List of UK Albums Chart Number Ones

List Of UK Albums Chart Number Ones

This is a list of the number one hits in the UK Albums Chart, from its inception in 1956 to the present. The sources are the Record Mirror chart from 1956 to the end of 1958, the Melody Maker chart from November 1958 to March 1960, the Record Retailer chart from March 1960 to March 1972 and the Music Week chart from then onwards. In January 1989 the compilation album chart started, and compilation albums were excluded from the main chart.

• List of number-one albums from the 1950s (UK)
• List of number-one albums from the 1960s (UK)
• List of number-one albums from the 1970s (UK)
• List of number-one albums from the 1980s (UK)
• List of number-one albums from the 1990s (UK)
• List of number-one albums from the 2000s (UK)
• List of number-one albums from the 2010s (UK)

The first number one album was Frank Sinatra's Songs for Swingin' Lovers. For its first few years the chart was usually topped by a musical soundtrack or original cast recording, but rock albums steadily gained ground. Rock was dominant after the release of The Beatles first LP in 1963, except for the two and a half year spell later in the 1960s when the soundtrack of The Sound of Music went to the top of the charts repeatedly. As of the week ending 12 May 2010, 946 albums have topped the UK albums chart.