U.K. CHARTS: BLONDE
STREAKS TO #1

Frank Ocean scored his first ever #1 in Blighty with Blonde, which was released via his own Boys Don’t Cry. So how far off was that 40k prediction?

As it goes, not too far. Blonde—or is it Blond?—shifted 32k combined sales over on the Queen’s isle, including 26k iTunes downloads. The record sold nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor, Dolly Parton’s 43rd studio album, Pure & Simple (Sony).

Ending at #3 in the Official Albums Chart is the mockumentary soundtrack for comedy star David Brent’s Life On The Road (Caroline), followed by Drake’s Views (Island) at #4, and Bob Marley retrospective Legend (Tuff Gong) at #5.

If Blonde really is the last Apple exclusive, the trend has gone out with a bang. Ocean’s debut album, Channel Orange, was an iTunes exclusive in July 2012, arriving at other digital services and physical retailers one week later. It debuted at #2 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart solely on digital sales of 13k. The only physical copies of Ocean’s latest album in the U.K. were sold through its pop-up store in London and are therefore likely to be negligible.

Over on the Official Singles Chart, Major Lazer, Justin Bieber and MØ’s “Cold Water” (Because Music) is #1 for the fifth consecutive week on just over 71.5k combined sales, including 5.03m streams. It was a tight race with DJ Snake and Bieber’s “Let Me Love You” (Polydor) sitting just under 1.5k sales behind at #2.

Elsewhere, Chainsmokers f/Halsey’s “Closer” (RCA) moves up one place to #3, followed by Calum Scott's cover of Robyn's “Dancing On My Own” (Virgin EMI) at #4. Twenty one pilots' “Heathens” (Atlantic) hits a new chart high, rising two places to #5.