YOUNG MATURES ATOP CHARTS
Young, who rose from obscurity to fame after a reality television-based talent search, has sold more than 1 million copies of his first record in a week—the fastest-selling British debut single ever. By comparison, Sir Elton John's tribute to the late Princess Diana, an updated version of "Candle in the Wind," sold 658,000 copies during its first week in 1997. "Candle" is the biggest-selling single in the world, with sales of more than 35 million.
The 23-year-old singer's single ``Anything Is Possible/Evergreen,'' started at No. 1 with 1,108,269 copies sold since it was released last week—around 385,000 copies on the first day, according to the Associated Press. His debut outsold the chart's No. 2 song, "Whenever Wherever" by Shakira, by a staggering ratio of 12 to 1.
Before Young, Britain's fastest-selling debut single of all time was ``Pure and Simple'' by Hear'Say, a group created for last year's TV series ``Popstars.'' The single sold 550,000 copies in its first week.
``It's an amazing feeling to have a No. 1 hit,'' said Young. ``Everything that I've experienced over the past couple of months is just beginning to sink in now. To have broken records with my debut single is incredible.''
On Feb. 10, former politics student Young won ``Pop Idol,'' a reality-television quest for a new singing star. Almost 9 million people voted by telephone poll in the final. Young sang The Doors' ``Light My Fire.''
Young will join rock legends John, Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney at a Buckingham Palace concert in June to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's golden jubilee.
