The UK Albums Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom.[1][2][3] Since 2004 the chart has been based on the sales of both physical albums and digital downloads. This list shows albums that peaked in the top ten of the UK Albums Chart during 2015, as well as albums which peaked in 2014 and 2016 but were in the top ten in 2015. The entry date is when the album appeared in the top ten for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).
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One-hundred and sixty-nine albums were in the top 10 this year. Fifteen albums from 2014 remained in the top ten for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while A Head Full of Dreams by Coldplay was released in 2015 but did not reach its peak until 2016. Hozier by Hozier was the only album from 2014 to reach its peak in 2015. James Bay, Jess Glynne, Years & Years and The Weeknd were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top-ten album in 2015.
The first new number-one album of the year was Uptown Special by Mark Ronson. Overall, thirty-five different albums peaked at number one in 2015, with thirty-five unique artists hitting that position.
Background
editChart debuts
editThe following table (collapsed on desktop site) does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo album, or featured appearances on compilations or other artists recordings.
Best-selling albums
editAdele had the best-selling album of the year with 25. × by Ed Sheeran came in second place. Sam Smith's In the Lonely Hour, If I Can Dream from Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Purpose by Justin Bieber made up the top five. Albums by Taylor Swift, Jess Glynne, James Bay, Coldplay and George Ezra were also in the top ten best-selling albums of the year.
Top-ten albums
edit- Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ‡ | Album peaked in 2014 but still in chart in 2015. |
| ♦ | Album released in 2015 but peaked in 2016. |
| (#) | Year-end top-ten album position and rank |
| Entered | The date that the album first appeared in the chart. |
| Peak | Highest position that the album reached in the UK Albums Chart. |
| Entered (week ending) |
Weeks in top 10 |
Album | Artist | Peak | Peak reached (week ending) |
Weeks at peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albums in 2014 | ||||||
| 22 March 2014 | 29 | A Perfect Contradiction ‡ | Paloma Faith | 2 | 22 March 2014 | 2 |
| 26 April 2014 | 23 | Caustic Love ‡ | Paolo Nutini | 1 | 26 April 2014 | 3 |
| 7 June 2014 | 76 | In The Lonely Hour ‡ (#3) | Sam Smith | 1 | 7 June 2014 | 8 |
| 5 July 2014 | 77 | × ‡ (#2) | Ed Sheeran | 1 | 5 July 2014 | 13 |
| 12 July 2014 | 47 | Wanted on Voyage ‡ (#10) | George Ezra | 1 | 11 October 2014 | 4 |
| 6 September 2014 | 7 | Royal Blood ‡ | Royal Blood | 1 | 6 September 2014 | 1 |
| 27 September 2014 | 6 | No Sound Without Silence ‡ | The Script | 1 | 27 September 2014 | 1 |
| 18 October 2014 | 15 | Hozier | Hozier | 3 | 23 May 2015 | 1 |
| 25 October 2014 | 7 | Chapter One ‡ | Ella Henderson | 1 | 25 October 2014 | 1 |
| 8 November 2014 | 43 | 1989 ‡ (#6) | Taylor Swift | 1 | 8 November 2014 | 1 |
| 15 November 2014 | 3 | Motion ‡ | Calvin Harris | 2 | 15 November 2014 | 1 |
| 29 November 2014 | 9 | Four ‡ | One Direction | 1 | 29 November 2014 | 1 |
| 6 December 2014 | 11 | Never Been Better ‡ | Olly Murs | 1 | 6 December 2014 | 1 |
| 13 December 2014 | 4 | III ‡ | Take That | 1 | 13 December 2014 | 1 |
| 20 December 2014 | 3 | Christmas ‡ | Michael Bublé | 7 | 27 December 2014 | 1 |
| Albums in 2015 | ||||||
| 31 January 2015 | 3 | Uptown Special | Mark Ronson | 1 | 31 January 2015 | 1 |
| 2 | American Beauty/American Psycho | Fall Out Boy | 2 | 31 January 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | The Mindsweep | Enter Shikari | 6 | 31 January 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance | Belle and Sebastian | 9 | 31 January 2015 | 1 | |
| 7 February 2015 | 11 | Title | Meghan Trainor | 1 | 7 February 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Modern Nature | The Charlatans | 7 | 7 February 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Unguarded | Rae Morris | 9 | 7 February 2015 | 1 | |
| 14 February 2015 | 2 | Shadows in the Night | Bob Dylan | 1 | 14 February 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | 8 | 14 February 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Full Speed | Kid Ink | 10 | 14 February 2015 | 1 | |
| 21 February 2015 | 2 | If You're Reading This It's Too Late | Drake | 3 | 21 February 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Coming Up for Air | Kodaline | 4 | 21 February 2015 | 1 | |
| 2 | Liquid Spirit | Gregory Porter | 9 | 7 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 28 February 2015 | 2 | Smoke + Mirrors | Imagine Dragons | 1 | 28 February 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Texas 25 | Texas | 5 | 28 February 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Wonder Days | Thunder | 9 | 28 February 2015 | 1 | |
