The spotlight may have shifted from One Direction to former-member Zayn Malik in recent weeks, but that hasn’t stopped fans of the pop megaband from sending their surprise new single to the top of the UK single charts. Drag Me Down, One Direction’s first single as a quartet, debuts at the top of this week’s charts and earns the highest ever first-week streams for a single in the UK, with 2.03m plays across services such as Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music and more.
Drag Me Down, One Direction’s fourth No 1 on the Official Singles Chart, fought off competition from Calvin Harris and Disciples’ How Deep Is Your Love, which leaps from No 6 to No 2. Last week’s No 1, Black Magic by Little Mix, is at No 3, while Lost Frequencies’ Are You With Me and Years & Years’ Shine cap off the top five respectively.
Meanwhile, on the Official Albums Chart, the Maccabees have scored their first No 1 album with Marks to Prove It. The London band’s fourth album finished 1,300 combined chart sales ahead of their nearest competitor, Lianne La Havas and her second album, Blood.
“We are very proud that our fourth album has given us our first No 1,” guitarist Felix White told OfficialCharts.com. “Thank you so much to everyone that bought it and for staying with us all these years.”
Years & Years’ Communion is at No 3, with Ed Sheeran’s X at No 4 and Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour at No 5.
Cilla Black’s The Very Best Of scores its highest ever chart position this week as fans pay tribute to the star, who died on Sunday 2 August. While the compilation is in at No 14, Black’s former No 1 single and the UK’s biggest selling single of the 60s by a female, Anyone Who Had a Heart, just missed out on the top 40, and is in at No 41.
Elsewhere, Led Zeppelin’s recent reissues occupy three entries in this week’s charts, with the deluxe reissues of 1982’s Coda at No 9, 1976’s Presence at No 10 and 1979’s In Through the Out Door at No 12.
Following an ongoing feud with rapper Meek Mill, Drake’s If You’re Reading This it’s Too Late also re-enters the top 40 today at No 39.
