Roger Waters Scores A Brand New No. 1 Album

Roger Waters’s This Is Not a Drill – Live from Prague debuts at No. 1 on the Official Rock and Metal Albums chart, becoming his third straight leader. MADRID, SPAIN – MARCH 23: Roger Waters, co-founder of the English rock band Pink Floyd, performs on stage at WiZink Center on March 23, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Mariano Regidor/Redferns)

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Roger Waters is simultaneously one of the most beloved rock stars in U.K. history, and also one of the most divisive. Thanks largely to his pioneering work with Pink Floyd, he remains a legend in rock music, though as a soloist, some of his comments about politics and the state of the world have landed him in hot water and turned some fans against him.

He remains, however, incredibly famous in his home country, and he regularly churns out new albums, usually focusing on live sets and compilations of his most popular tunes.

Waters is back on the charts in the U.K. this week with another live project, which brings him back to the top spot on one list he knows very well.

This Is Not a Drill Launches at No. 1

This Is Not a Drill – Live from Prague launches at No. 1 on the Official Rock and Metal Albums chart, the U.K.-based tally that looks specifically at the top-selling titles in those genres.

Under his own name, Waters has conquered the tally four times, and This Is Not a Drill is his third leader in a row.

Roger Waters’s History of Hitting No. 1

Is This the Life We Really Want? spent two frames running the show beginning in mid-2017. His most recent three projects — Us + Them and The Dark Side of the Moon Redux — also quickly shot to the summit as well.

Waters has reached the top 10 on the tally eight times, and half of those projects have hit No. 1.

He has sent nine different titles to the Official Rock and Metal Albums chart throughout his solo career. That sum doesn’t include his work with Pink Floyd, as the band has been far more successful on that ranking.

Pink Floyd Outpaces Roger Waters

Pink Floyd has racked up seven No. 1s on the Official Rock and Metal Albums chart — almost twice as many as Waters on his own. The group scored a brand new leader earlier this year with At Pompeii MCMLXXII, a full-length that accompanied the concert film of the same name. That title didn’t only rule the rock ranking, but also the general tally of the most consumed albums in the U.K.

This Is Not a Drill Starts Inside the Top 10 on Multiple Rosters

This Is Not a Drill debuts on six different charts in the U.K. this week, and it reaches the top 10 on all but one of them. The live set, which was recorded at a concert in May 2023 in Prague during Waters’ farewell tour, kicks off its time at No. 20 on the Official Albums ranking. The set earns loftier starting points on the Official Album Sales and Official Physical Albums lists, where it begins at No. 3, and it also launches at No. 7 on both the Official Album Downloads and Official Vinyl Albums charts.