| 7 March 2015 | 1 | Physical Graffiti: Deluxe Edition | Led Zeppelin | 6 | 7 March 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Fan of a Fan: The Album | Chris Brown & Tyga | 7 | 7 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 14 March 2015 | 4 | Chasing Yesterday | Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds | 1 | 14 March 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Piece by Piece | Kelly Clarkson | 6 | 14 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 2 | Sweet Soul Music | The Overtones | 8 | 14 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Brave | The Shires | 10 | 14 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 21 March 2015 | 1 | Rebel Heart | Madonna | 2 | 21 March 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Lady Sings the Blues | Rebecca Ferguson | 7 | 21 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 28 March 2015 | 2 | To Pimp a Butterfly | Kendrick Lamar | 1 | 28 March 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Tracker | Mark Knopfler | 3 | 28 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Duets: Re-working the Catalogue | Van Morrison | 5 | 28 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Froot | Marina and the Diamonds | 10 | 28 March 2015 | 1 | |
| 4 April 2015 | 32 | Chaos and the Calm (#8) | James Bay | 1 | 4 April 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Sonic Soul Surfer | Seasick Steve | 4 | 4 April 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Short Movie | Laura Marling | 7 | 4 April 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | For All My Sisters | The Cribs | 9 | 4 April 2015 | 1 | |
| 11 April 2015 | 3 | The Day Is My Enemy | The Prodigy | 1 | 11 April 2015 | 1 |
| 6 | 1000 Forms of Fear | Sia | 5 | 11 April 2015 | 2 | |
| 1 | Carrie & Lowell | Sufjan Stevens | 6 | 11 April 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Young Chasers | Circa Waves | 10 | 11 April 2015 | 1 | |
| 18 April 2015 | 1 | Future Hearts | All Time Low | 1 | 18 April 2015 | 1 |
| 25 April 2015 | 9 | The Ultimate Collection | Paul Simon | 1 | 25 April 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Glitterbug | The Wombats | 5 | 25 April 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Into the Wild Life | Halestorm | 10 | 25 April 2015 | 1 | |
| 2 May 2015 | 2 | Stages | Josh Groban | 1 | 2 May 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Sound & Color | Alabama Shakes | 6 | 2 May 2015 | 1 | |
| 9 May 2015 | 2 | The Magic Whip | Blur | 1 | 9 May 2015 | 1 |
| 16 May 2015 | 7 | Wilder Mind | Mumford & Sons | 1 | 16 May 2015 | 2 |
| 23 May 2015 | 1 | Forever Man | Eric Clapton | 8 | 23 May 2015 | 1 |
| 30 May 2015 | 2 | The Desired Effect | Brandon Flowers | 1 | 30 May 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Saturns Pattern | Paul Weller | 2 | 30 May 2015 | 1 | |
| 2 | Sol Invictus | Faith No More | 6 | 30 May 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Number 1 to Infinity | Mariah Carey | 8 | 30 May 2015 | 1 | |
| 6 June 2015 | 2 | 85% Proof | Will Young | 1 | 6 June 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | English Graffiti | The Vaccines | 2 | 6 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | At. Long. Last. ASAP | ASAP Rocky | 10 | 6 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 13 June 2015 | 10 | How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful | Florence and the Machine | 1 | 13 June 2015 | 2 |
| 2 | Act Two | Collabro | 2 | 13 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | In Colour | Jamie xx | 3 | 13 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Big Love | Simply Red | 4 | 13 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Are You Satisfied? | Slaves | 8 | 13 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 20 June 2015 | 5 | Drones | Muse | 1 | 20 June 2015 | 2 |
| 1 | Alternative Light Source | Leftfield | 6 | 20 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Sticky Fingers | The Rolling Stones | 7 | 20 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Beneath the Skin | Of Monsters and Men | 10 | 20 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 27 June 2015 | 1 | Before This World | James Taylor | 4 | 27 June 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | The Very Best of Glenn Miller | Glenn Miller | 6 | 27 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | The Original High | Adam Lambert | 8 | 27 June 2015 | 1 | |
| 2 | The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac | Fleetwood Mac | 7 | 23 July 2015 | 1 | |
| 4 July 2015 | 1 | My Love Is Cool | Wolf Alice | 2 | 4 July 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Get to Heaven | Everything Everything | 7 | 4 July 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Coming Home | Leon Bridges | 8 | 4 July 2015 | 1 | |
| 9 July 2015 | 5 | The Definitive Collection | Lionel Richie & The Commodores | 1 | 9 July 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Still | Richard Thompson | 10 | 9 July 2015 | 1 | |
| 16 July 2015 | 1 | The Long Way Home | Krept and Konan | 2 | 16 July 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Young Blood | Saint Raymond | 8 | 16 July 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Work It Out | Lucy Rose | 9 | 16 July 2015 | 1 | |
| 23 July 2015 | 7 | Communion | Years & Years | 1 | 23 July 2015 | 2 |
| 1 | + | Ed Sheeran | 9 | 23 July 2015 | 1 | |
