According to Official Charts data, Billie’s third studio album ends the week with 67,100 chart units in total, a new personal best for Eilish as the biggest opening week of her career so far in the UK; far surpassing debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? which debuted with 48,400 units in 2019. It also marks the second-biggest opening week for any album in the UK this year.
With over one quarter of Billie’s total this week coming from vinyl sales, Hit Me Hard And Soft also reaches Number 1 on the Official Vinyl Albums Chart.
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT follows on from Billie’s 2019 debut WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? and 2021’s Happier Than Ever, which both also debuted at the top of the Official Albums Chart.
Additionally, three tracks from the album have made it into this week’s Official Singles Chart Top 10 – LUNCH (2), CHIHIRO (7) and BIRDS OF A FEATHER (9).
Meanwhile, Zayn’s triumphant, country-inspired return ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS earns him his third Top 40 solo album, joining 2016’s chart-topping Mind of Mine and 2021’s Nobody is Listening (17). Zayn also earned four more Number 1s during his time in One Direction. ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS is also the best seller in independent record shops over the past seven days, landing at Number 1 on the Official Record Store Chart this week.
Elsewhere inside the Top 10, Portishead frontwoman Beth Gibbons sees her debut solo studio album Lives Outgrown debut at Number 7, closely followed by legendary guitarist Slash at Number 8 with Orgy of the Damned.
Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band debut at Number 10 with their latest album Loophole, their second Top 10 collection.
Further down, London rapper Clavish enters at Number 30 with second mixtape Chapter 16, his second Top 40 collection, and finally Girls Aloud’s greatest hits collection Ten re-enters the chart at Number 39 following the kick-off of the Girls Aloud Show tour last weekend.
