Kylie Minogue gets 11th UK No 1 album as Christmas No 1 race intensifies

Kylie Minogue has scored her 11th UK No 1 album, putting her level with David Bowie and Eminem in the league of all-time album chart-toppers.The album, Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped), will sound familiar to her fans: it’s a reissue of her 2015 album Kylie Christmas (which only reached No 12), containing four newly recorded tracks and an altered tracklisting. It had already been reissued once before, in 2016, as the Snow Queen Edition. Nevertheless, the Fully Wrapped version counts as a new album in chart terms, and so continues a non-consecutive run of No 1s that began in 1988, when Minogue’s self-titled debut spent six weeks at the top.Overtaking Abba, Coldplay, Michael Jackson, Elton John and Queen in the chart-topper list, she also draws level with Rod Stewart and U2, but is still some way off joint leaders the Beatles and Robbie Williams, who both have 15 No 1 albums to their names. Williams will be hoping to become the all-time leader in February with the release of his forthcoming studio album, Britpop.Minogue is also in the singles chart this week with Xmas, one of the retailer Amazon’s now yearly exclusive Christmas songs. Xmas is at No 16, though will undoubtedly rise during next week’s race for the Christmas No 1 as CD and vinyl editions are released today, sales of which contribute greatly to chart positions in the streaming era.Taking an early lead in the race is Wham!’s Last Christmas, which is this week’s No 1 single, displacing Taylor Swift’s The Fate of Ophelia, which spent seven non-consecutive weeks at the top. Last Christmas never made it to No 1 when it was first released in 1984, but finally reached the top in January 2021, and has topped the chart each year since, becoming the Christmas No 1 for the past two years.Its biggest annual rival in the nation’s festive affections, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You, is at No 3 this week, while Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree is at No 4. Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath the Tree underlines its status as the most popular new-school Christmas song, getting its first Top 5 placing since its 2013 release. There are 20 Christmas songs overall in the Top 40.But these classics will have new rivals for the Christmas No 1 next week, as a number of charity and novelty singles enter the race. Together for Palestine, the humanitarian aid project helmed by Brian Eno and others, has released Lullaby, featuring Palestinian artists alongside British stars including Celeste and Neneh Cherry.Line of Duty actor Vicky McClure has teamed with jacket potato brand SpudBros for Brighter Than the Night, to raise money for her charity Our Dementia Choir, while Bob the Drag Queen has recorded Giant Armadillo to support conservation efforts for the armoured mammal, and home care service Visiting Angels has overseen a cover of Robbie Williams’ Angels to benefit care workers.Less profoundly, Denise Welch has released Slayyy Bells, a tie-in with confectionary brand Celebrations, in which the Loose Women star and “hun” icon is paired with a Charli xcx-esque trashy dance track.But British pop singer Raye could cause an upset with her un-Christmassy tale of singleton frustration Where Is My Husband?, which is at No 2 this week. If so, it would be the first non-festive or charity song to be Christmas No 1 since Ed Sheeran’s Perfect in 2017.The UK Christmas No 1 will be announced at 4pm on Friday 19 December.