The Rolling Stones return to multiple charts in the U.K. with the ‘Forty Licks’ compilation, which becomes a top 20 bestseller on vinyl once more. Left to right: Ron Wood, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones wave to the crowd at the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall (now Boardwalk Hall) in Atlantic City, N.J., during the Steel Wheels Tour, December 1989. The group played three nights at the venue from 17th – 20th December 1989. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
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The Rolling Stones celebrated roughly 40 years together with the aptly-named compilation Forty Licks, which has become perhaps the rock band's most successful hits project. It is incredible to believe that the set was released more than two decades ago and the Rolling Stones are still going strong. In fact, the group delivered a new album, Foreign Tongues, only a few months ago.
Forty Licks regularly finds space on the charts in the United Kingdom, and this frame, the title rises on the country's most important albums list while simultaneously returning to several other tallies.
The Rolling Stones Return to Three Charts
Forty Licks returns to the Official Vinyl Albums, Official Physical Albums and Official Albums Sales charts this week. The compilation lands on those lists at Nos. 20, 26 and 30, respectively.
Forty Licks Returns After Years Away
As it reappears, Forty Licks has now spent a little more than a year on the Official Physical Albums chart, with 59 frames accumulated so far on the roster. The project lands on the other two rankings for only the second time.
Forty Licks debuted on both the Official Albums Sales and Official Vinyl Albums charts in August 2023 and had not been seen on either since. At that time, the compilation opened at what remain its all-time highs of No. 6 on the vinyl tally and No. 15 on the broader sales list.
Forty Licks Surges on the Main Albums Chart
On the two U.K. rankings where Forty Licks does not need to return, the compilation moves in opposite directions. It rockets more than 40 spaces on the Official Albums chart, the main ranking of the most-consumed projects in the country, while simultaneously slipping a few pegs on the Official Albums Streaming tally.
The Rolling Stones Nearly Ruled Two Charts With ‘Forty Licks'
Forty Licks has cracked the top 10 on three of the five U.K. lists where it charts this time around. The compilation has come particularly close to ruling both the Official Albums and Official Physical Albums rankings, peaking at No. 2 on the two related rosters, but it only climbed as high as No. 6 on the vinyl list.
The project's longevity is especially impressive on the two tallies where it does not bound back. Forty Licks has now spent 167 weeks on the Official Albums chart and 158 on the Official Albums Streaming tally.
Foreign Tongues Is Still a Bestseller
The Rolling Stones' much newer Foreign Tongues can still be found on four U.K. charts this week, nearly two months after its release. The studio LP remains a top 40 hit on the Official Albums Sales, Official Physical Albums, Official Album Downloads and Official Vinyl Albums charts, though it declines on all four rankings simultaneously.
Forty Licks Brought Together Two Rolling Stones Eras
Part of what made Forty Licks notable when it arrived was that it brought together music from two major eras of the Rolling Stones' career that had long been controlled by different rights holders. The compilation mixed the group's earliest classics with later hits in one career-spanning package, while also giving longtime fans something new. Four previously unreleased songs were included alongside the familiar smashes, and their inclusion helped make Forty Licks more than a standard greatest-hits collection.
