Most UK No.1 albums

On 29 January 2026, Robbie Williams (UK) scored his 16th solo No.1 on the UK Official Albums Chart with Britpop. Williams’ 14th studio album broke a UK chart record held for a quarter of a century by The Beatles, who amassed 15 No.1 albums between May 1963 (Please Please Me) and November 2000 (1). Williams had previously equalled the feat of the “Fab Four” when the soundtrack to the biographical film Better Man (2024) debuted at No.1 on 30 January 2025.

Williams’ 16 UK No.1 albums (1998–2026) are: Life thru a Lens (1998 – 2 weeks at No.1); I’ve Been Expecting You (1998–99 – 3 weeks at No.1); Sing When You’re Winning (2000 – 3 weeks at No.1); Swing When You’re Winning (2001–02 – 7 weeks at No.1); Escapology (2002–03 – 7 weeks at No.1); Greatest Hits (2004–05 – 4 weeks at No.1); Intensive Care (2005 – 1 week at No.1); Rudebox (2006 – 1 week at No.1); In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010 (2010 – 1 week at No.1); Take the Crown (2012 – 1 week at No.1); Swings Both Ways (2013–14 – 4 weeks at No.1); The Heavy Entertainment Show (2016 – 1 week at No.1); The Christmas Present (2019 – 1 week at No.1); XXV (2022 – 1 week at No.1); Better Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2025 – 1 week at No.1); Britpop (2026 – 1 week at No.1).

Combined, these 16 albums have spent 39 weeks at No.1 on the UK Official Albums Chart. Fourteen of Williams’ UK No.1s debuted at the top; the exceptions are Life thru a Lens, which entered the chart at No.11 on 11 October 1997 but only reached No.1 on 18 April 1998, and The Christmas Present, which debuted at No.2 on 5 December 2019 before climbing to No.1 a week later.

Williams has had a total of 18 entries on the UK Albums Chart, meaning that just two releases – Live at Knebworth (2003) and Reality Killed the Video Star (2009) – have failed to land at No.1. Both albums peaked at No.2.

Including the three No.1s Williams released as a member of Take That – Everything Changes (1993), Nobody Else (1995) and Progress (2010) – plus the chart-topping Greatest Hits compilation from 1996, released after Williams’ departure but featuring singles from the group’s first three studio albums as a five-piece (1992–95), the award-winning singer/songwriter from Stoke-on-Trent has topped the UK Official Albums Chart with 20 different albums during his career. Only Paul McCartney (23) has scored more UK No.1 albums, including 15 with The Beatles.

Britpop the album follows Williams’ stadium tour of the same name, which began in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 31 May 2025. With more dates to come in 2026, the tour has attracted some 1.2 million fans in the UK and Europe.