The UK singles chart was first published in 1952. It is currently compiled by the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

(OCC). To qualify for entry on this list of artists who have reached number one in the chart since its inception, the artist in question must have been individually credited as an artist on four or more number one singles. Simply playing or singing on a single is not counted (for example as part of a group or supergroup), so, for example

Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...

, a prolific session musician who has played on over 40 number ones, is not included. Also not included are

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...

, who were credited on 11 number ones with Elvis Presley between 1957 and 1963 by

The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles ''The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles'' is a charts reference book published in October 2008. It replaces the ''Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums'', after the Guinness World Records brand was sold to The Jim Pattison Group (owner o ...

(who based their data on the record's label info and the catalogue numbers of the chart hit) but not currently by the OCC. Unlike The Shadows, who had 7 number ones backing Cliff Richard (including one using their original name, the Drifters), The Jordanaires never charted in their own right and so did not get their own entry in the OCC database. In addition, the OCC's database fails to credit JLS and One Direction as featured artists on The X Factor contestants' cover of "Wishing on a Star", giving the former act 5 number ones and the latter 4 number ones according to their information (though this featured credit is on the single's cover and CD's label).

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

has 21 number ones on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, including three re-releases which are counted as separate chart entries/chart hits due to the records' catalogue numbers changing in 2005. With or without the releases, Presley's total is still more than any other artist in history.

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

hold the record for the most number-ones singles by a group (with 17), while

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

holds the record for a female artist (with 13).

Artists by number of UK Singles Chart number ones

Twenty one

Seventeen

Fourteen

Thirteen

Twelve

Ten

Nine

Eight

Seven

Six

Five

Four

Notes

Asterisks indicate chains of consecutive hits following a debut number one.

References

{{UK Music Charts

UK number one The UK Singles Chart is a weekly record chart which for most of its history was based on single sales from Sunday to Saturday in the United Kingdom. Since July 2014 it has also incorporated streaming data, and from 10 July 2015 has been based o ...