Entertainment

Courteeners album tops chart 15 years after release

January 21, 2023 9:17 am

[Source: BBC Entertainment]

Manchester indie band The Courteeners have scored their first ever number one album, setting a new chart record in the process.

The band’s classic 2007 debut, St Jude, becomes the album with the longest gap between release and topping the chart, at 14 years, 9 months and 7 days.

They beat the likes of Taylor Swift and SZA thanks to a deluxe reissue, packed with rarities and b-sides.

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They’re one of only three bands to do this with a re-issued album.

The Courteeners join The Rolling Stones (Goats Head Soup, Exile On Main St.) and The Beatles (Abbey Road, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) as the only groups to have achieved the feat.

Containing the top 20 singles What Took You So Long and Not 19 Forever, St Jude originally charted at number four, and was named The Guardian’s debut album of the year in 2007.

They will celebrate the achievement with a massive hometown show at Heaton Park on Friday 9 June, where they will perform the album in full.