Acts with the most Number 1 albums on the Official UK Chart (2024)

To get one chart-topper is any musician's dream, but just like making your way through a packet of chocolate biscuits, once you've had one, you're desperate for another.

Here are all the acts who have worked up the biggest chart appetites...(We've also revealed the acts with the most weeks at Number 1 at the bottom of the article)

Acts with the most Number 1 albums

Beatles (15)

It was always going to be the Fab Four top of the heap. Over the course of their career, and even beyond their split, John, Paul, George and Ringo have together amassed 15 chart-toppers. Kicking off with debut Please Please Me in 1963, and hitting the top spot 37 years later with hits collection 1 in 2000, The Beatles have spent an incredible 174 weeks at Number 1. Please Please Me was their longest run at the summit, racking up an incredible 30 consecutive weeks at Number 1.See all the Beatles' UK hit singles and albums

Before we move away from the Beatles entirely, let's take a moment to recognise the artist who's had the most Number 1 albums of all, when other work is included: Sir Paul McCartney. Macca's not only hit Number 1 15 times with his Beatles bandmates, he's also reached the top eight further times: seven as a solo artist and again with Wings & Linda McCartney. If we were crowning anyone ruler of the Official Albums Chart, Sir Paul's record of 23 chart-toppers would be pretty much incontestable. And that's why we made him an Official Chart Record Breaker!

MORE: "It's a beautiful feeling" – Paul McCartney named the UK's most successful albums act of all time

Robbie Williams (14)

The Rolling Stones (14)

With fourteen Number 1 albums to their name (including the reissues of Exile on Main Street titled as Exile on Main St and Goats Head Soup titled as Goat's Head Soup), The Rolling Stone have definitely tasted their fair share of success. The four-piece scored their first Number 1 album with their self-titled debut in April 1964 and their latest in October 2023 with Hackney Diamonds. Look back at all of The Rolling Stones' hits and where they charted.

Elvis Presley (13)

In joint-second place, the King of Rock n' Roll – Elvis Presley. His first Number 1 was his UK debut, fittingly titled Elvis Presley Rock n' Roll, which spent a week at the top in November 1956.

60 years later, Elvis swivelled his hips into the chart record books when The Wonder Of You hit the top spot. The album, which featured orchestral reworkings of some of his biggest hits, gave Elvis a 13th chart-topper, making him the solo artist with the most Number 1s. He's spent 66 weeks at the top, second behind The Beatles on that tally too.Take a look at all Elvis Presley's complete Official UK Chart history.

He held the record alone for three years, until Robbie Williams snuck in and broke the record himself.

Solo acts with the most UK Number 1 albums

RANK	ARTIST	NUMBER OF ALBUMS
1	ROBBIE WILLIAMS	14
2	ELVIS PRESLEY	13
3	MADONNA	12
3	BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN	12
5	DAVID BOWIE	11
5	TAYLOR SWIFT	11
7	MICHAEL JACKSON	10
7	ROD STEWART	10
7	EMINEM	10
10	BOB DYLAN	9
10	KYLIE MINOGUE	9
12	CLIFF RICHARD	7
12	ELTON JOHN	7
12	PAUL MCCARTNEY	7
12	GEORGE MICHAEL	7
12	BARBRA STREISAND	7*
12	ED SHEERAN	7

*7 including the A Star Is Born soundtrack, originally credited as 'Original Soundtrack' when it charted at Number 1 in 1977.

Madonna (12)

The female solo star with the most albums to hit the top, and in joint third place overall, is Madonna. She first hit the top in 1985, when sophom*ore album Like A Virgin finally reached Number 1 in its 44th week on the chart, and most recently found herself there in 2012, with MDNA, her 12th chart-topper (if you include the Evita soundtrack, which we do).

Bruce Springsteen (12)

The Boss was Born to Run wild on the Official Albums Chart, and has reached the pinnacle 12 times, some 36 years between his first Number 1 and his most recent. Bruce is now tied behind Madonna, the woman he beat to the top spot in June 2019 with his 19th studio album Western Stars.

The full rundown of artists who've had five or more Number 1 albums, plus how many weeks they spent at the top.

David Bowie (11)

The Thin White Duke has 11 Number 1s to his name, the same amount of chart toppers as The Rolling Stones, but has spent less weeks on top. It wasn't until his fifth release Aladdin Sane that Bowie finally got a Number 1, with five straight weeks at the top, but once he started there was no stopping him.

Bowie's latest two Number 1s came after his death in January 2016, when final album Blackstar and hits collection Best of Bowie both hit the top. He's managed 27 weeks atop the Official Albums Chart altogether.See the full rundown of David Bowie's impressive 48 Top 40 albums.

U2 (11)

Irish rock legends U2 have now scored 11 UK Number 1 albums. When Songs of Surrender entered the Official Albums Chart at Number 1, it became the band's first UK chart-topper in over a decade. Discover U2's Official Charts history in full here.

