Ed Sheeran overtakes Coldplay to claim UK’s biggest seller

Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith are now leading what is a very British line-up in the hunt to claim the UK's most sold artist albums of 2014 so far, the OfficialCharts.com can reveal, with both 'X' and 'In The Lonely Hour' in first and second place.

Ed Sheeran's X has overtaken Coldplay's Ghost Stories as the biggest selling artist album of 2014 so far, according to Official Charts Company data.

This success means the acclaimed album has now been certified 2x Platinum by the BPI - the music trade body that represents the UK's record labels.

Released in June this year, X became Ed's second chart-topping album in the UK and spent a massive eight weeks at the Official Albums Chart summit. It is currently the fastest-selling album of 2014 after shifting more than 182,000 copies during its first week on sale, and has since sold in excess of 634,000 copies.

Ed comments "I'm so happy people have been enjoying my album so much - great to hear that it's still the biggest seller of the year and has now gone double Platinum too. Looking forward to playing it live to my UK fans when the tour starts next week!"

The newly released list highlights the quality and popularity of British music so far in 2014, with 90% of the Top 10 best sellers of the year being UK acts, and only one international act, Pharrell Williams, making the cut.

British newcomer, Sam Smith, who was tipped for success from the outset as the winner of the BRITs Critcs' Choice Award and BBC Sound Of 2014 poll, also leapfrogs Coldplay this quarter to take second place on the year to date best-sellers list with his debut album In The Lonely Hour. The record, which hasn't left the Top 5 since its release in May, debuted at Number 1 and spent two weeks at the top before returning to pole position for a further two weeks in September. To date, the LP has sold 487,000 copies.

Coldplay, who led the best-sellers so far list at the half-way point of 2014, slip two places to Number 3 with Ghost Stories. The album – released in May - became their sixth chart-topper and has since racked up sales of 470,000.

Meanwhile, Paolo Nutini's Caustic Love is at Number 4 with sales of 440,000, and Paloma Faith claims the accolade of the best-selling female album of the year so far with A Perfect Contradiction (5), which has so far shifted 342,000. Paloma also achieved a personal best on the singles front last month when Changing, her collaboration with dance duo Sigma hit Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart.

Further down the year to date Top 40, Dolly Parton makes a new entry at Number 12 with Blue Smoke. Released to coincide with her show-stopping performance at Glastonbury, the album is the fourth biggest seller of the third quarter of 2014, spending 12 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 and has sold 208,000.

George Ezra is also new at Number 15 with Wanted On Voyage on 183,000. During the Q3 period, which runs from July to end of September, the record is the third best-seller behind Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith.

To view the full Top 40 list click here.

on OfficialCharts.com here:

1
X
Ed Sheeran
2
In The Lonely Hour
Sam Smith
3
Ghost Stories
Coldplay
4
Caustic Love
Paolo Nutini
5
A Perfect Contradiction
Paloma Faith
6
Halcyon
Ellie Goulding
7
GIRL
Pharrell Williams
8
If You Wait
London Grammar
9
AM
Arctic Monkeys
10
Bad Blood
Bastille
©Official Charts Company 2014