Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour has re-entered the chart top spot, preventing Madonna from achieving her 12th No 1 album.
Following a succession of award show triumphs at the Brits and Grammys, Smith’s reappearance in the charts was this time undoubtably enabled by track Lay Me Down, which he performed on Friday 13 March’s Comic Relief. The official Red Nose Day single achieved sales of 105,000 and held off competition from Years & Years, Rihanna, Ellie Goulding and Flo Rida, who occupy the rest of the singles charts.
Despite Madonna’s Rebel Heart holding on to the top spot in the mid weeks, Smith’s Red Nose boost meant that the 22-year-old eventually soared past the pop icon’s sales by 12,000 copies, according Official Chart Company. Madonna’s only other record unable to debut at No 1 in the UK was 1994’s Bedtime Stories.
In the Lonely Hour has now accumulated six weeks in total at No 1 – a new record for a solo male singer. He joins the ranks of other blockbuster sellers such as Simon and Garfunkel, whose album Bridge Over Troubled Water topped the charts on eight occasions; and Adele’s 21 and Emeli Sandé’s Our Version of Events, both of which have racked up seven weeks at No 1.
