Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Blur score sixth number one album in 20 years with The Magic Whip

Midweek sales figures from the Official Charts Company revealed the new 12-track album was outselling the rest of the top five put together

Daisy Wyatt
Tuesday 05 May 2015 09:31 EDT
Comments
Dave Rowntree with Blur in 2012
Dave Rowntree with Blur in 2012 (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Blur have scored their first number one album in 12 years with their latest record The Magic Whip.

The album marks the band’s sixth chart-topping record after Think Tank (2003), 13 (1999), Blur (1997), The Great Escape (1995) and Parklife (1994).

The Magic Whip was announced out of the blue in February and is inspired by the band’s travels in Asia.

The album is Blur’s first number one a as a foursome since 13 in 1999, after which Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn left to pursue other projects.

The Britpop group will become the first ever to play Hyde Park four times after headlining British Summer Time Hyde Park on Saturday 20 June.

Elsewhere in the charts, Taylor Swift’s 1989 album leaps from tenth place to number two, while James Bay’s debut album Chaos And The Calm jumps two places to number three.

US rockers Imagine Dragons enter the chart at number 10 with their second album Smoke + Mirrors, and Mark Ronson’s Uptown Special re-enters the Top 40 at number 15.

Take That, who kicked off their UK tour this week, climb 42 places to Number 35 with III, and US country group Zac Brown Band score their first UK Top 40 album Jekyll + Hyde at 36.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in