News : Pink Floyd claim Christmas number one album and set new gap record

Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here has been crowned this year’s Official Christmas Number 1 album.

The band recently unveiled the Wish You Were Here 50 reissue across digital and physical formats to mark the album’s 50th anniversary. The expanded release features six previously unheard alternate takes and demo recordings.

Remarkably, the moment arrives exactly five decades after Wish You Were Here originally reached Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart in 1975, creating a true full circle milestone for the group.

With this achievement, Pink Floyd now hold the record for the longest gap between their first and most recent Number 1 albums, spanning more than 50 years or 2,620 weeks. In doing so, they surpass The Beatles and Abbey Road, who previously held the record with a gap of 49 years and 252 days between chart topping albums, first reaching Number 1 in 1969 before returning to the summit in 2019.

The success also marks Pink Floyd’s second Number 1 album of the year, following Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII. The live album from their 1971 performance, later released as a film in 1972, was digitally remastered from the original 35mm footage, with newly mixed audio by Steven Wilson, and reissued in 2025. This makes it the first time the band have ever secured two Number 1 albums within the same calendar year.

Festive triumph is nothing new for the group either. Although this is their first Christmas Number 1 album, they previously claimed the Christmas Number 1 single back in 1979 with the classic Another Brick in the Wall, Pt.2.

Wish You Were Here also leads this week’s Official Album Vinyl Chart, shifting the highest number of vinyl copies over the past seven days, while simultaneously topping the Official Record Store Chart as the most popular album in UK independent record shops.

One of England’s most celebrated rock bands continues to shine.

Elsewhere on the chart, widely praised album The Art of Loving by Olivia Dean secures a twelfth consecutive week inside the Top 5 at Number 2, while Michael Bublé and Christmas rounds out the festive period at Number 4.

Oasis fever rolls on as (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? re enters the Top 10 at Number 10. The (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Singles Box, a seven inch collection marking 30 years of the album, also appears in the Top 40 at Number 23, while Definitely Maybe climbs five places to Number 26.

EsDeeKid closes out 2025 on a high note as Rebel rises three spots to Number 13, pointing toward a promising year ahead for the Liverpool rapper. Arctic Monkeys also see renewed interest, with former Number 1 album AM returning to the Top 20 for the first time in seven months at Number 17.

Bring Me The Horizon’s That’s The Spirit makes a return following its ten year anniversary vinyl release at Number 20, while American band Geese enjoy a major surge as Getting Killed jumps 44 places to Number 32. Meanwhile, following the conclusion of their reunion tour, Radiohead’s OK Computer climbs three places to land at Number 37.