27.07.2020 – L.dK Weekly

ELLIE GOULDING’S BRIGHTEST BLUE STARTS AT NO.1!

Plus: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! goes Diamond!

Ellie Goulding starts at No.1 with her latest album Brightest Blue, with hefty first week sales of 168,000 copies.

Blue is the 54th album to hit No.1 on L.dK Weekly, and the 13th to top the chart this year.

168,000 units marks the fourth biggest debut of 2020 to date. Blue trails the opening weeks of Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (473,000), Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia (289,000) and The Weeknd’s After Hours (249,000).

Blue is Goulding’s first No.1 album, after she previously hit No.13 with 2015’s Delirium back in 2017.

Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection ranks at its No.2 peak for a third non-consecutive week shifting 84,000 copies (up 2 percent). Last week’s No.1, Chromatica dives to No.3, as sales drop by 21 percent to 78,000 sold.

Alanis Morissette’s No.2 smash The Collection moves back up 5-4 (67,000 – up 13 percent) and Hayley Williams’ Petals for Armor slides 3-5 (62,000 – down 8 percent).

Jessie Ware goes Platinum this week as What’s Your Pleasure? moves another 48,000 units (down 20 percent) – it drops 4-6 and brings its total sales figure to 308,000! Pleasure is Ware’s third record to be certified Platinum following 2014’s Tough Love & 2017’s Glasshouse – the latter album has been certified 4 x Platinum for sales exceeding 1.2 million units.

Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors slips 6-7 (42,000 – down 8 percent); Chloe x Halle hold at No.8 with Ungodly Hour (35,000 – up 6 percent); Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia falls 7-9 (30,000 – down 14 percent).

Del Rey goes Diamond: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! steps down 9-10 (29,000 – up 3 percent), and celebrates a historic week.

The album is just the second in history to cross the 3 million sales mark and be certified Diamond – it joins Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born which has moved 3.16 million to date. The five bestselling albums of all time are as follows:

1. A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (3.16 million)
2. Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (3.00 million)
3. Lust for Life – Lana Del Rey (2.48 million)
4. Love + Fear – MARINA (1.84 million)
5. Diva – Annie Lennox (1.74 million)

Rockwell! also ties Stevie Nicks’ Bella Donna as the longest-running Top Ten album of all time. Both LP’s have spent a total of 46 weeks in the top tier. The five longest-running Top Ten albums are as follows:

1. Bella Donna / Stevie Nicks – 46 weeks
2. Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey – 46 weeks
3. Rumours / Fleetwood Mac- 45 weeks
4. A Star is Born / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper – 42 weeks
5. Lust for Life / Lana Del Rey – 39 weeks

Industry Sales: Combined music sales saw a 13.7% rise this week, with all activity totalling to exactly 1,000,000 units.

Onto Next Week: Taylor Swift’s surprise new album Folklore should earn a No.1 debut, perhaps with 150,000-175,000 units.

Important Moves in the Top 50

No.28 – Cher / Cher’s 1987 self-titled album debuted and peaked at No.6 in May, and this week it ascends 32-28 with 8,000 units sold. The LP has now been certified Gold for selling over 100,000 copies.

L.dK Top 50

1. [NEW] Brightest Blue – Ellie Goulding (1)
2. [=/3] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (5)
3. [-2] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (8)
4. [+1] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (15)
5. [-2] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (11)
6. [-2] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (4)
7. [-1] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (4)
8. [=] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (6)
9. [-2] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (17)
10. [-1] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (47)
11. [-1] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (13)
12. [=] Fine Line – Harry Styles (32)
13. [-2] After Hours – The Weeknd (18)
14. [+2] Dedicated Side B – Carly Rae Jepsen (10)
15. [-1] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (59)
16. [-1] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (71)
17. [+1] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (72)
18. [-5] In Isolation – Elle King (2)
19. [+1] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (31)
20. [-1] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (55)
21. [+1] Medusa – Annie Lennox (51)
22. [-5] Heart – HEART (21)
23. [+4] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (33)
24. [-3] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (32)
25. [=] Diva – Annie Lennox (77)
26. [-2] 25 – Adele (83)
27. [+1] K Bye for Now – Ariana Grande (26)
28. [+4] Cher – Cher (7)
29. [-3] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (35)
30. [+5] Love Stuff – Elle King (23)
31. [-1] How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence + the Machine (26)
32. [-1] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (79)
33. [=] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (22)
34. [-5] Kid Krow – Conan Gray (18)
35. [-12] Women in Music Pt. III – HAIM (4)
36. [=] Lover – Taylor Swift (48)
37. [+4] Bloom – Troye Sivan (44)
38. [-1] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (61)
39. [-5] Dedicated – Carly Rae Jepsen (48)
40. [=] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (11)
41. [+5] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (97)
42. [=] 21 – Adele (38)
43. [-5] Dancing Queen – Cher (70)
44. [-5] Devotion – Jessie Ware (30)
45. [-1] Melodrama – Lorde (42)
46. [re] Love + Fear – MARINA (40)
47. [=] 19 – Adele (30)
48. [=] Don’t Feed the Pop Monster – Broods (45)
49. [-6] Half Written Story – Hailee Steinfeld (11)
50. [=] Bad Animals – HEART (57)