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David Bowie dominates UK charts

By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 18 January 2016

As expected, following the sad announcement of the death of David Bowie a week ago, fans rushed to stream and buy his records. This resulted in a very Bowie heavy chart on Friday – even surpassing the number of album chart entries Michael Jackson achieved in the week after his death in 2009.

Bowie’s latest and last album ‘Blackstar’ had already been on track to make number one, and did so comfortably. In total, ten albums made the top 40, with nineteen in the top 100. In the singles chart, five tracks made the top 40 – with the most bought, ‘Heroes’, achieving its highest ever chart position at number twelve. The top 100 featured thirteen of his songs.

In total, over half a million Bowie records were sold in the UK last week, 241,000 of them albums and 167,000 singles. Combined sales and streams (using Official Charts Company metrics) bring the total figure to 623,000. And across all the chart registered streaming services in the UK, the musician’s tracks were played nineteen million times.

‘Blackstar’ also earned Bowie his first US number one album. His previous highest chart position was number two with 2013’s ‘The Next Day’.

Now, here are this week’s UK music charts with all the rubbish non-Bowie acts removed…

Albums

1 Blackstar
5 Nothing Has Changed – The Very Best Of David Bowie
11 The Best Of 1969-1974
14 Hunky Dory
17 The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
18 Best Of Bowie
23 Aladdin Sane
25 The Next Day
31 Low
37 Diamond Dogs
42 Let’s Dance
45 Heroes
55 Station To Station
59 The Best Of David Bowie 1980-1987
60 Young Americans
61 Scary Monsters
89 The Man Who Sold The World
95 Space Oddity
97 Five Years – 1969-1973

Singles

12 Heroes
16 Life On Mars
18 Starman
23 Let’s Dance
24 Space Oddity
43 Queen & David Bowie – Under Pressure
45 Lazarus
49 Changes
61 Blackstar
62 Ashes To Ashes
65 Rebel Rebel
76 Ziggy Stardust
97 China Girl