Official UK Chart

It’s not the first time these two acts have gone head-to-head on the chart. Back in September 1998, the Manics’ This Is My Truth Now Tell Me Yours beat Steps’ Step One for the crown by a margin of 95,000 sales. What The Future Holds Pt. 2, Steps’ seventh studio album, is the week’s most-downloaded LP, and is on track to become their third consecutive No. 2, following Tears On The Dancefloor (from 2017) and What The Future Holds (2020). Also new to the Official Chart Update is Dark Matters (Coursegood), the first album in nine years from punk rock veterans The Stranglers. It’s at No. 3, and could give the band their highest-charting effort in 43 years, since 1978’s Black & White. The Vaccines are chasing a fifth straight Top 5 album with Back In Love City (Super Easy), new at No. 4, whi...

In the first half of the cycle, 8,000 combined sales separate the two albums, according to the OCC. Bruce Dickinson and Co. have five U.K. No. 1 albums from a 40-year career, with their latest two studio LPs Final Frontier (from 2010) and The Book of Souls (2015) going-back-to-back. Meanwhile, Drake has three career U.K. No. 1 albums and, with CLB, he should snag his tenth Top 10. Coming in at No. 3 on the albums chart blast is London rapper Little Simz’s Sometime I Might Be Introvert (Age 101), while Newcastle rockers The Wildhearts are set for a career high with 21st Century Love Songs (Graphite), new at No. 4 on the midweek chart. Kanye West’s Donda (Def Jam) falls 1-5, as ABBA’s Gold (Polydor) is fueled by the Swedish pop greats’ comeback announcement and the release of two songs. The ...

Close behind on the chart blast is Maisie Peters’ debut studio album You Signed Up For This (Gingerbread Man), new at No. 2. Meanwhile, Kanye West’s long-delayed Donda (Def Jam) album comes in at No. 3, a solid start despite its late release on Sunday (instead of the typical Friday drop), and the fact it’s not available in physical formats. According to the OCC, Donda is leading on both downloads and streaming, and if it can lift to the top spot when the chart is published this Friday (Sept. 3), it’ll mark West’s third U.K. No. 1 album. Closing out an all-new midweek Top 5 is Halsey’s fourth studio effort, If I Can’t Have Love I Want Power (EMI), and Becky Hill’s debut Only Honest On The Weekend (Polydor), respectively. Just 2,000 chart sales currently separate the Top 5, the OCC rep...

“Bad Habits,” lifted from Sheeran’s forthcoming LP = (equals), is his second-longest reigning single in the U.K. behind only “Shape of You,” which ruled the U.K. chart for 14 weeks back in 2017. Meanwhile, Joel Corry and Jax Jones’ club tune “Out Out,” with assists from Charli XCX and Saweetie, lifts 10-5 on the Official Chart: First Look, which ranks singles based on streaming and sales activity in the first 48 hours of the chart week. Also, Tones And I’s “Fly Away” looks set for its first stint in the Top 10, lifting 13-9 on the chart blast, while “Butter” by BTS could return to the weekly survey following the release of a version featuring Megan Thee Stallion. It’s at No. 14 on the early tally. The Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday, local time. You Deserve to Make Mon...

Sour leads on physical sales and streams, and is on track for a fifth non-consecutive week at No. 1. Lorde’s previous albums Pure Heroine (2013) and Melodrama (2017) reached No. 4 and 5, respectively, though the latter ruled the Billboard 200 chart following its release. In a midweek Top 10 stacked with new releases, Jake Bugg’s Saturday Night (RCA) bows at No. 3, and is poised to be his fifth straight Top 10 album; Brentford MCs Kurupt FM are on track for a Top 5 debut with their first LP, The Greatest Hits (Part 1) (via Polydor) at No. 4; while Irish indie-folk act Villagers complete the Top 5 with their sixth and latest studio album Fever Dreams (Domino Recordings), which is set to be their first Top 10 album. Elsewhere, new sets from Jane McDonald (Let The Light In at No. 6 via JM...

