Paul McCartney’s Egypt Station Is His First Number One Album Since 1982

Paul McCartney’s latest album Egypt Station has debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 charts, his first chart-topping U.S. release in over 36 years. The album has sold the equivalent of 153,000 units since its release on Sept. 7 via Capitol Records, making it the first of McCartney’s solo albums to debut in the top spot, though it’s far from the first to reach it: He’s had eight albums in total reach number one during his solo and Wings careers. The last album of his to do so was 1982’s Tug of War.

Speaking of, it’s not hard to imagine that McCartney’s recent publicity run, group masturbation stories and all, had something to do with the unequivocal success of the record. McCartney’s stories were a radical break from the usual carefully constructed facade the world had gotten to know over the decades, and it’s entirely possible that his candor helped put the record at the forefront of the public imagination—when they weren’t thinking of McCartney skewering frogs on barbed wire, that is.

McCartney will be playing the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Oct. 5 and 12 before returning to the U.S. in 2019 for his Freshen Up tour. Find those dates and a 1990 McCartney performance from the Paste archives below. You can stream Egypt Station here.

Paul McCartney Freshen Up Tour 2019 U.S. Dates:

May
23 – New Orleans, La. @ Smoothie King Center
27 – Raleigh, N.C. @ PNC Arena
30 – Greenville, S.C. @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena

June
01 – Lexington, Ky. @ Rupp Arena
03 – Fort Wayne, Ind. @ Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
06 – Madison, Wis. @ Kohl Center
11 – Moline, Ill. @ TaxSlayer Center
26 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Talking Stick Resort Arena