List of artists with the most UK Albums Chart number ones

Last updated

The UK Albums Chart is a weekly record chart compiled by the Official Charts Company, which for most of its history was based on album sales from Sunday to Saturday in the United Kingdom. The chart was founded in 1956, compiling physical format album sales until 2007, after which it has included albums sold digitally. Since July 2014, it has incorporated music streaming service data. From 10 July 2015, it has been based on a Friday to Thursday album sales.

Contents

This list shows the eighteen artists with the most number ones on the UK Albums Chart. English band The Beatles has the most number one albums with sixteen. English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams has the most number one albums for a solo artist, with fourteen. [1] American musician Bruce Springsteen and Australian singer-songwriter-actress-businesswoman Kylie Minogue are the only solo artists to score a number one album in five consecutive decades. [2]

Tally

Artists with the most number one albums in the UK Albums Chart
ArtistNumber onesNumber one studio albums Number one albumRecord label(s)First reached number oneRef.
The Beatles
16
11
Please Please Me Parlophone 5 May 1963 [3]
With the Beatles Parlophone 1 December 1963
A Hard Day's Night Parlophone 19 July 1964
Beatles for Sale Parlophone 13 December 1964
Help! Parlophone 8 August 1965
Rubber Soul Parlophone 19 December 1965
Revolver Parlophone 7 August 1966
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Parlophone 4 June 1967
The Beatles Apple 1 December 1968
Abbey Road Apple 28 September 1969
Let It Be Apple 17 May 1970
The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl Parlophone 12 June 1977
Abbey Road [lower-alpha 1] Apple 31 October 1987
Live at the BBC Apple 4 December 1994
Anthology 2 Apple 24 March 1996
1 Apple 19 November 2000
The Rolling Stones
14
11
The Rolling Stones Decca 26 April 1964 [4]
The Rolling Stones No. 2 Decca 31 January 1965
Aftermath Decca 24 April 1966
Let It Bleed Decca 14 December 1969
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Decca 13 September 1970
Sticky Fingers Rolling Stones 13 June 1971
Exile on Main St. Rolling Stones 4 June 1972
Goats Head Soup Rolling Stones 16 September 1973
Emotional Rescue Rolling Stones 29 June 1980
Voodoo Lounge Virgin 17 July 1994
Exile on Main St. [lower-alpha 2] Polydor 29 May 2010
Blue & Lonesome Polydor 9 December 2016
Goats Head Soup [lower-alpha 3] Polydor 17 September 2020
Hackney Diamonds Polydor 27 October 2023
Robbie Williams
14
11
Life thru a Lens Chrysalis 12 April 1998 [5]
I've Been Expecting You Chrysalis 1 November 1998
Sing When You're Winning Chrysalis 3 September 2000
Swing When You're Winning Chrysalis 25 November 2001
Escapology EMI 24 November 2002
Greatest Hits Chrysalis 24 October 2004
Intensive Care Chrysalis 30 October 2005
Rudebox Chrysalis 29 October 2006
In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010 Virgin 17 October 2010
Take the Crown Island 11 November 2012
Swings Both Ways Island 24 November 2013
The Heavy Entertainment Show Columbia 11 November 2016
The Christmas Present Columbia 6 December 2019
XXV Columbia 9 September 2022
Elvis Presley
13
5
Rock 'N' Roll His Master's Voice 4 November 1956 [6]
Loving You RCA 1 September 1957
King Creole RCA 14 September 1958
Elvis Is Back! RCA 24 July 1960
G.I. Blues RCA 1 August 1961
Blue Hawaii RCA 31 December 1961
Pot Luck RCA 22 July 1962
From Elvis in Memphis RCA Victor 24 August 1969
Elvis' 40 Greatest Arcade 4 September 1977
ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits RCA 29 September 2002
The King RCA 19 August 2007
If I Can Dream [lower-alpha 4] RCA, Legacy 6 November 2015
The Wonder of You [lower-alpha 5] RCA, Legacy 28 October 2016
Madonna
12
9
Like a Virgin Sire 15 September 1985 [7]
True Blue Sire 6 July 1986
Like a Prayer Sire 26 March 1989
The Immaculate Collection Sire 18 November 1990
