National Album Day 2024 announces theme of Great British groups

National Album Day returns for 2024 with a brand new theme; focusing on the Great British groups.

The annual celebration of the album format will be coming back this year on Saturday October 19. Previous iterations have focused on classic 90s records, female-focused albums and debut albums. 

Arguably, no-one does a group better than Great Britain. Whether it's game-changing acts like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones - who shaped the sound of music into brand new and exciting images - or more modern fare like the experimental oeuvre of Girls Aloud and the shape-shifting focus of The 1975 to fresh faces such as Wet Leg, FLO or recent BRIT Rising Star winners The Last Dinner Party.

National Album Day is presented in association with official broadcast partner BBC Radio 2, and will pay tribute to artists who tell their stories behind these significant and influential bodies of work. Artists tied into the Great British Groups theme will re-issue special edition LPs around the event. More information on this will be announced in due course. 

Groups have always been an important part of the legacy of the Official Chart, and last year saw our most successful act ever - The Beatles, of course - continue to break UK chart records.

When the 'final' Beatles song, Now and Then, completed a really exciting debut at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart, the Fab Four extended their lead for the act with the most Number 1 singles in UK chart history (18), as well as setting new records for the longest gap between Number 1 singles (54 years) and the longest span between first and last Number 1 singles (60 years). 

2024 will also bring the long-awaited Girls Aloud reunion in tribute to the late Sarah Harding. Although there won't be any new music, some previously un-heard material (including their mythical cover of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game) will be making its way into the world for the first time in the next few months.

In a joint statement, Kim Bayley, Chief Executive ERA, and Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI Chief Executive, said: “From the iconic influence of The Beatles and Spice Girls to the dynamic new sounds of BRITs winners Wet Leg, countless artists spanning diverse backgrounds and rich genres make for an exciting celebration of Great British Groups.

"With so many legendary albums produced by British groups, National Album Day has a brilliant grounding for fans to explore records both new and old, revisiting or enjoying them for the first time.”

National Album Day returns this October 19. Stay tuned to Official Charts for more information.