Kylie Minogue has 11th UK album as Christmas No. 1 race heats up | Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue has achieved her 11th number one album in the UK, putting her on par with David Bowie and Eminem on the all-time greatest albums list.

The album, Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped), will sound familiar to her fans: it’s a reissue of her 2015 album Kylie Christmas (which only reached No. 12), and contains four newly recorded tracks and a revised tracklist. It has been re-released once before, in 2016, as The Snow Queen Edition. However, the fully covered version is considered a new album in chart terms, thus continuing a non-consecutive streak of top positions that began in 1988, when Minogue’s self-titled debut spent six weeks at the top.

It is ahead of Abba, Coldplay, Michael Jackson, Elton John and Queen on the list, and also tied with Rod Stewart and U2, but is still some distance behind joint leaders The Beatles and Robbie Williams, who have 15 No. 1 albums to their name. Williams hopes to become the all-time leader in February with the release of his next album, Britpop.

Minogue also entered the singles chart this week with “Xmas,” one of Amazon’s annual exclusive Christmas songs for the retailer. Christmas comes in at No. 16, though it will undoubtedly rise during next week’s race for Christmas No. 1 as CD and vinyl releases are released today, the sales of which contribute significantly to chart positioning in the streaming era.

Wham!’s “Last Christmas” topped the charts. The early lead in the race, it is the No. 1 song of the week, replacing Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” which spent seven non-consecutive weeks at the top. Last Christmas never reached No. 1 when it was first released in 1984, but it finally reached the top in January 2021, and has topped the chart every year since, becoming the No. 1 Christmas for the past two years.

Its biggest annual rival for the country’s festive sentiment, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” took third place this week, while Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’around the Christmas Tree” took fourth place. Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” confirms its position as the New School’s most popular Christmas song, earning a top-five spot since its release in 2013. There are 20 Christmas songs overall in the Top 40.

But these classics will have new contenders at next week’s Christmas No. 1, as a number of charities and singles enter the race. Together for Palestine, the humanitarian aid project run by Brian Eno and others, released “Lullaby” featuring Palestinian artists alongside British stars including Celeste and Nene Cherry.

Line of Duty actress Vicky McClure teamed up with brand SpudBros for Brighter Than the Night to raise money for her charity Our Dementia Choir, while Bob the Drag Queen recorded a Giant Armadillo to support armadillo mammal conservation efforts, and home care service Visiting Angels oversaw Robbie Williams’ Angels cover for care workers.

Less profoundly, Denise Welsh has released Slayyy Bells, a tie-up with confectionery brand Celebrations, in which the Loose Women star and “hun” icon is paired with a Charli xcx-esque trivia dance track.

But British pop singer Rae could cause an upset with her non-Christmas tale of frustration single “Where’s My Husband?”, which is at No. 2 this week. If so, it will be the first non-festive or charitable song to top Christmas since Ed Sheeran’s Perfect in 2017.

Christmas No. 1 in the UK will be announced at 4pm on Friday 19 December.