Paul Weller’s New Album ‘On Sunset’ Debuts At No. 1 On The UK Album Chart

Paul Weller shot to the top of the UK Album chart last night, July 10, with his latest LP, On Sunset.

Accordingly, the former Jam frontman has become only the third artist to top the UK album chart in five consecutive decades, alongside Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Weller’s previous UK album chart toppers include The Jam’s The Gift in 1982 and The Style Council’s Our Favourite Shop in 1985, plus five solo albums: On Sunset, Stanley Road (1995), Illumination (2002), 22 Dreams (2008), and Sonik Kicks (2012).

On Sunset scored 24,000 chart sales and just over a quarter of that figure was vinyl sales, also taking it to the top of the Official Vinyl Albums Chart.

“I’m very proud of On Sunset so to have it go in at Number 1 is brilliant. Massive thanks to the team at Polydor for all their hard work,” Weller told the Official Charts Company.

The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan have also landed chart-toppers across five decades, though not consecutively.

On Sunset has been universally acclaimed. Typical of the praise the record has been receiving is the NME’s review: “There’s a lightness of touch and a tenderness at On Sunset’s heart that makes a song like “Old Father Tyme”, the record’s soulful and brass-lathered centerpiece, on which the 62-year-old stops to take stock of a life spent pushing things forwards, just that little bit more bittersweet.”

“I’m still excited by what’s new,” Weller said of making On Sunset. “I find it depressing when people get to a certain age and stop listening to new music. I’m 62 this year and I’m still seeking out new stuff every day. It gives me hope that there is still so much amazing music being made. Music is my obsession, it’s my education, it’s my entertainment, it’s the way that I communicate, it’s everything to me. Every track here reflects that obsession.”

On Sunset is out now and can be bought here.