Stormzy beats Sir Cliff Richard to top charts

There’ll certainly be celebrations at Stormzy’s place tonight, as he’s only gone and scored a number one album!

Despite facing some stiff competition from Sir Cliff Richard, the rapper has claimed not his first, nor his second, but his third number one album after This Is What I Mean debuted at the top of the UK albums chart.

The British grime star, 29, fought off 82-year-old veteran singer Sir Cliff’s first new Christmas album in 19 years, with previous reports predicting Christmas With Cliff for the top spot.

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be this week, as a ‘last minute surge’ earned Stormzy that coveted accolade, according to the Official Charts Company.

Stormzy released his new album last Friday, with critics and fans praising the genre-spanning 12-track offering.

It comes three years after his 2019 number one album Heavy Is The Head and explores personal topics, including forgiving his absent father and his feelings of paranoia, depression, and self-doubt.

The Croydon-born rapper – real name Michael Omari – previously topped the charts with his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer in 2017.

Sir Cliff, who secured the second spot in the album charts, was pictured holding his rival’s new record while at the Royal Berkshire Hotel, Ascot this week as he checked out the competition.

It was all in good spirits, though, as he teased that his record was ‘better’ than the Vossi Bop hitmaker’s.

‘It’s always been competition with someone else, and if you’ve got the better record, then you’ve got it,’ Sir Cliff told Good Morning Britain of his unlikely rivarly.

‘This is Stormzy’s album, I was looking at this. There are 12 tracks on his album. My album has 13 tracks!’, he joked.

Sir Cliff previously teased Stormzy about their chart battle

And his number two debut isn’t to be sniffed at, as the record secures him a 47th Top 10 solo album, across a career spanning over 60 years.

Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said of Stormzy’s victory: ‘Everyone loves a tight number one race, and this week’s battle between Sir Cliff Richard and Stormzy has been an absolute classic, pitching two of our musical icons head-to-head.

‘We at Official Charts are of course delighted to congratulate Stormzy on his big win, but it is also only right to doff our chart cap to Sir Cliff too. It takes two to make a classic chart race and that has certainly been the case this week. Great work, both!’

Elsewhere in the charts, following the death of Fleetwood Mac star Christine McVie at the age of 79, the British-American rock band’s 1977 album Rumours and hits collection 50 Years – Don’t Stop returned to the top 40 this week.

Meanwhile, pop superstar Taylor Swift reigned supreme on the singles charts for a sixth consecutive week with her number one track Anti-Hero.

The US star fought off competition from Meghan Trainor and her TikTok viral hit Made You Look, which peaked at number two.

Of course, now it’s December, we’re sure to see a range of festive tunes climbing their way back up the chart, with chart regulars including Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You and Last Christmas from Wham also making a re-appearance this week in the top 10.