I knew the term “breaking America” long before I knew what it meant. It was an ever-present phrase in the entertainment world, reserved for critics who would probably never break America themselves, but felt it necessary to impose some sort of pressure on an otherwise young and hopeful artist.
For a long time, it was considered a necessary part of any successful career. America was the more lucrative market, the more commercially minded market, and somewhere celebrating the sort of unbridled confidence necessary to be a star. The ‘tall poppy syndrome’ of cynical Britain was swiftly left behind when landing on American soil, and should things align, there was nothing stopping whoever in question from capturing the light of fame.
It was a tried and tested formula, thanks to the heroes of British invasion music. The Dave Clark Five broke the ‘Promised Land’ with their earworm ‘Glad All Over’, while The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’ infected some sort of chaotic consciousness within young American audiences.
But it was, of course, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles who led the way in breaking America. The former offered up something rebellious for the post-war children of America’s white picket fence communities to enjoy, while The Beatles provided something all-encompassing. Parents and children unified over the pop-laden innocence of the Fab Four’s early work, and marketed an idea of British artistic charm.
Their success in this hungry market laid the foundations for globetrotting careers they enjoyed in the years after. Those grandiose stadium tours that saw Mick Jagger dancing around where otherwise burly athletes would be scoring touchdowns all stemmed from the explosion of interest that boomed in the States.
But, while there is a so-called “special relationship” our country shares with the United States and an undoubted cultural crossover, there are only a handful of albums that have simultaneously topped our charts. Of course, our mainstream trends look somewhat similar, but we can’t forget the vast subcultural differences our two countries share.
Country is primarily an American interest genre, while the gritty aspects of colloquial rock or grime seem to be solely intended for a British audience. The result of this? Chart-topping records that look and sound very different in each country.
What albums simultaneously topped the US and UK charts?
Last year, the feat was achieved by Coldplay, who in the last 20 years have always been a band that has unified the two transatlantic nations. Their album Moon Music was the first British record to achieve the feat since 2016, when The 1975’s second album I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It managed to cinch that win.
But for Coldplay, that was their fifth time achieving the goal, having also gained the impressive honour with their albums with X&Y, Viva La Vida, Mylo Xyloto, and Ghost Stories.
The other British bands to join the ranks are Radiohead, with their glitching epic Kid A, Mumford and Sons with their album Babel, released in 2012, Muse hit the gong with their 2015 album Drones, and, of course, One Direction with Take Me Home and Four.
The Beatles join the list, but with a surprisingly small number of contributions. Abbey Road was their only studio album to achieve the feat, with their 2000’s compilation album 1 being the only other record doing so.
From across the pond, Michael Jackson’s Thriller has simultaneously topped both charts, as well as Beyonce’s Lemonade, Drake’s Views and Taylor Swift, with Midnights, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and The Tortured Poets Department.