| 30 July 2015 | 1 | Currents | Tame Impala | 3 | 30 July 2015 | 1 |
| 6 August 2015 | 1 | Born in the Echoes | The Chemical Brothers | 1 | 6 August 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | VII: Sturm und Drang | Lamb of God | 7 | 6 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Walk with Me (EP) | Bugzy Malone | 8 | 6 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Amused to Death | Roger Waters | 10 | 6 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 13 August 2015 | 2 | Marks to Prove It | The Maccabees | 1 | 13 August 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Blood | Lianne La Havas | 2 | 13 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Coda: Deluxe Edition | Led Zeppelin | 9 | 13 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Presence: Deluxe Edition | 10 | 13 August 2015 | 1 | ||
| 20 August 2015 | 4 | Compton | Dr. Dre | 1 | 20 August 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Positive Songs for Negative People | Frank Turner | 2 | 20 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Automatic | Don Broco | 6 | 20 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 5 | The Very Best of Cilla Black | Cilla Black | 1 | 27 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 27 August 2015 | 1 | Venom | Bullet for My Valentine | 3 | 27 August 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Life's Not out to Get You | Neck Deep | 8 | 27 August 2015 | 1 | |
| 3 September 2015 | 42 | I Cry When I Laugh (#7) | Jess Glynne | 1 | 3 September 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Burning Bridges | Bon Jovi | 3 | 3 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | 143 | Bars and Melody | 4 | 3 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Immortalized | Disturbed | 8 | 3 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 10 September 2015 | 7 | Beauty Behind the Madness | The Weeknd | 1 | 10 September 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | What Went Down | Foals | 3 | 10 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Feline | Ella Eyre | 4 | 10 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Badlands | Halsey | 9 | 10 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Bad Magic | Motörhead | 10 | 10 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 17 September 2015 | 2 | The Book of Souls | Iron Maiden | 1 | 17 September 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Wild (EP) | Troye Sivan | 5 | 17 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Got Your Six | Five Finger Death Punch | 6 | 17 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Cast in Steel | A-ha | 8 | 17 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 24 September 2015 | 3 | Keep the Village Alive | Stereophonics | 1 | 24 September 2015 | 1 |
| 2 | That's the Spirit | Bring Me the Horizon | 2 | 24 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Anthems for Doomed Youth | The Libertines | 3 | 24 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Paper Gods | Duran Duran | 5 | 24 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Hollow Meadows | Richard Hawley | 9 | 24 September 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 October 2015 | 4 | Rattle That Lock | David Gilmour | 1 | 1 October 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Honeymoon | Lana Del Rey | 2 | 1 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | 75 at 75 | Cliff Richard | 4 | 1 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | What a Time to Be Alive | Drake and Future | 6 | 1 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Crosseyed Heart | Keith Richards | 7 | 1 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 8 October 2015 | 2 | Caracal | Disclosure | 1 | 8 October 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Music Complete | New Order | 2 | 8 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Every Open Eye | Chvrches | 4 | 8 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Cass County | Don Henley | 7 | 8 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 15 October 2015 | 2 | We the Generation | Rudimental | 1 | 15 October 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | In Dream | Editors | 5 | 15 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Stories | Avicii | 9 | 15 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 22 October 2015 | 1 | Faithless 2.0 | Faithless | 1 | 22 October 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | The Documentary 2 | The Game | 4 | 22 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Grey Tickles, Black Pressure | John Grant | 5 | 22 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 29 October 2015 | 2 | Jamie Lawson | Jamie Lawson | 1 | 29 October 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Revolve | John Newman | 3 | 29 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Come Fly with Me | Peter Andre | 5 | 29 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Confident | Demi Lovato | 6 | 29 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Nothing but Thieves | Nothing but Thieves | 7 | 29 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Electronica 1: The Time Machine | Jean-Michel Jarre | 8 | 29 October 2015 | 1 | |
