Sam Fender has clinched the title of having the biggest opening week for a British album since Harry Styles delighted fans with ‘Harry’s House’. The 30 year old North Shields native soared to number one with his third studio offering, ‘People Watching’, according to the Official Charts Company.
His success notches him a hat-trick of number one albums, with ‘People Watching‘ amassing an impressive 107,100 chart units in its debut week atop the UK albums chart. This feat is especially notable as it marks the first time any artist has surpassed the 100,000 unit threshold since former One Direction’s Styles did so with 113,000 units in May 2022.
Even amid a global array of musical prowess, Sam stands out as only the ninth artist in UK chart history to cross the 100,000-unit milestone during an album’s first week sales, sharing this acclaim with the likes of Taylor Swift, Adele, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Styles himself, Take That, Abba and Arctic Monkeys. Moreover, the British sensation smashed another record with the century’s fastest-selling vinyl by a UK act, selling no less than 43,000 copies.
Overjoyed by his accomplishment, Sam expressed his gratitude: “This is completely overwhelming. Thank you to everyone who’s supported us and listened to the album this week.”
As Fender gears up for his performance at the Brit Awards this Saturday, where he’s in the running for artist of the year and best rock or alternative act, he has outdone Canadian singer Tate McRae to claim the top spot on the albums chart. McRae’s album, So Close To What, achieved a career-high number two, reports the Mirror.
The rest of the top five included Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet (three), Partynextdoor and Drake’s Some Sexy Songs 4 U (four), and Ed Sheeran’s + – = Divide X (Tour Collection) (five). Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar held onto the UK singles chart crown for a second week with his Drake diss track Not Like Us, edging out Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club, which would have been her first UK number one single.
The remainder of the UK singles chart featured McRae’s Sports Car (three), Lady Gaga’s Abracadabra (four) and Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things (five). Fender, who launched his career in 2013, boasts three UK top 10 singles and three UK number one albums, and is renowned for tracks such as Hypersonic Missiles, Seventeen Going Under and Homesick, recorded with Noah Kahan.
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