Blur on Track For U.K. No. 1 With ‘Live At Wembley Stadium’
Two live albums duke it out in the U.K. chart race, with Blur taking pole position.
Based on midweek sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, the Britpop legends lead the way with Live at Wembley Stadium (Parlophone), cut over two summer nights in 2023.
If it holds its course, Live at Wembley Stadium will give Damon Albarn and Co. an eighth U.K. chart leader, seven of them studio recordings.
The London-formed four-piece led the Official U.K. Albums Chart with Parklife (1994), The Great Escape (1995), blur (1997), 13 (1999), Think Tank (2003), The Magic Whip (2015) and The Ballad of Darren (2023).
Those shows last July at England’s national stadium are captured in a two-hour concert film, also titled Live at Wembley Stadium, due out in cinemas Sept. 6 through Altitude Films.
Close behind is Rite Here Rite Now (Loma Vista), the soundtrack to Ghost’s concert film of the same name. The Swedish heavy metal outfit recorded the project at LA’s Kia Forum in September 2023. When the Official Chart is published late Friday, Aug. 2, Rite Here Rite Now should open at No. 2 for the rockers’ fourth U.K. top 10 following 2018’s Prequelle (No. 10 peak), 2022’s IMPERA (No. 2) and 2023’s Phantomime (No. 8).
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Meanwhile, Eminem’s two-week stay at No. 1 is set to come to a halt. The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) (via Interscope) dips 1-3 on the midweek tally.
Also new to the Chart Update is English singer Sam Tompkins’ hi, my name is insecure (Island), set for a No. 5 start. That would give the singer-songwriter a career-high, after 2022 release Who Do You Pray To? peaked at No. 7.
Following her stunning performance during the 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris, Celine Dion’s catalog is enjoying extra love from her fans in the U.K. The Canadian superstar’s 2016 release My Love – The Essential Collection (Columbia) rises 40 spots up the midweek chart, and is predicted to return to the top 40, at No. 29. The Canadian superstar singer performed Edith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour” on the Eiffel Tower, marking her first public performance since being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome in 2022.
