NEVERMIND THE BOLLOCKS—IT'S THE U.K. TOP 10
It's "official”—the Colonies finally did something before the mother country. As of yesterday (3/1), the U.K.'s Official Charts Company began including album streaming along with sales. Check out the Top 10 sold and streamed albums across the pond below.
Also, note the surges for BRIT Award winners and performers. Capitol's Sam Smith prevailed, while Warner Bros.' Royal Blood rocketed #18-3 and Columbia's George Ezra broke into the Top 5. But the greatest gainer was RCA's Paloma Faith, moving #33-8.
The Official Charts Company provided its own breakdown of the highly competitive race for #1 on this historic occasion, post-BRITS and plus-streams. At the midway point on Wednesday, Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti held the lead through phenomenal early sales of the remastered album’s physical package.
By Friday, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Royal Blood were in a three-way battle for #1, boosted by their appearances on Wednesday night’s BRITs, before Sam ultimately prevailed.
Based on sales and streams gathered up to midnight Saturday London time, In the Lonely Hour finished with a combined chart sales figure of 41k, 3k more than Sheeran’s x. Breaking it down further, Smith’s album tallied 38k in sales and 2.9k in streams, while Sheeran’s sold just under 35k, with 3.4k streams.
1. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour (Capitol)
2. Ed Sheeran, X (Asylum)
3. Royal Blood, Royal Blood (Warner Bros.)
4. George Ezra, Wanted on Voyage (Columbia)
5. Taylor Swift, 1989 (EMI)
6. Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti (Rhino)*
7. Chris Brown & Tyga, Fan of a Fan the Album (RCA)*
8. Paloma Faith, A Perfect Contradiction (RCA)
9. Gregory Porter, Liquid Spirit (Blue Note)
10. Hozier, Hozier (Island)
On the singles side, the Top 5 remain the same. FYI after his stunning performance at the BRITs, Sam Smith's "Lay Me Down" made a gargantuan leap, going #88-15. Critics' Choice Award recipient, James Bay charged into the Top 10 with his buzzing single. Oh, and not only did David Guetta f/Emeli Sande's "What I Did For Love" jump #20-6, but the official video just dropped too.
1. Ellie Goulding, "Love Me Like You Do" (Polydor)
2. Hozier, "Take Me to Church" (Ruby Works)
3. Mark Ronson f/Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk" (Columbia)
4. The Weeknd, "Earned It" (Republic/XO)
5. Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney, "FourFiveSeconds" (Roc Nation)
6. David Guetta f/Emeli Sande, "What I Did for Love" (Parlophone)
7. Kelly Clarkson, "Heartbeat Song" (RCA)*
8. James Bay, "Hold Back the River" (Virgin)
9. Maroon 5, "Sugar" (Interscope)
10. Chris Brown & Tyga, "Ayo" (RCA)
*Debut
*Reissue
Now excuse us while we get blazed out of our minds and play Physical Grafitti on repeat ALL DAY LONG.
