The Rolling Stones outsell the rest of the Top 5 to secure their landmark 14th Official Number 1 album with Hackney Diamonds this week.
Racking up 72,200 chart units in its first week, Hackney Diamonds enjoys the third biggest week of sales for an album of 2023 so far, behind Lewis Capaldi’s Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent, and Ed Sheeran’s -.
The group’s first collection of new material in 18 years, and first following the death of late drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, Hackney Diamonds’ success means Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood achieve a huge UK chart feat.
With 11 different studio albums hitting the top spot, The Rolling Stones now draw level as the act with the most studio albums to reach Number 1 on the UK’s Official Albums Chart, joining The Beatles, Robbie Williams, and Bruce Springsteen who also have 11 each.
When taking into account other collections including greatest hits albums, reissues and live albums, The Rolling Stones now stand alongside Robbie Williams with 14 Number 1 albums, and just behind The Beatles with 16. See all the acts with the most Number 1 albums in the UK.
Hackney Diamonds also tops this week’s Official Vinyl Albums Chart, shifting the most copies on the format over the past seven days.
blink-182 land a Number 2 debut with their ninth studio album ONE MORE TIME…. It becomes the highest-charting record to date for the Californian rock outfit’s best-known line-up of Tom DeLonge, Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus. Prior to this, this incarnation of the group peaked at Number 4 on the Official Albums Chart with 2001 work Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
In 2016, blink-182 scored a Number 1 album with California, released with DeLonge’s replacement Matt Skiba, who was active with the group between 2015-2022.
It’s a fifth Top 10 album for Bombay Bicycle Club as My Big Day enters this week’s chart (3). Previously, the London-formed four-piece achieved Top 10 records with 2010’s Flaws (8), 2011’s A Different Kind of Fix (6), 2014 chart-topper So Long, See You Tomorrow and 2020 release Everything Else Has Gone Wrong (4).
My Big Day also tops this week’s Official Record Store Chart, proving the most-purchased album of the week in the UK’s independent record shops.
Hear Bombay Bicycle Club’s Ed Nash and Jamie MacColl talk Jess Iszatt through the making of My Big Day on The Record Club with Bowers & Wilkins podcast here – and don’t forget to follow!
Outside the Top 10, Edinburgh-born electro aficionado Barry Can’t Swim (real name Joshua Mannie) celebrates his first-ever Top 40 entry with When Will We Land? (12), with the record also earning Top 5 debuts on the Official Record Store Chart (3) and Official Vinyl Albums Chart (4).
Meanwhile, Sheffield singer-songwriter Richard Hawley secures a seventh Top 40 album with Now Then: The Very Best of Richard Hawley (15), also scoring Top 5 placements on the Official Record Store Chart (4) and Official Vinyl Albums Chart (4).
South London-born multi-hyphenate Sampha (full name Sampha Lahai Sisay) claims his second Top 40 LP with Lahai at Number 21.
Pet Shop Boys earn a 25th Top 40 record with Relentless (25). Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s six-track album was originally released as part of their fifth studio album, 1993’s Very, gaining somewhat of a cult classic status in the years since. The reissue also lands inside the Official Vinyl Albums Chart Top 10 (7).
Finally, East London afroswing collective NSG (comprising Kruddz, OGD, Papii Abz, Dope, Mxjib and Mojo) claim a career-best with first studio album AREA BOYZ (28). Prior to this, the group saw success with their 2020 mixtape ROOTS (37).
