Artists who beat the second album slump

Stars who turned the curse of the "difficult second album" on its head.
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They don't call it "that difficult second album" for nothing – many artists find following up a debut doesn't quite work out as they'd hoped. Dua Lipa has certainly bucked that trend, taking her second record Future Nostalgia to Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart.

We look a few acts who made album number two look like a breeze, either cementing the success of their first album with an even bigger follow-up, or banishing the ghost of an underperforming debut with a sophomore smash. Plus, we reveal the UK's biggest second studio albums since 2000 at the bottom of the page.

George Ezra

Golden boy George Ezra's debut Wanted On Voyage spent an impressive 46 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 in 2014–5, four of those at the very top, and amassed 1.44 million sales across physical, download and streaming equivalent sales. Follow-up Staying At Tamara's managed to go right in at the top – which Wanted On Voyage did not – and its proving to be just as enduring as its predecessor with 65 weeks in the Top 10 to date.

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2020 so far

Adele

Tottenham's brightest star won over critics and fans with her first effort, 19, and sold respectably and spent one week at the top, but it was its successor that went stellar. 21, released three years later in 2011, is one of the biggest albums of all time, spending 23 weeks at Number 1 and shifting 5.29 million chart sales (including streams) to date. View Adele's full Official Chart history here.

Oasis

There are records that ignore the "difficult second album" curse, and there are those that smash it to pieces. Oasis's Definitely Maybe was always going to be a tough act to follow, with two million copies sold, but (What's The Story) Morning Glory barely even broke a sweat. Four Top 3 singles, including Wonderwall and Number 1 Don't Look Back In Anger, and 10 weeks at the top of the Official Albums Chart, with 4.24 million copies sold. It is, as you can imagine, one of the biggest selling albums of all time. 

Amy Winehouse

The late great Amy Winehouse attracted a fair bit of attention with her bluesy, raw debut Frank, but it was her second album Back to Black that made the rest of the world sit up and realise a superstar was born, in 2006. Finally scoring her first Top 10 single, Rehab, it became one of the most successful albums of all time, on 4 million chart sales to date. Back to Black's success is even more poignant when you consider it was also Amy's last studio album before her sad passing in 2011. View Amy Winehouse's full Official Chart history.

Ed Sheeran

Ed's debut + didn't exactly do too badly, spending 32 straight weeks in the Top 10 following its release in 2011, including three at the top, but it was x – aka Multiply – that certainly lived up to its name and transformed Ed's success. 74 consecutive weeks in the Top 10, 13 at the top, and a whopping 3.55 million chart sales. See where all of Ed Sheeran's singles and albums have charted.

Rihanna

While she had a strong start with debut single Pon Da Replay in 2005, not that many people remember (or bought) her first album Music of the Sun, which stalled at Number 35. Thankfully she very quickly followed it up with the much more memorable, and successful A Girl Like Me, which went Top 5 and spawned two huge singles, SOS and Unfaithful. As you can see here, she just got bigger and bigger from then onwards.

 

Christina Aguilera

Has there ever been a makeover quite so impactful, and successful, as this one? A total transformation from her sugary, self-titled debut, Christina Aguilera's sophomore stomper Stripped was a phenomenon, with a string of Top 10s, including two Number 1s Dirrty and Beautiful, shifting 2.03 million to date.

Sugababes

As we all know by now, Sugababes didn't have the best of starts, and their ending was pretty gruesome too. But in between, they did rather brilliantly. The trio's debut One Touch suffered disappointing sales and a chart peak of 26, followed by the departure of founder member Siobhan Donaghy. With new girl Heidi Range on board, second album Angels With Dirty Faces had the good fortune to launch with two Number 1 singles in Freak Like Me and Round Round, catapulting all the way to... well, Number 2, but it was a huge seller with 928,000 chart sales. View Sugababes' full Official Chart history here.

Coldplay

Coldplay suffered a case of second album woes in 2002, asking their label to postpone the release after deciding they weren't happy with what they'd produced. Still, when its release finally arrived in August that year, it was huge. The collection debuted at Number 1, just like their previous album Parachutes, and has gone on to shift just shy of 3 million in the UK.

Ellie Goulding

Once the world woke up to Ellie's talent, thanks in part to early hit Starry Eyed and her cover of Elton John's Your Song, her debut album Lights was a huge hit, shifting over 840,000. Second album nerves didn't seem to be in sight, and with good reason – while Halcyon was a bit of a slow-burner, it ended up outselling its predecessor, scoring 1.25 million sales across all formats. And it gave her her first Number 1 single with Burn.