“Visiting Hours” is no ordinary record. Sheeran wrote while in quarantine en route to Gudinski’s state memorial in Melbourne on March 24, and he premiered the emotional number on the night. Also joining Sheeran on stage that evening was Gudinski’s good friends and signings Kylie Minogue and Jimmy Barnes. Both are credited as backing singers on the single. Following his passing March 2, aged 68, Gudinski, the founder and chairman of the indie powerhouse Mushroom Group, was crowned Billboard’s International Power Player. Sheeran has described the Aussie entrepreneur as a “father figure” and a “tornado of joy,” and those memories will pour out in the new album, due out Oct. 29. The forthcoming LP is “a really personal record and one that means a lot to me,” ...

Also, notes the OCC, three of The Killers’ albums — Hot Fuss, Sam’s Town (2006) and Day & Age (2008) — have notched over one million U.K. chart sales, with the former bagging more than two million. Hot Fuss single “Mr Brightside” is one of the most popular tracks in the U.K. this century. In April of this year, the song logged a record-extending 260th non-consecutive week — a full five years — on the national singles chart. Meanwhile, electronic outfit Jungle are swinging to a third successive Top 10 album, with Loving In Stereo (Caiola). It’s new at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Chart Update, and is set to best the No. 7 peak of their Mercury Prize-nominated self-titled debut from 2014. Loving In Stereo is the best-selling album on wax in the first half of the wee...

Young shot to fame after winning the first edition of the U.K.’s Pop Idol in 2002. In the years since, he has bagged four U.K. No. 1 singles (including his first three releases) and 11 Top 10s. His albums have led the national albums chart on four occasions, with eight cracking the Top 10. Crying On The Bathroom Floor, a covers album, is the followup to 2019’s Lexicon, his first via indie label Cooking Vinyl, which peaked at No. 2. Earlier in his career, Young won two Brit Awards, for best British breakthrough act and best single, for “Your Game.” Close behind is George Harrison’s 1970 chart-topping solo album All Things Must Pass (Apple Corps), which surges following its 50th anniversary reissue. The late Beatles great blasts in at No. 2 on the Official Chart Update. Another British...

According to the OCC, Eilish becomes the first international female artist to reach No. 1 with her first two albums since Lana Del Rey did it seven years ago, with Born To Die and Ultraviolence. Off the back of her new sophomore album release, the alternative pop star’s debut album from 2019, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, returns to the Top 40, lifting 47-36 on this week’s survey. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? has logged three weeks at No. 1 during its chart journey. Meanwhile, Dave’s We’re All Alone In This Together (Dave Neighbourhood) dips 1-2 but remains the most-streamed album of the week, while Prince’s posthumous release Welcome 2 America is new at No. 5. Previously recorded in 2010 and unlocked from the Prince vault for the first time, Welcome 2 Am...

Billie Eilish should be happier than ever. Her new album is crushing its rivals in the U.K. chart race. The teenage alternative pop phenomenon’s sophomore set, Happier Than Ever (Interscope), leads the midweek chart after selling more units (vinyl, cassette, CDs and downloads) than the rest of the Top 10 combined, the OCC reports. If it claims the crown, Eilish will go two-for-two, after her 2019 debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? logged three weeks at No. 1, making her the youngest female artist to rule the national albums chart. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, shar...

We’re All Alone is the biggest opening week since November 2019, when Coldplay’s Everyday Life started with 81,000 combined sales, and it’s the biggest opening week for a British hip-hop/rap album since October 2010 and since Tinie Tempah’s debut Disc-Overy. According to the OCC, some 56% of We’re All Alone sales are physical (vinyl, CD, cassette) and downloads, while streams account for the remainder, chalking up 38.5 million plays across the album’s dozen songs. Dave debut LP Psychodrama logged one week at No. 1 in 2019. Coming in at No. 2 is Anne-Marie’s second album Therapy (Atlantic), eclipsing her previous best of No. 3 for her debut, Speak Your Mind. Further down the list, The Kid Laroi’s evolving mixtape F**k Love (RCA) flies 52-6, for a new peak. The set fires up following the rel...