According to a recent study, One Direction’s One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks) performance at the Brits in 2013 is the most popular Brit Awards performance ever. Amy Winehouse features three times in the top 10, while all top 10 performances take place before 2015.
The top 10 most popular Brits performances ranked:
1. One Direction - One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) - 2013
Likes per 1,000 views: 32.29
YouTube Popularity Score: 9.77
One Way or Another was originally recorded by Blondie and features on the band’s 1978 album Parallel Lines. It was released as the fourth North American single from the album following the band's chart-topping Heart of Glass. The song reached number 24 in the US and number 7 in Canada.
It was not released as a single in the UK, but later charted in 2013 thanks to
One Direction, who covered One Way or Another as a charity single for Comic Relief, titled One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks), as it also interpolates lyrics from the Undertones' Teenage Kicks.
One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, making it One Direction's third UK number one.
It was nominated for Best British Single at the 2014 Brit Awards.
2. Amy Winehouse - Rehab - 2007
Likes per 1,000 views: 24.29
YouTube Popularity Score: 8.81
Rehab was written and recorded by Amy Winehouse and features on her second and final studio album Back to Black (2006). Produced by Mark Ronson, the lyrics address Winehouse's refusal to enter a rehabilitation clinic.
Rehab was released as the lead single from Back to Black in 2006, peaking at number 7 in the UK Singles Chart and number 9 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 – becoming Winehouse's only top 10 hit in the US.
Rehab won three Grammy Awards at the 50th ceremony, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It also won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song.
3. Katy Perry - Dark Horse - 2014
Likes per 1,000 views: 21.90
YouTube Popularity Score: 8.77
Katy Perry’s Dark Horse features American rapper Juicy J. It was originally released in September 2013 by Capitol Records as the first promotional single from Perry's fourth studio album, Prism (2013). Three months later, it was released as the third official single.
Dark Horse charted at number one in Canada, the Netherlands, Poland and the United States. It also reached the top 10 in almost 20 countries, including New Zealand, the UK, Sweden and Venezuela, as well as on the Digital Songs chart of Billboard magazine.
Dark Horse was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.
4. Florence + The Machine - No Light No Light - 2012
Likes per 1,000 views: 30.60
YouTube Popularity Score: 8.61
No Light, No Light is taken from Florence and the Machine’s second studio album, Ceremonials (2011). The song was written by band members Florence Welch and Isabella Summers, while the production was handled by Paul Epworth.
Island Records released the song as the second single from the album on 16 January 2012.
The song peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart, the Irish Singles Chart and at number 39 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart.
5. Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game - 2008
Likes per 1,000 views: 20.95
YouTube Popularity Score: 7.74
Love Is a Losing Game is taken from Amy Winehouse’s final studio album Back to Black (2006). It was chosen as the fifth and final single from Back to Black and was also the final single released in Winehouse's lifetime.
The single was released on 10 December 2007 in the UK, peaking at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart and spending four weeks on the UK Top 100.
The song won the award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically at the 2008 Ivor Novello Awards on 22 May 2008,
6. Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse - Valerie - 2008
Likes per 1,000 views: 22.22
YouTube Popularity Score: 7.44
Valerie is a song by English indie rock band the Zutons from their second studio album, Tired of Hanging Around (2006). It peaked at number 9 on the UK singles chart.
The song was later covered by Mark Ronson, with lead vocals provided by Winehouse, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart in 2007.
7. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love - 2008
Likes per 1,000 views: 23.53
YouTube Popularity Score: 7.28
Bleeding Love was recorded by Leona Lewis for her debut studio album Spirit (2007). It was written and originally recorded by Jesse McCartney, and was co-written and produced by Ryan Tedder.
Debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart, Bleeding Love became the best-selling single of 2007 in both countries. After the single's release, it became a major international hit and was the best-selling single of 2008 worldwide.
The single reached number one in 35 countries, including Japan, France, Germany and the United States, making it the second song in history to achieve this feat – Elton John's Candle in the Wind in 1997 being the first.
Bleeding Love has charted on the UK Singles Chart in three different years: in 2007 it peaked at number one; 2008 at number 76; and 2009 at number 97.
It sold 788,000 copies in the UK alone during 2007 and was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 51st Grammy Awards. At the 2008 Brit Awards it was nominated for Best British Single.
8. Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love and Burn - 2014
Likes per 1,000 views: 25.28
YouTube Popularity Score: 7.26
I Need Your Love is a song by Scottish producer and DJ Calvin Harris from his third studio album, 18 Months (2012). The song features vocals from Ellie Goulding and was released on 2 April 2013 as the album's seventh single. I Need Your Love is also included as a bonus track on Goulding's second studio album, Halcyon (2012).
The song reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, making Harris the first artist in UK chart history to attain eight top 10 entries from one studio album. It also reached the top five in Australia, Austria, Finland, and Sweden, the top 10 in Belgium, Ireland and Switzerland, and the top 20 in the United States.
At the 2014 Brit Awards, the song was nominated for British Single of the Year.
Burn is taken from Goulding’s Halcyon Days (2013) – the reissue of her second studio album, Halcyon (2012). The song was written by Ryan Tedder, Goulding, Greg Kurstin, Noel Zancanella and Brent Kutzle, while production was handled by Kurstin and vocal production was done by Tedder.
It was released in July 2013 as the lead single from the reissue. The song was originally recorded by British singer Leona Lewis for her third studio album, Glassheart (2012), but it was ultimately scrapped.
It earned Goulding her first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, selling 116,857 copies in its first week and staying atop the chart for three consecutive weeks. The track reached the top 10 in countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Sweden, as well as number peaking at 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
9. Rihanna - We Found Love - 2012
Likes per 1,000 views: 10.00
YouTube Popularity Score: 6.93
We Found Love is taken from Rihanna’s sixth studio album, Talk That Talk (2011). Calvin Harris wrote, produced and features on the song, which also appears on his third album, 18 Months (2012).
The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for 10 non-consecutive weeks, becoming the longest running number-one single of 2011. The single also surpassed Umbrella and became Rihanna's longest running number one single.
It was the singer's 11th song to top the Hot 100, placing her in third place among female recording artists amassing the most number one singles.
Outside of the United States, We Found Love topped the charts in 25 other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Russia, Scotland, Switzerland and the UK.
According to Billboard it is the 29th most successful single of all time in the US.
10. Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On - 2007
Likes per 1,000 views: 35.30
YouTube Popularity Score: 6.88
Put Your Records On is from Corinne Bailey Rae’s self-titled debut studio album (2006). Written by Bailey Rae, John Beck and Steve Chrisanthou, it was released as the album's second single.
Put Your Records On topped the UK R&B Chart, peaking at number two on UK Singles Chart.
It was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2007 Grammy Awards.
The study was conducted by RantCasino.com, which ranked the performances on the number of YouTube likes per 1,000 views, thereby creating a popularity score out of 10.
RantCasino.com collated these results by utilising information from the Brits’ YouTube channel – all performances posted have had their likes and views counted and recorded.
The average number of likes for each performance were divided by the number of views and then multiplied by 1,000 to give the likes per 1000 views.
To create a score for each performance, a weighted-average of the percent rankings taken from number of likes, number of views and likes per 1,000 views was collected.
The scores were then amalgamated and ranked in descending order to find the most popular Brits performance of all time.
All data was collected in January 2023 and is accurate as of then.
