Decca co-MDs Laura Monks and Tom Lewis have told Music Week they are “thrilled” about the third No.1 for Michael Ball & Alfie Boe.
Together At Christmas, their fourth collaborative album, debuted at No.1 with sales of 32,882, the vast majority of which (96%) were physical copies. The duo held off BTS by a comfortable margin.
Their first two albums, Together (2016) and Together Again (2017), both peaked at No.1. Last year’s Back Together peaked at No.2
“We are so thrilled for Michael and Alfie,” said Tom Lewis. “What an amazing and well-deserved achievement for them. They clearly occupy a very special place in the nation’s heart. We are really grateful for the incredible hard work of the entire Ball & Boe team, from everyone at Decca, Phil [Bowdery] and Sarah [Donovan] at Live Nation, and Craig [Logan] and Vikki [Josephs] at LME.”
Laura Monks added: “What a hat trick! To hit the top of the charts this many times is no easy feat. Decca are so proud to work with Michael and Alfie – bringing the spirit of Christmas to such a hard year!”
Since 2016, Decca’s Together series has accumulated 1,327,111 sales to date. This is Michael Ball’s fifth No.1 album, but only the third for Boe, who is yet to top the charts solo.
During the key period for physical music, Decca has had a series of Q4 hits. The No.1 for Ball & Boe also helped the label take the No.1 position in the Top 75 market shares this week for Artist Albums (16.68%) and All Albums (17.44%). The label also topped total market Albums Sales (13.9%).
Decca are so proud to work with Michael and Alfie – bringing the spirit of Christmas to such a hard year
Laura Monks
Decca’s latest Dreamboats & Petticoats compilation secured a third consecutive week at No.1 (19,193 sales to date). It finished narrowly ahead of Rhino’s Les Miserables – The Staged Concert, a recent recording of the musical that actually features both Michael Ball and Alfie Boe.
In the main albums chart, the label also has Jolly Holiday by Andre Rieu And His Johann Strauss Orchestra (No.8, 24,681 sales to date) and Andrea Bocelli’s Believe (No.9, 25,678 sales to date).
“It’s already a total privilege to work at a label with such a long and distinguished history,” said Tom Lewis. “But for today’s Decca team, who are such an incredible group and so brilliant at what they do, to be able to add such a significant achievement to the label’s history story, well that feels magical! It’s been an amazing week.”
Laura Monks said: “To achieve such amazing results in this, of all years, feels like a huge achievement. We only wish we could celebrate all together as a team. From Bocelli’s Music for Hope event, Michael’s chart-topping moment with Sir Captain Tom Moore to this chart moment for our dream team Michael and Alfie, we could not wish for a better end to 2020.”
Decca also has the Top 3 in the classical albums chart with Andre Rieu, Andrea Bocelli and The Kanneh-Masons.
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