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Sheppard And Hillsong Crack The UK Albums Chart

Staff Writer

Aussies on the rise.

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It was released almost a year ago in Australia, but indie-pop band Sheppard have now cracked the UK Albums Chart with their debut album, Bombs Away, released in the country last week.

The six-piece outfit's record debuted at #81 on the charts, after it peaked at #2 in Australia upon its release last July. 

Meanwhile, back on home soil mega-church band Hillsong United shocked many when their new album Empires took out the #1 spot over the weekend, beating Daniel Johns and Eurovision to the top spot.

It has also had a very comfortable debut on the UK Albums Chart, coming in at #34. 

And British star Sam Smith had a very memorable week in the charts this time around, after equalling a record previously solely held by iconic four-piece, The Beatles.

The 23-year-old singer is now the only artist since the famous English group to spend almost a full year in the top five with a debut album. 

Smith's album, In The Lonely Hour has remained at the top for 50 weeks — the best outing since The Beatles' 1963 LP, Please Please Me which stayed in the top five for a total of 51 weeks.