frtyfve’s LadBaby scores third straight Christmas number one

LadBaby – supported by frtyfve Records, the label arm of digital talent discovery platform Instrumental – fended off competition from a Mariah Carey classic, and a protest song about Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“I can’t believe we’ve done it once, never mind three times,” LadBaby told BBC Radio 1 presenter Katie Thistleton.

His latest offering, Don’t Stop Me Eatin’, which is raising money for The Trussell Trust food bank charity, was a pastry take on Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.

It followed his previous successful efforts, 2018’s We Built This City… On Sausage Rolls; and I Love Sausage Rolls, from last year.

“We know the British public love a sausage roll,” the hat-trick hero continued.

“And I think after the year we’ve all had we just wanted to come back and make everyone smile.”

His new song, which was helped along by the release of a surprise alternative version with Ronan Keating earlier this week, became the fastest selling UK single in more than three years, since Artists For Grenfell’s Bridge Over Troubled Water.

LadBaby now finds himself in exalted company, alongside The Beatles, who dominated the Christmas number one spots between 1963-65, with I Want To Hold Your Hand, I Feel Fine, and the double A-side Daytripper / We Can Work It Out.

As well as the Spice Girls, who had three in a row from 1996-98, with 2 Become 1, Too Much, and Goodbye.

YouTube comedian LadBaby, whose real name is Mark Hoyle, described 2020 as “our most important year yet” to help people, due to the impact of coronavirus.

He spoke to BBC News last week about why he and his band – aka wife Roxanne and their children – changed their minds after previously saying they wouldn’t go for a third. “We’d run out of songs with rock ‘n’ roll in the title, because that’s been our go-to – you find a song with rock ‘n’ roll in the title and it’s a good change [to sausage roll],” he said.

“We wanted to choose a song that people love and can sing to,” he continued. “The best way is to look at karaoke songs, and Don’t Stop Believin’ always features highly on most karaoke lists.

“We felt like after the year everyone’s had, it’s a sentiment everyone needs – don’t stop believing things are going to get better. It felt very fitting, so we had to weave some sausage roll magic into the lyrics.”

About frtyfve records

frtyfve records launched in 2018 as a label for emerging independent artists and is rethinking every element of how a music business works with the next generation of talent. From discovering new artists through data alone & signing talent globally, through to delivering the marketing and audience development services that independently minded artists need most, frtyfve is all about doing things differently.

In 18 months the label has built a catalogue of over 1,000 recordings, topped 200,000,000 streams and achieved major chart success with back to back UK Christmas #1s. This success is seeing more established artists attracted by frtyfve’s culture and capabilities with Todrick Hall the first deal to be announced.

About Instrumental

Instrumental is changing the business of music through AI. The company specialises in digital talent scouting, using proprietary technology to discover and evaluate the potential of emerging artists and recordings on behalf of clients across the music industry. The tech ingests data from streaming services and social media daily and through applied data science can power A&R teams and talent scouts in their search for the next big thing.

Instrumental was founded by CEO Conrad Withey (ex-President of Warner Music Entertainment) and MD Abi Hanna (previously Penguin Random House) with early stage backing from the leading UK venture builder Blenheim Chalcot and Warner Music Group.

See press coverage here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55436050