Taylor Swift Reigns Over U.K. Chart With ‘Tortured Poets’
When Taylor Swift filled up Wembley Stadium for three consecutive shows over the weekend, she did so as the undisputed Queen of the national albums chart.
Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department (EMI) enters a seventh non-consecutive week at No. 1 on the Official Chart, published Friday, June 21, coinciding with the first of her eight scheduled concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Tortured Poets is Taylor’s 11th studio album, and her longest-running chart-topper in the U.K., the Official Charts Company reports, eclipsing 2022’s Midnights which sat at the top for five non-consecutive cycles.
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TayTay leads a podium of female solo artists. Coming in at No. 2 is Billie Eilish’s former leader Hit Me Hard and Soft (Interscope), up two places, while Charli XCX’s Brat (Atlantic) dips 2-3.
The top new debut on the latest tally belongs to British rock outfit Sea Girls, as Midnight Butterflies (Alt) flaps its wings at No. 5. That’s a third-consecutive top 5 appearance for the group, dating back to 2020’s Open Up Your Head (No. 3 peak) and 2022’s Homesick (No. 3).
Chappell Roan landed her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year with the new single “Good Luck, Babe!” The Missouri-born pop artist is enjoying a breakthrough on the other side of the Atlantic, too, where her 2023 debut The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (Island) lifts 15-9, for her first appearance in the U.K. top 10.
Paul McCartney & Wings’ live studio album One Hand Clapping (Capitol) bows at No. 10. The LP, recorded at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios in August 1974, becomes McCartney and Co.’s first top 10 album since Back To The Egg peaked at No. 6 in 1979 — 45 years ago.
Finally, North Carolina country star Luke Combs bags his fourth top 40 LP with Fathers & Sons (Sony Music CG), his fifth studio album. It’s new at No. 14. Combs’ career tally includes U.K. top 10 spots for 2022’s Growin’ Up (No. 9) and 2023’s Gettin’ Old (No. 5).
