NEW YORK: Paul McCartney is back on the top of the charts, on Sunday earning his first solo number-one album in the United States in 36 years.

Egypt Station — a confident 16-track album in which McCartney experiments with a younger rock feel in addition to his classic Beatles sound — marked the first time that he has ever debuted as a solo artist on top of the benchmark US Billboard chart.

The English legend — who at 76 retains a hectic touring schedule — spared no promotional effort for the album, appearing on US late-night shows and livestreaming an invite-only concert inside New York’s Grand Central Station.

Surprisingly, McCartney did not replicate the feat in his native Britain, where Egypt Station debuted at number three.

Egypt Station sold the equivalent of 153,000 copies in the United States in the week since its release on Sept 7, tracking service Nielsen Music said.

Unusually for a chart-topping album in recent years, virtually all of the sales were traditional purchases rather than through streaming or individually downloaded tracks.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2018