The X Factor (UK) discography

Series 3 winner Leona Lewis is the show's most successful winner, having achieved two number-one albums and eight top 5 singles, including three number-ones and is the only former contestant to be nominated for a Grammy Award.

Series 2 winner Shayne Ward has had six top 5 singles, including the number-one hit "That's My Goal".

Chico came in fifth place in series 2, and had a number-one single with "It's Chico Time" in 2006.

Series 4 winner Leon Jackson debuted at number-one in the UK with a cover of "When You Believe".

Series 5 winner Alexandra Burke has achieved six top 10 singles, including three number-ones.

Series 5 runners up JLS have had five UK number-ones; more than any other X Factor act.

Diana Vickers, who came fourth in series 5, achieved a number-one single ("Once") and a number-one album (Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree).

Series 6 winner Joe McElderry was the first contestant to release four albums.

Series 6 runner-up Olly Murs has had nine top 20 singles, including four number-ones, as well as four top ten albums.

One Direction, who came third in series 7, are the most successful X Factor contestants worldwide. They have had 11 UK top 10 singles, including four number-ones, and four consecutive number one albums in the US.

Series 8 winners Little Mix have achieved four number-one singles with "Cannonball", "Wings", "Black Magic" and "Shout Out to My Ex".

Ella Henderson came sixth in series 9 and has since had a number one single with Ghost.

The X Factor is a British television singing talent show. It has been broadcast annually since 2004. The winners and finalists of the show have seen varied levels of success, but have gone on to produce a total of 42 number ones and 58 UK chart hits. Sales figures show that artists from the show have sold around 30 million singles and over 18 million albums.^[1] One Direction have sold more than 65 million records worldwide,^[2] making them the most successful act to have ever appeared on any country's version of The X Factor and one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.

The first eleven winners of the show—Steve Brookstein, Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry, Matt Cardle, Little Mix, James Arthur, Sam Bailey and Ben Haenow—reached the top spot with their winner's singles, whilst 2015 winner Louisa Johnson only reached number 9. The winning contestant's single from 2004–2010 (and again in 2013 and 2014) was released in time for the end-of-year chart battle for the UK's Christmas number one, a spot which was gained in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2014. In 2011, 2012 and 2015, the winner's single was released a week earlier. With the exception of Johnson, all of the winners' singles have gone on to achieve the number one chart position nevertheless, with Brookstein and McElderry both instead claiming the New Year's number one spot a week later in 2004 and 2009 respectively, while Little Mix achieved the top spot a week earlier in 2011. In 2012, Arthur achieved the number one spot a week earlier as well, but also claimed the New Year's number one spot, making him the first (and currently only) winner to regain the top spot on the charts.^[3]

In 2008, the finalists from the fifth series released a cover version of Mariah Carey's "Hero" to raise money for the charity Help for Heroes; the single charted at number one in the United Kingdom. In 2009, the finalists of that year released a cover of Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone", in 2010, they released a cover of "Heroes", and in 2011 they released a cover of "Wishing on a Star" featuring former finalists JLS and One Direction. The process was discontinued in 2012, although all winner's singles since 2012 have been released as charity singles.

Singles

Albums

Only albums that charted in the Top 100 of the UK Albums Chart are included in this list.

See also

• Popstars (UK) discography
• Fame Academy discography
• Pop Idol discography
• The Voice UK discography

References