Singer-songwriter Sam Fender’s People Watching is the biggest-selling album to be released this year so far, according to the Official Charts Company.
People Watching became Fender’s third number one album when it came out in February, with sales soaring as the North Shields-born singer played a series of sold-out shows in the North West last month.
Meanwhile, another singer-songwriter – US star Alex Warren – has overtaken British star Lola Young as the artist with the UK’s biggest song of the year so far.
His song Ordinary has enjoyed a total of 1.09 million chart sales and been streamed 128 million times since its February release.
It spent 12 weeks at number one, making him the US artist with the most consecutive weeks at number one in Official Singles Chart history.
Close behind is Young with her self-proclaimed “ADHD anthem” Messy, which has had 113 million streams and more than 33,000 downloads, making it the most-downloaded track of the year so far.
Fresh from her Glastonbury headlining slot on the Other Stage, Charli XCX also makes it into the top 10 best-selling albums of the year so far, with BRAT in ninth place.
Just ahead is Elton John, with his Diamonds greatest hits collection in eighth place.
Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth studio album continues to have the most sales of the year so far.
The album Short N’ Sweet was released last year and last month broke the record by holding the longest consecutive streak in the top five UK album chart – with 43 consecutive weeks.
She surpassed Ed Sheeran who previously held the title with 42 weeks for his album =, released in 2021.
Fleetwood Mac’s ever-popular collection 50 Years – Don’t Stop lands at number four with 173,000 chart sales so far this year.
The UK’s biggest songs and albums of 2025 so far was revealed by the Official Charts Company on Wednesday.
Fender’s People Watching has achieved 120,000 pure sales, while it is the most popular physical album too, selling 115,000 copies on physical formats.
While it is the best-selling album to be released this year, it is in third place for sales overall – behind Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet and Sheeran, for +–=÷× (Tour Collection), both of which were released last year.
Mere hours after it was confirmed his latest album has become the UK’s best-selling release of the year, Fender got the British Grand Prix weekend off to a roaring start with a high-octane headline set at Silverstone.
The indie rock star, 30, performed to a packed crowd on Thursday night, delivering a show-stopping set featuring some of his biggest hits, including Seventeen Going Under, People Watching, and Hypersonic Missiles, as the 2025 British Grand Prix’s four-day music lineup officially launched.
Fender’s performance followed an energetic warm-up from Blossoms, the Manchester-based quintet who treated fans to a run of their most beloved tracks, including Charlemagne, Your Girlfriend and the crowd-pleasing Gary.
Silverstone has cemented itself as more than just a motorsport mecca in recent years, evolving into one of the UK’s most anticipated summer music events. Following last year's record-breaking attendance of 480,000, the 2025 lineup promises an even more ambitious fusion of sport and live entertainment.
Other performers during the weekend were BRIT Award-winner RAYE, former Little Mix member JADE, Fatboy Slim, Mabel and Becky Hill.
