Central Cee scores first ever UK Number 1 album with 23, beating Tears For Fears' comeback

Central Cee storms to Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart this week, fighting off strong competition from Tears For Fears in what proved a thrilling race to the finish. 

The Shepherd’s Bush-born rapper claims his first Number 1 Album with his second mixtape 23; having previously peaked at Number 2 with debut Wild West last year. Central Cee’s streaming success and strong physical support bagged him the top spot. See Central Cee’s most-streamed tracks in the UK here. 

Tears for Fears boast the second-highest new entry this week, with The Tipping Point entering at Number 2. Their first full album of original material since 2005, the record marks band members Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith’s first Top 5 album since 1993’s Elemental (5). 

The Tipping Point also claims Number 1 on this week’s Official Vinyl Albums Chart and Official Record Store Chart. See Tears for Fears’ full Official Charts history here. 

A new entry at Number 3, Avril Lavigne’s Luv Sux makes a strong debut. Her seventh studio album out-peaks her 2019 release Head Above Water and becomes her first Official Albums Chart Top 5 since 2007’s The Best Damn Thing (1). See Avril Lavigne’s full Official Charts history here. 

Elsewhere in the Top 5, Johnny Marr is a new entry at Number 4 with Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 – his highest-charting solo studio album to date. The record – a collection of his two previous Fever Dreams EPs plus brand-new material – is at Number 2 on both the Official Vinyl Albums Chart and Official Record Store Chart this week. 

Speaking to OfficialCharts.com, Johnny Marr said: “Thanks to everyone who’s got the album and listening to it in the first week. It’s a buzz to have the new songs out there for everyone to hear.” 

Australian Rockers Gang of Youths sail into the Top 10 with Angel in Realtime. The group’s third studio album, it becomes their first to chart in the UK. 

Inside the Top 20, blues singer Beth Hart is a new entry at 17 with her Led Zeppelin covers album. The aptly-titled A Tribute to Led Zeppelin delivers Beth her highest Albums Chart entry to date, beating her previous peak position with 2019’s War in My Mind (19). See Beth Hart’s full Official Charts history here. 

Meanwhile, German rockers Scorpions boast a new entry at Number 18 with their nineteenth studio album Rock Believer. 

Elsewhere on the Official Albums Chart, the ever-experimental Bakar’s Nobody’s Home is at 22, Half Man Half Biscuit’s fifteenth studio album The Voltarol Years is a new entry at 23 and Bristol-born Americana artist Elles Bailey makes her mark on the mainstream with her Shining in the Half Light (29).

See this week's Official Top 100 Albums here from 5.45pm.