Coldplay album Ghost Stories tops British music charts

Musicians (from left) Jonny Buckland, Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion of Coldplay perform onstage at Royce Hall, UCLA on May 19, 2014 in Westwood, California. Coldplay's new album Ghost Stories went straight to number one in the ch
Musicians (from left) Jonny Buckland, Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion of Coldplay perform onstage at Royce Hall, UCLA on May 19, 2014 in Westwood, California. Coldplay's new album Ghost Stories went straight to number one in the charts on May 25, 2014, the Official Charts Company said, becoming the fastest-selling album of the year. -- PHOTO: AFP

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.

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