ANALYSIS The Official UK Singles & Albums Charts are compiled by the Official Charts Company, based on a sample of more than 15,000 physical and digital outlets. They count actual sales and audio streams from last Friday to Thursday, based on sales of downloads, CDs, vinyl and other physical formats and weighted audio streams.
Hard habit to break: Ed Sheeran snares sixth week at No.1
n BY JAMES MASTERTON B
ritain’s summer of Ed Sheeran marches on as Bad Habits remains lodged firmly at No.1. Its weekly sales have now dipped to the level of ‘impressive’ as opposed to ‘extraordinary’ but 81,655 (74,911 from its 9.4 million streams) is still more than enough to ensure it remains comfortably ahead of the chasing pack with cumulative sales now having broken the half a million mark. Six unbroken weeks at No.1 means the single now has the second-longest chart-topping run of the year.
There’s a reshuffling of the Top 5 but the incumbents remain
familiar. The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber climb back to No.2 (54,116 sales) with Stay, Jonasu’s Black Magic reaches a new peak of No.3 (41,659 sales), Dave & Stormzy drop to No.4 with Clash (37,113 sales), and Galantis/Guetta/Little Mix rebound too No.5 (32,478 sales) with Heartbreak Anthem. Billie Eilish heads up the albums market this week and lands the three highest new entries on the singles chart as a direct result. The title track of her second album leads the way, Happier Than Ever charging in at No.6 (31,745 sales) to become her eighth Top 10 hit single. It is joined by Getting Older at No.28 (12,601 sales) and Oxytocin at No.32 (11,864 sales) to take her tally of chart hits since her 2018 debut to 19. Most of the rest of the album’s cuts register enough sales to theoretically qualify for chart places but for prevailing chart rules, the three hits per artist restriction also presently preventing the singles chart being further swamped by cuts from Dave, Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo. In total there are no fewer than 26 hits “starred-out” from positions notionally within the Top 75. Also knocking on the door of the Top 5 are Becky Hill & David Guetta who rise to No.7 (30,529 sales) with Remember, the track now the biggest hit for the British singer since she topped the charts as featured singer on Oliver Helden’s Gecko (Overdrive) seven years ago.
The only other Top 20 hits to post sales gains are Olivia Rodrigo’s Traitor up to No.14 (24,458 sales) and Talk About by Rain Radio & DJ Craig Gorman up to No.17 (22,838 sales). Also making a notable sales jump is Let Them Know by Mabel which has been bouncing in and out of the Top 40 during its seven-week chart run but which – following her timely performance on an edition of Love Island – now reaches a brand new peak of No.31 (12,065 sales). Online hero PinkPantheress is continuing to carve a viral path into the charts, the semi-anonymous 20-year-old now with three hit singles to her name. Pain is the week’s fastest mover rising No.35 (11,372 sales), this older track for now eclipsing what is supposed to be her current single Passion, which appears at No.73 (6,390 sales). It is joined by another older track Break It Off which sneaks in at No.74 (6,341 sales) to complete her set of three. Just sneaking in to the Top 40, Skepta returns with his 33rd
No.1
This week’s sales: 81,655 | Downloads: 6,361 | Physical: 383 | Streams: 74,911 | Total sales to date: 564,313 | Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits (Asylum/Atlantic)
Fright night:
Bad Habits is now the second longest-running No.1 of 2021
hit and first single as lead artist in over a year as Nirvana lands at No.38 (10,673 sales). Guest vocals on the seductive and classy track are supplied by J Balvin, charting here for the first time since his own Un Dia (One Day) epic crept to No.72 a year ago. It is his ninth British hit to date. The prolific D-Block Europe are back once more, mere weeks after their last single Kevin McAllister peaked at No.40. Lake 29 is more of the collective’s trademark autotuned flow and makes No.42 (9,960 sales) as their 28th chart entry and fourth so far this year. Silk Sonic’s debut hit Leave The Door Open was never as huge as it deserved to be, but two-and-a-half months bouncing around the cusp of the Top 20 meant it lodged in our minds regardless. Now Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak return with a second nostalgic throwback, Skate evoking the spirit of Rose Royce as it glides its way to No.45 with 9,074 sales. Also new this week, Dermot Kennedy with his fifth chart hit Better Days (No.49, 8,483 sales) and Potter Payper with his fourth hit single Catch Up (No.70, 6,693 sales), which also becomes M Huncho’s fourth chart single of the year so far. Clean Bandit’s last single Higher was for them an unexpected miss when it topped out at No.66 back in February and the trio still appear out of form as new single Drive, a collaboration with Topic and Wes Nelson, begins life at a mere No.71 (6,544 sales). Another small dip takes the singles market down 1.6% to 21,755,570. Paid-for sales crash 4.24% and total 381,116, their lowest level for six weeks.
PHOTO: Official Charts Company
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