Evita [lower-alpha 6] Warner Bros. 26 January 1997
Ray of Light Maverick 8 March 1998
Music Maverick 24 September 2000
American Life Maverick 27 April 2003
Confessions on a Dance Floor Warner Bros. 20 November 2005
Hard Candy Warner Bros. 4 May 2008
Celebration Warner Bros. 27 September 2009
MDNA Interscope 1 April 2012
Bruce Springsteen
12
11
Born in the U.S.A. CBS 16 June 1984 [8]
Tunnel of Love CBS 17 October 1987
Human Touch Columbia 4 April 1992
Greatest Hits Columbia 11 March 1995
The Rising Columbia 10 August 2002
Devils & Dust Columbia 7 May 2005
Magic Columbia 13 October 2007
Working on a Dream Columbia 2 July 2009
Wrecking Ball Columbia 11 March 2012
High Hopes Columbia 19 January 2014
Western Stars Columbia 27 June 2019
Letter to You Columbia 5 November 2020
David Bowie
11
9
Aladdin Sane RCA 5 May 1973 [9]
Pin Ups RCA 3 November 1973
Diamond Dogs RCA 8 June 1974
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) RCA 27 September 1980
Let's Dance EMI 23 April 1983
Tonight EMI 6 October 1984
Changesbowie EMI 24 March 1990
Black Tie White Noise Arista 17 April 1993
The Next Day ISO/Columbia 23 March 2013
Blackstar RCA 15 January 2016
Best of Bowie EMI 5 February 2016
Rod Stewart
11
8
Every Picture Tells a Story Mercury 2 October 1971 [10]
Never a Dull Moment Philips 16 September 1972
Sing It Again Rod Mercury 1 September 1973
Smiler Mercury 19 October 1974
Atlantic Crossing Warner Bros. 30 August 1975
A Night on the Town Riva 10 July 1976
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Riva 8 December 1979
Time Capitol 25 May 2013
Blood Red Roses Decca 11 October 2018
You're in My Heart: Rod Stewart with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Rhino 13 December 2019
Swing Fever Warner 1 March 2024
Taylor Swift
11
11
Red Mercury 3 November 2012 [11]
1989 EMI 8 November 2014
Reputation EMI 23 November 2017
Lover EMI 5 September 2019
Folklore EMI 6 August 2020
Evermore EMI 24 December 2020
Fearless (Taylor's Version) EMI 22 April 2021
Red (Taylor's Version) EMI 25 November 2021
Midnights EMI 3 November 2022
Speak Now (Taylor's Version) EMI 20 July 2023
1989 (Taylor's Version) EMI 3 November 2023
U2
11
10
War Island 6 March 1983 [12]
The Unforgettable Fire Island 7 October 1984
The Joshua Tree Island 15 March 1987
Rattle and Hum Island 16 October 1988
Zooropa Island 11 July 1993
Pop Island 9 March 1997
The Best of 1980–1990 Island 8 November 1998
All That You Can't Leave Behind Island 5 November 2000
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb Island 28 November 2004
No Line on the Horizon Vertigo 8 March 2009
Songs of Surrender Island 24 March 2023
ABBA
10
6
Greatest Hits Epic 2 May 1976 [13]
Arrival Epic 9 January 1977
ABBA: The Album Epic 29 January 1978
Voulez-Vous Epic 13 May 1979
Greatest Hits Vol. 2 Epic 11 November 1979
Super Trouper Epic 16 November 1980
The Visitors Epic 13 December 1981
The Singles: The First Ten Years Epic 21 November 1982
Gold: Greatest Hits Polydor 27 September 1992
Voyage Universal 12 November 2021
Eminem
10
9
The Marshall Mathers LP Interscope 23 May 2000 [14]
The Eminem Show Interscope 26 May 2002
Encore Interscope 11 December 2004
Curtain Call: The Hits Interscope 6 December 2005
Relapse Interscope 15 May 2009
Recovery Interscope 18 June 2010
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 Interscope 5 November 2013
Revival Interscope 15 December 2017
Kamikaze Interscope 31 August 2018
Music to Be Murdered By Interscope 17 January 2020
Michael Jackson
10
5
Thriller Epic 27 February 1983 [15]
18 Greatest Hits [lower-alpha 7] Telstar 14 August 1983
Bad Epic 6 September 1987
Dangerous Epic 24 November 1991
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I Epic 18 June 1995
Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix Epic 18 May 1997
Invincible Epic 4 November 2001
Number Ones Epic 23 November 2003
The Essential Michael Jackson Epic 5 July 2009
Xscape Epic 18 May 2014
Queen
10
7
A Night at the Opera EMI 21 December 1975 [16]
