Sam Fender has said he is “overwhelmed” as his third album secured a record-breaking opening week at the top of the UK chart.
The North Shields singer-songwriter released his latest album, People Watching, last week to glowing reviews from critics.
In the seven days since, it has shifted 107,100 chart units including 43,000 on vinyl alone, making it the fastest-selling vinyl album by a British act this century.
Fender, 30, also scored the biggest opening week for a UK act since Harry Styles released his Grammy-winning album, Harry’s House, in 2022, to first-week sales of 113,000.
Just nine artists in total have managed to sell 100,000 albums in their opening week in the UK: Fender, Styles, Adele, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Take That, Abba and Arctic Monkeys.
“This is completely overwhelming,” Fender said. “Thank you to everyone who’s supported us and listened to the album this week.”
People Watching achieved a significantly bigger first week than his first two albums, including his 2019 debut Hypersonic Missiles and his 2021 follow-up, Seventeen Going Under, with sales of 40,900 and 43,700, respectively.
Martin Talbot, chief executive officer at the Official Charts Company, commented: “What an incredible week for Sam Fender, who takes a place at the head of the top table this week by claiming the Number 1 spot in the Official Albums Chart with a blockbuster opening week.
“His new album People Watching not only sets a new first-week high for himself, it’s also a record-breaking first week on vinyl.”
Reviewing the record for The Independent, critic Mark Beaumont said: “’Rein Me In’, concerning a drunken breakup, is built around some vivifying junk piano and Coldplay arpeggios. The darkly fascinating ‘TV Dinner’ stands out like a Guggenheim in a swamp, with its sci-fi synth sizzle, shivering poetry, austere orchestrations and trip-hop edge.
“‘Something Heavy’ is a rare display of country pop catchiness. And the record closes with ‘Remember My Name’, a moving and heartfelt tribute to Fender’s lost grandparents on which he contemplates mortality backed by a sensitive and resonant colliery band.”
Fender is due to perform at the 2025 Brit Awards on Saturday 1 March, where he is nominated for Artist of the Year and Best Rock/Alternative Act.
He is also scheduled to play a series of massive summer shows, including at London Stadium on 6 June, three nights at St James Park in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
