The UK Albums Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom. Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical albums. This list shows albums that peaked in the top ten of the UK Albums Chart during 2002, as well as albums which peaked in 2001 and 2003 but were in the top ten in 2002. The entry date is when the album appeared in the top ten for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).
One-hundred and twenty-six albums were in the top ten this year. Sixteen albums from 2001 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while Come Away with Me by Norah Jones, Justified by Justin Timberlake, Let Go by Avril Lavigne and Missundaztood by Pink were all released in 2002 but did not reach their peak until 2003. All Rise by Blue, Read My Lips by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Songs in A Minor by Alicia Keys were the albums from 2001 to reach their peak in 2002. Four artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2002. Avril Lavigne, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Shakira and Sugababes were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 album in 2002.
The 2001 Christmas number-one album, Swing When You're Winning by Robbie Williams, remained at the top spot for the first two weeks of 2002. The first new number-one album of the year was Just Enough Education to Perform by Stereophonics. Overall, twenty-seven different albums peaked at number-one in 2002, with Robbie Williams (2) having the most albums hit that position.
Background Multiple entries One-hundred and twenty-six albums charted in the top 10 in 2002, with one-hundred and nine albums reaching their peak this year (including The Platinum Collection and The Very Best of Sting & The Police, which both charted in previous years but reached a peak on their latest chart run).
Four artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2002. Badly Drawn Boy, Blue, Robbie Williams and Westlife were the acts who had two top 10 albums this year. Badly Drawn Boy's two entries were both released this year.
Chart debuts Forty-three artists achieved their first top 10 album in 2002 as a lead artist. Badly Drawn Boy had one more entry in his breakthrough year.
The following table (collapsed on desktop site) does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo album, or featured appearances on compilations or other artists recordings.
Artist Number of top 10s First entry Chart position Other entriesJools Holland1Small World Big Band8—Gordon Haskell1Harry's Bar2—Sum 411All Killer No Filler7—Aaliyah1Aaliyah5—Ja Rule1Pain Is Love3—Howard Shore1The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:Original Motion Picture Soundtrack10— Enrique Iglesias1Escape1—Pink 1Missundaztood 2—1Your New Favourite Band7—Nickelback1Silver Side Up1—Brandy1Full Moon9—Shakira1Laundry Service2—Beverley Knight1Who I Am7—Gomez1In Our Gun8—Badly Drawn Boy2About a Boy6Have You Fed the Fish? (10)Hank Marvin1Guitar Player10—Doves1The Last Broadcast1—Kosheen1Resist8—Hundred Reasons1Ideas Above Our Station6—Liberty X1Thinking It Over3—Ian Van Dahl1Ace7—Norah Jones1Come Away with Me 1—DJ Shadow1The Private Press8—New Found Glory1Sticks and Stones10—Nelly1Nellyville2—1Highly Evolved3—Idlewild1The Remote Part3—Ashanti1Ashanti3—1The Coral5—Beth Orton1Daybreaker8—Vanessa Carlton1Be Not Nobody2—Röyksopp1Melody A.M.9—Sugababes1Angels with Dirty Faces2—Queens of the Stone Age1Songs for the Deaf4—1The Music4—Ms. Dynamite1A Little Deeper10—Avril Lavigne1Let Go 1—Will Young1From Now On1—Holly Valance1Footprints9—S Club Juniors1Together5—Gareth Gates1What My Heart Wants to Say2—Justin Timberlake1Justified 1—Darius1Dive In6—
Notes Darren Hayes scored two top 10 albums with the group Savage Garden prior to the launch of his solo career; debut release Spin peaked at number 2 in April 2002. Justin Timberlake's first post-NSYNC project Justified rose to number-one in February 2003; none of the group's three albums had reached the top 10.
Soundtracks Soundtrack albums for various films entered the top 10 throughout the year. These included About a Boy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
Best-selling albums Robbie Williams had the best-selling album of the year with Escapology. The album spent fourteen weeks in the top 10 (including seven weeks at number one), sold over 1.2 million copies and was certified 5× platinum by the BPI. Missundaztood by Pink came in second place. Enrique Iglesias' Escape, A Rush of Blood to the Head from Coldplay and One Love by Blue made up the top five. Albums by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, Westlife, Elvis Presley and Oasis were also in the top ten best-selling albums of the year.
