The UK’s biggest albums of 2019 have been revealed, with Lewis Capaldi taking the Number 1 spot with his debut collection Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent.
The Scottish singer-songwriter’s first record, released in May, sold 641,000 albums across all formats and album equivalents, including over 250,000 copies on CD and vinyl combined, according to Official Charts Company data.
The album debuted at Number 1 and spent a total of six weeks at the top of the Official Albums Chart.
MORE: Music year in review 2019
According to music trade body the BPI, the equivalent of 154 million albums were either streamed, purchased on physical formats or downloaded in 2019 – up by 7.5% in volume on the total recorded in 2018. This is the highest amount since 2006, when the figure stood at 161.4m albums.
The overall consumption of music in the UK has grown for a fifth consecutive year, boosted by the continued growth in streaming, which rose 26% year-on-year.
While the number of CD and digital albums bought fell by just over a quarter, the formats continue to play an important role in shaping success on the Official Albums Chart. For 29 of the year’s 52 weeks, physical accounted for over half of chart-eligible sales for the Number 1 album.
Elsewhere on the year-end Official Albums Chart, Ed Sheeran finishes second place with his No.6 Collaborations Project album (568,000), a five-week leader in July/August, and The Greatest Showman album continued to perform well throughout 2019, placing third overall with 524,000 chart sales logged this year. Two more soundtracks, Bohemian Rhapsody (6) and A Star Is Born (10), also rank inside the year-end Top 10.
MORE: 50 incredible chart facts of 2019
US singer-songwriter Billie Eilish also found huge success this year: her debut album, When We All Fall Alseep Where Do We Go?, made her the youngest female artist to top the UK’s Official Albums Chart in March, and places fourth overall this year with 370,000 chart sales. Fellow US star Ariana Grande ranks seventh with her chart-topping fifth album Thank U, Next (293,000).
As well as Lewis and Billie, there was another big debut album in 2019 for Tom Walker; his Number 1 record What A Time To Be Alive places eighth on 270,000 chart sales.
Despite being released in November, Rod Stewart’s orchestral album You’re In My Heart makes it into the year-end Top 10 at Number 10. A massive 99% of Rod’s sales were physical or download.
The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2019
| POS | TITLE | ARTIST | PEAK |
| 1 | DIVINELY UNINSPIRED TO A HELLISH EXTENT | LEWIS CAPALDI | 1 |
| 2 | NO 6 COLLABORATIONS PROJECT | ED SHEERAN | 1 |
| 3 | THE GREATEST SHOWMAN | MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING | 1 |
| 4 | WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO | BILLIE EILISH | 1 |
| 5 | STAYING AT TAMARA'S | GEORGE EZRA | 1 |
| 6 | BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - OST | QUEEN | 3 |
| 7 | THANK U NEXT | ARIANA GRANDE | 1 |
| 8 | WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE | TOM WALKER | 1 |
| 9 | A STAR IS BORN | MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING | 1 |
| 10 | YOU'RE IN MY HEART | ROD STEWART | 1 |
| 11 | DIVIDE | ED SHEERAN | 1 |
| 12 | THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT | ROBBIE WILLIAMS | 1 |
| 13 | 50 YEARS - DON'T STOP | FLEETWOOD MAC | 5 |
| 14 | EVERYDAY LIFE | COLDPLAY | 1 |
| 15 | DIAMONDS | ELTON JOHN | 5 |
| 16 | ALWAYS IN BETWEEN | JESS GLYNNE | 1 |
| 17 | THE PLATINUM COLLECTION | QUEEN | 2 |
| 18 | DON'T SMILE AT ME | BILLIE EILISH | 12 |
| 19 | DUA LIPA | DUA LIPA | 3 |
| 20 | HOLLYWOOD'S BLEEDING | POST MALONE | 1 |
| 21 | BACK TOGETHER | MICHAEL BALL & ALFIE BOE | 2 |
| 22 | PSYCHODRAMA | DAVE | 1 |
| 23 | HURTS 2B HUMAN | PINK | 1 |
| 24 | LOVER | TAYLOR SWIFT | 1 |
| 25 | BEERBONGS & BENTLEYS | POST MALONE | 1 |
| 26 | WHY ME WHY NOT | LIAM GALLAGHER | 1 |
| 27 | SCORPION | DRAKE | 1 |
| 28 | SINGING TO STRANGERS | JACK SAVORETTI | 1 |
| 29 | SPECTRUM | WESTLIFE | 1 |
| 30 | RUMOURS | FLEETWOOD MAC | 3 |
| 31 | CURTAIN CALL - THE HITS | EMINEM | 1 |
| 32 | GOLD - GREATEST HITS | ABBA | 1 |
| 33 | CHRISTMAS | MICHAEL BUBLE | 1 |
| 34 | SNACKS | JAX JONES | 9 |
| 35 | WESTERN STARS | BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN | 1 |
| 36 | WHAT IS LOVE | CLEAN BANDIT | 9 |
| 37 | TIME FLIES - 1994-2009 | OASIS | 1 |
| 38 | ABBEY ROAD | BEATLES | 1 |
| 39 | MAMMA MIA - HERE WE GO AGAIN | MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING | 1 |
| 40 | HYPERSONIC MISSILES | SAM FENDER | 1 |
©2020 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
Chart compiled based on physical, download and streaming equivalent sales between Week 1 - Week 52, 2019
