We count down the Top 5 studio albums that have spent the longest time at No. 1 in the UK Official Album Chart

Virgin Radio

25 Jul 2019, 11:00

Today marks 55 years to the day that The Beatles' third album, 'A Hard Day’s Night’,  started its 21-week run at the top of the UK Offical Album Chart. To celebrate we're counting down the Top 5 original studio albums that have spent the longest time at the top of the UK Offical Album Chart.

Kicking off our list is Elvis Presley’s soundtrack for ‘G.I Blues’ at the No. 5 spot on the list. It spent 22 weeks as the UK Official Album Chart No. 1 and the album itself was made for the film of the same name which Elvis starred in. Despite Presley and The Beatles being such contenders in the charts at the same time they only crossed paths on one occasion - in 1965 when Elvis allegedly “jammed" with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison at Elvis’ home in California but unfortunately Ringo Star didn’t play with them as they supposedly had left the drums in Memphis.

Having only held the top spot for two weeks longer than The Beatles' ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ with a huge 23 weeks at the top of the UK Offical Album Chart, Adele’s ‘21’ holds the fourth-longest time at number one in the UK Official Album Chart. ‘21’ is an album full of amazing songs and heartbreak but it seems that this heartbreak paid off with the whopping 23 weeks at No. 1 as well as six Grammy Awards the album earned.

Coming in as the joint third longest-reigning No. 1 album in the UK Offical Album Chart is The Beatles' ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ after it stayed in the top spot for an incredible 28 weeks. It is considered one of the first ‘concept albums’. Joining The Beatles also at No. 3 is the Motion Picture Cast recording of ‘The Greatest Showman’ and although this wasn’t Hugh Jackman’s first attempt at musical theatre on the big screen it was his first time to break into the UK Official Album Chart, and what an entrance it was with 28 weeks at No. 1.

Another Beatles classic holds the No. 2 spot on our list with 30 weeks at No. 1 in the UK Official Album Chart, ‘Please Please Me’. Though it is considered a classic now, at the time, especially in America, The Beatles were less well-known which explains why the group’s name was misspelt “Beattles” on the record label's first American release of the record. It’s a 14-track album with songs such as “Please Please me” and “Love Me Do” but reportedly only took The Beatles a mere 12 hours to record!

Finally our No. 1 record in the list with a whopping 33 weeks at the top of the Official UK Album Chart, Simon and Garkfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. The album title and track of the same name came from a gospel phrase which Paul Simon took from a Baptist church hymn. It is the last album Simon and Garfunkel released before their split in 1970 and is still the biggest-selling album ever for Columbia Records.

Figures obtained from: https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/albums-with-the-most-weeks-at-number-1-on-the-official-albums-chart__23234/