A Day at the Races EMI 2 January 1977
The Game EMI 13 July 1980
Greatest Hits EMI 8 November 1981
A Kind of Magic EMI 8 June 1986
The Miracle Parlophone 28 May 1989
Innuendo Parlophone 10 February 1991
Greatest Hits II Parlophone 3 November 1991
Made in Heaven Parlophone 12 November 1995
Live Around the World [lower-alpha 8] EMI 2 October 2020
Coldplay
9
9
Parachutes Parlophone 22 July 2000 [17]
A Rush of Blood to the Head Parlophone 7 September 2002
X&Y Parlophone 6 June 2005
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Parlophone 18 June 2008
Mylo Xyloto Parlophone 5 November 2011
Ghost Stories Parlophone 19 May 2014
A Head Full of Dreams Parlophone 18 February 2016
Everyday Life Parlophone 5 December 2019
Music of the Spheres Parlophone 28 October 2021
Bob Dylan
9
9
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan CBS 23 May 1964 [18]
Bringing It All Back Home CBS 15 May 1965
John Wesley Harding CBS 3 February 1968
Nashville Skyline CBS 17 May 1969
Self Portrait CBS 11 June 1970
New Morning CBS 28 November 1970
Together Through Life Columbia 9 May 2009
Shadows in the Night Columbia 14 February 2015
Rough and Rowdy Ways Columbia 2 July 2020
Kylie Minogue
9
7
Kylie PWL 16 July 1988 [19]
Enjoy Yourself PWL 21 October 1989
Greatest Hits PWL 5 September 1992
Fever Parlophone 13 October 2001
Aphrodite Parlophone 17 July 2010
Golden BMG 19 April 2018
Step Back in Time: The Definitive Collection BMG 11 July 2019
Disco BMG 19 November 2020
Tension BMG 29 September 2023
Take That
9
7
Everything Changes Records 18 October 1993 [20]
Nobody Else RCA 13 May 1995
Greatest Hits RCA 1 April 1996
Beautiful World Polydor 4 December 2006
The Circus Polydor 8 December 2008
Progress Polydor 22 November 2010
III Polydor 8 December 2014
Odyssey Polydor 30 November 2018
This Life EMI 1 December 2023

Notes

  1. 1987 version
  2. Re-issue
  3. Re-issue
  4. The album is credited to Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
  5. The album is credited to Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
  6. The album is also credited to Madonna & various artists
  7. The album is credited to Michael Jackson Plus The Jackson 5
  8. The album is credited to Queen + Adam Lambert

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References

  1. "Acts with the most Number 1 albums on the Official UK Chart". Official Charts Company. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  2. "Kylie Minogue 'lost for words' after latest album hits UK number 1, her fifth decade as a chart-topper". ABC News . 14 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  3. "The Beatles full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  4. "The Rolling Stones full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  5. "Robbie Williams full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  6. "Elvis Presley full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  7. "Madonna full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  8. "Bruce Springsteen full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  9. "David Bowie full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  10. "Rod Stewart full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  11. "Taylor Swift full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  12. "U2 full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  13. "ABBA full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  14. "Eminem full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  15. "Michael Jackson full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  16. "Queen full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  17. "Coldplay full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  18. "Bob Dylan full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  19. "Kylie Minogue full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  20. "Take That full chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2023.