LONDON (REUTERS) - British band Coldplay's new album Ghost Stories went straight to number one in the charts on Sunday, May 25, 2014, the Official Charts Company said, becoming the fastest-selling album of the year.
The group's sixth studio album and sixth successive British number one album, it sold 168,000 copies since going on sale on May 19, a figure the Charts Company called "staggering".
"A new Coldplay album always makes a huge impact, and Ghost Stories is no exception," Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said in a statement. "The boys have made it a perfect six number ones out of six albums today. That is some achievement!"
Coldplay knocked last week's number one album, Xscape, a collection of previously unreleased songs by the late US singer Michael Jackson, off the top perch into second place.
In the singles chart, Stay With Me, a new track by English singer-songwriter Sam Smith, debuted at number one, unseating last week's chart topper Waves by Dutch artist Mr Probz.