LONDON, June 20 — Pop star Rick Astley has topped the UK album chart after a gap of 29 years.
It had been widely expected that the Never Going to Give You Up singer’s comeback album, 50, would beat new releases by Tom Odell and Paul McCartney to reach number one.
Nonetheless, it was a tight race to the finish with Astley outselling Odell by just 3,700 copies, the BBC reported.
According to the Official Chart Company, Astley sold more physical CDs, while Odell secured more digital sales and streams.
“It’s amazing, it’s incredible,” Astley was quoted by the BBC as saying. “It’s been a very, very, very long time.”
Astley last topped the chart in 1987, three years before Odell was born, with his debut album Never Gonna Give You Up when he was signed under 80s super-producers Stock, Aitken, Waterman.
