100 albums turning 20 in 2026

Some absolute classics are now two decades old

2006 was bookended by a pair of blockbuster albums, one a record-breaking debut (Arctic Monkeys) and another a welcome comeback (Take That), between those two saw a host of returns, personal bests and possibly the most high profile year for guitar-based acts since the merry (Supernova) heights of the Britpop era.

January did NOT mess around when Whatever I Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not by Arctic Monkeys smashed its way into the record books. Not since Suede’s eponymous debut in 1993 and Oasis’s Definitely Maybe (both over 100,000 in their first week) the following year had an indie-facing outfit sold quite so much with their debut, but the Arctics went further and shifted just under 120,000 copies on its first day, and by the end of the week, the album had sold 363,735 copies and had outsold the rest of the Top 20 combined.

Ending up as the fourth biggest seller of the year overall, below Snow Patrol’s victorious Eyes Open and just ahead of The Kooks’ debut Inside In/Inside Out, Razorlight’s eponymous second effort and the Britpop originals Oasis’s collection Stop The Clocks reminding everyone how you do it.

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Several other acts went big on their returns with Scissor Sisters’ Ta-Dah, The Killers’ Sam’s Town, Muse’s Black Holes & Revelations, Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/ LoveSounds, Kasabian’s Empire, Rihanna’s A Girl Like Me and, eclipsing the opening salvo of her debut Frank with an entry at Number 3 before threatening to slide out of view, Amy Winehouse’s beyond iconic Back To Black, which would eventually go on to become 2007’s biggest-seller and the 11th biggest-selling album of all time.

Alongside Oasis’ Stop The Clocks, hit collections were still big news with George Michael (Twenty Five), U2 (U218), Jamiroqual (High Times), Massive Attack (Collected) and Niina Simone (The Very Best of) all reminding fans why some legends were called, well, legends and joining those from the 21st century were the every-home-should-have-them essentials Girls Aloud (The Sound of Girls Aloud) and Sugababes (Overloaded).

An astonishing year for debuts welcomed pop entrées by The Feeling, Lily Allen, James Morrison, Corinne Bailey Rae, Paolo Nutini, The Fratellis, Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs, and making a break from their previous employers, both Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker released their solo breakouts. Over in America, a self-titled debut set by a teenage country-pop singer called Taylor Swift made it and her first inroads into the charts

Ending the year with the pop comeback all other pop comebacks bow to, and following the first of several record-breaking tours, Take That issued Beautiful World, their first album in 11 years, and it was an instant chart-topper and the second biggest-seller of 2006 after a mere month of sales and has since sold over 3.5 million copies overall. Cor blimey!