List of UK top-ten singles in 2018
The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom. Since 2004 the chart has been based on the sales of both physical singles and digital downloads, with airplay figures excluded from the official chart. Since 2014, the singles chart has been based on both sales and streaming, with the ratio altered in 2017 to 300:1 streams and only three singles by the same artist eligible for the chart.. From July 2018, video streams from YouTube Music and Spotify among others began to be counted for the Official Charts. This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 2018, as well as singles which peaked in 2017 and 2019 but were in the top 10 in 2018. The entry date is when the song appeared in the top 10 for the first time.
Ninety-eight singles were in the top ten this year. Twelve singles from 2017 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" by Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus, "Rewrite the Stars" by James Arthur and Anne-Marie, "Sweet but Psycho" by Ava Max and "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee were all released in 2018 but did not reach their peak until 2019. "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl charted in the top 10 in 2017 and re-entered in 2018 but did not reach its peak until 2019. "Last Christmas" by Wham!, "Man's Not Hot" by Big Shaq, "17" by MK, "Let You Down" by NF, "River" by Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran and "I Miss You" by Clean Bandit featuring Julia Michaels were the singles from 2017 to reach their peak in 2018. Twenty-four artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2018. Ava Max, Cardi B, Dave, Freya Ridings and Travis Scott were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 2018.
“Three Lions” by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds set two new chart records this year. The single first released ahead of Euro 96 returned to number-one for the fourth time during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the only single to date to top the chart four times by the same artists. It also suffered the sharpest fall from the top spot, dropping 96 places the full chart week after England were knocked out of the tournament.
The 2017 Christmas number-one, "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran, remained at number-one for the first three weeks of 2018. The first new number-one single of the year was "River" by Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran. Seventeen different singles peaked at number-one in 2018, with Drake having the most singles hit that position.
Background
Multiple entries
Ninety-eight singles charted in the top 10 in 2018, with ninety-three singles reaching their peak this year.Twenty-four artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2018, with Drake securing the record for most hit singles this year with six.
Introduction of video streaming
In June 2018, the Official Charts Company announced that official video streams from YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal among other providers would become eligible for the chart from the following month alongside audio streams. “Shotgun” by George Ezra was the first single to reach number-one under the new rules, topping the chart on 5 July 2018. His combined sales included around 3 million views of the music video.“Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 and Cardi B was another single to benefit from the Official Charts Company's inclusion of video streams, rising from 13 to number 10 as the most streamed video of that week.
Drake also claimed his third chart-topper of the year thanks in part to the chart alterations, after "In My Feelings" became the subject of a viral craze, with the public and celebrities recreating dance moves from the music video.
FIFA World Cup effect
“Three Lions” made chart history as the first song to reach number-one on four occasions with the same line-up. The football anthem by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds renewed popularity was fuelled by a young England football team's unexpected success in reaching the FIFA World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1990. The song's refrain “It's Coming Home” was a soundtrack to the tournament and led to demand for the track.The single led the iTunes sales chart and Spotify Top 50 chart in the days leading up to the game, but was only announced as number-one on 13 July 2018, two days after the team were eliminated against Croatia.
As a result, the popularity of the song rapidly faded and it set another new record as the fastest falling number-one single in history, dropping ninety-six places to number 97 the following week.
This was the steepest chart decline from number-one since "A Bridge over You" by The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir went from Christmas number-one down to number 29 at the end of 2015. It was also only the fifth song in history to fall straight out of the top 10 from the top spot. Besides "A Bridge Over You", the Elvis Presley reissues "One Night"/"I Got Stung" and "It's Now or Never" from 2005, and McFly’s "Baby's Coming Back"/"Transylvania" from 2007 were the other singles to suffer that fate. “We Built This City” by LadBaby joined the list on the final chart week of the year , dropping to 21st spot a week after being Christmas number one. A year later, another LadBaby single, "I Love Sausage Rolls" went from Christmas number-one to number 57 in the space of a week. "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Michael Ball, Captain Tom Moore and the NHS Voices of Care Choir - released during the COVID-19 pandemic - was the latest addition to this record in May 2020, falling to number 21 after one week at number-one.
Chart debuts
Forty artists achieved their first top 10 single in 2018, either as a lead or featured artist. XXXTentacion and Travis Scott both reached the top 10 on a second occasion. Cardi B had two other entries in her breakthrough year.The following table does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo single.
