It has been announced that Ed Sheeran has reclaimed the top position within the UK album charts, the singer’s newest album Equals has been confirmed as this week’s number one album. This week marks a total of two weeks in which the album has spent at number one. After a triumphant entry into the charts, the release remained at number two for the previous three weeks. OfficialCharts took to Instagram to announce the singer’s win, the post also provided this week’s list of top ten albums.
The album was released on 29th October 2021 and was re-released as a Christmas edition on 3rd December 2021. The festive re-issue featured the singer’s duet with Sir Elton John entitled “Merry Christmas”. The single was a tough contender within this year’s race to the Christmas number one and was announced as this week’s number one single. The original release sired many hit tracks including two number one singles “Shivers” and “Bad Habits“. The album debuted at number one within the UK album charts and sold over 139.000 units during its first week of release. During its debut release, the album was named the UK’s fasted selling album of 2021. The album’s sales record was recently beaten by Adele’s album 30; only 500 cart sales separated the albums, and Sheeran’s album placed at number two.
Elsewhere within the charts, this year’s fastest-selling album places within this week’s top five. Adele’s fourth studio album 30 positions at number two, the album’s most popular single “Easy On Me” can also be seen within the singles charts at number thirty-eight. Much like the singles chart, the festive spirit is still alive within the chart, Christmas by Michael Buble places at number three. The album was released on 21st October 2011 and remains a chart frontrunner during the Christmas season. At number four within the UK album charts is Voyage by ABBA, the group’s long-awaited release was a true hit of 2021 and remains to be favourite. This week top five is closed by Between Us by Little Mix, the British girl group’s greatest hits album. The Best of compilation was released on 12th November 2021, shortly after the album’s drop the group announced their hiatus.
The rest of this week’s album chart is also embracing the Christmas spirit with various festive albums placing within the top 100. A seasonal favourite and this week’s biggest climber lands at number 33, Ultimate Christmas by crooner Frank Sinatra jumped an impressive sixty four places to chart at a new peak position. This week’s chart also saw another chart jump, Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas leaped twenty five places to number thirty four, the singer is often referred to as the Queen of Christmas and is a festive chart regular. Another festive album which has landed within the chart is Christmas Classics released by Bing Crosby, the album jumped fifty four chart places to a position at number thirty six.
