Congratulations to Rag’n’Bone Man, who celebrates a massive opening week with his debut album Human as it lands straight in at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart.
According to Official Charts Company data, the collection shifted a massive 117,000 copies across physical (which made up 67% of his total sales), download and streaming, earning him the fastest-selling debut album by a male act of the decade.
The figure also means Human outsells the rest of this week’s Top 10 combined and gives the soul singer-songwriter – real name Rory Graham – a bigger opening week than debut albums by the likes of Ed Sheeran (+, 2011) and Sam Smith (In The Lonely Hour 2014).
Only three debut acts have sold more in week one since 2010: One Direction’s Up All Night (139k), Rebecca Ferguson’s Heaven (128k) and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ self-titled release (123k), all released in 2011.
Human is also the overall fastest-selling album of the past 12 months, since David Bowie’s Blackstar. The sales also surpass the huge first week numbers of recent Number 1s by The Rolling Stones, Little Mix and Elvis Presley.
Rag ‘n’ Bone Man also enjoys the most explosive start for a BRITs Critics’ Choice Award winner to date, surpassing the opening week sales of previous recipients including Emeli Sande and global phenomenon Adele.
Rag’n’Bone Man tells OfficialCharts.com: “A massive thank you for going out and buying my album, streaming it and making it such a success so quickly. It means the world to me. Number 1 album… smash!”
