English Beat’s ‘The Beat at the BBC’ Debuts at No. 3 On Billboard Reggae Albums Chart After Black Friday Vinyl and CD Drop

The Beat at the BBC by The English Beat debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart for the week ending December 13, 2025, tying Sister Nancy’s One Two for the second strongest chart debut of the year.

The project released November 28 (Black Friday) on Vinyl CD, is a revival of the British ska group’s complete BBC recordings in one collection for the first time by Rhino Records. The set compiles sessions largely recorded for John Peel, with additional performances for Mike Read and David “Kid” Jensen. While some tracks previously appeared on Shout! Factory and Edsel reissues, this marks the first comprehensive edition. The collection features iconic songs including “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Tears of a Clown,” “Hands Off… She’s Mine,” “Twist & Crawl,” “Ranking Full Stop,” “Too Nice to Talk To,” and “Save It for Later.”

English Beat’s 1980 album I Just Can’t Stop, was their last project to hit the chart #2 in 2023.

At No. 1, Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and The Wailers maintains its unshakable position at the top of the chart for the entire year, logging an extraordinary 309 weeks total.

Just behind him, Shaggy holds firm at No. 2 with Best of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection, extending its chart run to 339 weeks.

Another standout on this week’s chart is the re-entry of The Trinity by Sean Paul, reappearing at No. 4. The album—originally a chart-topping hit and now totaling 157 weeks—continues to benefit from the sustained streaming boom in early 2000s dancehall classics. Sean Paul’s blockbuster Dutty Rock also remains steady at No. 5, now at 292 weeks.

American reggae band Stick Figure has 40% of the chart with:

• World on Fire remains strong at No. 6, with 327 weeks

• Free Flow Sessions holds at No. 8, in only its third week, already peaking at No. 2

• Set in Stone continues its extraordinary chart tenure at No. 9, reaching 386 weeks

• Wisdom stays at No. 10, now at 168 weeks

Rounding out the upper half, UB40’s Greatest Hits sits at No. 7, logging an astonishing 368 weeks. The week’s most popular reggae albums, based on multi-metric consumption that combines traditional album sales, streaming-equivalent albums, and track-equivalent albums, as compiled by Luminate.