Edinburgh has produced an abundance of musical talent over the years including The Proclaimers, Bay City Rollers and Idlewild, but who is the most popular local act based on chart positions?
Other Lothian acts who have been top of the pops include Someone You Loved singer Lewis Capaldi from Whitburn and Haddington’s Marillion singer Fish, aka Derek Dick. While, Stockbridge-raised Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson sold millions of records with the American rock band. And former Hibs ball boy and reggae/ rock singer Finley Quaye from Leith, Edinburgh’s folk rockers The Incredible String Band and Drylaw/ Pilton’s hip-hop rockers Young Fathers have sold records all over the world, with the latter still performing on the main stage at music festivals all over Europe and beyond.
We have based our Edinburgh and Lothian chart on the number of UK top 10 singles and albums each act has had over the years.
9. Young Fathers
Winners of the Mercury Music Prize in 2014 (pictured) Young Fathers are (left to right) 'G' Hastings, Alloysious Massaquoi, and Kayus Bankole. The hip-hop rock band formed in 2008 and have enjoyed success across the globe thanks to their intense live shows. So far the band have only had one top 10 success, with their fourth studio album 'Heavy, Heavy' hitting number seven in the charts in February this year. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/ PA
10. Callum Beattie.
Although he is still to enjoy a top 10 single or album in the UK, Edinburgh singer/ songwriter Callum Beattie has hit the top of the album chart with his two release so far - 'People Like Us' and Vandals' - and had one top 10 single in his native Scotland, hitting number six with 'Salamander Street' in 2020, with the single reaching 49 in the UK chart - his highest placing so far. Photo: Michael Gillen