A while ago music superstar Ed Sheeran said that the only competition he faced in the charts was fellow ginger, Adele.
Little did he know that he would be whipped off the top spot by a band that for years has been ridiculed by snooty critics.
Yes, 90s pop legends Steps have stunned even themselves by storming to the number one spot on iTunes with their amazing and brilliant 20th anniversary comeback song Scared Of The Dark.
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The melancholy ABBA-esque track, that has been praised by critics and fans alike, was released on Friday and managed to push Ed Sheeran’s Galway Girl into second place and Coldplay and their weary old whining into third.
That’s some going for a band who have never been critic favourites in the past.
However, the news of their huge success shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to any of us, as during their original grip on the charts in the 90s they were hugely successful.
Not only did they have fourteen consecutive top five hits, they sold 20 million records in the UK alone and had one of the biggest selling UK tours.
When they made their comeback five years ago after their reunion TV show on Sky, they sold out dates across the country and their second Greatest Hits album stormed to number one.
A fourth album, Light Up The World, was released filled with ballads, but the less said about that the better.
Not bad for a band that have been dismissed as pop fluff.
The band are thrilled with the news of the single’s success and Claire Richards was first to thank their loyal army of fans who downloaded the sensational tune.
Steps fans!! You are AMAZING!!! we cannot tell you how humbled, overwhelmed and excited we are by your … https://t.co/DmwlQiz6l4
— Claire Richards (@_ClaireRichards) March 10, 2017
But it wasn’t just the band members who were thrilled with the success – so too were their other halves. Faye Tozer’s hubby Michael tweeted:
While Claire’s hubby Reece posted excitedly:
Meanwhile self-confessed Steps geek Rylan Clark-Neak has been gushing all week about the new single and revealed to This Morning viewers that Claire – a bridesmaid at his wedding – had secretly let him hear the song and that she ordered him not to sing it to anyone before it was released on Friday.
Speaking on This Morning prior to the single’s first airplay on Radio 2, he told Holly and Phil that he loved the single and was scared he was going to burst into song.
And now it looks like Steps could be here to stay as in April they release their fifth album Tears On The Dancefloor which Claire says is filled with melancholy disco tunes in the same vein as their stand out classic Deeper Shade Of Blue.
Tickets have also just gone on sale for their UK tour and are selling like hot cakes.
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Although the song has slipped to number two (at the time of writing) It remains to be seen if the mighty Scared Of The Dark can repeat its success on the Official Chart next week, which is based on streams and downloads.
Welcome back Steps, we’ve missed you.