Twenty years after it was famously held off the top spot, My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade has finally reached No 1 on the UK’s Official Albums Chart, and it is Irish band Fontaines D.C. who have paid the price.
The emo landmark rocketed from No 162 to the summit on the chart published on Friday, 30 October, powered by a 20th-anniversary reissue. That pushed Fontaines D.C.’s Dopamine Chamber, last week’s chart-topper, down to No 2 after just one week at the top.
A first No 1 album, two decades late
When The Black Parade was released in 2006 it peaked at No 2 in the UK, even as its lead single “Welcome To The Black Parade” topped the singles chart. This week’s result gives the New Jersey band their first UK No 1 album, according to the Evening Standard’s chart report.
My Chemical Romance already had two other top 10 albums, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge and Danger Days, plus top 10 singles with “Famous Last Words” and “Teenagers”.
It was a week for anniversary editions. Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, also released in 2006 and also reissued for its 20th birthday, climbed from No 112 to No 4. Olivia Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love sits at No 3, with Michael Jackson’s compilation The Essential at No 5.
Manic Street Preachers took the only new entry in the top 10 with The Holy Bible – Live at No 10, which the Standard reported is their 16th top 10 album. Further down, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi’s From the Dark and Michael Kiwanuka’s Fudge entered at No 11 and No 13 respectively, according to the Official Charts Company.
What it means for Fontaines D.C.
For Fontaines D.C., No 2 is hardly a disaster. Dopamine Chamber opened at No 1 in both the UK and Ireland, topping the Official Irish Albums Chart for the week of 23 to 29 October ahead of Olivia Rodrigo, Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan. The band, fronted by Grian Chatten, also saw “Mimesis” reach No 34 on the UK singles chart this week, the third hit single from the album.
Holding a second week at No 1 against an anniversary reissue with two decades of pent-up demand behind it was always going to be difficult, and second place keeps the Irish band’s album firmly in the conversation as the busy pre-Christmas release season gets under way.
Singles: Babydoll holds on as Thriller creeps up for Halloween
Over on the Official Singles Chart, Jamie Miller’s “Babydoll” held on to No 1 for a second week. Tate McRae’s “Housewife” is at No 2, Ashe’s “Stop The Wedding” at No 3 and Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan’s “Expectations” at No 4.
In a sure sign of the season, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” jumped 22 places to No 17 ahead of Halloween, with a rise of 61.4 per cent on the previous week, the Standard reported. Raye’s “Where Is My Husband!” also climbed 11 places to No 40 following her Mercury Prize win in Newcastle on 22 October for the album This Music May Contain Hope.
What happens next
The new Official Irish Albums Chart, which will show whether Dopamine Chamber can hold on at No 1 in Ireland, was not yet available when this article was published. With “Thriller” and other seasonal favourites likely to fade after 31 October, attention turns to the November release schedule and the early race towards Christmas No 1.
For My Chemical Romance, the challenge is whether a reissue can hold the top spot for more than a week. For Fontaines D.C., the question is how long Dopamine Chamber can stay in the top five.
Sources
- Evening Standard via AOL: My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade tops album chart 20 years after release (30 October 2026)
- Official Charts Company: Official Albums Chart Top 100, 30 October – 5 November 2026 (30 October 2026)
- Official Charts Company: Official Irish Albums Chart, 23 – 29 October 2026 (23 October 2026)
- NME: Raye wins the Mercury Prize 2026 (22 October 2026)
Featured image: My Chemical Romance 07.jpg by Michael Spencer from Perth, WA, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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