Taylor Swift (11)

Taylor Swift's run of Number 1 albums has been none other than impressive; She's the woman with most Number 1 albums this century, as well as the quickest time for a woman to accumulate 11 Number 1 albums (it took Tay just 11 years). She's thefemale act with the second-most Number 1 albums in UK chart history;only Madonna, with 12, has more.

The most Number 1s on the Official Albums Chart

	ARTIST	TOTAL NUMBER 1 ALBUMS	WEEKS AT NUMBER 1
1	THE BEATLES	15	176
2	THE ROLLING STONES	14*	49
3	ROBBIE WILLIAMS	14	37
4	ELVIS PRESLEY	13	66
5	MADONNA	12	30
6	BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN	12	18
7	DAVID BOWIE	11	27
8	TAYLOR SWIFT	11	20
9	U2	11	16
10	ROD STEWART	11	33
11	ABBA	10	58
12	MICHAEL JACKSON	10	31
13	EMINEM	10	27
14	QUEEN	10	22
15	TAKE THAT	9	31
16	BOB DYLAN	9	26
17	COLDPLAY	9	19
18	KYLIE MINOGUE	9	15
19	OASIS	8	21
20	LED ZEPPELIN	8	14
21	R.E.M.	8	13
22	STEREOPHONICS	8	12
23	THE KILLERS	8	11
24	WESTLIFE	8	8
25	ED SHEERAN	7	48
26	CLIFF RICHARD	7	30
27	ELTON JOHN	7	29
28	BARBRA STREISAND	7*	20
29	GEORGE MICHAEL	7	16
30	PAUL MCCARTNEY	7	16
31	PRODIGY	7	11
32	MUSE	7	9
32	BLUR	7	9
34	PHIL COLLINS	6	26
35	ARCTIC MONKEYS	6	13
36	GENESIS	6	12
37	PINK FLOYD	6	11
37	KINGS OF LEON	6	11
38	RADIOHEAD	6	9
38	THE SCRIPT	6	9
40	CHEMICAL BROTHERS	6	8
40	LANA DEL REY	6	8
42	KASABIAN	6	7
43	PAUL WELLER	6	6
44	SIMPLY RED	5	26
45	CELINE DION	5	18
46	BOYZONE	5	17
47	POLICE	5	15
48	BON JOVI	5	13
48	PAUL SIMON	5	13
50	KEANE	5	11
51	ERASURE	5	8
52	SIMPLE MINDS	5	7
53	IRON MAIDEN	5	6
53	OLLY MURS	5	6
55	PRINCE	5	5
55	FOO FIGHTERS	5	5
56	GREEN DAY	5	6

*Including reissues of Exile on Main Street and Goats Head Soup, which were classified as new Number 1s due to the volume of new material present and formats available.

Acts with the most weeks at Number 1

As mentioned above, the Beatles and Elvis take the top two spots, but third are Abba, with 58 weeks over their ten chart-topping albums. Their 1976 Greatest Hits was their first chart-topper, while their most recent was comeback record Voyage, which hit Number 1 in 2021.

Next up are veteran rockers Rolling Stones. Mick and the boys have spent 48 weeks at Number 1 since 1964 and their eponymous debut, right up until their latest Number 1, Hackney Diamonds, 59 years later.

Rounding off the top 5 of most weeks at Number 1 is Ed Sheeran who has also celebrated 48 weeks, followed by Adele with 42.

At Number 7 are , who've celebrated 40 weeks. Most remarkable is that this tally takes in just TWO albums. Bookends was their first in 1968, with a seven-week reign, while 1970's Bridge Over Troubled Water notched up 33 weeks at Number 1!

Take a look at the list of Number 1 artists with the most weeks at the top, who've scored 20 weeks or more:

The most weeks at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart

	ARTIST	WEEKS AT TOP	OVER HOW MANY ALBUMS?
1	BEATLES	176	15
2	ELVIS PRESLEY	66	13
3	ABBA	58	10
4	ROLLING STONES	49	14*
5	ED SHEERAN	48	7
6	ADELE	42	4
7	SIMON & GARFUNKEL	40	2
8	ROBBIE WILLIAMS	37	14
9	ROD STEWART	32	10
10	MICHAEL JACKSON	31	10
11	TAKE THAT	31	9
12	MADONNA	30	12
13	EMINEM	30	10
14	ELTON JOHN	30	8
15	CLIFF RICHARD	30	7
16	CARPENTERS	29	3
17	DAVID BOWIE	27	11
18	BOB DYLAN	26	9
19	PHIL COLLINS	26	6
20	SIMPLY RED	26	5
21	QUEEN	22	10
22	DIRE STRAITS	22	4
23	OASIS	21	8
24	THE SHADOWS	21	4
25	TAYLOR SWIFT	20	11
26	BARBRA STREISAND	20	7**

*Including reissues of Exile on Main Street and Goats Head Soup, which were classified as new Number 1s due to the volume of new material present and formats available.

**7 including the A Star Is Born soundtrack, originally credited as 'Original Soundtrack' when it charted at Number 1 in 1977.

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