2024 was surely a wild year for album releases, with many new artists climbed charts and new releases broke records. The BRIT award for best album is going to be hard to pick. Nevertheless, the year is not over yet and there’s still a couple weeks left for a new album to make its way to the top spots of the UK charts.
Congratulations to @kendricklamar, GNX is the acclaimed MCs 2nd UK Number 1 album! https://t.co/Tzs7PSLhGv
— Official Charts (@officialcharts) November 29, 2024
Currently, the number one album in the UK is Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX” which was released only a week ago and debuted right at the top spot. It is the artist’s second album to achieve the position, and a few songs off the album are featuring on the singles charts. After Kendrick Lamar, London-born singer songwriter Micheal Kiwanuka holds the number one position with “Small Changes” which was released on November 22 and has only been charting for one week. Kiwanuka’s earlier albums such as “Love and Hate” and “Kiwanuka” received critical acclaim and peaked at number one (for one week) and number two. Thanks to his previous releases, the British artist has been nominated for a Mercury Prize earlier in his career and, most recently, a BRIT.
He put up a brave fight for Number 1…but @michaelkiwanuka still secures his fourth consecutive Top 10 album! https://t.co/Tzs7PSLhGv pic.twitter.com/WuRvkBGQrJ — Official Charts (@officialcharts) November 29, 2024
At number three Sabrina Carpenter is still topping charts with record-breaking “Short n Sweet”. At its 14th week charting, after peaking at number one, it looks like it won’t be leaving the charts anytime soon. With the undisputed summer hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”, Sabrina Carpenter has finally gained the popular and critical acclaim that her previous albums lacked. “Short n Sweet” is the artist’s first album to achieve the UK’s top ten; her previous release “Emails I can’t Send” peaked at number 41.
Linkin Park holds the fourth position with their latest release “From Zero”, which had previously peaked at number one in its debut week. It is the first release from Linkin Park with their new line-up and after their former front man Chester Bennington passed away. “From Zero” is the band’s fourth album to achieve the number one position on UK charts. The song “The Emptiness Machine” off the album debuted at number four when first released, becoming the band’s sixth song to chart in the UK top ten.
Lastly, at number five there’s another album that made headlines and became a cultural even this year, and it’s Charli xcx’s “Brat”. Brat became the word of the year and the very recognizable shade of green on the album cover is pretty much everywhere. The album has been charting for 25 weeks and peaked at number one. It is Charli xcx’s second album to achieve the number one position after “Crash” in 2022. The Essex-born artist will be headlining Victoria Park next summer.
Honorable mentions outside the top five are Chappell Roan’s “The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess” which, despite being released in 2023, is still topping charts, The Weeknd’s “The Highlights” on its 199th week charting, and Elton John’s “Diamonds” which has never achieved the number one position but has been charting for 368 weeks.
