THERE’S NOTHING BETTER THAN THIS!

ACT III has officially entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 1, giving the band their eighth consecutive chart-topping studio album and extending a run which now stretches back 20 years.

Since Empire reached Number 1 in September 2006, every single Kasabian studio album has followed it to the top of the chart. It is an achievement which puts Kasabian into the company of true music royalty.

The run of eight consecutive Number 1 albums matches the historic sequences achieved by Led Zeppelin and ABBA, both of whom once held the UK record, and only Eminem and Taylor Swift have managed longer uninterrupted runs, with runs of ten and thirteen consecutive Number 1 albums respectively. That means Kasabian are now just the second British act to reach eight consecutive Number 1 albums, and the first since Led Zeppelin hit Number 1 in 1979 with In Through the Out Door.

ACT III also gives Kasabian eight UK Number 1 albums in total, bringing them level with some of the biggest acts this country has ever produced. They now have as many UK Number 1 albums as Oasis and Led Zeppelin, as well as acts including Muse, R.E.M. and The Killers. They have also moved beyond the career totals of Blur, The Prodigy and George Michael.

One more Number 1 album would move Kasabian alongside artists including Bob Dylan, Stereophonics, Take That and Ed Sheeran.

There are still a few more to go before we start thinking about Robbie Williams and his record-breaking 16 Number 1 albums, but what Kasabian have achieved over the past 20 years is no small feat.

ACT III pipping the likes of PRESIDENT and new viral sensation ADELA is not the first memorable victory the boys have seen on the journey to this eighth Number 1.

2011’s Velociraptor! knocked Ed Sheeran’s debut record, +, off the top of the charts, and held off competition from Adele’s record-breaking 21. 48:13 shifted more than 70,000 copies in its opening chart week in 2014 and knocked Sam Smith from the top of the charts, whilst For Crying Out Loud ended Ed Sheeran’s nine-week spell at Number 1 in 2017. The Alchemist’s Euphoria became the band’s sixth consecutive chart-topper and the first of the Serge-fronted era in 2022, after it knocked Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE from the top spot. Happenings followed in 2024, knocking Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department from the top of the chart… And now ACT III has made it eight.

Unlike some previous releases where a Kasabian Number 1 began to feel almost inevitable, this one was a chart battle. By the midweek update, ACT III was leading Blood of Your Empire by PRESIDENT, but less than 900 chart units separated the two albums. That’s where The Movement reignited and we got it over the line, cementing Kasabian’s place in history.

Eight consecutive Number 1s. Not bad for a band from Leicester.