Top-ten albums Key SymbolMeaning‡Album peaked in 2001 but still in chart in 2002.♦Album released in 2002 but peaked in 2003.(#)Year-end top-ten album position and rankEnteredThe date that the album first appeared in the chart.PeakHighest position that the album reached in the UK Albums Chart.
Entered (week ending)Weeksintop10 Album ArtistPeak Peakreached (week ending)WeeksatpeakAlbums in 2001 53No Angel ‡Dido 1 7 8Whoa, Nelly! ‡Nelly Furtado 2 1 22Just Enough Education to Perform ‡Stereophonics 1 5 8A Funk Odyssey ‡Jamiroquai 1 2 11Read My Lips Sophie Ellis-Bextor 2 2 20Fever ‡Kylie Minogue 1 2 11Gold: Greatest Hits ‡Steps 1 3 2Lickin' on Both Sides ‡Mis-Teeq 3 1 8Songs in A Minor Alicia Keys 6 1 2Britney ‡Britney Spears 4 1 11World of Our Own ‡Westlife 1 1 9Dreams Can Come True, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 ‡Gabrielle 2 4 6Their Greatest Hits: The Record ‡Bee Gees 5 1 13Swing When You're Winning ‡Robbie Williams 1 7 14All Rise Blue 1 1 8Sunshine ‡S Club 7 3 4Albums in 2002 11Freak of Nature Anastacia 4 2 4Small World Big Band Jools Holland 8 3 3Harry's Bar Gordon Haskell 2 1 2All Killer No Filler Sum 41 7 1 2Aaliyah Aaliyah 5 1 5Pain Is Love Ja Rule 3 1 1The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Howard Shore 10 1 2Come with Us 1 1 26Escape (#3)Enrique Iglesias 1 2 31Missundaztood ♦ (#2)Pink 2 1 2Your New Favourite Band 7 1 16Silver Side Up Nickelback 1 2 2A Fine Romance: The Love Songs of Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra 6 1 6Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection Boyz II Men 2 1 5The Very Best of Sting & The Police Sting & The Police 1 2 9The Essential Barbra Streisand Barbra Streisand 1 1 1Full Moon Brandy 9 1 2Under Rug Swept Alanis Morissette 2 1 11Laundry Service Shakira 2 1 1Who I AmBeverley Knight 7 1 8J to tha L–O! The Remixes Jennifer Lopez 4 1 1In Our Gun Gomez 8 1 6A New Day Has Come Celine Dion 1 4 5Spin Darren Hayes 2 1 1Release Pet Shop Boys 7 1 3C'mon, C'mon Sheryl Crow 2 1 5About a Boy Badly Drawn Boy 6 1 1Guitar Player Hank Marvin 10 1 3The Last Broadcast Doves 1 2 1Frantic Bryan Ferry 6 1 1The Sound of the Jam The Jam 3 1 3No More Drama Mary J. Blige 4 1 2Resist Kosheen 8 1 318 Moby 1 1 13The Platinum Collection Queen 2 3 1Down the Road Van Morrison 6 1 6Destination Ronan Keating 1 1 3Together Lulu 4 1 1Ideas Above Our Station Hundred Reasons 6 1 14The Eminem Show (#7)Eminem 1 5 3Thinking it Over Liberty X 3 1 2Ace Ian Van Dahl 7 1 29Come Away with Me ♦Norah Jones 1 4 1The Private Press DJ Shadow 8 1 1Untouchables Korn 4 1 1HeathenDavid Bowie 5 1 2Big Squeeze: The Very Best of Squeeze Squeeze 8 1 1The Definitive Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers 10 1 1Lovehatetragedy Papa Roach 4 1 1Sticks and Stones New Found Glory 10 1 14Heathen Chemistry (#10)Oasis 1 1 11NellyvilleNelly 2 2 1Charango Morcheeba 7 1 1Hullabaloo SoundtrackMuse 10 1 28By the Way (#6)Red Hot Chili Peppers 1 5 1Highly Evolved The Vines 3 1 1Hard Candy Counting Crows 9 1 1Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection Jimi Hendrix 10 1 2The Remote Part Idlewild 3 1 3Ashanti Ashanti 3 1 1Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Bryan Adams 8 1 1O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits Aerosmith 6 1 3The Rising Bruce Springsteen 1 1 3Reanimation Linkin Park 3 2 1The Coral 5 1 2Push the Beat for This Jam (The Singles '94–'02) Scooter 6 1 1Daybreaker Beth Orton 8 1 3Be Not Nobody Vanessa Carlton 7 1 1Evil Heat Primal Scream 9 1 2Melody A.M. Röyksopp 9 1 5Imagine Eva Cassidy 1 1 1Magic HotelToploader 3 1 31A Rush of Blood to the Head (#4)Coldplay 1 3 7Angels with Dirty FacesSugababes 2 1 1Songs for the DeafQueens