Billie Eilish leads a record-breaking week for women on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart while Liam Gallagher secures his fifth solo #1 at albums.
Eilish claims her second #1 single with “What Was I Made For?” (Interscope) scoring a last-minute victory over Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” (Warner). Both songs are featured on the soundtrack for Barbie.
Female solo artists make up the Top 6 of the Official Singles Chart for the first time in the chart’s 70-year history: Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” (Geffen) is #3; Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” (EMI) lands at #4; Peggy Gou’s “(It Goes Like) Nanana” (XL) takes #5; and the week’s top new entry, Rodrigo’s “bad idea right?,” is #6.
Female power continues in the #7 and #8 slots with “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and Aqua and “Disconnect” by Becky Hill and Chase & Status. The Top 40 includes 24 tracks led by or featuring female artists.
At albums, Gallagher’s live recording of his much-hyped return last year to the site of one of Oasis’s iconic gigs, Knebworth 22 (Warner), follows solo chart-toppers such as As You Were and C’mon You Know. Knebworth 22 is the week’s top seller on vinyl and the most downloaded album.
Swedish rockers The Hives celebrate their highest-ever charting record in the U.K. as sixth album The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (Disques Hives) debuts at #2. It also topped the Official Record Store Chart.
Jungle rounds out an all-new Top 3 with fourth studio album Volcano (Caiola).
Other new arrivals include Unfinished Business from PG Records rapper Fredo at #9 and the 50th anniversary edition of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack (Parlophone) at #10.
Swift’s 1989 (EMI) rises to #5 as she lands six albums in the Top 20: Midnights (#7), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (#8), Lover (#11), folklore (#13) and reputation (#15).
