List of one-hit wonders on the UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a weekly record chart based on album sales from Sunday to Saturday in the United Kingdom. It listed only physical album sales until 2007, after which it also included albums sold digitally. The chart is currently compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the UK music industry,^[1] and each week's new number one is first announced on Sunday evenings by BBC Radio 1 on their weekly chart show.^[2]

The definition of a "one-hit wonder", as given by the reference text British Hit Singles & Albums, is any act that achieves a number one on the UK Album Chart and no other Top 40 entry. Since the album chart was first published on 28 July 1956,^[3] 29 acts have reached number one and had no other Top 40 entries. Artists who have topped the album chart as solo artists but also charted as members of groups (such as Holly Johnson and Zayn Malik) are exempted.

One-hit wonders

Artist	Album	Record label	Reached number one (for the week ending)	Weeks at number one	Notes	Ref.
Cannon, FreddyFreddy Cannon	Explosive Freddy Cannon, TheThe Explosive Freddy Cannon	Top Rank	12 March 1960	1	The first number one album on the Record Retailer chart	[4]
Blind Faith	Blind Faith	Polydor	20 September 1969	2	Although the band Blind Faith had one number-one album and nothing else, each member of the band had further album chart success	[5]
Reid, NeilNeil Reid	Neil Reid	Decca	19 February 1972	3	Winner of the 1971 series of Opportunity Knocks. The youngest person ever to top the album chart. Follow-up album Smile peaked at number 47	[6]
Johnny Hates Jazz	Turn Back the Clock	Virgin	23 January 1988	1	Follow-up album Tall Stories failed to make the Top 75	[7]
Farm, TheThe Farm	Spartacus	Produce	16 March 1991	1	Follow-up albums failed to make the Top 75	[8]
Chaka Demus & Pliers	Tease Me	Mango	29 January 1994	2	Had originally peaked at number 26 in July 1993, before being rereleased and topping the chart in January 1994	[9]
Brookstein, SteveSteve Brookstein	Heart and Soul	Syco	21 May 2005	1	Winner of the 2004 series of The X Factor. Follow-up album 40,000 Things failed to make the Top 75	[10]
Journey South	Journey South	Syco	1 April 2006	1	Third place in the 2005 series of The X Factor. Follow-up album Home peaked at number 43	[11]
Quinn, RayRay Quinn	Doing It My Way	Syco	24 March 2007	1	Runner-up in the 2006 series of The X Factor	[12]
Commonwealth Band, TheThe Commonwealth Band	Sing	Decca	9 June 2012	3	Co-credit with Gary Barlow	[13]
Pnau	Good Morning to the Night	Mercury	28 July 2012	1	Co-credit with Elton John	[14]
Maynard, ConorConor Maynard	Contrast	Parlophone	11 August 2012	1		[15]
Ora, RitaRita Ora	Ora	Columbia	8 September 2012	1		[16]
Douglas, JahméneJahméne Douglas	Love Never Fails	RCA	3 August 2013	1	Runner-up in the 2012 series of The X Factor	[17]
Haim	Days Are Gone	Polydor	12 October 2013	1		[18]
Smith, SamSam Smith	In the Lonely Hour	Capitol	7 June 2014	8
Royal Blood	Royal Blood	Warner Bros.	6 September 2014	1
Ezra, GeorgeGeorge Ezra	Wanted on Voyage	Columbia	11 October 2014	4
Henderson, EllaElla Henderson	Chapter One	Syco	25 October 2014	1	Sixth place of the 2012 series of The X Factor
Bay, JamesJames Bay	Chaos and the Calm	Republic	4 April 2015	1
Years & Years	Communion	Polydor	23 July 2015	2
Glynne, JessJess Glynne	I Cry When I Laugh	Atlantic	3 September 2015	1
Jamie Lawson	Jamie Lawson	Gingerbread Man	29 October 2015	1
Viola Beach	Viola Beach	Fuller Beans	11 August 2016	1
Blossoms	Blossoms	Virgin EMI	18 August 2016	2
Ward Thomas	Cartwheels	Sony Music	15 September 2016	1

Most recent one-hit wonder to be removed from the list: Emeli Sandé (November 2016).

See also

• Lists of one-hit wonders

References

1. "The Charts We Compile". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
2. "The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart". London: BBC Radio 1. 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
3. Mawer, Sharon (2008). "1956". London: The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
4. "Freddy Cannon". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
5. "Blind Faith". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
6. "Neil Reid". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
7. "Johnny Hates Jazz". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
8. "Farm". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
9. "Chaka Demus & Pliers". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
10. "Steve Brookstein". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
11. "Journey South". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
12. "Ray Quinn". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
13. "Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band". London: Official Charts Company. 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
14. "Pnau". London: Official Charts Company. 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
15. "Conor Maynard". London: Official Charts Company. 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
16. "Rita Ora". London: Official Charts Company. 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
17. "Jahmene Douglas". London: Official Charts Company. 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
18. "Haim". London: Official Charts Company. 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.

External links

• Official UK Albums Top 100 at the Official Charts Company
• The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart at BBC Radio 1