The Weeknd secures the Official biggest album of 2023 to date with The Highlights, the Official Charts Company can reveal.
The Canadian singer-songwriter, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, reigns atop the newly-unveiled list with his 2021 hits collection, which peaked at Number 2 on the Official Albums Chart upon its release.
The Weeknd’s 2016 album Starboy also features at Number 25 on the list, thanks in part to the release of a remix of its single Die For You featuring Ariana Grande which gained popularity on TikTok.
Having broken records in 2022, Taylor Swift’s Midnights lands at Number 2 on the biggest albums of 2023 so far. The release of Taylor’s tenth studio album, which has spent a total of five non-consecutive weeks at Number 1 to date, surpassing a record previously held by Madonna as she claimed nine UK Number 1 albums in the fastest succession of any female artist in Official Charts history.
Taylor also boasts three further entries in the year-to-date Top 40; 2014 LP 1989 (23), 2020’s folklore (28) and 2019 release Lover (31).
SZA lands at Number 3 with her acclaimed second studio album SOS. Similarly, the record’s lead single Kill Bill boasts the title of the year’s third-biggest song so far.
The biggest new release of 2023 comes courtesy of Pink, with her ninth studio LP TRUSTFALL (4). Having provided the Pennsylvania-born singer-songwriter a fourth Number 1 record in February, TRUSTFALL claims the title of both the most-downloaded and most-purchased album on physical formats of 2023 so far.
Rounding out the year-to-date Top 5 is Harry Styles’ Harry’s House. After being crowned 2022’s Official biggest album overall, its success continues into 2023 thanks to a BRIT Awards Best British Album win and Harry’s ongoing Love On Tour stadium shows.
A host of greatest hits collections are present in the year-to-date ranking: Eminem’s Curtain Call: The Hits (6), Diamonds by Elton John (8), Fleetwood Mac’s 50 Years – Don’t Stop (9), and ABBA’s Gold – Greatest Hits (10) all secure a spot in the Top 10.
Lana Del Rey’s landmark sixth Number 1 album Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. is the second-biggest new LP of 2023 to make the list (18), and second biggest title on physical formats. This eighth full-length studio release saw Lana level with the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Pink Floyd earlier this month; all boasting UK chart-topping albums six apiece.
Another new 2023 release on the year-to-date list comes courtesy of Gorillaz, with their eighth studio album Cracker Island (29). In March, the record provided the virtual group their second chart-topping LP and first in 17 years.
London-born rapper Clavish’s 2023 debut mixtape Rap Game Awful is just behind at Number 30 having only been released in January.
More chart-topping 2023 releases in the Top 40 come from Miley Cyrus’s Endless Summer Vacation (33) - the parent album of 2023’s Official biggest song to date, Flowers – Sam Smith’s fourth studio album Gloria (34), and Paramore’s genre-defying comeback This Is Why (36).
