The run-up to Christmas is always a time of frenzied chart activity and this year has been no exception with past X Factor finalists leading the pack.
Olly Murs has enjoyed a hugely successful career in the UK over the last couple of years and recently scored the double of topping the singles and albums charts on the same week.
Troublemaker gave him a fourth number one single while his latest album Right Place, Right Time is the fastest-selling male solo album of the year to date. The Essex star’s achievements this year also include topping the German singles chart with Heart Skips a Beat.
And no chart analysis at the moment is complete without mentioning the latest feats of fellow X Factor alumni One Direction.
The global powerhouse saw their second album Take Me Home go straight in at number one on the US Billboard albums chart, with Nielsen SoundScan reporting first week sales of over 540,000 copies. The album is their second this year to debut in pole position stateside and has so far hit the top spot in over 35 countries.
The group also scored a British number one single with Little Things, written by Ed Sheeran and Fiona Bevan, while Take Me Home gave them their first chart-topping album in the UK.
Rihanna recently racked up her fourth UK number one album with Unapologetic but surprisingly it is her first to top the US albums chart. An extraordinary statistic considering she has sold over 8.7 million albums in the States.
The Official Charts Company now ranks her as the UK’s second biggest selling female singles artist of all time. This puts the Barbadian superstar ahead of Kylie Minogue in third place but still some distance behind a reigning Madonna.
Also deserving a mention are Maroon 5 who recently ended a nine-week residency at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with One More Night. Meanwhile fellow American band Fun have followed up global smash We Are Young with another hit, Some Nights. The single has sold over three million copies in the States, spending six weeks at number three.
Alicia Keys has also made a triumphant comeback with new album Girl on Fire being her fifth to top the US albums chart. Her career already boasts album sales of over 30 million worldwide.
Back in the UK it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas with the re-appearance of a number of seasonal visitors in the Top 40. Classics from The Pogues featuring Kirsty Maccoll, Mariah Carey, Wizzard, Slade, Band Aid and Wham! have all returned this year.
Finally this year’s John Lewis Christmas ad campaign has sent Gabrielle Aplin’s cover of The Power of Love to the top of the UK singles chart. The original, a chart-topper for Frankie Goes to Hollywood in 1984, is just outside the Top 40.
Words: Russell Iliffe, PRS for Music
Olly Murs has enjoyed a hugely successful career in the UK over the last couple of years and recently scored the double of topping the singles and albums charts on the same week.
Troublemaker gave him a fourth number one single while his latest album Right Place, Right Time is the fastest-selling male solo album of the year to date. The Essex star’s achievements this year also include topping the German singles chart with Heart Skips a Beat.
And no chart analysis at the moment is complete without mentioning the latest feats of fellow X Factor alumni One Direction.
The global powerhouse saw their second album Take Me Home go straight in at number one on the US Billboard albums chart, with Nielsen SoundScan reporting first week sales of over 540,000 copies. The album is their second this year to debut in pole position stateside and has so far hit the top spot in over 35 countries.
The group also scored a British number one single with Little Things, written by Ed Sheeran and Fiona Bevan, while Take Me Home gave them their first chart-topping album in the UK.
Rihanna recently racked up her fourth UK number one album with Unapologetic but surprisingly it is her first to top the US albums chart. An extraordinary statistic considering she has sold over 8.7 million albums in the States.
The Official Charts Company now ranks her as the UK’s second biggest selling female singles artist of all time. This puts the Barbadian superstar ahead of Kylie Minogue in third place but still some distance behind a reigning Madonna.
Also deserving a mention are Maroon 5 who recently ended a nine-week residency at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with One More Night. Meanwhile fellow American band Fun have followed up global smash We Are Young with another hit, Some Nights. The single has sold over three million copies in the States, spending six weeks at number three.
Alicia Keys has also made a triumphant comeback with new album Girl on Fire being her fifth to top the US albums chart. Her career already boasts album sales of over 30 million worldwide.
Back in the UK it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas with the re-appearance of a number of seasonal visitors in the Top 40. Classics from The Pogues featuring Kirsty Maccoll, Mariah Carey, Wizzard, Slade, Band Aid and Wham! have all returned this year.
Finally this year’s John Lewis Christmas ad campaign has sent Gabrielle Aplin’s cover of The Power of Love to the top of the UK singles chart. The original, a chart-topper for Frankie Goes to Hollywood in 1984, is just outside the Top 40.
Words: Russell Iliffe, PRS for Music
