Official Charts have released their ranking of the top 10 singles of the decade, with only two entries performed by women – Rather Be by Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne and Drake’s One Dance which features Kyla. The top spots are taken by Ed Sheeran, who has three entries, with Justin Bieber the only other artist to nab two places.
According to the data, the top three single of the decade were Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, followed by Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars and another Sheeran entry, Thinking Out Loud. Clean Bandit’s song with Jess Glynne swooped in at number 10, with Drake’s One Dance ft. Wizkid and Kyla taking the number six spot.
Sheeran has undoubtedly come out on top of the charts, named ‘artist of the decade’ after he spent 38 weeks at number one in the singles chart and Shape Of You alone taking 14 of those weeks. Across album and singles charts, those numbers jump to 79 weeks.
‘Thank you to everyone who's supported me over the past 10 years, especially my amazing fans. Here's to the next 10!’ he said on Instagram.
Of course, commentators were quick to point out the heavily male-dominated singles chart. Although, they’d be happy to note that the albums of the decade saw Adele take the top and second spot. Her albums 21 and 25 came in at number one and two – while Sheeran took the next two spots with his albums multiply and divide. Sheeran’s first album, plus, took number 7.
The only other female entry on the albums of the decade is Emeli Sande with Our Version of Events, although Sam Smith – who identifies as non-binary – swiped number seven with In The Lonely Hour.
Adele is yet to comment on her success in the album charts, but given the list is still overwhelmingly male (and white) it’s clear that there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to diversity in the music industry.
Read More:
Little Boots: 'Why I'm Still Talking About Sexism And The Music Industry'
Sam Smith Admits Fears Of Releasing Music As 'Feminine Self' In 'Homophobic Industry'