Madonna

She's one of the most successful female artists of all time, but back in 1984, following the release of her debut album, Madonna still had plenty to prove. Despite two hit singles, Madonna's self-titled first album had, shall we say, a lacklustre performance, hanging around the lower reaches of the Top 100 and breaking the Top 40 once. Its follow-up, Like A Virgin, released at the end of that year took its time too, but went onto become a Number 1 album, spending 83 weeks in the Top 40. It also boosted that debut – it finally went Top 10 in mid-1985. 

Katy Perry

Incredible as it may seem, Katy's debut album, while a strong seller, never actually made the Top 10 - despite spawning huge Number 1 single I Kissed A Girl. One of the Boys, which has shifted 718,000 across all formats, stalled at 11, but follow-up Teenage Dream soon swept away any bad karma. It went straight in at the top in 2010 and a reissue, known as The Complete Confection, brought it storming back to the Top 10 18 months later. It's shifted 1.44 million across physical, download and streaming equivalent sales.

Pink

While it may have missed the Top 10, Pink's 2000 debut Can't Take Me Home sold pretty well, so you'd expect maybe more of the same for album number two. Pink really switched things up, however, nudging out the R&B of her first record for a tougher, poppier and rocky sound. And the formula certainly worked. 2002's Missundaztood – try getting that one past auto correct on your phone – somehow missed the Number 1 spot (!) but was a huge seller. 1.82 million copies sold and over seven months in the Official Albums Chart Top 10. 

The Top 20 biggest second studio (sophomore) albums on the Official Chart since 2000

POS TITLE ARTIST YEAR
1 21 ADELE 2011
2 BACK TO BLACK AMY WINEHOUSE 2006
3 X ED SHEERAN 2014
4 A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD COLDPLAY 2002
5 LIFE FOR RENT DIDO 2003
6 STRIPPED CHRISTINA AGUILERA 2002
7 SUNNY SIDE UP PAOLO NUTINI 2009
8 DEMON DAYS GORILLAZ 2005
9 MISSUNDAZTOOD PINK 2002
10 COAST TO COAST WESTLIFE 2002
11 FRIDAY'S CHILD WILL YOUNG 2003
12 BREAKAWAY KELLY CLARKSON 2005
13 RAZORLIGHT RAZORLIGHT 2006
14 SAM'S TOWN KILLERS 2006
15 TA-DAH SCISSOR SISTERS 2006
16 TEENAGE DREAM KATY PERRY 2010
17 THE DEFAMATION OF STRICKLAND BANKS PLAN B 2010
18 ONE LOVE BLUE 2002
19 2001 DR DRE 2000
20 PIECE BY PIECE KATIE MELUA 2005

©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

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Bengy

0

Adele - "and shifting 5.92 million chart sales to date."
Obviously a typo - should be 5.192m. Please correct.

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Bengy

0

Now corrected - thanks.

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Saint Perth

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OOPS I DID IT AGAIN is not a huge in the U.K??

R

Ronnie

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Whitney Houston's second album Whitney exceeded her 6 x Platinum (UK) debut to attain a 7 x Platinum certification. The album also contained several HUGE hits including I Wanna Dance With Somebody- a global classic. Please STOP LEAVING OUT WHITNEY HOUSTON IN THESE LISTS- BECOMING OBVIOUS NOW!!!

KR

Kevin Rentz

-1

That's what I was thinking. But most of these albums was about the 2000s I believe? LoL..Haha. And you know these people don't know nothing about any artists from the 80s and 90s except for Madonna and Britney spears.

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thierry henon

0

I am thinking about my favourite band of all time: ROXETTE...Their first album sold roughly around 800 000 copies worlwide but their second album: LOOK SHARP went to sell over 9M copies!! They did even better with their third opus: JOYRIDE: selling over 11M copies...

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guilherme

2

how many copies has like a virgin and 'madonna" shifted???

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Abel Khan

1

M!ssundaztood's 1.82M is just pure sales? Because it was at 1.85M as of Feb 2019 https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/pinks-biggest-albums-and-songs-on-the-official-chart__25469/

KW

Kevin Wright

3

It will be interesting if you write about the "4th album curse". It is really a popular topic in music forums. "Bionic" by Christina Aguilera, "Man of the Woods" by JT, "Artpop" by Lady Gaga and mamy other!

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Random J

1

Never thought about this one. It's interesting. But Lady Gaga seems like the anomaly here. With Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake, it was a combination of taking too long between their last albums and trying to hop on a popular trend (and hopping on it badly) after releasing bodies of work that went against them.

Lady Gaga's situation is different. I'm not sure why exactly it was that Artpop wasn't as well received as maybe she and many thought it would be. But the mammoth success of The Fame Monster and how Born This Way elevated her was always going to be tough to follow.

