The Shires lose out on UK Number One album to Niall Horan

The Shires have been unsuccessful in their quest to achieve a career first UK Number One album as Niall Horan pipped them to the punch.
The duo – made up of Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes – were leading the former One Direction man in the midweek charts with their fourth record ‘Good Years’, but a late surge saw Horan pull away and claim his first UK Number One album with ‘Heartbreak Weather’.
In the end, The Shires came third – with Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent’ clinging onto second spot after 44 weeks in the album charts – meaning that their career peak in the UK Album Charts remains at number three, which is where ‘My Universe’ and ‘Accidentally on Purpose’ both charted.
However, it is almost certain that the duo will pick up their fourth UK Country Number One album, given the position in which ‘Good Years’ finished on a national scale.
Prior to C2C being postponed, the duo were set to become the first British act to be billed as a Main Stage act following Old Dominion’s cancellation, while they are also scheduled to go out on an extensive UK tour.
Given the current pandemic though, it seems only a matter of time until the group have to reschedule their dates as their tour is set to start at the end of April.