Robbie Williams keeps Gary Barlow off Official Albums Chart top spot

Robbie Williams holds onto Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart despite tough competition from his Take That bandmate Gary Barlow.

After scoring the Official Christmas Number 1 Album last Sunday, Robbie Williams has held on to his chart crown for a second consecutive second week.

His new album, Swings Both Ways, was neck-and-neck with One Direction’s Midnight Memories in the race to Number 1 last Sunday, but Robbie pulled ahead at the last minute by an impossibly tight margin of just 200 copies.

This week, Robbie‘s album has been battling it out with his Take That bandmate Gary Barlow’s latest solo effort, Since I Saw You Last. According to today’s Official Singles Chart sales data, Robbie has taken pole position with sales of nearly 91,000 copies of Swings Both Ways (Number 1) over the last seven days Vs 79,000 copies of Gary’s album (Number 2) during the same period.

Swings Both Ways, which became the UK’s 1000th Number 1 album after debuting at the top spot last month, is Robbie’s second big band album. He previously topped the Official Christmas Albums Chart in 2001 with Swing When You’re Winning.

One Direction fall one place to Number 3 today, while Beyonce’s self-titled new album (Number 4) and Olly Murs’ Right Place, Right Time (5) trade places.

Re-entries

There are six re-entries on this week’s Official Albums Chart: Emeli Sande’s record breaking debut album, Our Version Of Events, climbs 12 places to 31. The 1975’s self-titled debut album is up 21 to 32, andLorde’s Pure Heroine is up 19 to 33.

This week’s re-entries are completed by Rudimental’s Home (up 12 to 34), Calvin Harris’ 18 Months (up 27 to 35) and Haim’s Days Are Gone (up eight to 40). 

The Official Albums Chart Top 10 is as follows. Click here to see the Official Albums Chart Top 100 in full after 7pm.

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