List of UK Singles Downloads Chart number ones of the 2000s

Colour photograph of Rihanna performing live in 2008.
Barbadian singer Rihanna featured on five different number-one singles during the 2000s, more than any other artist.

The UK Singles Downloads Chart is a weekly music chart that ranks the most-downloaded singles in the United Kingdom. During the 2000s, the chart was compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British music industry, and was based solely on non-subscription music downloads from selected online music stores.[1][2] It was compiled using weekly sales from Sunday to Saturday, and was published each Wednesday afternoon, so as not to clash with the Sunday evening announcement of the UK Singles Chart.[2]

The chart was founded in September 2004 as the UK Official Download Chart, with the first single to top the chart being a live version of "Flying Without Wings" by Irish boy band Westlife.[3] By the end of the decade, 109 further singles had topped the chart. The most downloaded single of the 2000s was "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga.[4] Released in 2009, the song was downloaded 779,000 times, and topped the chart for three weeks. "Just Dance", also by Gaga, and "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon were the third and second highest selling downloads of the decade respectively.[4] The single that spent the longest time at number one was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, which spent 11 weeks at the top and became the UK's 18th best-selling download of the 2000s.[2][4]

The most successful artist of the decade was Barbadian singer Rihanna, who featured on five different number-one singles for a total of 13 weeks. The most successful record label was Universal Music Group; with an artist roster that included Rihanna, The Black Eyed Peas and U2, Universal spent 110 weeks at number one with 40 different singles. The final number one of the 2000s was "Killing in the Name", a 1993 single by American rap metal band Rage Against the Machine, which was pushed to the top of the chart as a result of an online campaign to prevent Joe McElderry, the 2009 winner of the X Factor, from reaching number one.[5] "Killing in the Name" sold over 500,000 copies in one week, making it the UK's fastest-selling digital download of all time.[6]

  1. ^ "Official Music & Video Charts Compiled by The Official UK Charts Company". London: The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "History of UK Official Download Chart". Napster. 2009. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Westlife make download history". Music Week. London: United Business. 1 September 2004. ISSN 0265-1548. OCLC 795955446.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Most-downloaded was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Rage Against the Machine beat X Factor winner in charts". London: BBC News. 23 June 2004. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  6. ^ Sexton, Paul (21 December 2009). Smith, Danyel (ed.). "Rage Against the Machine Beats 'X Factor' to U.K. Xmas No. 1". Billboard. New York City. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 3695401. Archived from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.