A song that began as a solo album deep cut performed at a stadium show in June 2025 has rewritten UK chart history. Sam Fender and Olivia Dean's "Rein Me In" has now spent 22 weeks at No. 1 on the UK's Official Singles Chart, making it the longest-running No. 1 single in the chart's history.
According to Billboard, the track first became the longest-running No. 1 of the 21st century after 16 weeks at the summit, surpassing Drake's "Hotline Bling." It has since overtaken Frankie Laine's "I Believe," which held the all-time record with 18 weeks at No. 1 back in 1953.
The song's path to the top began at Fender's sold-out London Stadium show, an 82,500-capacity event that was the Geordie artist's largest-ever headline performance. Midway through the set, Fender played "Rein Me In," a track from his Mercury Prize-winning album People Watching, and invited Dean, the show's support act, to join him on stage for a new verse.
Fender had long believed in the song. Speaking to Genius, he said he had "consistently liked this song" since writing it as a solo piece five years ago, describing it as drawing from moments of regret and excess in his own life.
Dean brought a new dimension to the track. Both artists are signed to UMG UK labels, with Fender on Polydor and Dean on Capitol UK. When Fender sent her the album, she chose "Rein Me In" and co-wrote an original second verse with Max Wolfgang. Her addition shifted the tone of the song, turning what Billboard UK writer Sophie Williams described as "a vocal performance that delivers the type of passion and intensity that, the closer you listen, you can feel in your chest" into a two-sided conversation. Dean's verse offered a reply to the original's self-examination: "I see the tears of a man too proud to reach for a hand," she sings.
Richard O'Donovan, head of A&R at Polydor, told Billboard UK: "After the record-breaking launch of Sam's People Watching, we could tell there was something special about 'Rein Me In.' We knew it had single potential, but we were utterly blown away when we received Olivia's version. It brings a whole new lens to this incredible song."
The song collected the BRIT Awards' publicly voted Song of the Year prize in February, with both artists present at the ceremony in Manchester. In May, Dean returned the gesture at her headline shows at London's O2 Arena, inviting Fender to perform the track live again.
