Foo Fighters End Noel Gallagher’s U.K. Chart Streak
The Foos fought all the way to the finishing line, as But Here We Are (via Columbia) wins a tight U.K. chart race.
Foo Fighters’ 11th and latest studio album becomes their sixth leader in the U.K., racking up 44,500 chart units during the latest cycle.
But Here We Are follows One By One (2002), Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007), Wasting Light (2011), Concrete And Gold (2017) and their most recent effort, 2021’s Medicine At Midnight, by marching to the top of the Official U.K. Albums Chart.
Dave Grohl and Co. are currently on the road supporting the new LP, recorded in the wake of the sudden death last year of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Brits will likely have to wait until 2024 for their tune to catch the Foos in action.
But Here We Are manages to overturn a deficit at the halfway point, to deny Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds another crown with Council Skies (Sour Mash).
The legendary British rocker starts at No. 2 with Council Birds, ending a record-owning streak of 10 studio albums dating back nearly three decades. Gallagher’s unbroken run included all seven albums with Oasis and the previous three with High Flying Birds.
Council Skies, which enjoyed a late push from a digital exclusives campaign powered by Serenade, and finishes the chart week as the best-seller on wax, is Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds fifth top 5 title on the Official Chart.
Further down the list, published Friday, June 9, Sophie Ellis-Bextor bags her fifth U.K. top 10, as HANA (Cooking Vinyl) bows at No. 8, while another veteran British pop artist, Louise, just misses out on a top tier berth with Greatest Hits (BMG), new at No. 11.
Finally, Bob Dylan lands a 67th career top 40 entry with Shadow Kingdom (Sony Music CG). The new album, a collection of studio recordings of the songs that appeared in the master songwriter’s 2021 streaming special, starts at No. 14 on the U.K. survey.
Lars Brandle
Billboard