Album Number Ones

There are many memorable UK Christmas number one singles. They tickle our senses and catapult us back into a festive time and place. But how many UK Christmas number one albums can we recall?

The cold truth is that although a chart-topping album is good news for the artist and record company – after all Christmas sales considerably boost the coffers – it has simply not been afforded the same prestige as a Christmas number one single. Maybe the changing way music is sought and bought is altering this somewhat. Regardless, performers who have not hit the ultimate heights in the Christmas singles chart have made their festive presence felt in the album charts – including Elton John, Madonna, Rod Stewart and Take That.

Soundtracks dominated the early charts, The Beatles ruled the sixties, while compilations were trending in the eighties. However, from January 14^th 1989, compilation albums were no longer included in the UK album charts. Let’s be honest, it was dull seeing record companies, rather than performers, going head-to-head with thrown-together collections.

The Beatles have had seven No.1 albums at Christmas, Robbie Williams has had four (he was also part of Take That’s “Progress” album) and Take That have had three – all in their second incarnation. Interestingly, only two Christmas albums have reached the top of the UK album charts at Christmas – one was a compilation in 1985 and the other was from Michael Buble in 2011. That was a remarkable 55-year wait for a solo artist or group to have an album full of Christmas songs sit at number one on Christmas Day. Sir Rod Stewart, aged 74, became the oldest male solo artist to have a number one album in the UK with his 2019 Christmas chart-topper…only to have that record taken from him in 2020 by another Sir, 78-year-old Paul McCartney.