Lewis Capaldi Scores U.K.’s Biggest Artist Album Week Of 2019

Scottish singer-songwriter and 2019 breakthrough artist Lewis Capaldi lands the biggest first week for an artist album in the U.K. this year.

The Official Charts Company reports that his debut set Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent (EMI/Universal) had opening combined units of 89,000, thus outselling the rest of the top ten combined. 

Capaldi’s success is across a broad spread of formats, with 46% from physical sales, 7,000 of them on vinyl; 34% from streams and 20% downloads. Audio and video streaming platforms account for 40.5 million plays. In its opening performance, the album overtakes Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next, which arrived with 65,000 units in February.

An all-new top four on the album chart sees The National new at No. 2 with I Am Easy To Find (4AD), their fourth U.K. top five title. German metal mainstays Rammstein get their first top ten album in the territory with their self-titled seventh set on Spinefarm, 18 years after Mutter reached No. 86.

Tyler, The Creator debuts at No. 4 with Igor (Columbia/Sony), a career-best entry two years after his first top ten with Flower Boy, which peaked at No. 9. Billie Eilish slips 2-5 with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Interscope/Universal). DJ Khaled gets a No. 6 entry with Father of Asaha (Black Butter/We The Best), also his highest-charting release. British rapper Slowthai’s debut release Nothing Great About Britain (Method) arrives at No. 9.

Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber’s “I Don’t Care” (Asylum/Warner Music) starts a second week atop the singles chart. Sheeran and Beiber’s “I Don’t Care” delivers a robust 98,000 combined units to add to its opening 123,000. Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (Lil Nas X/Sony) is at No. 2 again, but with its best week to date of 85,000 combined units, after the release of its music video. 

Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” is up 4-3 with 74,000 combined units; he’s also up 8-5 with “Hold Me While You Wait” and 28-9 with “Grace.” Stormzy’s “Vossi Bop” (Merky) is down 3-4.

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