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Mike

1

Utter nonessense, but what else can one expect for a Gaga stan. Christina reinvents herself with EVERY album. Bionic was no different. Sit there and pretend as though the media didn't play a part in their comparisons of Bionic to then newcomer Gaga. Never mind Bionic was in the works for years, but Christina works too slow, so by the time she released it there were unwarrented comparisons. Miss me with that hopping on Trends and badly, BS. Gaga didn't event a , she copied Madonna.

KW

Kevin Wright

2

Aguilera came back in 2010 but the pop scene was COMPLETELY different. Gaga, Kesha and Katy were the new pop girls. And let's not forget that "Bionic" was not a radio friendly album. And that Madonna vs Gaga thing is so 2010. Let's leave that in the previous decade. ALL THE FEMALE ACTS have inspired by Madonna either way or another .

KR

Kevin Rentz

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Man of the woods is Timberlakes 5th album. LoL..Haha. 20/20 had two different albums. And Bionic is Christina Aguilera 6th album.. And art pop is Gaga's third album. Nice try. Do your research next time.

KR

Kevin Rentz

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Art pop is gagas third album. Man of the woods is Timberlake's 5th album. Bionic is Christina Aguilera 6th album. That person doesn't know what they're talking about. LoL..Haha

KW

Kevin Wright

1

Gosh i totally forgot that The 20/20 had two parts! Artpop is the 4th album. Lady Gaga herself consider TFM a whole different album from TF.
I aslo have another examples of ''4th album curse''. Beyonce's ''4'', Nicki's ''Queen'', Katy's ''Witness'' (if we don't count that 2001 gospel album), Avril's ''Goodbye Lullaby'' etc.

KR

Kevin Rentz

-1

Well lady gaga must have been high back then? Because she hashtags her new up coming album Chromatica as her 6th. Which makes art pop her third. Heres the thing, She finally gave up on calling fame moster an album. Because it wasn't. I think Beyonce 4 did well for an album with no hit singles. She did Over 300k first week sales and over a million by the end of that year. That's insane with no radio hits. IMO..And it's her third best review album. Katy and Nicki Minaj was definitely a flop. Even though I liked some of the songs on those albums.

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I am a Blank Page

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Technically speaking bionic is Christina’s 4th (mainstream album) hence why we trended X6 for liberation. So before you laugh at someone who says bionic is her 4th maybe look at it from a different angle. Fighters don’t include her Spanish or Xmas album as main albums

KR

Kevin Rentz

0

The industry does. It's listed as her 6th album when you look it up. Plus the other dude was calling it a 4th album curse/flop..When it's not even her 4th album. But yet you're coming for my neck? LoL..Haha.. Smh. Come again? Y'all can call it whatever you want. But Bionic is listed as her 6th. That's that. The guy didn't have his info. And there's no technically because it's not her 4th.

KW

Kevin Wright

-1

1. The Fame
2. The Fame Monster
3. Born this way
4. Artpop
5. Joanne
6. Chromatica

KR

Kevin Rentz

0

Smh. Cheek to cheek with Tony Bennett is counted as her 4th album not fame moster.. WOW you really don't know lady gaga's catalog? Do your research dude.. How hard is it for you to google this stuff? The information is right there in her discography. It's just keeps getting better.

KW

Kevin Wright

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How is ''Bionic'' the 6th if ''Stripped'' is her second? Don't you read the article above?

KR

Kevin Rentz

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Technically it's not. It's her fourth.. Hey I didn't make the rules. She shouldn't have released those Spanish and Christmas albums.. Apparently the music industry counts those as albums. ( Why that is? I don't know). So you don't have to call it that, If you don't want to. I was thrown off years ago, When I found this out. But just in case this ever comes up in pop culture trivia game you'll know the real answer. It's her fourth LoL..Haha.

JL

Jorge López

0

Last year, Christina typed a comment about Stripped on her Facebook page celebrating its 17th birthday and she herself called it her "4th album". I think the problem is that neither Mi Reflejo nor My Kind Of Christmas were released in the UK. So, for the british people, Stripped is her second album.

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Evie N

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Fall Out Boy? Their second album is the fan-favourite and their best selling by far

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Salah-la-la 🙅🏾‍♂️

0

Usher’s second major label album 8701 was bigger than My Way too

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Marek Džugas

0

What about Shakespears Sister's 2nd album "Hormonally Yours", which won them the Ivor Novello award? ;)

A

Andrew077

2

You're forgetting possibly the best 2nd album ever released by an act which would undoubtedly made them massive: "Nevermind" by Nirvana.

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Ronnie

1

In the UK Whitney Houston's second album- Whitney, sold more than her debut album- Whitney Houston.