Dermot Kennedy scores the first Number 1 of 2020 on the Official Irish Albums Chart with Without Fear

Dermot Kennedy claims the first Number 1 of the new decade on the Official Irish Albums Chart this week.

Without Fear leads the Top 50 for an eighth non-consecutive week; the last time an album spent eight weeks or more at Number 1 was Ed Sheeran’s ÷, which spent a whopping 32 non-consecutive weeks on top of the chart across 2017 and 2018.

The last time a debut album by an Irish act spent this long at Number 1 was Hozier’s self-titled first album, which also spent eight non-consecutive weeks at the helm in 2014 and 2015.

Harry Styles’ chart-topping Fine Line rebounds three to Number 3, Billie Eilish rises five to Number 4 with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and Stormzy bounces back three to Number 5 with Heavy Is The Head.

MORE: 32 incredible chart facts of 2019 about the Official Irish Singles and Albums Charts

Some big sellers make gains in the Top 10 following the year end: Ed Sheeran’s No.6 Collaborations Project returns at Number 6, popular vinyl record Rumours by Fleetwood Mac makes a top flight return at Number 9, up 14 places, and Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding advances 20 slots to Number 10.

There are climbs this week for Billie Eilish’s Don’t Smile At Me EP which ascends 30 spots to 16, Camila Cabello’s Romance is back in the Top 20 at 19, and Dua Lipa’s self-titled debut album charges 26 positions to 24.

The Coronas score this week’s highest new entry with Live at The Olympia (26), and some of 2019’s chart stars return to the Top 50: Goodbye & Good Riddance by the late Juice WRLD (27); Tom Walker’s What A Time To Be Alive (31); Get To Know from Becky Hill (32); and Mabel’s High Expectations (34).

See the full Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50

© IRMA