Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd becomes the bestselling album of 2023!
As Del Rey spends a fifth week at the top, Adele’s 30 surges back into the Top Five, and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia: Moonlight returns to the Top Ten!
Lana Del Rey adds a fifth successive week atop the L.dK Weekly Top 50 with Did you know that there’s a tunnel Ocean Blvd, selling a further 112,000 units – down just 2 percent.
Despite only being available for just over a month, the album has now become the top-selling LP of 2023 to date, with total sales of 862,000 copies. It passed Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE which has sold 841,000 units this year. Should Ocean Blvd end 2023 as the bestselling album of the year, it would become Del Rey’s third record to do so, following Lust for Life which ruled 2017 with 1.86 million sold, and Norman Fucking Rockwell! which commanded 2019 with a slightly higher haul of 1.88 million units.
Speaking of NFR! … that album is steady again at No.9 this week, moving 22,000 copies (down 12 percent). It has now spent a record-extending 144 weeks in the Top Ten!
Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE keeps at No.2 after a five-week-command, selling 50,000 copies (down 6 percent). RENAISSANCE has now become Beyonce’s first album to be certified Triple Platinum for selling over 900,000 units.
Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark keeps at No.4 after previously spending twelve weeks at number-one, moving 39,000 copies (up 3 percent).
Adele’s 30 zooms back into the Top Five, hurtling 8-4 following her appearance on the last ever Carpool Karaoke. 30 saw a 30 percent sales bump in the week, selling 34,000 copies. The record-breaking album has sold over 4.64 million copies to date. Adele’s 25 meanwhile surges 38-14 (14,000 sold), as 21 leaps 39-21 (11,000 sold).
Notably, 25 has now passed Kate Bush’s The Whole Story to become the 4th longest-charting album of all time, with 194 appearances to date.
Caroline Polachek’s No.2-peaking Desire, I Want to Turn Into You dips 4-5 with 34,000 sold (up 3 percent).
Outside the Top Five: Paramore’s No.3-peaking This is Why slips 5-6 (30,000 units – down 6 percent); Miley Cyrus’s chart-topping Endless Summer Vacation bullets at No.7 (29,000 units – up 7 percent); and First Aid Kit’s Palomino falls 6-8 after topping out at No.2 (24,000 units – down 11 percent).
Re-entering the Top Ten for the first time since 2021: Dua Lipa’s mega-hit, Future Nostalgia: Moonlight Edition, skipping 12-10 this week on sales of 20,000 copies (up 25 percent). Nostalgia is a truly historic album, having spent eight weeks at number-one during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, and a further 59 weeks inside the Top Ten. It has charted for 159 weeks to date, and sold in excess of 3.7 million copies, making it the 6th bestselling album of all time.
Onto Next Week: Jessie Ware has her sights set on a second number-one album with That! Feels Good!, currently tracking to sell over 120,000 copies, which would mark her best sales week to date. Ware’s last studio album, What’s Your Pleasure?, debuted at No.1 in July 2020 with 114,000 sold. American Indie group, The National could also mark their first Top Ten hit with First Two Pages of Frankenstein. The LP is expected to sell over 25,000 in its first week.
L.dK Weekly Top 50
Notable Moves in the Weekly Top 50
No.13 – Dance Fever (Complete Edition) / Florence + the Machine’s long-awaited fifth studio album was released in May 2022 to instant commercial success, debuting at No.1 with 230,000 sold, becoming the fastest-selling album of the year at that time. With sales of just under 800,000 units, it stands as the band’s second bestselling album ever. This week, it re-enters at No.13 (16,000 sold) after the release of the Complete Edition.
No.15 – folklore / Taylor Swift’s landmark hit places at No.15 in its 144th consecutive week in the Top 50. The album has now become just the second ever to be certified 18 x Platinum, for selling over 5.4 million copies.
No.18 – Glasshouse / Jessie Ware’s third studio album is her flagship record, having charted for a whopping 177 weeks to date, and selling over 2.07 million copies. Ahead of her album release next week, Glasshouse returns to the Top 20 for the first time since 2021, rising 28-18 with 12,000 sold. Ware’s two other hits – Tough Love & What’s Your Pleasure – re-enter at No.25 (10,000 units), and No.34 (7,000) respectively.
No.20 – Rivals / Tommy Le Froy’s EP has now been certified Gold for selling over 100,000 copies. The project became the duo’s first Top Ten hit earlier this year, debuting and peaking at No.9.
No.40 – How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? / Big Red Machine – the side project of Bon Iver, and The National’s Aaron Dessner – re-enter this week with their No.5-peaking second studio album, which reached No.5 upon its release in 2021. How sold 6,000 copies this week.
No.45 – Born to Die: Paradise Edition / Lana Del Rey’s debut album has now become her fifth album to be certified 5 x Platinum for selling over 1.5 million copies. It follows Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2 x Diamond), Lust for Life (Diamond), Chemtrails Over the Country Club (7 x Platinum), and Blue Banisters (6 x Platinum).
L.dK Weekly Top Artists
Note
Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).
L.dK Music 