Lionel Richie scores first British No 1 in 23 years before charts move to Fridays

Fans sent 'The Definitive Collection' to the top after his Glastonbury appearance

Lionel Richie has made the top spot after a strong Glastonbury performance (PA)

The final Sunday album charts were dominated by Glastonbury acts – with Lionel Richie scoring his first British No 1 in 23 years.

Fans sent the singer’s album, The Definitive Collection, to the top spot after a well-received performance on the Pyramid Stage during the third day of the festival.

The album was first released in 2003, reaching No 10 in the UK charts. The position marks Richie’s first UK album No 1 since Back to Front in 1992. The Definitive Collection will be the last album named No 1 on a Sunday as the charts move to Fridays to tie in with a new global music release day.

“I was overwhelmed performing at Glastonbury in front of all those people, and for the fans to make the album No 1 is unbelievable,” Richie said. “The UK has always been a special place for me.”

Nearly half of the Top 40 albums belonged to acts that performed at Glastonbury this year. Florence and The Machine’s How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful was second in the charts and James Bay’s Chaos and the Calm third.

Veteran folk-rock guitarist Richard Thompson scored his first Top 10 album at the age of 66. The former guitarist with Fairport Convention entered the charts at No 10 with Still.

Kanye West, who headlined the Pyramid Stage on the Saturday, failed to reap a Glastonbury charts boost, however.

The last official UK No 1 single to be announced on a Sunday was Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies with dance track “Are You with Me”, his first to top the UK charts.

From this Friday, the Official Charts Company will publish the Top 100 albums and singles at 6pm on a Friday.

Martin Talbot, of the Official Charts Company, said: “It is the end of an era. The official chart has been announced every Sunday afternoon for 27 years. But the music industry changes, it’s in a constant state of flux, and we’ve always looked to move forward with it.

“It makes sense for the charts to move so that when records are released on a Friday there is a full seven days of sales taken into account.”

BBC Radio 1’s Official Chart Show will also switch to Fridays with the DJ Greg James, as part of his drivetime show.

It follows a call by the music body, The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), for new releases to come out on the same day around the world.

Currently, albums and singles are released on different days around the world.

This had “compelling logic” as most fans want to buy and listen to music at the start of the weekend, Frances Moore, the chief executive of the IFPI said.

According to research for the British Phonographic Industry, 60 per cent of consumers who buy or stream new music (who expressed a preference), prefer it to come out on a Saturday or Friday.

The first official UK Singles Chart began in 1952, and it was published in the NME. The chart moved from Tuesday lunchtime to Sunday evening in 1987. The digital downloads chart started in 2004 and was integrated into the UK Top 40 three years later.

A chart countdown was put on the radio with Alan Freeman playing the Top 20 on Pick of the Pops in 1962.

The Radio 1 show brought in 4 million listeners in the 1980s, although in recent year it has fallen to about 1.2 million. DJs to preside over the chart show include Tony Blackburn and Fearne Cotton.