Morgan Wallen’s ‘I’m the Problem’ & All the LPs That Hit No. 1 on Both Top Country Albums & the Official U.K. Albums Chart
Topping both of these charts used to be a rare occurrence, but it's been happening more frequently in recent years.
Country music is a quintessentially American genre, but its global appeal is growing. Case in point: Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem, which enters the Official U.K. Albums Chart at No. 1.
Wallen’s 2021 album Dangerous: The Double Album, debuted and peaked at No. 77 on the Official U.K. Albums chart. His 2023 album, One Thing at a Time, debuted and peaked at No. 40 on that chart, setting up his current breakthrough. Speaking to the U.K.’s Official Charts Company, Wallen said: “The massive growth that we’ve seen in the U.K. is truly something special…. I am so grateful and humbled my music is connecting in a place where we have spent time and worked to build a real and meaningful relationship with our fans there. Thank you guys so much!”
I’m the Problem is just the 11th album to reach No. 1 on both Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and the all-genre Official U.K. Albums chart. All 11 of these albums, which we list below, have been released since the late 1990s.
None of the six artists who have had the most No. 1 albums on Top Country Albums appear on this list. George Strait, who has amassed a record 27 No. 1 albums on Top Country Albums, has never cracked the Official U.K. Albums Chart. Neither have Kenny Chesney, who has had 17 No. 1 albums on Top Country Albums, or the late Merle Haggard, who had 16.
Garth Brooks, who has had 17 No. 1s on Top Country Albums, just missed making this list. He peaked at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart in 1994 with In Pieces. That album was No. 1 on Top Country Albums for seven weeks in 1993.
Willie Nelson, who has had 18 No. 1 country albums, topped out at No. 16 with his highest-charting album in the U.K., Legend: The Best of Willie Nelson. Tim McGraw, who has had 17 No. 1 country albums, topped out at No. 43 in the U.K. with his highest-charting U.K. album, Two Lanes of Freedom.
Two late, great singers – Glen Campbell and Jim Reeves – are also not present, even though they both topped both charts (but with different albums). Campbell had nine No. 1 albums on Top Country Albums, but his only No. 1 album in the U.K. (1976’s 20 Golden Greats) was not among them. Reeves, best known for his 1960 ballad smash “He’ll Have to Go,” had four No. 1 albums on Top Country Albums, and two No. 1 albums on The Official U.K. Albums Chart, but none of them overlapped.
Lionel Richie had one No. 1 album on Top Country Albums, 2012’s Tuskegee, on which he teamed with various top country stars, but it stalled at No. 7 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart.
Here are the 11 albums that reached No. 1 on both Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and the all-genre Official U.K. Albums chart.
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