The UK Albums Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom. Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical albums. This list shows albums that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart during 2003, as well as albums which peaked in 2002 and 2004 but were in the top 10 in 2003. The entry date is when the album appeared in the top 10 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).

One-hundred and twenty-two albums were in the top ten this year. Sixteen albums from 2002 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while Elephunk by The Black Eyed Peas and Twentysomething by Jamie Cullum were both released in 2003 but did not reach their peak until 2004. Come Away with Me by Norah Jones, Justified by Justin Timberlake, Let Go by Avril Lavigne and Missundaztood by Pink were the albums from 2002 to reach their peak in 2003. Eleven artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2003. 50 Cent, Busted, Girls Aloud, Michael Bublé and Sean Paul were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 album in 2003.

The first number-one album of the year was Let Go by Avril Lavigne. Overall, twenty-five different albums peaked at number-one in 2003, with twenty-five unique artists hitting that position.

Background Multiple entries One-hundred and twenty-two albums charted in the top 10 in 2003, with one-hundred and eight albums reaching their peak this year (including Their Greatest Hits: The Record and The Very Best of Cat Stevens, which both charted in previous years but reached a peak on their latest chart run).

Eleven artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 2003. Blue, Busted, Elvis Presley, Pink, Rachel Stevens, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R. Kelly, Robbie Williams, Sugababes and Westlife were the acts who had two top 10 albums this year. Busted and R. Kelly's two entries were both released this year.

Chart debuts Twenty-nine artists achieved their first top 10 album in 2003 as a lead artist. Busted and R. Kelly both had one more entry in their breakthrough year.

The following table (collapsed on desktop site) does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo album, or featured appearances on compilations or other artists recordings.

Artist Number of top 10s First entry Chart position Other entriesDaniel Bedingfield1Gotta Get Thru This2—Busted2Busted2A Present for Everyone (2)Christina Aguilera1Stripped2—50 Cent1Get Rich or Die Tryin'2—Appleton1Everything's Eventual9—Turin Brakes1Ether Song4—1Elephant1—David Sneddon1Seven Years – Ten Weeks5—Evanescence1Fallen1—R. Kelly2Chocolate Factory10The R. in R&B Collection, Vol. 1 (4)Big Brovaz1Nu-Flow6—Deftones1Deftones7—Girls Aloud1Sound of the Underground2—Delta Goodrem1Innocent Eyes2—1So Much for the City3—Electric Six1Fire7—1Permission to Land1—Kings of Leon1Youth & Young Manhood3—Sean Paul1Dutty Rock2—Elbow1Cast of Thousands7—Black Rebel Motorcycle Club1Take Them On, On Your Own3—1Kick Up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose5—DMX1Grand Champ6—Hayley Westenra1Pure7—1Elephunk 3—Michael Bublé1Michael Bublé6—Jamie Cullum1Twentysomething 3—Bryn Terfel1Bryn6—Alex Parks1Introduction5—

Notes As members of Destiny's Child, Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé had two top 10 albums to their name (The Writing's on the Wall in 1999 and Survivor two years later). Both had debut solo albums in 2003 that reached high positions - Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love and Kelly Rowland's Simply Deep topped the chart.

Ex Hear'Say singer Kym Marsh peaked at number 9 with her first and only solo album Standing Tall. Rachel Stevens broke out on her own after S Club went on hiatus and she made the top 10 with Funky Dory, her debut album.

Best-selling albums Dido had the best-selling album of the year with Life for Rent. The album spent 21 weeks in the top 10 (including ten weeks at number one), sold over 2.168 million copies and was certified 6× platinum by the BPI. Justified by Justin Timberlake came in second place. Christina Aguilera's Stripped, Gotta Get Thru This from Daniel Bedingfield and Come Away with Me by Norah Jones made up the top five. Albums by The Darkness, Coldplay, Michael Jackson, Busted and R.E.M. were also in the top ten best-selling albums of the year.

Top-ten albums Key SymbolMeaning‡Album peaked in 2002 but still in chart in 2003.♦Album released in 2003 but peaked in 2004.(#)Year-end top-ten album position and rankEnteredThe date that the album first appeared in the chart.PeakHighest position that the album reached in the UK Albums Chart.

Entered (week ending)Weeksintop10 Single ArtistPeak Peakreached (week ending)WeeksatpeakAlbums in 2002 31Missundaztood Pink 2 1 14The Eminem Show ‡ Eminem 1 5 29Come Away with Me (#5)Norah Jones 1 4 28By the Way ‡ Red Hot Chili Peppers 1 5 2Melody AM ‡ Röyksopp 9 1 31A Rush of Blood to the Head ‡ (#7)Coldplay 1 3 7Angels with Dirty Faces ‡ Sugababes 2 1 9ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits ‡Elvis Presley 1 2 28Let Go Avril Lavigne 1 3 4One by One ‡ Foo Fighters 1 1 10A New Day at Midnight ‡David Gray 1 1 10One Love ‡Blue 1 1 24Justified (#2)Justin Timberlake 1 7 9Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Volume 1 ‡Westlife 1 1 11Greatest Hits 1970–2002 ‡ Elton John 3 2 14Escapology ‡ Robbie Williams 1 7Albums in 2003 17Gotta Get Thru This (#4)Daniel Bedingfield 2 1 17Busted Busted 2 2 21Stripped (#3)Christina Aguilera 2 1 3Their Greatest Hits: The Record Bee Gees 5 1 4Simply DeepKelly Rowland 1 1 2Biography: The Greatest HitsLisa Stansfield 3 1 2I Care 4 UAaliyah 4 1 2100th WindowMassive Attack 1 1 8Get Rich or Die Tryin' 50 Cent 2 1 5Greatest Hits Tom Jones 2 1 1Everything's EventualAppleton 9 1 1Ether SongTurin Brakes 4 1 1ReasonMelanie C 5 1 5Daniel in Blue Jeans: 20 Great Rock 'N' Roll Love SongsDaniel O'Donnell 3 1 1Back in the World LivePaul McCartney 5 1 2Ballads – The Love Song CollectionBoyzone 6 2 1Neon NightsDannii Minogue 8 1 4MeteoraLinkin Park 1 1 5HomeSimply Red 2 1 1One HeartCeline Dion 4 1 10Elephant 1 2 1Eye CandyMis-Teeq 6 1 1The Very Best OfLighthouse Family 9 1 4American LifeMadonna 1 1 1Couldn't Have Said It BetterMeat Loaf 4 1 1Seven Years – Ten Weeks David Sneddon 5 1 2Say You WillFleetwood Mac 6 1 3Think TankBlur 1 1 1The Golden Age of GrotesqueMarilyn Manson 4 1 16Fallen Evanescence 1 1 3Chocolate FactoryR. Kelly 10 3 3Nu-Flow Big Brovaz 6 1 1DeftonesDeftones 7 1 4The Definitive 8 2 1Sound of the UndergroundGirls Aloud 2 1 3How the West Was WonLed Zeppelin 5 1 10You Gotta Go There to Come Back Stereophonics 1 1 4Best: The Greatest Hits of S Club 7S Club 7 2 1 3St. AngerMetallica 3 1 3Labour of Love, Vols. I, II & III: The Platinum CollectionUB40 7 1 3Hail to the ThiefRadiohead 1 1 3BareAnnie Lennox 3 1 9Dangerously in Love Beyoncé 1 5 6The Greatest Hits of George BensonGeorge Benson 4 1 9Innocent Eyes Delta Goodrem 2 2 4So Much for the City 3 1 1Chapter IIAshanti 5 1 3Parts of the Process (The Very Best of Morcheeba)Morcheeba 6 1 1FireElectric Six 7 1 22Permission to Land (#6) 1 4 2Ultimate Collection 4 1 7Youth & Young Manhood Kings of Leon 3 1 1Phantom PowerSuper Furry Animals 4 1 1Standing TallKym Marsh 9 1 4Magic and Medicine 1 1 9Dutty Rock Sean Paul 2 1 1The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary CollectionYes 10 1 5American TuneEva Cassidy 1 2 1KokopelliKosheen 7 1 1Cast of ThousandsElbow 7 1 1Take Them On, On Your OwnBlack Rebel Motorcycle Club 3 1 1Love & LifeMary J. Blige 8 1 2You've Got a Friend: The Best of James TaylorJames Taylor 4 1 1Dance of DeathIron Maiden 2 1 1Kick Up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose 5 1 2Silence Is EasyStarsailor 2 1 1RealityDavid Bowie 3 1 1Seal IVSeal 4 1 1Grand ChampDMX 6 1 8Pure Hayley Westenra 7 1 17Elephunk ♦ 3 4 2AbsolutionMuse 1 1 2Sacred LoveSting 3 1 7The R. in R&B Collection, Vol. 1R. Kelly 4 2 2The Long RoadNickelback 5 1 1Results May VaryLimp Bizkit 7 1 1Singles 93–03 9 1 21Life for Rent (#1)Dido 1 10 4Live at KnebworthRobbie Williams 2 2 1Funky DoryRachel Stevens 9 1 2ELVIIS: 2nd to NoneElvis Presley 4 1 2Michael BubléMichael Bublé 6 1 5The Very Best of Sheryl Crow Sheryl Crow 2 1 212 MemoriesTravis 3 1 3The Very Best of Cat Stevens Cat Stevens 6 1 2Room on Fire 2 1 4As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook, Volume IIRod Stewart 4 1 1Careful What You Wish ForTexas 5 1 12In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 (#10)R.E.M. 1 1 5Three Sugababes 3 1 6Twentysomething ♦ Jamie Cullum 3 1 4GuiltyBlue 1 1 1This Left Feels RightBon Jovi 4 1 1Try ThisPink 3 1 1Ladies NightAtomic Kitten 5 1 2BrynBryn Terfel 6 1 1The Definitive CollectionLionel Richie & The Commodores 10 1 10Number Ones (#8)Michael Jackson 1 1 7A Present for Everyone (#9)Busted 2 1 9Greatest Hits Red Hot Chili Peppers 4 1 1Body LanguageKylie Minogue 6 1 1Let It Be... Naked 7 1 5TurnaroundWestlife 1 1 2IntroductionAlex Parks 5 1 15Friday's Child Will Young 1 2 2Cliff at ChristmasCliff Richard 9 1

