Charts analysis: Michael Jackson holds off strong Westlife chart challenge

In pursuit of their ninth No.1 album, Westlife established a huge lead in early sales flashes with 25: The Ultimate Collection but ultimately have to settle for their fourth No.2 album (26,783 sales), with Michael Jackson’s 2005 compilation, The Essential, coming through at the death to secure its ninth week at No.1 in all, and its second in a row. 25: The Ultimate Collection adds four new Westlife recordings to different selections of hits and fan favourites across multiple editions, and held a lead in excess of 10,000 units in the first three of the week’s sales flashes. It remained ahead throughout the week, only falling behind in the final chart. It’s not much consolation but it has the highest consumption for a No.2 album for 28 weeks. Its physically-skewed consumption profile – 19,248 CDs, 2,025 vinyl albums, 3,095 cassettes, 710 digital downloads and 1,705 sales-equivalent streams - is very different to The Essential. The continuing box office allure of the biopic Michael helped Jackson’s entire catalogue to register gains week-on-week yet again. The Essential – which continues to cannibalise all streams from Number Ones and Michael – increased consumption 7.38% week-on-week to 31,628 units (404 CDs, 104 digital downloads and 31,120 sales-equivalent streams). Jackson’s studio albums also continue to prosper with 1982 No.1 Thriller (6-5, 11,482 sales), 1987 No.1 Bad (8-6, 9,307 sales) and 1979 No.3 album Off The Wall (47-39, 3,311 sales) all climbing on increased consumption, and being joined in the Top 75 by his 1991 No.1 album, Dangerous (80-74, 2,388 sales), Sheffield rock quintet Reverend & The Makers secure back-to-back Top 10 albums for the first time in their career, as eighth studio set, Is This How Heaven Feels?, opens at No.7 (8,977 sales), three years after its immediate predecessor, Heatwave In The Cold North debuted at No.6 on lower consumption of 7,810 units. It also earns the band its first ever No.1 (3,057 sales) on the vinyl albums chart. R&TM co-founder, lead singer and guitarist, 44-year-old Jon ‘Reverend’ McClure is the only band member to have a writing credit on every track on Is This How Heaven Feels?, which includes collaborations with Robbie Williams and actress Vicky McClure (unrelated). All of R&TM’s albums have made the Top 20, and three have made the Top 10, with 2007 debut, The State Of Things, remaining their highest-charting set, having debuted at No.5. Also spawning their only three chart singles – Heavyweight Champion Of The World (No.8), He Said He Loved Me (No.15) and Open Your Window (No.65). The State Of Things’ consumption of 181,197 units is six times that of any other album by the group, and higher than the rest of their output together. Heavyweight Champion Of The World is similarly commanding in their list of top tracks, with to-date consumption of 575,454 units. The rest of the Top 10: The Great Divide (4-3, 13,263 sales) by Noah Kahan, The Art Of Loving (5-4, 12,380 sales) by Olivia Dean, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (9-8, 7,762 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, Kiss All The Time: Disco, Occasionally (14-9, 6,720 sales) by Harry Styles and You’ll Be Alright, Kid (10-10, 6,645 sales) by Alex Warren. Exiting the Top 10: Fenian (2-29, 3,916 sales) by Kneecap, Sweat (3-98, 1,983 sales) by Melanie C and Middle Of Nowhere (7-116, 1,813 sales) by Kacey Musgraves. As 2011 single The One That Got Away returns to the Top 40, Katy Perry’s similarly-titled first ever compilation, The Ones That Got The Plays, becomes her seventh chart album. Debuting at No.13 (6,580 sales), it comprises 22 songs, and dropped unexpectedly on Wednesday (May 13). Seventeen years after their formation, 15 years after their first album, and eight years after their last, Suffolk post-punk hardcore quintet Basement’s hard work pays off as their fifth studio set, Wired, debuts at No.16 (5,110 sales). Comprising 37-year-old lead singer Andrew Fisher, 37-year-old lead guitarist Ronan Crix, 37-year-old rhythm guitarist Alex Henery, 34-year-old bassist Duncan Stewart and 33-year-old drummer Alex Fisher, Basement’s only Top 200 appearance hitherto came in 2016, when third album, Promise Everything, reached No.147. It is their biggest seller, with a to-date tally of 13,432 units. Whatever else