The Reytons Beat FLO to U.K. No. 1 Album — Without Mainstream Radio
The Reytons' fourth album A Love Letter to a Broken Town reached No. 1 on the U.K.'s Official Albums Chart on Friday, August 14, 2025, giving the Rotherham-formed indie band their second chart-topping record. The album held off R&B trio FLO to take the top spot, according to Billboard.
The Reytons comprise Jonny Yerrell, Lee Holland and Joe O'Brien. Their first No. 1 came in January 2023 with What's Rock and Roll?, an album they self-released — meaning it was put out without the backing of a major label, as the BBC reported at the time. Their 2024 follow-up Ballad of a Bystander peaked at No. 2 on the same chart.
What makes this week's result striking is the band's route to the top. Frontman Jonny Yerrell claimed the album may be the first in history to reach No. 1 on the Official Charts without a single play on mainstream radio. The Official Charts Company, which compiles the U.K. albums chart from sales and streaming data, has not independently confirmed that claim, but the band's trajectory has been built largely through grassroots touring and direct fan support rather than radio exposure.
FLO's album Therapy at the Club landed at No. 5, despite posting the trio's biggest opening-week sales to date. Their 2024 debut Access All Areas had reached No. 3. The Official Charts Company, the body that counts physical sales, digital downloads and streaming equivalent album units — the measure that converts plays into album sales — published Friday's chart showing a packed upper tier.
Michael Jackson's greatest-hits collection The Essential held at No. 2. Olivia Rodrigo's album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love sat at No. 3. Ariana Grande's petal dropped to No. 4, three places down from its No. 1 debut the previous week. Grande was set to begin a 10-night stand at London's O2 Arena on Saturday, August 15.
Lower in the chart, Role Model earned his first-ever Official Albums Chart entry at No. 6 with his third album Chuck Timely & The Hourglass. Welsh dance duo Overmono reached No. 12 with Pure Devotion, their second top-20 U.K. album after 2023's Good Lies peaked at No. 11. British band Man/Woman/Chainsaw scored their first top-40 entry with Cannonball, and Liverpool group Keyside finished at No. 38 with their self-titled debut.
For a band from a South Yorkshire town better known for steel than for chart-topping indie rock, the result is a testament to a fanbase built the slow way — through gigs, word of mouth and records carried home in paper bags rather than playlist placements. Whether the no-radio claim holds up under scrutiny, the chart position itself is settled.
