Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber's SING Album and Single Hit No. 1

Gary Barlow scores the Official Chart double and the biggest selling No. 1 of the year with SING. In doing so he bags himself a coveted Official No. 1 Award from the Official Charts Company.

Sing, the Official Diamond Jubilee song co-written by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber, has racked up a massive 142,000 sales since last weekend’s Jubilee concert, to become the biggest selling No. 1 of the year so far. The closest any other track has got to this tally in 2012 is DJ Fresh FT Rita Ora whose chart-topping single Hot Right Now shifted 128,000 copies in its first week on sale back in February.

Sing also outsells the rest of the Top 3 combined today – Flo Rida’s Whistle (2) and Fun FT Janelle Monae’s We Are Young (3).

Barlow was presented the Official No. 1 Award – the new award created by the Official Charts Company to celebrate 60 Years of the Official Singles Chart in 2012. The brushed aluminium trophy is now presented in partnership with BBC Radio 1 to each new single that reaches the coveted No. 1 spot on the UK’s Official Chart.

Gary said “It’s been such a great week, it would take something very special to top it. I’d like to say thanks on behalf of about 200 people as we’ve got a massive cast on this record. I love collaborating with other artists and being able to put them all on one stage the other night was such an honour for me. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Meanwhile the album from which the title track is taken comfortably outstrips the rest of the Top 5 albums combined. Sing by Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band scoops the top slot on the Official Albums Chart too today making it the first Official Chart double of the year so far, and the second of Gary Barlow’s career, his first chart double was Take That’s 2006 hallowed pop comeback with Patience and accompanying studio album Beautiful World.

Sing co-writer Andrew Lloyd Webber said: “The last time I had a Number 1 album and Number 1 single at the same time was for Evita in 1976 when both the album and ‘Don’t Cry for me Argentina’ were at the top of the charts. So this is fantastic news about SING! Roll on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee!!”

Sing was performed last weekend at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace, with vocals from Military Wives Choir and members of The Commonwealth Band, conducted by Military Wives Choir master Gareth Malone. A special documentary on the making of the song was also aired on BBC1 over the weekend – Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty’s Service. An accompanying Q&A with Gary Barlow can be found here http://bit.ly/LP3kXJ in which he suggests his experiences in the making of Sing will influence the next Take That album.

The full Official Singles and Albums Chart Top 100 is available here.

Source: Official Charts Company – www.officialcharts.com. Follow the Official Charts Company for the latest chart news on Twitter and Facebook.

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