Sam Smith tops albums countdown as Brits performers storm the charts

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/01/sam-smith-tops-albums-brits-performers-storm-the-charts

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As expected, the first albums chart following the inclusion of streaming figures is dominated by the stars of last Wednesday’s Brit awards: the new top five all performed on the show.

Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour returns to No 1, Ed Sheeran’s X rises one place to No 2, while Royal Blood’s self-titled debut album jumps 15 places to No 3. Royal Blood had sold 2,500 copies of their album in the days before the show, but finished the week with 27,000 sales.

The top five is completed by George Ezra’s Wanted on Voyage and Taylor Swift’s 1989. The biggest leap of all was made by another Brits performer, Paloma Faith, rising from No 33 to No 8 with A Perfect Contradiction.

The midweek No 1, Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin, enters the top 10 at No 6, with Chris Brown and Tyga securing a new entry at No 7 with Fan of a Fan the Album.

Related: Royal Blood get biggest Brit awards sales boost, One Direction get the smallest

The singles top five is unchanged from last week, with Ellie Goulding’s Fifty Shades of Grey song Love Me Like You Do staying at No 1, followed by Hozier (Take Me to Church), Mark Ronson (Uptown Funk), Weeknd (Earned It) and Rihanna, Kayne West and Paul McCartney (FourFiveSeconds).

The Brits performances had their effect on the singles chart, too. Sam Smith’s Lay Me Down, has risen 73 places to No 15, Paloma Faith’s Only Love Can Hurt Like This has jumped 40 places to No 32. Most spectacularly, Ed Sheeran’s Bloodstream has leaped 154 places to No 35. Taylor Swift must be feeling aggrieved that her performance of Blank Space did no more than keep it in exactly the same position: No 29.