Foo Fighters seek to end Noel Gallagher's run of 10 consecutive UK Number 1 albums

Dave Grohl and Noel Gallagher
(Image credit: Dave Grohl - C Flanigan/WireImage / Noel Gallagher - Mauricio Santana/Getty Images)

Foo Fighters have nudged ahead of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in the race to score this week's number one album in the UK, with sales of Dave Grohl's band's 11th eleventh album But Here We Are now less than 500 'chart units' higher than Gallagher's Council Skies album, according to the Official Charts Company.

On Tuesday, June 6, the OCC reported that Gallagher was leading the race by just 200 units. 

Remarkably, every studio album Noel Gallagher has released - seven Oasis albums and three Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - has reached number 1 in the UK charts, and he also hit the peak with the compilation record Back The Way We Came: Vol. 1 (2021), so he has history on his side.

But Foo Fighters have scored five number one albums of their own, with 2002's One By One, 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, 2011's Wasting Light, 2017's Concrete and Gold and 2021's Medicine At Midnight all hitting the top spot.

The winner of this week's chart race will be revealed on BBC Radio 1's The Official Chart on Friday, June 9, from 4pm, and at OfficialCharts.com.

Meanwhile, Dave Grohl has written an emotional 'thank you' note to fans of his band for getting the group through their first set of shows without late drummer Taylor Hawkins.

"Hey, it's been a while," Grohl's hand-written note, posted on the Foo Fighters' social media channels, begins. "Now that we've returned from our first run of shows, I felt compelled to reach out and thank you all for being there for us.

"Every night, when I see you singing, it makes me sing harder. When I see you screaming, it makes me scream louder. When I see your tears, it brings me to tears. And when I see your joy, it brings me joy. But, I see you... and it feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together.

"Because we've always done this together.

Time and time again.

See you soon.

Dave"

Rumours continue that Foo Fighters will make an appearance at this month's Glastonbury Festival, although this has not been confirmed by any official channels.

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.