SAM FENDER JUMPS TO NO.1!
Fender’s Seventeen Going Under becomes the fifth album by a male solo artist to go all the way to No.1!
Sam Fender ascends to No.1 on the Weekly Top Fifty with last year’s Seventeen Going Under, becoming the 77th No.1 record in the chart’s five-year history. Seventeen sold 60,000 copies this week, marking a 25 percent increase in sales from the previous week when it sold 48,000.
The LP is just the fifth by a solo male artist to reach the top spot on L.dK Weekly; it follows Sam Smith’s The Thrill of it All (2017); Troye Sivan’s Bloom (2018); and Harry Styles’s Fine Line (2019). Currently, The Weeknd is the only male soloist to send two albums to the summit; After Hours (2020) & Dawn FM (2022).
Tracy Chapman’s eponymous debut album retreats to No.2 after a week atop the tally, moving 56,000 units this week (down 11 percent).
Adele’s 30 steps down 2-3 following its 14-week command of the Top Fifty, selling 51,000 copies (down 9 percent) in its 17th charting frame.
Currently, 30 is the bestselling album of 2022 (1.07 million); the 6th bestselling album of the decade (2.39 million); and the 9th bestselling album of all time. It became the fastest-selling album ever upon its release in November (650,000 units) and set the record for the fastest album to sell 1 million (three weeks) and 2 million copies (12 weeks)!
Norah Jones is up 5-4 with her No.2-peaking Come Away With Me. The soft-jazz set sold 26,000 this week (up 13 percent) and has now sold over 400,000 to date.
Lana Del Rey caps the Top Five as three-week-leader Blue Banisters dips 4-5 with 23,000 sold (on par with last week); Del Rey’s twenty-five-week-leader Norman Fucking Rockwell! also ticks 8-7 with 20,000 units (even with last week) as it tallies a record-extending 122nd week in the Top Ten!
Outside the Top Five: Joni Mitchell is a non-mover at No.6 with the chart-topping Blue (21,000 units – down 5 percent); Taylor Swift reverses course 9-8 with former leader folklore (20,000 units – even with last week); Arlo Parks falls 7-9 with No.3-hit Collapsed in Sunbeams (19,000 units – down 5 percent); Swift keeps at No.10 with No.1 smash evermore (16,000 units – down 16 percent).
Onto Next Week: Sam Fender’s Seventeen Going Under and Tracy Chapman’s self-titled debut are both set to sell 50 – 60k units, and should compete for the No.1 spot.
L.dK Weekly Top Fifty
Notable Moves in the Top Fifty
No.12 – Dawn FM / The Weeknd’s latest offering slips 11-12 in its 10th week, selling 14,000 units. It has now sold just over 300,000 copies, becoming the R&B star’s third successive album to be certified at least Platinum; it follows 2020’s Ater Hours (4 x Platinum) and 2021’s The Highlights (2 x Platinum).
No.17 – Twelve Deadly Cyns – and then Some / Cyndi Lauper’s 1993 compilation record pushes 20-17 with 10,000 sold after reaching No.11 in January. The best-of set has now been certified Gold, becoming Lauper’s third record to do so after She’s so Unusual (6 x Platinum) and True Colors (Platinum).
No.19 – Chemtrails Over the Country Club / Lana Del Rey’s seventh studio album has now lived on the Weekly Top Fifty for a full year (52 weeks) and dips 18-19 this term. It is Del Rey’s sixth LP to spend at least a year on the list, following Norman Fucking Rockwell! (133 weeks); Lust for Life (112 weeks); Born to Die: the Paradise Edition (98 weeks); Honeymoon (60 weeks); Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass (55 weeks).
No.46 – Sweetener / Ariana Grande’s biggest hit slips 45-46 with 5,000 sold as it logs a 150th appearance on L.dK Weekly. Only two other albums have achieved this feat: Stevie Nicks’s Bella Donna (183 weeks), and Annie Lennox’s Diva (163 weeks).
L.dK Weekly Top Artists
Industry Sales
Industry sales for the week stand at 628,000 units, down 3.9% from the previous week’s figure of 653,000 units. Compared to the same week last year (when 801,000 albums were sold), consumption is down by 21.6%.
Note
Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).
L.dK Music 