George Michael soars back into the album charts top 10
Fans flock to buy the singer's work following his untimely death on Christmas Day
George Michael has returned to the top ten album chart for the first time in 17 years as fans revisit his classic records.
The singer’s greatest hits collection, Ladies & Gentlemen, saw a 5,625% surge in sales and streams this week, placing it at number 8 in the Official Charts company album chart. The retrospective topped the chart for eight weeks on its release in 1998.
Elsewhere, Michael's last album with Wham!, The Final, is at 40, while 2006’s Twenty Five has a top 50 place at 47. Other albums returning to the top 100 include 1987’s Faith (62), 2014’s Symphonica (73) and 1996’s Older (84) .
On the Official Singles Chart, four Wham!/George Michael tracks reappear in the Top 100, Wham’s Last Christmas climbs to Number 7, returning to the Top 10 for the first time in 31 years, and is also the second most-streamed track of the week, with 3.6m streams.
Last Christmas remains the best-selling single in the UK never to have reached Number 1 having been kept off the top spot at Number 2 for five consecutive weeks in December 1984 by Band Aid’s Do They Know it’s Christmas?
Careless Whisper is at 44 in the singles chart, with places in the top 100 going to Faith (64) and Elton John duet Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me (91).
The UK’s best-selling vinyl single of the week is a recent re-release of George Michael’s Freedom ’90, which lands at Number 1 on this week’s chart.
During his career with Wham! and as a solo artist, Michael achieved 11 Number 1 singles and 9 chart-topping albums.
Martin Talbot, Chief Executive of the Official Charts Company said: "The sudden and terribly sad death of George Michael has naturally prompted his fans to re-explore his rich catalogue again, paying tribute to his incredible talent, both as a solo artist and founder of Wham!”
