List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 1990s
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:UK number-one albums
The UK Albums Chart is a weekly record chart based on album sales from Sunday to Saturday in the United Kingdom; during the 1990s, a total of 216 albums reached number one. Until 1 February 1994, the chart was compiled each week by Gallup – after this date, it was managed by Millward Brown, who expanded the number of sales figures sampled, and extended the use of electronic point of sale machines.<ref name="Key Dates">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From July 1998 onwards, compilation of the chart was overseen by the Chart Information Network, jointly operated by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the British Association of Record Dealers.<ref name="Key Dates"/> Throughout the decade, the chart was based solely on physical album sales, and each week's number one was first announced on Sunday evenings on The Radio 1 Chart Show.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The most successful artist of the 1990s was British band Simply Red, who topped the UK Albums Chart for 19 weeks with four different albums.<ref name="Old OCC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Stars, their fourth studio album, sold 3.29 million copies in total,<ref name=Biggest-selling>Template:Cite news</ref> and was the biggest-selling album of both 1991 and 1992.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Stars was the second biggest-selling album of the decade; it was outsold by Manchester band Oasis's second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?,<ref name=Biggest-selling/> which spent 10 weeks at number one during 1995 and 1996,<ref name="Old OCC"/> and sold 4.16 million copies.<ref name=Biggest-selling/> It was the highest-certified album of the 1990s, achieving platinum certification 13 times.<ref name=Certifications/> Following the album's success, Oasis's follow-up, Be Here Now, sold 663,000 copies in the first four days of its release, making it the fastest-selling album in UK chart history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The first number-one album of the 1990s was ...But Seriously by Phil Collins<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> – released in 1989, ...But Seriously first reached number one in December of that year, and remained at the top for eight weeks.<ref name="Year 1990"/> It stayed at number one for nine weeks during the decade, and was the biggest-selling album of 1990.<ref name="Old OCC"/> The final number one of the 1990s was Come On Over by Shania Twain.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Like ...But Seriously, Come on Over remained at number one into the following decade,<ref name="Year 1999"/> and was the biggest-selling album of its year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In chart terms, the most successful album of the nineties was Spice, the debut album from the Spice Girls, which spent 15 weeks at number one over five separate runs.<ref name="Old OCC"/> The Spice Girls' record label, Virgin Records, was the most successful label of the decade – with an artist roster that included the Spice Girls, Phil Collins and Meat Loaf, Virgin topped the albums chart with 19 different albums for a total of 62 weeks.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Number ones
| Template:Abbr | nth album to top the UK Albums Chart |
|---|---|
| re | Return of an album to number one |
| Silver | Silver certification (60,000 units) |
| Gold | Gold certification (100,000 units) |
| Platinum | Platinum certification (300,000 units) |
| Template:Dagger | Best-selling album of the year |
| Template:Double dagger | Best-selling album of the decade |
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By artist
Eight artists spent 12 weeks or more at number one on the album chart during the 1990s.
By record label
Six record labels spent 20 weeks or more at number one on the album chart during the 1990s.
| Record label | Number-one albums | Weeks at number one |
|---|---|---|
| Virgin Records | 19 | 62 |
| RCA Records | 10 | 32 |
| Epic Records | 10 | 30 |
| Polydor Records | 8 | 24 |
| Mercury Records | 7 | 24 |
| East West Records | 6 | 21 |
Christmas number ones
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In the UK, Christmas number one albums are those that are at the top of the UK Albums Chart on Christmas Day. Typically, this will refer to the album that was announced as number one on the Sunday before 25 December—when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday itself, the official number one is considered by the OCC to be the one announced on that day's chart.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the 1990s, the following albums were Christmas number ones.
| Year | Artist | Album | Record label | Weeks at number one |
Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Madonna | Template:Sort | Sire | 9 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1991 | Queen | Greatest Hits II | Parlophone | 5 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1992 | Cher | Greatest Hits: 1965–1992 | Geffen | 7 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1993 | Meat Loaf | Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell | Virgin | 11 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1994 | Template:Sortname | Carry On up the Charts | Go! Discs | 7 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1995 | Robson & Jerome | Robson & Jerome | RCA | 7 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1996 | Spice Girls | Spice | Virgin | 15 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1997 | Template:Sortname | Let's Talk About Love | Epic | 5 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1998 | Template:Sortname | Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael | Epic | 8 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1999 | Template:Sortname | Come On Over | Mercury | 11 | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Notes
References
External links
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