The all-star, fundraising remake of Simon & Garfunkel's “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Syco Music/Sony), recorded in response to London's Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, races to No. 1 in the U.K., from just 40 hours of sales, according to the Official Charts Company. In the process, it becomes the market's fastest-selling single of the decade. Meanwhile, rock duo Royal Blood make it two album chart-toppers from two releases as they debut at the summit with How Did We Get So Dark? (Warner Brothers/Warner Music).
“Bridge,” credited to Artists for Grenfell, features such musicians as Robbie Williams, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who, Emeli Sandé, Nile Rodgers and Stormzy. It had combined units of 170,000 from its 8 a.m. release Wednesday to midnight Thursday night. Downloads accounted for 169,000 of the total. Its opening-day combined total was 120,000, the highest for any single in the 2010s.
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's “Despacito” (Interscope/Universal), featuring Justin Bieber, drops to No. 2 after a six-week reign, but still recorded combined units of 101,000. DJ Khaled enters at No. 3 with “Wild Thoughts” (Black Butter/We the Best), featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller. It's Rihanna's 30th top 10 appearance on the U.K. singles chart.
“Strip That Down” (Capitol/Universal) by Liam Payne, featuring Quavo, holds at No. 4 again, while “Unforgettable” (Black Butter/Def Jam/Universal) by French Montana, featuring Swae Lee, dips 3-5. There's also a 13-10 climb for Little Mix's “Power” (Syco/Sony), which becomes their 11th U.K. top 10 single.
Royal Blood went straight to the top of the albums chart with their eponymous first album in 2014. The follow-up ended the chart week 22,000 combined units ahead of Ed Sheeran's ÷ (Asylum/Warner), which holds at No. 2. Nickelback's Feed the Machine (BMG) arrives at No. 3, while Rag 'n' Bone Man is steady at No. 4 with Human (Best Laid Plans/ Columbia/Sony Music).
Lorde starts at No. 5 with Melodrama (Virgin/Universal) and Fleet Foxes at No. 6 with Crack-Up (Nonesuch). On the compilation chart, I Love Reggae (Ministry of Sound) starts a second week at No. 1 after debuting there last week.
