Pop star Robbie Williams has equalled The Beatles’ record for most number one albums in the UK chart, the Official Charts Company has said.
Williams’ latest offering, Better Man – a soundtrack to his biopic of the same name, has become his 15th record to top the official albums chart.
He has now matched one of the most influential bands of all time, who secured their 15th number one in 2000 with greatest hits album 1, more than 37 years after their debut studio album Please Please Me topped the charts.
He said: “Thank you to everyone who has supported the album and the movie.
“What a huge honour it is to get my 15th UK Number 1 album.
“A special thank you to all my fans, whose support I never take for granted.
“I’m so proud of the film Better Man, so to have the soundtrack album reach number one makes it even more special.”
His other chart-toppers include Life Thru A Lens (1997), I’ve Been Expecting You (1998), Sing When You’re Winning (2000), Swing When You’re Winning (2001), Escapology (2002), Greatest Hits (2004), Intensive Care (2005) and Rudebox (2006).
There is also In And Out Of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990-2010 (2010), Take The Crown (2012), Swings Both Ways (2013), The Heavy Entertainment Show (2016), The Christmas Present (2019) and XXV (2022).
Before embarking on a solo career, Williams was a member of popular boyband Take That, who have had success with songs including Shine, Relight My Fire, and Pray.
In the film Better Man, directed by Michael Gracey – who also helmed musical The Greatest Showman, the star is played by a CGI chimpanzee, a comment on how he feels like a “performing monkey”.
The film, which has received a best visual effects Oscars nomination, follows Williams’ childhood, time in Take That and his solo career, while exploring the issues fame can bring.
The soundtrack for the film includes his hits Rock DJ, Angels, Let Me Entertain You and Better Man – as well as the Take That track Relight My Fire.
Williams is set to perform in cities across the UK and Europe this summer, with his 2025 tour beginning in Edinburgh on May 31.
Short N’ Sweet by US popstar Sabrina Carpenter is in at number two in the albums chart this week.
The album – containing chart-topping singles Espresso, Please Please Please, and Taste – has been in the UK chart’s top 10 for more than 20 weeks following its release in August 2024.
The rest of the top five is comprised of former chart-topper, The Secret Of Us, by singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams, SOS by R&B singer SZA, and The Highlights by Canadian artist The Weeknd, respectively.
Over in the singles chart, Messy by British breakout star Lola Young has taken the top spot, displacing Abrams’ That’s So True, which is now in at number three.
“Thank you, I love you all so much. Thank you for being there for me, supporting me.
“If you’ve been there from the beginning, or if you’ve just come along, enjoy this journey and I’ll keep making bangers for you lot.”
She added: “This wasn’t expected, but it’s definitely a song I really believed in. It’s a song that I wrote on my own, and it feels really special.
“We all kind of knew it was special, but we didn’t think it’d be this big.”
Apt by Blackpink’s Rose and US star Bruno Mars is in at number two.
