Ricky Wilson to countdown most streamed 50s songs on Radio 2

On 14 November the UK Singles Chart celebrates its 70th birthday and BBC Radio 2 is marking the occasion.

The early charts were published in New Musical Express and were broadcast for the first time on the BBC Light Programme as Pick of the Pops on 4 October 1955.

The Official Charts Company has created a chart featuring the most streamed song released in each year since the inception of the chart back in 1952.

Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson will count down top singles from the years 1952 to 1959 in a special programme, The UK’s Official Most Streamed Songs of the 50s. It will be broadcast in the early hours of Saturday 12 November, 3-4am.

The programme – and the rest of the chart – will be available from Friday 4 November as a BBC Sounds collection called The UK’s Official Most Streamed Songs.

Across the weekend of 12 and 13 November, Radio 2 will mark the anniversary by also broadcasting each decade’s singles charts from 1960-1999 during the Sounds of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s shows.

In addition to this, BBC Radio 1 will broadcast the most streamed songs released from 2000-2022, presented by Jack Saunders.