Rag'n'Bone Man scores the fastest-selling male debut album of the decade with Human

Congratulations to Rag’n’Bone Man, who celebrates a massive opening week with his debut album Human as it lands straight in at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart.

According to Official Charts Company data, the collection shifted a massive 117,000 copies across physical (which made up 67% of his total sales), download and streaming, earning him the fastest-selling debut album by a male act of the decade.

The figure also means Human outsells the rest of this week’s Top 10 combined and gives the soul singer-songwriter – real name Rory Graham – a bigger opening week than debut albums by the likes of Ed Sheeran (+, 2011) and Sam Smith (In The Lonely Hour 2014).

Only three debut acts have sold more in week one since 2010: One Direction’s Up All Night (139k), Rebecca Ferguson’s Heaven (128k) and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ self-titled release (123k), all released in 2011.

Human is also the overall fastest-selling album of the past 12 months, since David Bowie’s Blackstar. The sales also surpass the huge first week numbers of recent Number 1s by The Rolling Stones, Little Mix and Elvis Presley.

Rag‘n’Bone Man also enjoys the most explosive start for a BRITs Critics’ Choice Award winner to date, surpassing the opening week sales of previous recipients including Emeli Sande and global phenomenon Adele.

Rag’n’Bone Man tells OfficialCharts.com: “A massive thank you for going out and buying my album, streaming it and making it such a success so quickly. It means the world to me. Number 1 album… smash!”

New entries and high climbers

Rag’n’Bone Man leads seven new entries on this week’s Official Albums Chart Top 40. New at Number 3 are British rockers Thunder with their 11^th album Rip It Up, and rising Harlesden-born rapper Nines lands at Number 4 with his debut album One Foot Out. 

Elsewhere in the Top 10, Adele’s 25 leaps from 9 to Number 6 after sweeping last week’s Grammy Awards, and James Arthur’s Back From The Edge returns to the Top 10 for the first time in three months, up six spots to Number 9.

British rapper Devlin scores a personal best on the Official Chart today, his third album The Devil In opens at 16, and Whitney Houston – who passed away five years ago last Saturday (Feb 11), re-enters at 18 with The Ultimate Collection.

Further down, Saturdays’ singer Una Healy is new at 28 with her debut solo effort The Waiting Game, Celine Dion’s My Love – The Essential Collection returns to the Top 40 for the first time in seven years at 29, and Michael Jackson’s Number Ones is back at 32.

See this week's Top 100 Official Albums Chart in full

Look back through every Official UK Number 1 album of 2016 so far: