Madonna has done it again: the pop icon has claimed her 13th No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart with Confessions II.

The sequel to 2005’s Confessions on a Dancefloor storms to the top spot, marking Madonna’s first U.K. No. 1 LP since 2012’s MDNA and extending her reign as one of the most successful artists of all time on the chart.

Madonna joins a prestigious group of artists who have reached the Official U.K. Albums Chart summit 13 or more times, alongside Robbie Williams (16), The Beatles (15), Taylor Swift (14), The Rolling Stones (14) and Elvis Presley (13).

Sienna Spiro‘s The Visitor lands at No. 2 and is the biggest debut album of the year by a British act. “What Sienna has accomplished already is nothing short of remarkable,” said Tom March, Capitol Music Group chairman & CEO. These global achievements are just the beginning and speak not only to Sienna’s undeniable talent, but to her exceptional artistry and the genuine authenticity at the heart of everything she creates — qualities that have resonated deeply with fans around the world.”

Olivia Rodrigo‘s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is at No. 3, followed by Michael Jackson‘s The Essential (No. 4) and Olivia Dean‘s The Art of Loving (No. 5).

Pitbull’s Greatest Hits, which comes after a Guinnes World Record-breaking triumph in London, lands at No. 18. Following their respective London shows, BTS‘ ARIRANG lifts 16 spots to No. 21, while My Chemical Romance‘s classic The Black Parade re-enters the top 40 for the first time since 2007, up to No. 27.

Ariana Grande will not appear in the 13th season of American Horror Story after all, with her exit driven by a scheduling conflict with her ongoing Eternal Sunshine Tour, according to THR.

Grande was announced as part of the AHS Season 13 cast on Halloween 2025, marking her first appearance on the Ryan Murphy anthology series and a reunion with the producer following her role on his 2015 series Scream Queens. But a recently released teaser for the season, subtitled 13, did not feature her, with reports that a change to the show’s production schedule had created a direct conflict with her set tour dates. Grande did not shoot any scenes for the season.

The timing lines up with a run of scheduling turbulence for the singer’s live show. AHS Season 13 began production in April, and Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Tour launched June 6 in Oakland. In late June, she rescheduled three of her own tour dates — moving a July 12 Brooklyn show to July 14 and shifting two Boston concerts from July 22 and 24 to July 23 and 26 — citing production issues on her end. The tour continues through stops in New York, Canada and Chicago before wrapping overseas.

American Horror Story: 13 moves forward with a returning ensemble that includes Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd and Jessica Lange, alongside director John Waters. The season, which reunites several cast members reprising their Coven characters, is set to premiere Sept. 24 on FX before streaming on Hulu.

For Grande, the acting detour was always secondary to the tour driving it. Eternal Sunshine — her seventh studio album, released in 2024 — has powered her first headlining run since 2019’s Sweetener World Tour, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for her sixth career chart-topping album and spinning off two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles. Her eighth album, Petal, arrives July 31, led by “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” which recently gave her a 10th career Hot 100 No. 1 — tying her for 10th-most in the chart’s history.

Her film work isn’t disappearing, either: she’s set to appear next in the Meet the Parents sequel Focker-In-Law, due out this fall.

This week brought new releases from music superstars in the worlds of rock, pop, Latin, hip-hop, K-pop and beyond — but what was your favorite release of the week?

Kicking things off with pop royalty, Beyoncé surprise-released the R&B-tinged new single “Morning Dew (Donk)” last weekend. Switching gears to rock & roll, The Rolling Stones returned with their 25th studio album Foreign Tongues. In the rap space, Future delivered his new album The Real Me. And YEONJUN from K-pop quintet TOMORROW X TOGETHER is back with Part 02 from his No Labels series.

Other big drops: Suki Waterhouse’s third album Loveland, Teddy Swims’ new single “Break Up in Reverse,” The Linda Lindas and Hayley Williams’ team-up “Closer,” Chris Lake and Tiga’s “Party Time” featuring Aatig, Feid’s “A Xon De Que” and Coco Jones’ “Body So Tea.”

And that’s still not all! We also have Chris Avantgarde’s Hyperreal, Melanie Santiler’s “Gataza,” Jahmiel’s Against All Odds, Maddie Lenhart’s “Empty Room” and Wyatt Flores’ “Scared of Heights.”

All those choices, but which one is your favorite this week? Revisit our full New Music Friday Guide here, and make your selection below.