Noah Kahan has achieved the biggest UK week one debut for an international artist so far in 2026 with new album The Great Divide (Island).
The US singer-songwriter’s fourth studio album opened at No.1 with 55,826 units (Official Charts Company), including 33,319 physical copies, 612 downloads and 21,895 sales-equivalent streams.
Kahan’s album secured the second biggest opening of the year, behind Harry Styles’ Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
The Great Divide is the third No.1 so far this year for Island EMI – more than any other label group (Polydor Label Group has spent more weeks at the summit overall this year with Olivia Dean’s The Art Of Loving).
The Great Divide is the second UK No.1 album for Kahan, following the chart-topping result in 2024 for Stick Season (818,095 sales to date). The album title track also spent seven weeks at the singles summit and has consumption to date of 3,460,274.
Kahan also secured a new hit with Doors at No.12, while album title track The Great Divide surged 80-17 (previous peak: No.10). Porch Light also returned to the Top 20 with the release of the new album.
This is another fantastic achievement for Noah, following a stratospheric 24 months
Steve Pitron
Steve Pitron, senior vice president, Island EMI Label Group, international, said: “This is another fantastic achievement for Noah, following a stratospheric 24 months. Everyone at Island EMI is hugely proud to have been part of this journey alongside our brilliant partners; Drew Simmons and Ryan Langlois at Foundations Artist Management and the teams at Republic Records and Mercury Records. Watching Noah’s audience grow so organically in the UK, and seeing this album connect once again so deeply, has been incredibly rewarding.”
He added: “The Great Divide is once again a powerful and deeply human album and Noah’s authenticity is exactly why it’s resonated so strongly with audiences here. The UK, fans and media alike, has always had a deep and special bond with Noah and his music and we’re absolutely thrilled to see him secure his second UK No.1 album and can’t wait to have him back in November for his UK arena tour.
“I have to give a huge shout out to Christina Incocciati [head of international], Max Creswell and Amber Saqladi [marketing] and our world-class commerce team – Marisa Hemson, James Lee, Rhys Laird and Fizza Babar for creating and executing such a stellar campaign.”
PHOTO: Patrick McCormack
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