you might think of him, Chris Brown doesn’t stint on content. His new, 12th studio album Brown (No.17, 5,106 sales), comprising 27 new songs with a playing time of 92 minutes, arrives 18 months after its predecessor 11:11, a collection of 22 songs which, rather pleasingly given its title, debuted at No.11, and was later expanded to 35 songs with a playing time of 110 minutes. Eighteen months before that, he released Breezy, which reached No.6, starting out with 23 tracks, and ultimately 35 with 116 minutes playing time. So, Brown has released three albums in just under four years, with a combined tally of 97 new songs (all of which he co-wrote), with a playing time well in excess of five hours. You have to admire the work ethic of the 37-year-old R&B singer from Virgina, who has charted 14 albums here since his 2005 debut, including collaborations with Tyga and Young Thug. Manchester indie quartet The Covasettes have been releasing songs since 2017, but their first full-length album is Honeymoon Forever, which debuts at No.34 (3,554 sales). Also new to the Top 75: Wild At Heart (No.61, 2,557 sales), a collection of self-penned, previously unreleased, newly-tweaked 2007 recordings by 85-year-old Neil Diamond, delivering his 45th chart album; A Man Of Two Worlds (No.63, 2,518 sales), the first album of new material in 12-years by 72-year-old Ultravox/Visage legend Midge Ure and his sixth charted solo set; Dancing On The Wall (No.64, 2,517 sales), the fourth studio album by Californian indie band Muna, who previously charted (No.61), with their eponymous third album in 2022; and Vindicate (No.72, 2,423 sales), the seventh album by American rock band Black Veil Brides, and the first to miss the Top 20. A year to the week after debuting at No.1, Sleep Token’s fourth album Even In Arcadia is available in new CD and vinyl editions, hence its re-entry at No.51 (2,799 sales). The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is prised from the No.1 slot on the compilation chart for only the fourth time in its 47-week chart tenure, dipping to No.2 (4,285 sales), behind Now Yearbook 1972 (156-1, 4,923 sales including 4,115 CDs, 584 vinyl albums and 224 digital downloads). The 16th regular Now Yearbook album to reach No.1 – the 24th including Yearbook Extra and Final Chapter editions – it is the newest of a total of 61 releases with Now Yearbook at the start of their titles. With a total of 80 songs by 73 artists, it includes several non-hits, namely The Candy Man by Sammy Davis Jr., If Not For You by Bob Dylan, Anticipation by Carly Simon and The Way Of Love by Cher. Overall album sales are down 0.98% week-on-week to 2,566,934 units, 1.55% below same week 2025 sales of 2,607,414. Physical product accounts for 284,994 sales, 11.10% of the total. PHOTO: K Mazur/Getty

Charts analysis: Rein Me In spends 10th week at singles summit

On its 29th week in the Top 10 and 46th consecutive week in the Top 40, Rein Me In secures its 10th week at No.1 for Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – and it’s further ahead in percentage terms than at any time during its reign. Although its consumption slips 2.84% week-on-week to 56,538 units (23 7-inch vinyl, 726 digital downloads and 55,789 sales-equivalent streams), it has a 65.79% lead over Dracula (4-2, 34,102 sales), which returns to peak for Tame Impala, although it has the lowest consumption for a No.2 for 60 weeks. Rein Me In’s lead is the biggest in percentage terms for a No.1 for 48 weeks. Four weeks after reaching its previous peak of No.12, Midnight Sun shines 19-7 (28,318 sales) for Zara Larsson, buoyed by streaming of the newly expanded version of the album of the same name. Eclipsing her viral revival Lush Life (8-9, 27,048 sales), which peaked at No.3 in 2014 and again this year, Midnight Sun is Larsson’s seventh Top 10 entry and becomes her 12th song to go gold, with to-date consumption of 416,717 units. For its part, Lush Life has spent 31 weeks in the Top 10 in all - a total exceeded by only seven songs in chart history - and is days away from going sextuple platinum (3,590,695 sales). Consumption of music by Michael Jackson started to grow strongly after the screening of the BBC’s new three-part TV documentary An American Tragedy last month, and increased spectacularly following the release of his new biopic Michael, which sits atop the box office chart