Eliza Rose becomes first female DJ to top the Official Singles Chart in 20 years

Eliza Rose has become the first female DJ to top the Official Singles Chart in more than 20 years with her dance hit ‘B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All)’.

• READ MORE: Eliza Rose: the DJ behind this summer’s most empowering dance anthem

The last female DJ to top the Official Singles Chart was Sonique with the single ‘It Feels So Good’ in 2002. The club anthem entered the UK Singles Chart three weeks ago and jumped to the top today overtaking  Beyoncé’s ‘Break My Soul’, David Guetta’s ‘What Love Can Do’, and Central Cee’s ‘Doja’.

“I just got Number One for ‘Baddest Of Them All’ thank you to everybody who streamed, downloaded, and listened,” Rose said in reaction to taking the top spot. “It’s the people’s rhythm and I feel like we came together to get it to Number One.”

The track was an underground hit in London’s club scene, before breaking out at the Glastonbury Festival and crossing into the mainstream.

“When I found out it had been played a few times at Glasto, I was like, ‘I’ve made it!’” Rose told NME during a feature interview last month. “On the last day at the Stone Circle, somebody came over to me and said, ‘They’re playing your song over there!’. So my friends and I all rushed over. That was a real moment, and it felt like the cherry on the cake of an amazing Glastonbury.”

She added: “Since then, the track has gotten so much love and nice messages, with people saying it’s the best tune they’ve heard in ages. I’ve also had a video of someone getting their catch of the day, this big-ass fish, with it playing in the background. It’s going everywhere.”

The DJ also told NME she was surprised by the level of success the track had reached.

“Never in a million years did I think it was going to do this well,” she said. “My management were really excited about it and I was like, ‘It’s good, but calm down!’. I think you don’t expect it when you’ve been doing music for a long time. Because I’ve been away playing festivals while it’s taken off, it feels like I’m watching it from afar, which makes it even more surreal. It’s like I’m watching this happen to somebody else!”

During our interview, Rose was also asked if she thought ‘B.O.T.A’ could climb the UK charts and become Number One.

“Here’s hoping, but I don’t want to get too big for my boots: I’m already happy with how it’s doing now,” she told us. “I think that’s been to do with timing; everyone’s got that appetite because of summer. With artists like Drake and Beyoncé also making house tunes, there’s a wider scope of people getting into [the genre] and seeing house music as a proper art form.”

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