It has been confirmed that Rex Orange County has secured this week’s number one album with Who Cares?, the English singer-songwriter prevailed on top after a tough battle with Swedish rockers Ghost. The top-selling release marks the singer’s first number one album, Rex Orange County took to Instagram to celebrate his win.
Whilst accepting his award, the singer spoke to OfficialCharts.com, “Thank you to everyone who listened to Who Cares? I’m so happy to have an Official Number 1 album in the UK, where I’m from. I appreciate all the love.”
Born as Alexander James O’Connor, the 23-year-old singer first cracked into the UK charts with his third studio album Pony. The album was released on 25th October 2019 and marked the singer’s first album to be released via a record label, O’Connor was signed to RCA before the album dropped. O’Connor’s debut album, Bcos U Will Never B Free, dropped on 4th September 2015 and was self-released via the popular distribution services SoundCloud and Bandcamp. The singer’s final self-released album was made available on 26th April 2017, Apricot Princess saw great success within the UK independent albums charts where it reached number twenty-four.
O’Connor first rose to fame through his collaboration with American rapper and producer Tyler, the Creator. The duo worked together on the Grammy-nominated album Flower Boy, O’Connor was a featured artist on the album’s opening track “Foreword”. The singer’s association with the 2017 album garnered great critical acclaim and his fanbase soon began to grow with heightened interest in the singer’s back catalogue.
The singer-songwriter’s number one album Who Cares? was released on 11th March 2022 and is O’Connor’s fourth studio album. The eleven-track release sees O’Connor team up with his previous collaborator, Tyler, The Creator, the Grammy award-winning artist can be heard as a featured artist on “Open a Window”. The album also sees O’Connor partner with Dutch artist Tim Van Berkestijn otherwise known as Benny Sings, the musician has also lent his talents as a featured artist on twenty albums for various artists.
Elsewhere within the charts, Swedish metal band Ghost have charted at number two with their album IMPERA. The album was released on 11th March 2022 and is the Grammy award-winning band’s fifth studio album and their second release to chart within the top ten. The group’s previous album, Prequelle, reached number ten within the album charts in 2018.
Charting at number three within this week’s album charts is Bryan Adams’ So Happy It Hurts. The Canadian artist’s sixteenth studio album was released on 11th March via BMG, a week prior to its release, Pretty Woman- The Musical was made available online and is the only album by Adams not to be released on physical formats. The album consists of songs penned for the musical adaption of the famous 1990 film and was written by Adams and his long-term creative partner Jim Vallance.
