U.K. MIDWEEKS: ARI, KACEY VIE FOR #1

Ariana Grande is eyeing a second week at #1 on the Official Albums chart, but Kacey Musgraves and Caity Baser are nipping at her heels. At singles, Mark Knopfler’s charity recording is challenging Beyoncé for the U.K. #1.

Fewer than 1k sales units separate Grande’s eternal sunshine (Republic) and Musgraves’ Deeper Well (Interscope), while Baser’s 13-track mixtape Still Learning (EMI) is a little over 1.5k chart units behind Grande.

At #4 is Justin Timberlake’s Everything I Thought I Was (RCA), which is vying to become his sixth U.K. Top 10 album. The Black Crowes’ Happiness Bastards (Silver Arrow) is #7 at mid-week and would be their first Top 10 album in 30 years.

A few reissues are in line for Top 40 debuts: AC/DC’s first #1, Back in Black (Epic), is #10 and Highway to Hell is #22; Paul Young’s 1983 debut, No Parlez (Demon), is #17.

At singles, a nearly 10-minute version of “Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)” by Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes, a supergroup that includes Nile Rodgers, Sting, Joan Jett and Ringo Starr, is leading Beyoncé’s “TEXAS HOLD 'EM” (Parkwood/Columbia) by fewer than 1k chart units.

The BMG-released single benefits the Teenage Cancer Trust U.K. and Teen Cancer America.

BTS member V, aka Kim Tae-hyung, is approaching his first solo U.K. Top 10 single, with “FRI(END)S” (BIGHIT) expected to debut at #7. Dasha’s “Austin” (Version III) is predicted to smash into the Top 20 on Friday, currently up six slots to #19.