Paul Simon Charts A Brand New Album As One Beloved Classic Returns

Forbes

01-05-2025

Paul Simon places three albums on the Official Album Downloads chart, including a debut for Concert ... More in the Park and a return to the top 20 for Graceland. NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 20: Paul Simon performs onstage during The Nearness Of You Benefit Concert at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 20, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)
Last week, Paul Simon was quite busy on the United Kingdom's music charts. The legendary singer-songwriter, often regarded as one of the most creative and important of his generation, saw multiple collections — both solo efforts and those made with his former partner Art Garfunkel — return to various tallies in the country.
While some of those sets have faded from view, others have made comebacks worthy of noting this frame. Simon even manages to score a new bestseller in the country, though not with a brand new release.
Simon earns a new win on the Official Album Downloads chart this week. On that list, which reflects the top-selling full-lengths and EPs on platforms like iTunes, Concert in the Park: August 15, 1991 arrives. The project narrowly lands on the tally, coming in at No. 97. Simon has now collected a milestone 10 solo placements on that ranking throughout the past several decades.
Concert in the Park is Simon's only debut this time around, but two other releases also appear on the charts. Graceland — his bestselling and critically-adored effort — returns to two tallies this frame. It reenters the Official Album Downloads chart at No. 18 and also appears at No. 77 on the Official Albums Sales tally, which counts physical purchases like CDs and vinyl.
Simon fills three positions on the Official Album Downloads chart this week. Following Concert in the Park debuting and Graceland returning to the top 20, The Ultimate Collection also bounds back onto the digital-only list. That compilation reappears at No. 60 this frame.
The Ultimate Collection is the only one of Simon's projects to climb on the tallies it appeared on last week. The hits-packed set rises slightly on both the Official Albums Streaming and Official Albums charts — the latter being the general all-consumption ranking in the U.K. This time around, The Ultimate Collection improves to Nos. 72 and 81 on those rosters, respectively.
Of all the efforts currently appearing on various tallies, only The Ultimate Collection has reached No. 1, doing so on just one of the rankings it now occupies. The win gave Simon a chart-topping title on the Official Albums list — the most prestigious listing for full-lengths and EPs in the U.K.
Neither Graceland nor Concert in the Park has broken into the top 10 on any of the tallies they currently occupy, though Graceland came closest on the Official Album Downloads chart. It previously peaked at No. 11 on that roster.