News : Gayle Charging to U.K. No. 1 With ‘Abcdefu’

As Christmas tunes tumble out of the U.K. chart, Gayle takes pole position for the first time with “abcdefu.”

The Dallas-born, Nashville-based teen leads the chart blast with her viral hit, which lifts 14-1 in its seventh week on the survey. If it holds its position, the break-up song will give Gayle her first U.K. leader.

The breakthrough singer-songwriter topped Billboard‘s Emerging Artists chart (dated Dec. 4) with her global hit, which she wrote with Sara Davis and Dave Pittenger and which Ocean Park Standoff drummer Pete Nappi produced.

“Abcdefu” was initially powered by TikTok, having been featured in over half a million videos on the short-video streaming platform.

Several singles vault up the U.K. chart blast as Christmas tracks make their exodus. DJ Acraze is on track for his first U.K. Top 10 appearance with “Do It To It” girlband Cherish, which flies 42-2, while British rapper ArrDee’s “Flowers (Say My Name)” and rising star Sam Fender’s “Seventeen Going Under” occupy positions No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

Finally, Ed Sheeran could land three tracks in the Top 10 when the Official Singles Chart is published late Friday. Former leaders “Shivers” (No. 5) and “Bad Habits” (No. 7) are on a burst, while “Peru” with Fireboy DML is up 28-10, and is on track for a new peak. Those tracks all appear on Sheeran’s = (equals), which returned to No. 1 on the current Official U.K. Albums Chart.