Entries by artist The following table shows artists who achieved two or more top 10 entries in 2003, including albums that reached their peak in 2002. The figures only include main artists, with featured artists and appearances on compilation albums not counted individually for each artist. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 2003 is also shown.

Entries Artist Weeks Albums2Blue 7Guilty, One LoveBusted22A Present for Everyone, BustedElvis Presley 3ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits, ELVIIS: 2nd to NonePink 7Missundaztood, Try ThisRachel Stevens 5Best: The Greatest Hits of S Club 7, Funky DoryRed Hot Chili Peppers 20By the Way, Greatest HitsR. Kelly10Chocolate Factory, The R. in R&B Collection, Vol. 1Robbie Williams 13Escapology, Live at KnebworthSugababes 7Angels with Dirty Faces, ThreeWestlife 7Turnaround, Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Volume 1

Notes

"Elephunk" reached its peak of number three on 17 January 2004 (week ending). "Twentysomething" reached its peak of number three on 6 March 2004 (week ending). The Eminem Show re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 8 February 2003 (week ending). Come Away with Me re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 22 February 2003 (week ending) for 14 weeks and at number 10 on 20 September 2003 (week ending) for 2 weeks. By the Way re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 12 April 2003 (week ending) and at number 10 on 26 April 2003 (week ending). Melody AM re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 8 February 2003 (week ending). A Rush of Blood to the Head re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 1 March 2003 (week ending) for 12 weeks and at number 6 on 4 October 2003 (week ending) for 3 weeks. Angels with Dirty Faces re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 11 January 2003 (week ending) for 3 weeks and at number 10 on 15 March 2003 (week ending). One By One re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 25 January 2003 (week ending) for 2 weeks. Justified re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 18 January 2003 (week ending) for eleven weeks and at number 7 on 19 April 2003 (week ending) for twelve weeks. The Greatest Hits 1970-2002 re-entered the top 10 at number 6 on 13 September 2003 (week ending) for 2 weeks and at number 8 on 22 November 2003 (week ending). Escapology re-entered the top 10 at number 1 on 16 August 2003 (week ending) for 4 weeks. Gotta Get Thru This re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 26 April 2003 (week ending) for 2 weeks, at number 2 on 2 August 2003 (week ending) for 7 weeks, at number 7 on 27 September 2003 (week ending) and at number 7 on 18 October 2003 (week ending). Busted re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 26 April 2003 (week ending) for 8 weeks and at number 9 on 16 August 2003 (week ending) for 5 weeks.