of the Stone Age 4 1 1The Music 4 1 5Feels So Good Atomic Kitten 1 1 1Intergalactic Sonic 7″s Ash 3 1 2Illumination Paul Weller 1 1 1A Little Deeper Ms Dynamite 10 1 9ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits (#9)Elvis Presley 1 2 1Bounce Bon Jovi 2 1 28Let Go ♦Avril Lavigne 1 3 4Forty Licks 2 3 2The Ragpicker's Dream Mark Knopfler 7 1 1Life on Other Planets Supergrass 9 1 4From Now On Will Young 1 2 1The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac 7 1 1Footprints Holly Valance 9 1 4One by One Foo Fighters 1 1 1Human Conditions Richard Ashcroft 3 1 1Together S Club Juniors 5 1 1Comfort in Sound Feeder 6 1 10A New Day at Midnight David Gray 1 1 4What My Heart Wants to Say Gareth Gates 2 1 3Nirvana Nirvana 3 1 2Forever Delayed - The Greatest Hits Manic Street Preachers 4 1 10One Love (#5)Blue 1 1 2The Best of 1990-2000 & B-Sides U2 2 1 24Justified ♦Justin Timberlake 1 7 2Sentimento Andrea Bocelli with Lorin Maazeland the London Symphony Orchestra 7 1 1Have You Fed the Fish? Badly Drawn Boy 10 1 9Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Volume 1 (#8)Westlife 1 1 11Greatest Hits 1970–2002Elton John 3 2 1Slicker Than Your AverageCraig David 4 1 14Escapology (#1)Robbie Williams 1 7 2Up! Shania Twain 4 1 2It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook Rod Stewart 8 1 1Encore Lionel Richie 8 1 1Dive In Darius 6 1
Entries by artist The following table shows artists who achieved two or more top 10 entries in 2002, including albums that reached their peak in 2001. The figures only include main artists, with featured artists and appearances on compilation albums not counted individually for each artist. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 2002 is also shown.
Entries Artist Weeks Albums2Badly Drawn Boy6About a Boy, Have You Fed the Fish?Blue17All Rise, One LoveRobbie Williams13Escapology, Swing When You're WinningWestlife11Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Volume 1, World of Our Own
Notes
Missundaztood reached its peak of number two on 18 January 2003 (week ending). Come Away with Me reached its peak of number one on 8 March 2003 (week ending). Let Go reached its peak of number one on 11 January 2003 (week ending). Justified reached its peak of number one on 1 February 2003. All Rise re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 30 March 2002 (week ending) for 2 weeks. Just Enough Education to Perform re-entered the top 10 at number 4 on 5 January 2002 (week ending) for 10 weeks. Sunshine re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 2 March 2002 (week ending). World of Our Own re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 23 February 2002 (week ending) for 4 weeks. No Angel re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 5 January 2002 (week ending) for 6 weeks, at number 9 on 23 February 2002 (week ending) for 5 weeks and at number 8 on 6 July 2002 (week ending) for 2 weeks. Gold: The Greatest Hits re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 5 January 2002 (week ending) for 2 weeks. Freak of Nature re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 30 March 2002 (week ending) and at number 10 on 13 April 2002 (week ending) for 6 weeks. Their Greatest Hits: The Record re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 29 December 2001 (week ending) for 2 weeks. Read My Lips re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 12 January 2002 (week ending) for 5 weeks and at number 2 on 29 June 2002 (week ending) for 5 weeks. Songs in A Minor re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 19 January 2002 (week ending) for 2 weeks and at number 8 on 23 March 2002 (week ending) for 4 weeks.