Gary Barlow lands Official Number 1 album for Diamond Jubilee

Gary Barlow's Diamond Jubilee celebrations have officially started 24 hours earlier than expected as Sing, the album featuring Gary Barlow and The Commonwealth Band, becomes the Official Albums Chart Number 1 for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend!

Though Hackney starlet Paloma Faith had taken the lead midweek with new album Fall To Grace, it seems that the nation has been swept up into royal fever in the latter half of the week as the UK gears up for Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Co-written by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd-Webber, two of the UK's greatest living songwriters, the Jubilee song Sing unites some of the Commonwealth's most talented and diverse musicians, led by Gareth Malone and his ever-expanding Military Wives Choir. Proceeds from the Sing album will raise funds for The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust.

Sing also gives Gary Barlow his first Number 1 album this century outside of Take That, and at the most apt time; Gary is organising tomorrow's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace at which the Commonwealth Band will come together for the first time to perform Sing live. The music for Sing has also been available for download so that the whole nation can join in when the Commonwealth Band perform it tomorrow.


Gary today told OfficialCharts.com: "I couldn't have wished for anything more on this momentous weekend!"



Andrew Lloyd-Webber added: "I'm absolutely thrilled, this is a burst of sunshine on a rainy Sunday - let's hope the sun shines on Gary's concert tomorrow."

New entries

Paloma Faith’s Fall To Grace ends the week in a respectable second place. The second studio album from the singer/songwriter, produced by Nellee Hooper, gives her her highest charting record to date as 2009 debut album Do You Want The Truth  Or Something Beautiful peaked at Number 9.  The albums features Top 10 single Picking Up The Pieces.

In a surge of 11 new entries in total this week, Rumer’s Boys Don’t Cry lands at 3 with New York glam pop outfit Scissor Sisters sparkling away at four.  Salford tenor Russell Watson’s Anthems completes the Top 5.

Elsewhere Iceland’s Sigur Ros are back with new album Valtari (8), Melody Gardot’s The Absence (18), Alt-J’s An Awesome Wave (19), Ultravox’s Brilliant (21),  and Regina Spektor’s What We Saw From The Cheap Seats (24).

And finally, completing this week’s Official Albums Chart Top 40 new entries is Public Image Limited with their first studio release in 20 years, This Is PiL (35). In a recent interview with OfficialCharts.com, PiL and SexPistolsfrontman John Lydon, AKA Johnny Rotten, let slip that he actually had no idea the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was coming up this weekend.

The singer, who caused wide-spread public outrage with his band’s single God Save The Queenduring Her Majesty Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee 35 years ago, was asked what he was planning to do to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, he told OfficialCharts.com: “I wasn’t actually aware it was coming up! And I’m not joking, this is the actual truth.”

Lydon added that he didn’t remember much of Her Majesty’s Silver Jubilee, either. “When the Sex Pistols did the Jubilee Boat Tour, I was in no fit condition to be aware that was happening either.”

The Official Albums Chart Top 10 is as follows. Click here to see the Top 100 in full after 7PM.

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