Success for Roisin Murphy after hitting headlines as Olivia Rodrigo tops chart

Roisin Murphy’s new album Hit Parade is on track for success after she recently made headlines, with US singer Olivia Rodrigo poised to take the top chart position.

Pop star Rodrigo’s album Guts is set to pip Murphy to the number one spot, with more than 33,000 chart units at the midweek mark, following number one success with single Vampire this year.

Meanwhile, Murphy has received a torrent of positive reviews for her sixth studio album and will mark her first UK top 10 album if it continues in popularity with fans, according to the Official Charts Company.

It comes after the Irish singer-songwriter, 50, appeared to criticise the use of puberty blockers by transgender children on social media in posts on her personal Facebook page, which have since reportedly been deleted.

She later apologised for being the reason for an “eruption of damaging and potentially dangerous social media fire and brimstone”.

Following the apology, two of Murphy’s shows at London music venue Rough Trade East were reportedly cancelled at short notice with no reason detailed.

Feminist Kathleen Stock, who quit her job as a lecturer at the University of Sussex after being targeted by activists over her views on gender identity amid accusations of transphobia, also appeared to reference Murphy’s comments in a post on Twitter, known as X, at the time.

She said: “I see the latest celeb to say something sensible about child transition has now recanted.

“Please: if you’re tempted to weigh in, only do it if you aren’t going to apologise. Ever. They won’t accept it, you’ll look weak, and they’ll be emboldened to intimidate others in future.”

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Rodrigo is set to top the UK charts this week as her second album outsells the rest of the UK top 10 combined, according to the Official Charts Company.

It comes weeks after she became the youngest person to receive a Brit Billion Award for achieving one billion UK streams, since the award was launched in May.

Following the release of her first album Sour in 2021, Rodrigo became the first female solo artist to claim three simultaneous UK top five singles with Deja Vu, Traitor and Good 4 U – which also won her International Song of the Year at the Brit awards last year.