achieved something that every major British artist of the past 73 years failed to accomplish. They have finally brought Frankie Laine’s seemingly untouchable reign to an end.