Phoebe Bridgers has landed her first-ever solo UK Number 1 album with Lost Weekend, giving the singer-songwriter a major career milestone during an unusually eventful release week. The album marks her third solo studio effort and follows 2022’s Punisher, which peaked at Number 6 in the UK.
Bridgers had already reached the top of the Official Albums Chart in 2023 as part of boygenius, alongside Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, when the record debuted at Number 1. Lost Weekend gives her the same achievement on her own, while also becoming the first Number 1 album for independent label Dead Oceans.
The celebration came with an unexpected complication. Bridgers was hospitalized with appendicitis on August 17, which also happened to be her 32nd birthday, forcing her to postpone several UK appearances during the album’s launch week.
Even from her hospital bed, Bridgers found a way to mark the occasion. She shared a photo of herself with her maiden Official Number 1 Album Award, giving fans a rather unusual glimpse of the singer celebrating what is one of the biggest chart achievements of her career.
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Lost Weekend Takes The Top Spot As Bridgers Recovers
Lost Weekend debuted at Number 1 with 34,239 units, including 25,719 physical copies. The album also topped the Official Vinyl Albums Chart and Official Record Store Chart, giving Bridgers a clean sweep across several of the UK’s major album rankings.
The result builds on the success of Punisher, which reached Number 6 in 2022. It also adds another milestone to Bridgers’ relationship with the UK charts after boygenius’ the record reached Number 1 three years ago.
Dead Oceans has plenty to celebrate as well. Lost Weekend is the independent Indiana-based label’s first-ever Number 1 album, arriving during the 30th anniversary year of its parent company, Secretly Group.
Bridgers’ chart victory came as she was dealing with an unexpected medical emergency. She revealed her appendicitis diagnosis on Instagram after being hospitalized on August 17, writing: “I got appendicitis for my birthday everything in the UK this week will have to move.”
The illness forced Bridgers to cancel intimate shows in Brighton, Kingston and Bristol after she had already completed two performances at London’s Union Chapel. She told fans affected by the cancellations that she would “make it up to” them.
Her larger The Lost Tour is scheduled to begin on September 14, with performances planned across North America and Europe. For Bridgers, the Number 1 arrives at the end of a week that was hardly what she expected, but the achievement still gives her plenty to celebrate while she recovers.