Big Issue feature star Lewis Capaldi is the UK number one

He is known for his soaring voice, his social media quips, and that organ donation music video detailed in last week’s Big Issue – and today he hit another milestone.

Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved raced to the top of the UK singles chart, beating Giant, the single from fellow Scot Calvin Harris and Rag’n’Bone Man, and Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings.

On Monday, the Harris and Rag’n’Bone Man track sat just 1,600 single sales ahead of Capaldi.

The musician said: “I’m absolutely blown away. I genuinely cannot believe it.

“I won’t let it change me though – anyone who wants to reach out and congratulate me can still get in touch through one of my assistants,” he joked.

Capaldi, hailing from Bathgate, released the track with a video promoting organ donation in support of charities LiveLifeGiveLife and Save9Lives. The video made a massive impact online, reaching one million views in two days and racking up another 100,000 a day in the weeks following.

The video was shared around so much that the track shot straight to a number three chart spot.

The heart-wrenching short stars twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi, also the second cousin (once removed) of the singer.

The senior Capaldi appears as a widower visiting the family of the woman who received his late wife’s heart, getting the chance to hear his wife’s heartbeat once more.

Someone You Loved’s resurgence in the charts comes the same week as Max and Keira’s Law cleared the final hurdle in parliament. This means that as of next year, the current opt-in system used for organ donation in England will be replaced by presumed consent unless indicated otherwise.

And MSPs just voted in a new organ donation system for Scotland, set to follow the same rules.

JUST HEARD WE’RE SO CLOSE TO GETTING A UK NUMBER 1 SINGLE! 😭😭

if you’re up for downloading it now would mean the world!! let’s do this senssss come annnnn 🎉🎉 x

download here 👉🏻 https://t.co/UfzVQIIYnk pic.twitter.com/6jDhvw80lk

— Lewis Capaldi (@LewisCapaldi) February 27, 2019

“Lewis is an amazing talent,” the actor said. “I’m not just saying that because of his name – Capaldi or not, he’s remarkable.”

The unlikely pairing both want to draw attention to organ donation and help the 6,000 people on the UK transplant list.

“Just heard we’re so close to getting a UK number one single,” the musician said to his fans on Twitter. “If you’re up for downloading it now would mean the world!”

Capaldi and Calvin Harris leading the official singles chart made it the first time Scottish acts have held both top spots since November 2011.