The biggest album of 2022 so far is Ed Sheeran’s = (Equals), the Official Charts Company can confirm today.
The UK superstar’s fourth studio album was named the second biggest album of last year overall, and surges into first place in the race for 2022’s top album crown with further UK chart sales of over 133,000 so far this year.
Unstoppable Ed delivers both the UK’s best-selling and most-streamed album of 2022 so far; to date = has spent a total of four weeks at Number 1 and racked up 566,000 combined chart sales in total.
At Number 2 is another chart mainstay; Adele’s long-awaited comeback record 30 has notched up another 94,000 chart sales this year so far. 30 was named the biggest album of 2021 in the UK - as well as the best-selling physical record of last year too. 30 now boasts total chart sales of 694,000 since its late-November release. See Adele’s Official Charts history in full here.
Meanwhile, the biggest new release album of 2022 so far goes to The Weeknd’s Dawn FM at Number 3. The post-disco concept record, and The Weeknd’s third UK Number 1 album, features input from producer Max Martin and collaborations with Jim Carrey and Swedish House Mafia, and has amassed 76,000 UK chart sales since its January release.
Plus, a cluster of greatest hits collections including Little Mix’s Between Us (5), The Weeknd’s Highlights (6), Fleetwood Mac’s 50 Years: Don't Stop (7), Eminem’s Curtain Call: The Hits (8), and Elton John’s Diamonds (10) start out strongly in the Top 10.
Chart-topping new releases of 2022 make their ascent toward the Top 10
A flurry of chart-topping new releases are already beginning to make their ascent up the year-to-date Official Albums Chart with their sights set on dislodging the classics as the year progresses.
The biggest new British release and mixtape of 2022 so far belongs to Shepherd’s Bush-born drill star Central Cee. His sophomore release 23 lands just outside the Top 10 at Number 11 in the list, after becoming the rapper's first-ever Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart back in February.
Other fresh new cuts storming their way into the end-of-quarter Official Albums Chart Top 40 include Years & Years’ eclectic Night Call (16) which reached Number 1 back in January, Stereophonics’ eighth Number 1 Oochya! (25) and Bastille’s Give Me The Future (40) - the first chart-topper in six years for Dan Smith and co.
Elsewhere inside the Top 40 albums of 2022 are ‘80s stars Tears For Fears, who made a welcome return to the chart in March with their first album of original material in seventeen years. The Tipping Point (23) earns the title of best-selling physical release of 2022 so far.
Meanwhile, US rapper Gunna is at 29 with DS4ever. The album became Gunna’s highest-charting album to date in January, when it reached Number 4.
Following the passing of rock icon Meat Loaf earlier this year, his seminal work, 1977 debut album Bat Out Of Hell, achieved a new chart peak of Number 3. Famed for being the ultimate slow-burner having previously only reached Number 9, despite being one of the UK’s Top 20 best-selling albums of all time. Bat Out Of Hell (32) fires all the way into the year-to-date top albums list now too as the British public rediscover the classic.
