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Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ takes top spot on UK album chart

It grew out of a lot of things-an article Bowie was asked to write for the music monthly Q, a long-standing interest in the cut-up techniques of experimental fiction-but its biggest point-of-reference was outsider art; hence Outside, and that rambling, Henry Darger-esque subtitle.

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David Bowie’s final album ‘Blackstar’ has entered the official albums chart in top spot at the end of the week of his death.

Of Blackstar’s 150,000 sales, 94,000 were physical purchases, 50,000 were downloads and 12,000 were vinyl, though stock of LPs was limited and sold out quickly as fans snapped up a copy following the unexpected news.

The album “Blackstar”, now seen as Bowie’s self-styled epitaph, is expected to top music charts in Britain and the United States next week.

Always a forward-thinker in the world of music, Bowie’s last album was partly inspired by rapper Kendrick Lamar’s hit record To Pimp A Butterfly, which came out in March of past year.

“Blackstar” is not the only Bowie album poised for a Top 5 slot. Released in 2014, the first of his greatest hits to showcase his entire career saw a week-on-week uplift of 1952%.

The mass outpouring of grief and nostalgia prompted by the news of Bowie’s death has also led the singer to dominate the singles charts and streaming sites. See where all 19 of his albums appeared in this week’s chart here.

Over half a million Bowie albums in total have been sold this week, according to the Official Charts company.

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Justin Bieber held on to the top spot, with Love Yourself, while the other Bowie singles to make the top forty were Life on Mars, Starman, Let’s Dance, and Space Oddity. The figure includes 241,000 album sales, 167,000 singles sales, and Bowie tracks were streamed over 19 million times.

David Bowie