| 5 November 2015 | 1 | Sounds Good Feels Good | 5 Seconds of Summer | 1 | 5 November 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Get Up | Bryan Adams | 2 | 5 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 2 | Cinema | Andrea Bocelli | 3 | 5 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Wisdom, Laughter and Lines | Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott | 4 | 5 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | The Hank Williams Songbook | Daniel O'Donnell | 5 | 5 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Divers | Joanna Newsom | 10 | 5 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 12 November 2015 | 13 | If I Can Dream (#4) | Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | 1 | 12 November 2015 | 2 |
| 8 | Another Country | Rod Stewart | 2 | 12 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Courting the Squall | Guy Garvey | 3 | 12 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Higher Than Here | James Morrison | 7 | 12 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Jack Pack | Jack Pack | 8 | 12 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Always: The Very Best of Erasure | Erasure | 9 | 12 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 19 November 2015 | 20 | Get Weird | Little Mix | 2 | 19 November 2015 | 1 |
| 1 | Delirium | Ellie Goulding | 3 | 19 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | 1 | The Beatles | 5 | 19 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | A Year of Songs | Alexander Armstrong | 6 | 19 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Ultimate Collection | Anastacia | 10 | 19 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 26 November 2015 | 9 | Made in the A.M. | One Direction | 1 | 26 November 2015 | 1 |
| 33 | Purpose (#5) | Justin Bieber | 2 | 26 November 2015 | 2 | |
| 6 | Alone in the Universe | Jeff Lynne's ELO | 4 | 26 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Roman Holiday | Andre Rieu & the Johann Strauss Orchestra | 8 | 26 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 1 | Ben Haenow | Ben Haenow | 10 | 26 November 2015 | 1 | |
| 3 December 2015 | 43 | 25 (#1) | Adele | 1 | 3 December 2015 | 13 |
| 4 | Dark Sky Island | Enya | 4 | 3 December 2015 | 1 | |
| 10 December 2015 | 1 | Wake Up | The Vamps | 10 | 10 December 2015 | 1 |
| 17 December 2015 | 30 | A Head Full of Dreams ♦ (#9) | Coldplay | 1 | 18 February 2016 | 1 |
Entries by artist
editThe following table shows artists who achieved two or more top 10 entries in 2015, including albums that reached their peak in 2014. The figures only include main artists, with featured artists and appearances on compilation albums not counted individually for each artist. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 2015 is also shown.
| Entries | Artist | Weeks | Albums |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Led Zeppelin | 3 | Coda: Deluxe Edition, Physical Graffiti: Deluxe Edition, Presence: Deluxe Edition |
| 2 | Ed Sheeran | 48 | +, x |
| One Direction | 10 | Four, Made in the A.M. |
Notes
edit- Brothers in Arms originally peaked at number-one upon its initial release in 1985. It re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 14 February 2015 (week ending) for one week after it was made available at a discounted price on digital music retailers.
- The Very Best of Glenn Miller originally peaked at number 4 upon its initial release in 2010.
- The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 23 July 2015 (week ending). It originally peaked at number 7 upon its initial release in 2002. The album reached a brand new peak of number 6 in 2009.
- The Definitive Collection originally peaked at number 10 upon its initial release in 2003. It made its ultimate peak of number-one in 2015 following Lionel Richie's performance at that year's Glastonbury festival.
- Amused to Death originally peaked at number 8 upon its initial release in 1992.
- The Very Best of Cilla Black originally peaked outside the top 10 at number 37 upon its initial release in 2013. In 2014, after the transmission of the ITV biopic Cilla, starring Sheridan Smith, the album re-entered the chart and peaked at number 26. It would ultimately make its peak of number-one following Cilla Black's death in August 2015.
- 1 originally peaked at number-one upon its initial release in 2000. It re-entered the top 10 at number 5 on 19 November 2015 (week ending) for one week, following the release of the deluxe edition of the album, entitled 1+
- Figure includes album that peaked in 2014.
See also
editReferences
editGeneral
- "Six decades of singles charts". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
Specific
- ^ "The Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- ^ Roberts, David (2005). Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums (18th ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 14. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
- ^ "New singles formats to save the charts". BBC News. 16 October 2003. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
External links
edit- 2015 album chart archive at the Official Charts Company (click on relevant week)