The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 (Top 40), and published in Music Week magazine (Top 75) and on the OCC website (Top 100).

To qualify for the UK albums chart the album must be the correct length and price. It must be more than 3 tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album. A budget album costs between £0.50 and £4.24. Additionally, various artist compilations - which until January 1989 were included in the main album listing - are now listed separately in a compilations chart. Full details of the rules can be found on the Official Charts Company website.

Though album sales tend to produce more revenue and, over time, act as a greater measure of an artist's success, this chart receives less media attention than the UK Singles Chart, because overall sales of an album are more important than its peak position. Indeed, in recent years, the album chart has been in good health despite fears that music innovations such as MP3 players would threaten the traditional album. 2005 even saw a record number of artist album sales with 126.2 million sold in the UK.

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40.

There are lots of different criteria used in different charts used to reflect popularity, commonly: sales of records, cassettes and compact discs; the amount of radio airplay; and (recently) the number of downloads.

Some charts are specific to a particular musical genre and most to a particular geographical location (although download charts are not easily pinned down in this way). The most common period of time covered by a chart is one week with the chart being printed or broadcast at the end of this time. Summary charts for years and decades are then calculated from their component weekly charts. Component charts have become an increasingly important way to measure the commercial success of individual songs.

A chart hit is an extremely popular recording, identified by its inclusion in a chart that uses sales or other criteria to rank popular releases. Chart-topper and related terms (like No. 1 hit, top of the charts, chart hit, and so forth) are widely used in common conversation and in marketing, and are loosely defined. In North America, the weekly charts from Billboard magazine are most often referenced (quite often internationally, as well), particularly the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and Billboard 200 album chart, although there are many other charts and sources. Because of its value in promoting recording artists and releases, both directly to the consumer, and by encouraging exposure on radio, TV other media, chart positioning has long been a subject of scrutiny and controversy. Chart compilation methodology and data sources vary, ranging from buzz charts based on opinions of various experts and tastemakers, to charts that reflect empirical data such as retail sales. Therefore, a chart-topper may be anything from an "insiders' pick" to a runaway seller.

Adele Emeli Sandé  /sænˈdeɪ/ san-DAY, (born 10 March 1988) known by her stage name Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish soul and R&B recording artist and songwriter. Sandé first became known to the public eye after she featured on rapper Chipmunk's third single, "Diamond Rings", which gained herself and Chipmunk a first top 10 single on the UK Singles Chart. In 2010, she appeared on Roll Deep star, Wiley's "Never Be Your Woman", which became another top ten hit. Simon Cowell called her "his favourite songwriter at the minute". She has written for a number of artists, including Cher Lloyd, Parade, Susan Boyle, Preeya Kalidas, Leona Lewis, Alesha Dixon, Cheryl Cole, and Tinie Tempah.

In 2010, she signed a publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing. She later announced that Virgin Records had given her a record deal. Sandé released her first solo single "Heaven" in August 2011, which was an instant hit around the globe. Sandé has two number-one singles across the United Kingdom and Ireland with "Read All About It" with Professor Green and "Next to Me". She released Our Version of Events, in February 2012, upon the release the album peaked number one in the UK.

Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden Globe nominations.

A singer, songwriter, and record producer, she is recognized as a definitive interpreter of songs. Being one of music's most versatile and commercially successful female singers in U.S. history, she is recognized for her many public stages of self-reinvention and incarnations.

With a one-time standing as the Queen of Rock, where she was bestowed the title of "highest paid woman in rock", and known as the First Lady of Rock, she has more recently emerged as music matriarch, international arts advocate and human rights advocate.

Ronstadt has collaborated with artists from a diverse spectrum of genres—including Billy Eckstine,Frank Zappa, Rosemary Clooney, Flaco Jiménez, Philip Glass, Carla Bley, The Chieftains, Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton, Kate and Anna McGarrigle and has lent her voice to over 120 albums around the world. Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times noted in 2004, Ronstadt is "Blessed with arguably the most sterling set of pipes of her generation ... rarest of rarities—a chameleon who can blend into any background yet remain boldly distinctive ... It's an exceptional gift; one shared by few others."

Michael Steven Bublé ( /ˈbuːbleɪ/; born 9 September 1975) is an Italian Canadian singer and actor. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found a worldwide audience with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible which reached number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, the U.K. Albums Chart, the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart, the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and several European charts. Bublé has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

Michael Bublé was born in the City of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada to Lewis Bublé, a salmon fisherman, and Amber (née Santagà). He has two younger sisters, Crystal (an actress) and Brandee. He attended Seaforth Elementary School and Cariboo Hill Secondary School. According to an Oprah interview on 9 October 2009, Bublé dreamed of becoming a famous singer since age two. When he was a teenager, he slept with his Bible and prayed to become a singer. Bublé's interest in jazz music began around age five when his family played Bing Crosby's White Christmas album at Christmas time. The first time that his family noticed his singing talent was at Christmas time when Bublé was 13 years old, and they heard him powerfully sing the phrase "May your days be merry and bright" when the family was singing to the song "White Christmas" in a car ride.