| Artist | Number of top 10s | First entry | Chart position | Other entries |
| Cardi B | 3 | "Finesse" | 5 | "I Like It", "Girls Like You" |
| Ramz | 1 | "Barking" | 2 | — |
| Keala Settle | 1 | "This Is Me" | 3 | — |
| The Greatest Showman Ensemble | 1 | "This Is Me" | 3 | — |
| Ina Wroldsen | 1 | "Breathe" | 7 | — |
| Sigrid | 1 | "Strangers" | 10 | — |
| Dan Caplen | 1 | "These Days" | 1 | — |
| Portugal. The Man | 1 | "Feel It Still" | 3 | — |
| SZA | 1 | "All the Stars" | 5 | — |
| Chris Stapleton | 1 | "Say Something" | 9 | — |
| Maren Morris | 1 | "The Middle" | 7 | — |
| Lil Dicky | 1 | "Freaky Friday" | 1 | — |
| Banx & Ranx | 1 | "Answerphone" | 7 | — |
| Tom Walker | 1 | "Leave a Light On" | 8 | — |
| Bad Bunny | 1 | "I Like It" | 9 | — |
| XXXTentacion | 2 | "Sad!" | 5 | "Falling Down" |
| Jack & Jack | 1 | "Rise" | 3 | — |
| Dzeko | 1 | "Jackie Chan" | 5 | — |
| Preme | 1 | "Jackie Chan" | 5 | — |
| Loud Luxury | 1 | "Body" | 4 | — |
| Brando | 1 | "Body" | 4 | — |
| Travis Scott | 2 | "Sicko Mode" | 9 | "Zeze" |
| Benny Blanco | 1 | "Eastside" | 1 | — |
| Juice Wrld | 1 | "Lucid Dreams" | 10 | — |
| Joyner Lucas | 1 | "Lucky You" | 6 | — |
| Lil Pump | 1 | "I Love It" | 3 | — |
| Dynoro | 1 | "In My Mind" | 8 | — |
| Gigi D'Agostino | 1 | "In My Mind" | 8 | — |
| Silk City | 1 | "Electricity" | 4 | — |
| Lil Peep | 1 | "Falling Down" | 10 | — |
| Freya Ridings | 1 | "Lost Without You" | 9 | — |
| Dave | 1 | "Funky Friday" | 1 | — |
| Fredo | 1 | "Funky Friday" | 1 | — |
| Bradley Cooper | 1 | "Shallow" | 1 | — |
| Kodak Black | 1 | "Zeze" | 7 | — |
| Ava Max | 1 | "Sweet but Psycho" | 1 | — |
| Dalton Harris | 1 | "The Power of Love" | 4 | — |
| 6ix9ine | 1 | "Kika" | 9 | — |
| Tory Lanez | 1 | "Kika" | 9 | — |
| LadBaby | 1 | "We Built This City" | 1 | — |
;Notes
Ina Wroldsen had previously had a top 10 entry as an uncredited artist when Calvin Harris and Disciples remixed a song she had written and sang on, "How Deep Is Your Love". The song went on to peak at number 2 in 2015. Macklemore joined forces with Rudimental, Jess Glynne and Dan Caplen for the number-one single "These Days". All his previous top 10 singles were alongside Ryan Lewis in the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
Along with Quavo and Takeoff, Offset is part of the collective Migos whose first top 10 credit came on Calvin Harris' hit single "Slide" in 2017. Benny Blanco took on a lead artist tag for the first time on "Eastside", with Halsey and Khalid providing vocals, after years of chart success as a songwriter. The duo Silk City comprises producer Mark Ronson and DJ and record producer Diplo, who both had top 10 hits to their name, but were making their first appearance together on "Electricity".
Songs from films
Original songs from various films entered the top 10 throughout the year. These included "This Is Me", "For You", "All the Stars", "Shallow". "Shallow" was the only one of these singles to reach the number-one spot.Additionally, "Rewrite the Stars" by Anne-Marie and James Arthur also entered the top 10 at number 8, however despite being from The Greatest Showman, this entry was part of soundtrack. The original version was sung by Zac Efron and Zendaya in the film.
Best-selling singles
& Dua Lipa had the best-selling single of the year with "One Kiss". The song spent 12 weeks in the top 10, sold over 1,200,000 copies and was certified 2x platinum by the BPI. "God's Plan" by Drake came in second place, while George Ezra's "Shotgun", "This is Me" by Keala Settle and "These Days" from Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplan made up the top five. Singles by Ed Sheeran, Drake, George Ezra, Ariana Grande and Portugal. The Man were also in the top ten best-selling singles of the year.Top-ten singles
;KeyEntries by artist
The following table shows artists who have achieved two or more top 10 entries in 2018, including singles that reached their peak in 2017. The figures include both main artists and featured artists, while appearances on ensemble charity records are also counted for each artist. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 2018 is also shown.| Entries | Artist | Country of origin | Weeks | Singles |
| 6 | - | - | - | - |
| 6 | Drake | 29 | "Don't Matter to Me", "Emotionless", "God's Plan", "In My Feelings", "Nice for What", "Nonstop", | |
| 5 | Ariana Grande | 22 | "Breathin", "God Is a Woman", "Imagine", "No Tears Left to Cry", "Thank U, Next" | |
| 4 | Jess Glynne | 27 | "All I Am", "I'll Be There", "These Days", "Thursday" | |
| 4 | Eminem | 10 | "Fall", "Lucky You", "River", "The Ringer", | |
| 4 | Post Malone | 31 | "Better Now", "Jackie Chan", "Psycho", "Sunflower" | |
| 3 | Cardi B | 21 | "Finesse", "Girls Like You", "I Like It", | |
| 3 | Marshmello | 16 | "Friends", "Happier", "Wolves", | |
| 3 | Dua Lipa | 28 | "Electricity", "IDGAF", "One Kiss", | |
| 3 | Rita Ora | 18 | "Anywhere", "For You", "Let You Love Me" | |
| 3 | Anne-Marie | 22 | "2002", "Friends", "Rewrite the Stars" | |
| 2 | Camila Cabello | 4 | "Havana", "Never Be the Same" | |
| 2 | Ed Sheeran | 7 | "Perfect", "River" | |
| 2 | George Ezra | 26 | "Paradise", "Shotgun" | |
| 2 | Clean Bandit | 11 | "I Miss You", "Solo" | |
| 2 | Bastille | 12 | "Happier", "I Know You", | |
| 2 | George Michael | 4 | "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Last Christmas" | |
| 2 | Calvin Harris | 24 | "One Kiss", "Promises" | |
| 2 | James Arthur | 1 | "Rewrite the Stars", "The Power of Love", | |
| 2 | Mark Ronson | 10 | "Electricity", "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" | |
| 2 | Kanye West | 7 | "I Love It", "Yikes", | |
| 2 | XXXTentacion | 2 | "Falling Down", "Sad!" | |
| 2 | Travis Scott | 7 | "Sicko Mode, "Zeze" | |
| 2 | Offset | 14 | "Taste, "Zeze" | |
| 2 | Halsey | 15 | "Eastside", "Without Me" |