11 December 2017
Newsdesk
Ed Sheeran could be heading for an Official Chart double this Friday, with the singer-songwriter leading the way on both the Official Singles and Albums Charts in today’s Official Chart Update.
At Number 1 on today’s Official Singles Chart Update is Perfect. Boosted by the recent duet version featuring Beyonce, a new edit of Perfect featuring Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli is also set to be released this Friday in time for the biggest chart race of the year - the UK’s Official Christmas Number 1 – putting Ed on course to be a strong contender for the 2017 crown. See the full list of Christmas Number 1 2017 contenders.
X Factor champs Rak-Su hold at Number 2 today with Dimelo ft. Wyclef Jean and Naughty Boy, while Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You sits at three. Should Mariah maintain her momentum, the song will reach its highest position since its original peak of Number 2 set back in 1994. See the full week by week chart run for All I Want For Christmas Is You since its original release.
Last Christmas by Wham! lifts one placing to Number 5, while The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl are up two to Number 8 with Fairytale of New York.
A further 12 Christmas songs are expected to impact this week’s Top 40: Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? (14); Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone (16); Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (17); It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Michael Buble (18); Elton John’s Step Into Christmas (20); Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday (22)’ Driving Home For Christmas from Chris Rea (24); Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade (30); Ariana Grande’s Santa Tell Me (33); Leona Lewis’ One More Sleep (35); John Lennon and Yoko Ono classic Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (36); and Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime (39).
Finally, grime artist Ramz is set for his Top 40 debut with Barking, up 10 to Number 31.
On the albums front, Ed’s record-shattering ÷ could be on for an 18th week at Number 1, up one place from last Friday’s position. As the UK flocks to pick up Christmas presents, ÷ is an obvious choice. The album features more Top 10 singles on it than any other studio album in history (10), and is the second fastest-selling vinyl album of the last 25 years too.
Elsewhere in this week’s Official Chart Update Top 5, Sam Smith’s The Thrill Of It All slips to Number 2, P!nk rises one rung to Number 3 with Beautiful Trauma, Paloma Faith’s The Architect is on course for a leap to Number 4, and Michael Ball & Alfie Boe are at 5 with Together Again.
Other albums set for big climbs this week are Rag’n’Bone Man’s Human, up seven to Number 6 following his performances on BBC shows Sounds Like Friday Night and The Year in Music 2017, and George Michael’s Twenty Five, which floats six positions to Number 13 as the first anniversary of his death approaches.
