It’s the song that keeps on giving despite never having gotten to the top of the UK singles chart: The Killers' “Mr. Brightside” has been confirmed by OfficialCharts.com as the longest-running top-100 hit in UK chart history.
Originally released on September 29, 2003, “Mr. Brightside” was actually the first song ever written by the band, and it’s fair to say that they’ve gotten some pretty solid returns out of it over the years. But there’s one accomplishment that the song has yet to achieve: making it to the top of the UK charts.
Yes, it’s made it to No. 10, it’s racked up combined UK sales of 5.57 million, it's the third biggest song of all time in the UK, and now it holds the honor of spending the most weeks on chart of any song in UK Official Chart history. But it’s never made it to No. 1...and that puts it in some pretty great company, actually, which we’ll get to momentarily.
'Mr. Brightside' has now spent more time on the UK's singles chart that any other song.
"Thank you so much to all our fans for making 'Mr. Brightside' the third biggest song of all time in the UK, and the biggest ever not to have reached Number 1; not yet at least!” said the Killers in a statement. “This Top 10 Award means a lot to us, 'Mr. Brightside' has been completely embraced by the British public and we can’t wait to celebrate with you all on the road. Thank you for supporting us. See you soon!”
In the Official Charts article about the achievement, Martin Talbot, chief executive of the site, described it as “a triumph of extraordinary longevity,” adding that “Mr. Brightside” is “a song which has lived with so many of us throughout the recent decades of our lives – and, for some, an entire lifetime."
As you can tell by the band's statement, they're really just joyful about what "Mr. Brightside" has accomplished thus far, as well they should be, and yet they're also still at least mildly optimistic about the possibility that the song could yet make it to the top of the UK charts one of these days. If it doesn't, however, it should be remembered that there are plenty of iconic songs by equally iconic artists that found themselves stalled - many even at the penultimate position - without ever successfully ascending to the pinnacle of the chart.
Perhaps you're familiar with "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever," the Beatles' pre-Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band double A-side that never made it past No. 2. Or the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." Or the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset." Or... Well, you get the picture. There are many, many classic tracks that came ever so close to topping the chart and yet still remain among the best known songs of all time.
In fact, we've put together a playlist featuring 25 such songs for your listening enjoyment, featuring songs from Diana Ross, the Jackson 5, Kelis, Sparks, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, Prince, and many, many more.
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