English singer-songwriter Paul Heaton has scored his first solo UK number one album, his sixth overall.

Heaton’s latest chart-topping LP – titled Jenius – follows his three with the Beautiful South and two more alongside former bandmate Jacqui Abbott.

The former Housemartins musician reached the top on Friday, in part, by shifting more vinyl copies than any other album over the past seven days.

Dolly Parton, who died earlier this week, aged 80, has three singles in the top 40, including 9 to 5, which landed at number 12 in this week’s UK chart, having previously peaked at 47 in 1981.

Elsewhere on Friday, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In extended its record as the longest-running number one single in UK chart history.

In a four-star review, external, the Times noted how Heaton’s “casually funny” and “deceptively piercing” latest album “again confirms his gift for dissecting human weakness with an unsentimental but humane eye”.

Victoria Segal wrote that the Ian Broudie-produced record was full of “stylistically playful songs” – like One Eye Open and Favourite Kind of Idiot – which “weave through the personal and political”.

Heaton, who rose to fame as part of Hull band The Housemartins in the 1980s – alongside pre-Fatboy Slim Norman Cook – this week told the BBC he was planning on putting money behind the bar at dozens of pubs to celebrate his 65th birthday next year.

The singer made a similar gesture in 2022 when he opened £1,000 tabs at 60 pubs.

Fellow singer Brandon Flowers’ pivot from the glamorous indie rock ‘n’ roll of The Killers to Parton’s own brand of country music saw him land behind Heaton at number three, with his new album Thrasher.

Waves of tributes poured in this week to Tennessee star Parton, whose best-loved tunes were also played across the nation, evidently.

Her biggest streaming country-pop classic 9 to 5 was written for the 1980 film of the same name, and earned her an Oscar nomination as well as topping the US charts.

Another of her tunes, Jolene – which finds her pleading with a stunning rival not to steal her man – re-entered the chart at number nine on Friday.

The country anthem originally peaked at number seven in 1976 – her joint-highest UK chart placing.

Her duet with Kenny Rogers, Islands in the Stream, also reached number seven in 1983, and it has flowed back into this week’s chart at number 13.

Finally, Diamonds & Rhinestones, Parton’s 2022 greatest hits collection, reached the top 10 of the albums chart – topped by Heaton – for the first time too.

“Dolly Parton’s extraordinary legacy continues to shine through the official charts,” noted Becca Monahan and Chris Austin, co-managing directors of the official charts company, in a joint statement.

They called it a “powerful reflection of the UK’s enduring love for her music”.

“A true icon whose songs have crossed generations, these chart returns are a fitting celebration of Dolly’s incredible life, career and lasting impact,” they added.