Lewis Capaldi scores fastest-selling album of 2019 so far

Lewis Capaldi storms to Number 1 on this week’s Official Albums Chart with the biggest opening-week numbers for an album this year.

The Scotman’s debut collection, Divinely Uninspired to A Hellish Extent, notched up 89,506 combined sales to take the top spot, outperforming the rest of the Top 10 combined.

Lewis overtakes Ariana Grande, who previously held the fastest-seller of the year title after scoring Week 1 combined sales of 65,214 with her Thank U, Next album in February.

Physical sales account for 46% of Lewis’s opening-week figure, including 7,000 copies on vinyl, while 34% are streams and 20% are downloads. The album racked up 40.5 million plays across audio and video streaming platforms.

Celebrating the news, Lewis told OfficialCharts.com:

“It feels good. It feels like I’m going to make some money finally, after years of slogging. It makes me so proud to have made this album. Thank you for everyone who went out and bought it.”



Behind Lewis, US rock band The National are new at Number 2 with their eighth album I Am Easy To Find, marking their fourth UK Top 5 album, while German heavy metal band Rammstein claim their first Top 10 album - their self-titled seventh record is a new entry at Number 3.

Tyler The Creator’s Igor is another new release at Number 4, while DJ Khaled’s Father of Asahd opens at Number 6. Both are their highest charting efforts in the UK to date.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, Slowthai’s debut record Nothing Great About Britain lands at 9, and Digga D’s new mixtape Double Tap Diaries debuts just outside the top tier at 11.

Further down, Carly Rae Jepsen’s third album Dedicated opens at Number 26, prog rock group Big Big Train enter at Number 35 with Grand Tour, and Biffy Clyro’s Balance, Not Symmetry soundtrack album is new at Number 36.