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Kneecap hold midweek UK Number One ahead of Melanie C and Michael Jackson
Kneecap’s second album Fenian leads the midweek UK album chart, with Melanie C’s Sweat close behind and Michael Jackson’s The Essential in third. Fewer than 3,000 units separate first and third at the midweek mark.
Kneecap are set to challenge for the UK Number One album this week. Their second LP, Fenian, holds the midweek top spot, with Melanie C’s Sweat close behind and Michael Jackson’s The Essential collection in third.
Fenian was released at the start of the month. It follows the group’s 2024 debut Fine Art. The record includes guest verses from Kae Tempest, Radie Peat and Fawzi, and the song “Irish Goodbye”, which addresses depression, loss and grief. The band said the title is “inspired by, and proudly named [after] warriors in Irish folklore” and that they reclaimed the term in the album announcement earlier this year.
Melanie C’s Sweat is the former Spice Girl’s ninth solo album. It is tracking as her strongest chart performance since her 1999 debut Northern Star, which peaked at Number Four. If Sweat overtakes Kneecap this week, it would be the first solo Number One for a Spice Girl.
In third at the midweek point is Michael Jackson’s compilation The Essential, which has regained momentum following the new Jackson biopic. That collection previously led the charts for seven weeks after Jackson’s death in 2009. Official Charts data shows fewer than 3,000 units separate first and third at the midweek mark.
Other entries developing this week include Kacey Musgraves’ new album Middle Of Nowhere, which looks likely to be her fourth Top 10 record; Tori Amos with In Times Of Dragons; and the soundtrack to Billie Eilish’s live film Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D).
Fenian received a four-and-a-half-star review from NME, which concluded, “their day has come.”
The album arrived after a high-profile legal case involving rapper Mo Chara, real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh. He was charged over allegations that he displayed a Hezbollah flag and shouted “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a London gig in 2024. The charges were thrown out in September on procedural grounds.
The Crown Prosecution Service lodged an appeal in January. That appeal was dismissed on March 11, when two high court judges upheld the earlier decision.
The band have repeatedly denied supporting Hamas or Hezbollah and said footage from the gig had been taken out of context. They also organised fan support at three court appearances. Chara told NME in a recent interview that he did not see the legal issues as pressure on the group. He said, “I didn’t see it as pressure. Obviously, we do thrive in the chaos, and sometimes it’s easier to deal with things when it’s so chaotic, and you’re onto the next thing.”
The full NME interview is available online, and the band’s new record continues to lead the midweek chart as final sales are tallied.
