Ed Sheeran’s ‘Subtract’ Shoots to No

With a blockbuster sales week, Ed Sheeran‘s – (subtract) flies to No. 1 on the U.K. albums chart, extending his perfect streak.

The English singer and songwriter’s sixth studio LP notches 76,000 combined sales in its first seven-day cycle, easily the fastest-selling album in the U.K. this year, blitzing the 41,000 chart units shifted by Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd.

According to the Official Charts Company, physical copies account for 71% of the Asylum set’s total, with an additional 10% from downloads. Subtract is also the best-seller on wax.

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In the end, Subtract won the chart race in a canter. By the midweek point, the LP had moved into a near-unbeatable position with more than 56,000 combined units.

Sheeran now boasts a perfect six No. 1s, dating back to his 2011 full-length debut +, then x (from 2014), ÷ (2017), No. 6 Collaborations Project (2019) and = (2021).

And with that unbroken string of leaders, Sheeran climbs the ranks of acts who’ve scaled the summit with every studio album. The “Shape of You” singer scoots past the 1975 on the list. Only Noel Gallagher with 10 albums, including his recordings with Oasis and as frontman of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds; Brandon Flowers and Coldplay (with nine); and the Killers and Oasis (seven) are ahead of him.

Also new to the Official U.K. Albums Chart, published May 12, is Tunde with First Lap (via Tunde). It’s new at No. 4, for the Manchester rapper’s first top 10 appearance.

Also enjoying his first solo top 40 appearance is former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan, with The Reckoning (Destruct). It’s new at No. 17. Meighan split with Kasabian in 2020 to deal with “personal issues,” he said at the time, leaving a group that had reigned over the chart with five albums. With guitarist Sergio Pizzorno taking-on vocal duties, the band last year added another No. 1 with The Alchemist’s Euphoria.

When Taylor Swift speaks, she scores. That’s precisely what happened when the superstar U.S. singer announced Speak Now would be the next to undergo a full rerecording. The 2010 collection (via Mercury) rebounds into the top 40 for the first time in 13 years, the OCC reports, up 54-23, and is one of six Swift albums impacting this week’s U.K. top tier. Speak Now peaked out at No. 6 following its original release. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is due out July 7.

Finally, Northern Irish rock trio Therapy? bags a sixth top 40 album and highest-charting title in 25 years, as Hard Cold Fire (Marshall) debuts at No. 29 on the latest tally.

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