Taylor Swift secures first Number 1 album of 2023 with Midnights as SZA, The Weeknd and more climb

Taylor Swift enters 2023 on a high as she claims the year’s first Official Number 1 album with Midnights.

Now spending four non-consecutive weeks at the summit, Midnights surpasses Taylor’s 2020 release folklore to become her album boasting most weeks at Number 1 in the UK.

Taylor sees a further four studio albums in this week’s Top 40, too; folklore (22), 2014 LP 1989 (24), 2019 release Lover (35) and 2017’s Reputation (40). Explore Taylor Swift’s extensive Official Charts history here.

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2022 revealed

Elsewhere, SZA’s second studio album SOS rebounds to its original peak of Number 2, while The Weeknd’s The Highlights collection jumps four spots back into the Top 5 at Number 3 following the release of his Avatar: The Way of Water soundtrack single Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength).

Sam Ryder sees his former Number 1 debut There’s Nothing But Space, Man! climb three thanks to a Super Ultra Deluxe edition (7), as Eminem’s enduring Curtain Call – The Hits (8) and ABBA’s Gold – Greatest Hits rebound back into the Top 10.

St. Louis-born producer Metro Boomin lifts three with his second studio record Heroes & Villains (14), while Whitney Houston’s posthumous 2012 I Will Always Love You – The Best Of collection vaults 39 places following the release of Kasi Lemmons-directed biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody (15). See Whitney’s complete Official Charts history here.

Some of 2022’s biggest LPs make a return to the Top 20 this week. Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR is up nine (17), Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) climbs 10 (18), Oasis’s compilation Time Flies – 1994-2009 lifts four (19) and Little Mix’s Between Us hits collection jumps 15 (20).

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022 revealed

Michael Jackson’s Number Ones rebounds back into the Top 40 this week as it lifts 19 (27), as does The Weeknd’s Starboy, up nine (33).

Other albums on the ascent are South London duo D-Block Europe’s Lap 5 (34), Becky Hill’s Only Honest On The Weekend (36) and The Beatles’ timeless collection 1 (37).

Ella Henderson jumps 31 spots back into the Top 40 with Everything I Didn’t Say (38) and, finally, David Bowie’s Legacy rebounds eight places (39).

See the full Official Albums Chart Top 100 here from 5.45pm.