The King of Pop has beaten the Irish language rap group Kneecap to the number one spot in the official UK album chart.
There was a three-way contest between the group, who came second, Michael Jackson and former Spice Girl Melanie C.
The album Fenian dropped earlier this month and is the highest album on the UK charts for the trio, known as Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí.
Kneecap’s last release, 2024’s Fine Art, went to number 43 in the UK and number two in the Republic of Ireland.
Former Spice Girl Melanie C, who has never had a solo UK number one album, came third.
The LP Sweat is her ninth studio album and her best ever solo performance on the charts was her debut in 1999, Northern Star.
None of the former Spice Girls have managed to hit the top spot with a solo album…. yet.
Michael Jackson was no stranger on the UK album charts, having secured the top spot nine times in his life and once after his death in 2009 when The Essential Michael Jackson spent seven weeks at number one.
That album’s re-entry and ascent to the top of up the charts has been linked to the success of the film Michael, starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson.
It scored the highest opening weekend ever for a biopic, taking $217m (£160m) globally.
According to the Official Charts Company earlier this week, less than 3000 units were separating Michael Jackson in third place from Kneecap in the top spot.
After the chart company released the midweek data, Kneecap claimed on social media that Fenian could be “the first ever Irish language album” to top the charts in the UK.
But it was not to be for the rap trio.
BBC News NI asked Official Charts if this would be the case, but so far they have not been able to verify the claim.
The UK’s Official Number One Album was announced at 17:45 BST on Friday.
Credit: BBC
