Flashback Chart – When 4 females were simultaneously #1 in the UK
The history will remind that Kendrick Lamar‘s Damn was the most successful album of 2017 in the US. Obviously, it isn’t the top LP since January, but it does lead the list from from late-November 2016 to mid-November 2017 which is what matters for Billboard’s Year-End ahead of Bruno Mars. Maybe more surprising than the #1 is the complete absence of female artists inside the Top 20.
During the last 10 years, 7 female albums managed to hit #1 for the year. Adele did it three times, Taylor Swift two while Alicia Keys and Susan Boyle did it once each. Years which weren’t dominated by female artists, namely 2007 (Daughtry), 2013 (Frozen) and 2014 (Justin Timberlake) still had at least one female inside the Top 3 with Fergie, Swift (twice) and Beyoncé.
Rather than insisting on the abrupt end of this domination, just for fun let’s go back to its hey-days. As incredible as it seems, the 3 main artist rankings in the UK, Albums, Singles and Music Videos, were once led by 4 distinct females. The feat came during the week 16 of 2007. Avril Lavigne‘s The Best Damn Thing debuted at #1 of the album chart with 60,707 units sold. Beautiful Liar, the much hyped duet from Shakira and Beyoncé, shot to #1 in the Singles front, edging past Nelly Furtado‘s hit Give It To Me with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. It sold 37,588 units that week including 20,849 downloads and 16,724 CDs, both numbers were good enough to be #1 in their respective formats. Then there was P!nk who’s new DVD Live From Wembley Arena sold 6,516 units, more than the remaining videos from the Top 15 combined.
Obviously, the Compilation ranking couldn’t be topped by a female artist, but the Now That’s What I Call Music! 66 album still included a whopping 18 females among who were Amy Winehouse, Cascada, Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Gwen Stefani, Jamelia, JoJo, Leona Lewis, Kelis, Lily Allen and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. One decade after the Spice Girls, the girl power was in full force.
From a technical point of view, this file includes complete lists (Singles, Albums, Compilations, Music Videos) with weekly sales but also figures from each distinct format and the release to date total. All release to date figures refer to sales during the DUS-era which started on week 9 of 1994. You will notice how much times have changed since no single inside the Top 200 had sold even 850,000 units to date while 44 artist albums were million sellers. Enjoy!