The Official Top 40 best-selling vinyl releases of 2021 so far

 

Vinyl sales continue to climb in the UK, and the best-selling of 2021 so far is Lana Del Rey's Chemtrails Over The Country Club, OfficialCharts.com can reveal.

 

Released in March, the record has sold 20,000 copies on wax to top the UK's Official year-to-date vinyl albums chart. 16,700 of those were bought in its first week, earning Lana the title of having the fastest-selling vinyl album of the century for a female act.

 

Sales of vinyl records continue to rise in the UK, with nearly 5 million vinyl albums purchased last year, up 11.5% on the previous 12 months. The upward trend looks set to continue this year, with many fans supporting their favourite acts by purchasing vinyl in the absence of gigs and touring as the UK eases out of lockdown.

 

Vinyl revenues are even expected to overtake those of CDs in 2021, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI)'s chief executive in response to a new report.

 

The UK's second best-seller on vinyl is Wolf Alice's Blue Weekend - a Number 1 in June - with 18.2k sales, while British rock duo Royal Blood complete the Top 3 with their chart-topping third album Typhoons on 15.8k.

 

While the majority of the top selling vinyl albums of 2021 were released this year, a handful of classics continue to prove hugely popular. Fleetwood Mac's 1977 record Rumours ranks fourth in the year-to-date chart, while Queen's Greatest Hits (11), Amy Winehouse's Back To Black (12), Nirvana's Nevermind (19), and Oasis' What's The Story Morning Glory (30) all place within the Top 40.

 

Elsewhere in the Top 10, Foo Fighters' chart-topping Medicine At Midnight is at 5, indie-pop band London Grammar place at 8 with their April Number 1 record Californian Soil, and Taylor Swift's Evermore, released on vinyl in May, rounds out the Top 10.

 

British singer-songwriter and poet Arlo Parks claims the best-selling debut album on vinyl so far this year with Collapsed In Sunbeams (13), closely followed by debut records W.L. by The Snuts (14) and Not Your Muse by Celeste (15).

 

Vinyl singles

Harry Styles claims the UK's best-selling vinyl single of the year so far with Watermelon Sugar, which was given a limited edition release on red vinyl back in February and topped the Official Vinyl Singles Chart, outselling the rest of the Top 40 combined that week.

 

Elsewhere, a 40th anniversary reissue of The Specials' Ghost Town is in second places, and Morrissey & David Bowie's Cosmic Dancer - a live duet recorded in 1991 - is at Number 3.

 

A vinyl release of Kylie Minogue's rework of Real Groove with Dua Lipa is at Number 4, and a 25th anniversary of football anthem 3 Lions by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds enters at 7.

 

Cassettes

The unlikely revival of the cassette continues this year, albeit with sales remaining small compared to the rest of the market. The best-selling of 2021 so far is Olivia Rodrigo's Sour - the UK's biggest album of 2021 - with 12,800 sales. Lana's Chemtrails Over The Country Club follows in second with 8,100 sales.

 

Other popular releases on cassette this year Demi Lovato's Dancing With The Devil - The Art Of Starting Over (3), the debut album from Easy Life Life's A Beach (6), and Pale Waves' Who Am I (10).

 

Official Top 40 best-selling vinyl albums of 2021 so far

TITLE ARTIST

1 CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB LANA DEL REY

2 BLUE WEEKEND WOLF ALICE

3 TYPHOONS ROYAL BLOOD

4 RUMOURS FLEETWOOD MAC

5 MEDICINE AT MIDNIGHT FOO FIGHTERS

6 FAT POP PAUL WELLER

7 BACK THE WAY WE CAME - VOL 1 NOEL GALLAGHER'S HIGH FLYING

8 CALIFORNIAN SOIL LONDON GRAMMAR

9 FINE LINE HARRY STYLES

10 EVERMORE TAYLOR SWIFT

11 GREATEST HITS QUEEN

12 BACK TO BLACK AMY WINEHOUSE

13 COLLAPSED IN SUNBEAMS ARLO PARKS

14 W.L. SNUTS

15 NOT YOUR MUSE CELESTE

16 ISLES BICEP

17 LOVELESS MY BLOODY VALENTINE

18 INTRUDER GARY NUMAN

19 NEVERMIND NIRVANA

20 LIFE'S A BEACH EASY LIFE

21 WHEN YOU SEE YOURSELF KINGS OF LEON

22 LIFE BY MISADVENTURE RAG'N'BONE MAN

23 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON PINK FLOYD

24 BRIGHT GREEN FIELD SQUID

25 NEW LONG LEG DRY CLEANING

26 AS THE LOVE CONTINUES MOGWAI

27 TYRON SLOWTHAI

28 SPARE RIBS SLEAFORD MODS

29 FOR THE FIRST TIME BLACK COUNTRY NEW ROAD

30 WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY OASIS

31 COLLECTIONS FROM THE WHITEOUT BEN HOWARD

32 DADDY'S HOME ST VINCENT

33 POST HUMAN - SURVIVAL HORROR BRING ME THE HORIZON

34 THE STONE ROSES STONE ROSES

35 LEGEND BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS

36 HARRY STYLES HARRY STYLES

37 ABBEY ROAD BEATLES

38 FOLKLORE TAYLOR SWIFT

39 FUTURE NOSTALGIA DUA LIPA

40 AM ARCTIC MONKEYS

 

©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

 

Official Top 10 best-selling vinyl singles of 2021 so far

TITLE ARTIST

1 WATERMELON SUGAR HARRY STYLES

2 GHOST TOWN SPECIALS

3 COSMIC DANCER MORRISSEY & DAVID BOWIE

4 REAL GROOVE KYLIE MINOGUE & DUA LIPA

5 ALL YOU'RE DREAMING OF LIAM GALLAGHER

6 KYOTO PHOEBE BRIDGERS

7 3 LIONS BADDIEL/SKINNER/LIGHTNING SEED

8 MOTHER DAVID BOWIE

9 NO TIME TO DIE BILLIE EILISH

10 DARK DAYS YARD ACT

 

©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

 

Official Top 10 best-selling cassettes of 2021 so far

TITLE ARTIST

1 SOUR OLIVIA RODRIGO

2 CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB LANA DEL REY

3 BLUE WEEKEND WOLF ALICE

4 DANCING WITH THE DEVIL - THE ART OF DEMI LOVATO

5 W.L. SNUTS

6 LIFE'S A BEACH EASY LIFE

7 WEIRD YUNGBLUD

8 POST HUMAN - SURVIVAL HORROR BRING ME THE HORIZON

9 SCALED AND ICY TWENTY ONE PILOTS

10 WHO AM I PALE WAVES

 

©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

24 BRIGHT GREEN FIELD SQUID

29 FOR THE FIRST TIME BLACK COUNTRY NEW ROAD

33 POST HUMAN - SURVIVAL HORROR BRING ME THE HORIZON

 

Lets gooooo :heart:

'The Business' being very lucky to still cling onto #3 at the time of the articles being written about the year to date chart if that is accurate :lol:

Yeah pretty sure about those positions even if my sales estimates aren’t spot on. And Body will overtake The Business next week.

I choose to count the YTD vinyl album chart as the true YTD x The taste of Wolf Alice in the top 2, London Grammar top 10 and Bicep, Gary Numan, Squid, Mogwai and slowthai all in the top 40 *.*