On Monday night (7.08), ahead of their gig at London’s The O2 arena, the Guinness World Records™, presented The Killers (USA) with two certificates.
In honor of their original 2003 hit “Mr Brightside”, the global authority on record-breaking awarded two iconic Guinness World Records (GWR) titles to the American band.
The group’s indie-rock anthem achieved the Most cumulative weeks on the UK singles chart with 416 weeks in the Top 100 of the UK’s Official Singles Chart as of 4 July 2024.
The Las Vegas quartet were also awarded a second Guinness World Records title for the same track, for the longest stay on the UK singles chart by a group – also 416 weeks as The Killers song has spent a total of almost eight years in the Top 100, across 60 separate chart runs.
“Mr Brightside” was initially released in 2003 and re-released in 2004. The first song from the pop/rock group’s debut album Hot Fuss, peaked at #10 on June 5 of 2004 but spent just one week in the Top 20 and seven weeks in the Top 40.
In May of 2024, the Official Charts Company revealed that it had become Britain’s biggest single never to have reached #1, accumulating 5,570,00 combined units (1.066 million sales and 530.34 million streams). Throughout over the past two decades, however, the song’s enduring popularity on streaming platforms has kept “Mr Brightside” in the lower reaches of the weekly countdown.
Ahead of their 02 show, of “Mr Brightside,” The Killers frontman, Brandon Flowers said:
“It’s infectious still to us, I know some people can’t wrap their head around it, but you’ll see the response [when you see it live].” “It’s tough not to be touched by it or be excited by it and there’s going to be people tonight who’ve never seen it live, there’ll be some people who’ve seen it 45 times.” “And we just don’t get tired of it.”
About the awards, Guinness World Records Adjudicator Will Munford, stated
“Mr Brightside has filled countless dance floors and been responsible for many end-of-night singalongs since the mid-2000s. It was an honor to present The Killers with two Guinness World Records titles for the song, it is a testament to its ability to be loved across generations and stand the test of time as one of the all-time classics.”
Once holding the title for the most cumulative weeks on the UK singles chart (for one song,) Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” spent a total of 122 weeks in the Top 50 between 1969 and 1972, and an additional two weeks in the Top 75 as a re-issue in 1994.
By July 4 2024, “Someone You Loved” (2019) by Lewis Capaldi had secured its place at #2 behind “Mr Brightside” with 236 weeks on the UK chart with “Perfect” (2017) by Ed Sheeran in third place for 191 weeks.
Prior to The Killers, the longest stay on the British singles chart by a group was previously held by Snow Patrol, with their hit “Chasing Cars”, which had logged 75 chart weeks as of February 2008 and had gone on to amass a total of 166 weeks in the Top 100 of the UK singles chart by 4 July 2024.
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Raph_PH