U.K. listeners are still looking on the “Mr. Brightside,” as The Killers song of the same name has overtaken “Wonderwall” by Oasis as the most commercially successful hit never to reach #1.
The Island track has tallied combined sales and streams of 5.57m since its release in 2003. “Mr. Brightside” originally peaked at #10, but has since become the longest-running Top 100 hit in Official Chart history, with nearly eight years on the list.
Despite its advanced age, "Brightside" is still being streamed an average of 1.8m times a week by British music fans. It’s the third biggest song of all time in the U.K., based on sales and streams.
In 2023, "Brightside" scored a career-best 79.7m plays, and so far this year, its average combined weekly sales and streams are up 23% year-on-year.
The song’s biggest week to date in the U.K. was in July 2019, when it racked up 17.7k chart units after The Killers headlined Glastonbury. Its biggest year of pure sales was 2012, when it was bought and downloaded 125.2k times.
"Mr. Brightside" was originally released with a 500-CD single run via U.K. indie record label Lizard King. It picked up steam following the release of 2004’s #3 single, "Somebody Told Me" (and the release of an updated mix), catapulting it back into the Official Singles Chart at #10 in May 2004, still its highest position to date, before dropping out only a few weeks later.
Liam Gallagher declined to comment, but did offer to punch us in the face.
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