Josh Groban scores first UK Number 1 album with Stages

Josh Groban has landed his first Official Albums Chart Number 1 with Broadway covers album Stages.

The LP, which includes collaborations with Kelly Clarkson, Chris Botti and Audra MacDonald, features tracks from Les Miserables, The Wizard of Oz, Carousel, Chess and The Phantom of the Opera.

Stages is Groban’s seventh UK Top 40 album, with 2013 studio release All That Echoes previously scoring his chart peak, at Number 9.

Elsewhere, Paul Simon’s The Ultimate Collection slides one places to Number 2 today, followed by Ed Sheeran’s x (3) and Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour (4), which spend their 44th and 48th weeks in the Top 10, respectively.

2015 BRITs Critics’ Choice Award winner James Bay’s debut Chaos And The Calm (5) completes this week’s Top 5.

New entries and high climbers

There are five further new entries in this week’s Official Albums Chart Top 40. US rock group Alabama Shakes land their second UK Top 10 album with Sound And Color (6), trailed by singer-songwriter Passenger who picks up a third Top 20 with Whispers II (12).

American hip hop artist Yelawolf – real name Michael Wayne Atha – makes his Official Chart debut with Love Story (25), as Nottingham band Amber Run’s 5am (36) scores the five-piece their first chart entry.

Finally, pop-punk band As It Is finish the week at Number 39 with debut LP Never Happy Ever After.

There are four re-entries in this week’s Top 40. Clean Bandit’s New Eyes climbs a whopping 63 places to 28, closely followed by Drake’s surprise release If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, which is up 11 places to 32.

Madonna’s latest studio release Rebel Heart re-enters at 37 today, while Public Service Broadcasting’s The Race For Space (40) rounds out the Top 40.

Other high climbers include The Killers Direct Hits, up 12 places to 18, and Imagine Dragons’ former Number 1 Smoke + Mirrors, up 16 to 20.

View this week's Top 100 Official Albums Chart (from 7pm)