Wigan band The Lathums celebrate as debut album reaches number one in the UK charts

How Beautiful Life Can Be has knocked Drake off top spot after fans rallied round to support the Wigan four-piece.

The band celebrated the release of the album last Friday, with a special hometown show at The Monaco in Hindley.

Fans gathered to sing along to tracks that are well on their way to becoming anthems.

The Great Escape and All My Life, which wasn’t even included on the LP, in particular had the venue in full voice, with chants of “Wigan” filling the gaps between each song.

A few days later, the band treated fans to an extended version of the album, which included the tracks that didn’t make the initial cut.

At one stage during the week, both versions occupied both number one and two in the ITunes chart.

Prior to the release of the album, lead singer Alex Moore said: “I have hope in my heart it will get a number one. It would be a really nice accolade, we would have a really big party, but in bed with a brew by ten.”

On their way to the top they have received backing from Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders, Tim Burgess and Louis Tomlinson, while they have also appeared on the BBC Breakfast sofa.

Wigan Athletic have also supported the #Lathumsonnumber1 Twitter campaign, with the band being the official match sponsor for the game against Cheltenham at the DW Stadium.

Alongside this they also played a special acoustic show to a selected few fans in the Marquee Suite prior to the game.

It has been quite a whirlwind ride for the band, who formed in 2019, with a huge UK tour now awaiting them.

Upcoming tour dates include a sold-out night at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse on October 16.

No matter how far they end up travelling the band's heart will remain in Wigan.

Drummer Ryan Durrans said: “It’s where we come from, it’s our home, so we want to do everything we can to improve it, even if it’s just by lifting people’s moods.”

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