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It's a song that has become inescapable, whether you're scrolling on TikTok, listening to the radio or even filling up your trolley on the weekly shop.

And now Rein Me In, the melodic love song by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean, has officially broken the longest standing record in British music history.

By spending 19 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the UK singles chart, it overtakes a record set by American crooner Frankie Laine with his track I Believe, in 1953.

But it hasn't been a straightforward ascent to the top for Rein Me In - originally released as a solo Fender track and repurposed as a duet in June 2025, it took eight months to reach number one in February this year.

The reworking of the track from Fender's third studio album, the Mercury Prize-winning People Watching, features an extra verse about the breakdown of a relationship from a female perspective, from Dean.

When the track first got to number one - Fender's first time at the top of the charts - he told BBC Radio 1 it was "all the better" for having Dean's perspective.

"Olivia made the song her own, and it took on a life of its own after we did it together," he said.

Dean said when the track came out, external that the original version of Rein Me In was her "favourite song on Sam's album" and it was "a pleasure to write a new verse from a female perspective".

A lot of the song's success as a duet comes from its authenticity, with the lyrics exploring the fallout from the end of a relationship and the difficulties faced by both parties as they try to move on from each other.

Whilst Fender's verses feel full of anger and regret at not being able to open up and be the partner he wanted to be, they are complimented by the softer and more reflective tone of Dean's, in which she encourages him to try again to make it work.

It has been described by Blunt Magazine's Jake Fitzpatrick, external as "stormy, tender and anthemic" and a "love letter to the kind of songwriting that knows when to burn slow".

The song has also received praise amongst many critics and bloggers, including Cult Following's Ewan Gleadow, external, who says that Dean's addition helps it to find "a new depth", noting "charm is a big part of it too, with all those reflections on where you come from and where you're headed".

The song's journey has been an interesting one - first entering the charts in June 2025, but not hitting the top spot until February 2026, just a week before it was crowned song of the year at the Brit Awards.

Three weeks after going to number one, it was knocked off the top spot by Harry Styles' American Girls, but only for seven days.

Since then it has only been superseded briefly by Olivia Rodrigo's Drop Dead and Ariana Grande's Hate That I Made You Love Me.

Rein Me In has now spent so long at the top that it has broken every record in UK chart history.

• Wet Wet Wet topped the charts in 1994 for 15 weeks with Love Is All Around, external and was previously the longest-running British chart topper.
• Bryan Adams' track (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, external, spent 16 weeks at the top in 1991.
• Frankie Laine's I Believe, external achieved 18 weeks at number one in the 1950s.

Ben Mortimer, who runs Fender's label Polydor, described it as a "historic achievement" from "two homegrown stars" - Newcastle's Fender and London's Dean.

In his interview with Radio 1, Fender acknowledged the track's slow climb to the top, thanking "the internet".

He also says he found it interesting that the track "travelled online and people came to it later, which is wonderful really because it's the music that's doing the talking".

The song has become a mainstay on TikTok - a quick scroll through the social media app shows its use on everything from grand declarations of love to montages of holidays and even compilations of football goals and celebrations.

It's also notable that the song first went viral after the pair performed it at a show at the London Stadium, home of Dean's team West Ham, in June last year.

She then returned the favour a week later at Newcastle United's St James Park, performing the song this time at the home of Fender's footballing love.

Whilst TikTok streams do not count towards the official charts, BBC research from last year explored how much of an effect the platform was having on what we listened to, particularly songs with meaningful and powerful lyrics.