despite largely negative reviews from critics. Songs by Jackson solo, in collaborations and with the Jacksons/Jackson 5 achieved consumption of 428,066 units in the latest frame. The charge is being led by Billie Jean, which soars 13-4 (31,831 sales) this week, with Beat It (22-10, 25,404 sales) and Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (23-15, 23,491 sales) following in its wake. That’s the maximum MJ tracks allowed in the Top 75 under primary artist rules, leaving a further 12 ‘starred-out’, of which the one making the biggest impression is Human Nature, a track off Thriller, which wasn’t a UK single at the time, and only appeared in the chart in 2009, when it reached No.62, immediately after Jackson’s death. It was very nearly his final track under primary artist rules this week, being ‘starred-out’ immediately behind Don’t Stop… with consumption of 22,279 units. The Jacksons/Jackson 5 are considered separately, and their debut hit, I Want You Back, which reached No.2 in 1970, has escaped ACR to return at No.33 (12,177 sales). Top 10 hits not mentioned to this point: Drop Dead (2-3, 33,088 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo, Fever Dream (5-5, 29,240 sales) by Alex Warren, Beauty And A Beat (3-6, 28,959 sales) by Justin Bieber feat. Nicki Minaj and Homewrecker (7-8, 27,842 sales) by Sombr. Man I Need (9-11, 25,138 sales) by Olivia Dean, Daisies (6-13, 24,750 sales) by Justin Bieber and ACR casualty Babydoll (10-40, 11,456 sales) by Dominic Fike exit the Top 10. The highest new entry is Fine Place To Die (No.20, 17,884 sales), the eighth hit (sixth Top 20) for Alex Warren. Preview track I Feel So Free reached No.90 a fortnight ago for Madonna, but her upcoming Confessions II album surrenders its first Top 75 entry in the form of lead single, Bring Your Love, a collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter. Debuting at No.29 (13,557 sales), it is Madonna’s 73rd hit, and Carpenter’s 19th. Although she has charted in the interim with collaborations and re-entries, it is the first new hit from a Madonna album since 2015, when Living For Love, from Rebel Heart, reached No.26. Sneaking in under the wire, the third and final Top 75 debut this week is Material Lover (No.67, 7,572 sales), the fifth hit from Sienna Spiro, as featured on the new The Devil Wears Prada 2 soundtrack. After slipping back last week, club favourite Free Your Mind returns to growth and reaches a new peak for Prospa & Cloonee, jumping 32-23 (15,537 sales). There are also new peaks for: Earrings (30-26, 13,923 sales) by Malcom Todd, Talk To You (29-28, 13,578 sales) by ANOTR feat. 54 Ultra, Baby Steps (31-30, 13,230 sales) by Olivia Dean, Self Aware (45-36, 11,985 sales) by Temper City, Boston (48-38, 11,596 sales) by Stella Lefty and Noble (71-63, 7,790 sales) by F3miii. The last and lowest-charting of The Chemical Brothers’ 19 Top 75 entries, Go peaked at No.46 in 2015 but it is featured in new Netflix streaming hit Apex, which features Taran Egerton and Charlize Theron and performed well enough last week to escape ACR, precipitating its return to the chart this week, at a new peak of No.22 (15,779 sales). Their first Top 40 hit since 2007, its modest chart performance hitherto masks its popularity – its to-date consumption of 469,947 units places it a lofty third in The Chemical Brothers’ canon, behind Hey Boy, Hey Girl (921,389 units) and Galvanize (647,679 units), ahead of their No.1s, Block Rockin’ Beats (396,672 units) and Setting Sun (231,644 units). Also returning to the chart following viral resurgences are The One That Got Away (No.41, 11,140 sales) by Katy Perry and Unwritten (No.42, 11,014 sales) by Natasha Bedingfield. The latter track, No.6 on first release in 2004, also reached No.12 when it went viral in 2024. The One That Got Away, on the other hand, was a No.18 hit in 2011, bringing to an end a run of five straight Top 10 hits from Perry’s Teenage Dream album. Its resurgence is also aided by the release of a new ‘director’s cut’ video, The One That Got Away is Perry’s ninth most-consumed track (1,604,219 units). Overall singles consumption is down 4.35% week-on-week to 32,258,059 units, 3.65% above same week 2025 sales of 31,122,520 units. Paid-for sales are up 1.54% week-on-week at 274,073, 4.05% above same week 2025 sales of 263,410.

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