Ed Sheeran's sophomore album, x, debuts at #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. this week. Sheeran is the first British male solo artist to send an album to #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. in more than 20 years. The last to do it was Eric Clapton, who scored with From The Cradle in September 1994 (when Sheeran was just three years old).
Seven other British male solo artists have sent albums to #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. Elton John (with whom Sheeran performed “The A Team” at the Grammys in February 2013) has done it with four different albums, more than anyone else. He scored in 1973-1974 with Don’t Shoot Me—I’m Only The Piano Player, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Caribou and Greatest Hits.
John Lennon and Phil Collins have each had two transatlantic #1 albums. George Harrison, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and George Michael have each had one. (McCartney had two more with his group, Wings. Michael had one more with his duo, Wham!).
x is the fourth album to reach #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. in 2014. It follows Bruce Springsteen's High Hopes, Coldplay's Ghost Stories and Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence.
x sold 209K copies this week, a total topped by only four albums so far this year: Coldplay's Ghost Stories (383K), Eric Church's The Outsiders (288K), the Frozen soundtrack (259K) and Brantley Gilbert's Just As I Am (211K).
This is the largest sales tally for an album by a British male solo artist since Rod Stewart’s Stardust…The Great American Songbook Vol. III sold 240K in its first week in October 2004.
Fun with Numbers: x sold nearly as many copies in its first week in the U.K. (182K) as it did in the U.S. (209K), even though the U.S. has about five times as many people as the U.K. (about 315M vs. 63M). x had the biggest sales week so far this year in the U.K. (surpassing Coldplay’s album by 14K).
Xx (pronounced multiply) sold 162K digital copies, which puts it at #1 on Top Digital Albums.
Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour holds down the #2 spot in both the U.S. and the U.K. this week. This marks the first time that British male solo artists have locked up the top two spots in the U.S. since March 1993, when Clapton’s Unplugged and Sting's Ten Summoner’s Tales achieved the feat.
G-Eazy's third studio album, These Things Happen, debuts at #3. G-Eazy is the hottest white rapper since Macklemore, whose The Heist (with Ryan Lewis) debuted at #2 in October 2012.
The Frozen soundtrack, which dips from #4 to #5, tops the 3M sales mark this week. It’s the first soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie to hit 3M since 8 Mile, which has sold 4,922,000 copies since its release in 2002. It’s the first soundtrack to an animated movie to hit 3M since The Lion King, which has sold 7,879,000 copies since its release in 1994. All three of these soundtracks spawned Oscar-winning songs: “Let It Go,” “Lose Yourself,” and “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” respectively. Frozen is #1 on Top Soundtracks for the 31st week.
Mastodon's sixth studio album, Once More ‘Round The Sun, debuts at #6. It’s the band’s highest-charting album, and its second top 10 album in a row. The Hunter hit #10 in September 2011.
Phish's 16th studio album, Fuego, debuts at #7. This puts it in a tie with 1996’s Billy Breathes as the band’s highest-charting album to date. It’s the band’s third top 10 album; its first since The Story Of The Ghost (#8 in 1998). Phish has been releasing albums since 1986.
Miranda Lambert’s Platinum drops from #6 to #8. It returns to #1 on Top Country Albums, displacing Willie Nelson's Band Of Brothers. This is its third week on top. It’s the first album by a female artist to top the country chart for three or more weeks since Taylor Swift's Red logged 16 weeks on top in late 2012 and early 2013.
Sam Smith's”Stay With Me” jumps from #4 to #1 on Hot Digital Songs (211K), dislodging MAGIC!’s “Rude,” which slips to #2 (210K). Will either of these songs knock “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX from the #1 spot on the Hot 100? You’ll find out later today when we post the first of two Chart Watch Songs blogs.
Here’s a recap of this week’s top 10 albums.
The Top Five: Ed Sheeran's x debuts at #1 (209K). It’s his second top 10 album … Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour holds at #2 in its second week (67K) … G-Eazy's These Things Happen debuts at #3 (46K). It’s his first top 10 album … Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence drops from #1 to #4 in its second week (44K) … The Frozen soundtrack dips from #4 to #5 in its 31st week (38K). This is its 29th week in the top 10.
The Second Five: Mastodon's Once More ‘Round The Sun debuts at #6 (34K). It’s the band’s second top 10 album … Phish's Fuego debuts at #7 (32K). It’s the band’s third top 10 album … Miranda Lambert’s Platinum drops from #6 to #8 in its fourth week (29K). It has been in the top 10 the entire time … Linkin Park's The Hunting Party drops from #3 to #9 in its second week (29K) … Now 50 rebounds from #11 to #10 in its eighth week (22K). This is its seventh week in the top 10.
Five albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Willie Nelson’s Band Of Brothers drops from #5 to #23. Jack White's Lazaretto drops from #7 to #13. Jennifer Lopez's A.K.A. drops from #8 to #31. Deadmau5's while (1<2) drops from #9 to #26. Brantley Gilbert's Just As I Am drops from #10 to #12.
Ab-Soul's third studio album, These Days…, debuts at #11. It’s his highest-charting album to date. It tops Control System, which reached #91 in 2012.
The Jersey Boys soundtrack debuts at #15. The Broadway cast album to the Tony-winning show has sold 1,387,000 copies since its release in November 2005. Jersey Boys is one of two cast albums to jukebox musicals to have sold 1 million or more copies. The other is Mamma Mia!, which has sold 1,694,000 copies since its release in October 2000.
For fans who prefer the originals, two 4 Seasons compilations have sold more than 500K copies. One of them, The Very Best Of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, jumps from #41 to #35 this week. The album, which was first released in 2005, moves up to #1 on Top Catalog Albums, displacing Led Zeppelin's 1969 debut album, which spent the past three weeks on top. The 4 Seasons and Led Zeppelin have something in common. Both were Grammy nominees for Best New Artist. Neither won. Zeppelin lost the 1969 award to Crosby, Stills & Nash, another legendary act that was simply more in tune with Grammy tastes. The 4 Seasons lost the 1962 award to Broadway star Robert Goulet.
Joe's 11th studio album, Bridges, debuts at #17. It’s his eighth top 20 album … Owl City's Ultraviolet debuts at #30. The title’s similarity to Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence is just coincidental.
Transformers: Age Of Distinction was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. There is no soundtrack yet.
Beyonce's Beyonce tops the 2 million sales mark this week. It has far outsold Beyonce’s fourth album, 4, which has sold 1,410,000 copies, though it has a long way to go to match the 3M+ sales of B’s first three studio albums.
Coming Attractions: Look for Trey Songz'sTrigga to debut at #1 next week, with first-week sales in the 85K range. Three other albums will probably open in the top 10: Seether's Isolate & Medicate (35K), MAGIC!'s Don’t Kill The Magic! (27K) and Robin Thicke's Paula (20K). Also due: the Begin Again soundtrack, the late Jenni Rivera's 1969-Siempre, En Vivo Desde Monterrey, Parte 2 and Old Crow Medicine Show's Remedy.
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