A new chart record was broken this week, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from the Disney musical Encanto has been named as the UK’s number one single. This is the first time in the 70-year history of the official charts company that an original Disney song has reached the top placement.
The hit single also marks composer Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first chart success with an original soundtrack track. Taken from the 2021 animated Disney film Encanto, the song features an ensemble cast of Rhenzy Felix, Adassa, Mauro Castillo, Diane Guerrero, Carolina Gaita and Brooklyn Nine-Nine actress Stephanie Beatriz. OfficialCharts took to Instagram to celebrate the win, the post featured a photo of Beatriz proudly holding the award in London.
Due to the song’s popularity. the track accumulated an impressive 6.3 million streams within the UK. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is one of three tracks from the soundtrack to garner chart success, and two more tracks have entered the top twenty this week. “Surface Pressure” by Jessica Darrow has charted at number five and “The Family Madrigal” by Olga Merediz and Stephanie Beatriz has placed at number fifteen.
Lee Jury, Senior Vice President, Studios Marketing, Music Group & Stage Shows EMA within Disney has provided the following statement in celebration of the single’s success, “We’re delighted to have our first original Disney Number 1 single of all time with ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ from Encanto. It’s another captivating, infectious track written by Lin Manuel Miranda and we’re so proud of the success of the movie and soundtrack. Not forgetting ‘Surface Pressure’, another hit from the soundtrack which is in at Number 5 also. Having two tracks in the Top 5 is more than we ever could have expected… may the success continue!”
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is Disney’s first original number one single, but the entertainment institution has achieved chart success with past original soundtracks. Disney saw great chart success in 2013 with the release of “Let it Go” from the hugely popular film Frozen. The song featured legendary musical artist Idina Menzel and became a rousing success, with the track placing at number eleven within the charts. The title track for blockbuster The Lion King also reached number eleven within the UK singles charts. “Circle Of Life” was released in 1994 and has remained a Disney classic, the track was composed and performed by Sir Elton John and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original song in 1994.
The Walt Disney Company have achieved a number one single outside of the original soundtrack genre. In October 2002 Gareth Gates received his third number-one single with a cover of “Suspicious Minds”, which featured on the soundtrack for animated film Lilo & Stitch. In 1996, “Someday” by girl group Eternal reached number four within the UK singles charts. The single was taken from the soundtrack for the 1996 Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and gave the group their ninth top ten single.
Elsewhere within this week’s singles chart, “ABCDEFU” by American singer-songwriter Gayle has placed at number two. The single was last week’s number one but has retained the title of the week’s most downloaded single. At number three this week is one of last year’s most successful singles, “Easy On Me” by Adele made headlines for the consecutive number of weeks spent at number one during its debut release.
