With much of Prince’s back catalogue not available on streaming services, the addition of streaming data could affect the estimates, the Official Charts Company said. Right behind it, in the #2 spot, looks to be Prince’s landmark Purple Rain album, which could top 60,000 when it’s all said and done.
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Prince has returned to the United Kingdom charts based largely on sales made between the announcement of his death yesterday afternoon (April 22) and this week’s sales cut off, which fell at midnight on the same evening. It would be Prince’s sixth album number one in the United Kingdom if The Very Best Of sees the week out to grab the title.
The body of Prince Rogers Nelson was released to his family on Friday afternoon; on Saturday, they, along with friends and colleagues, said goodbye to the legendary musician, who died suddenly Thursday at the age of 57.
Prince has also dominated the album chart, with his The Very Best Of looking likely to take the No 1 spot, and other four albums of his works also in the top ten.
He becomes the first artist in over 10 years to do so.
The rankings are released on Friday at 5.45pm on Official Charts.
Given Prince’s status as a musical icon and the unexpected timing of his death last week, it’s not entirely surprising that fans would flock to buy his albums following the news.
The strength of the compilations indicates the renewed popularity of Prince’s hits such as “Let’s Go Crazy”, “When Doves Cry”, “1999”, “Raspberry Beret” and “Kiss“. In fact, Purple Rain is expected to chart high on the Billboard 200 as well, possibly cracking the Top 10.
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We’re not surprised at all that Prince is posthumously the top-selling artist in the country as the death of top-rated artists usually results in a spike in their album sales. Wizkid & Kyla is now in position number three.
