Dua Lipa has earned her second No.1 album with strong sales for Radical Optimism (Warner Records).
The Music Week cover star stormed to the summit with first week consumption of 46,298 units (13,388 CDs, 16,772 vinyl albums, 4,779 cassettes, 1,414 digital downloads and 9,945 sales-equivalent streams). As this week’s best seller on vinyl, Radical Optimism also tops that format’s official chart.
Preceded by three Top 10 singles (Houdini, Training Season, Illusion), Radical Optimism is Dua Lipa’s first No.1 album on debut and her highest weekly sale to date. (You can read more about her journey to this point with Warner Records president Joe Kentish, who signed Dua Lipa). Lipa also managed to overcome the streaming power of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department at the summit.
Speaking in the latest edition of Music Week, Kentish said that Dua Lipa’s albums have a “long burn time” and that her latest is “deep and rich with singles”. She worked with a team of core collaborators on the project including Caroline Ailin, Danny L Harle, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Tame Impala's Kevin Parker.
As revealed in Alan Jones’ charts analysis, Radical Optimism had a 34.62% bigger first week than immediate predecessor, Future Nostalgia, which launched in March 2020, initially landing at No.2 on consumption of 34,390 units. Radical Optimism’s opening was 187.92% greater than her eponymous June 2017 debut, which debuted at No.5 with 16,223 sales.
Dua Lipa’s self-named first album took 37 weeks to reach its peak position of No.3, doing so immediately after Lipa received BRIT Awards for British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act and performed New Rules at the 2018 ceremony. Future Nostalgia rose 2-1 in its second week. Its to-date consumption is 741,218 units, while Dua Lipa is on 1,032,934 units.
Radical Optimism’s first week sales is the second highest of the year, behind TTPD, and the highest for a British female artist since Adele’s 30 opened with 261,856 units in November 2021.
Dua Lipa is now gearing up for her headlining performance at Glastonbury next month.
Subscribers can read the Dua Lipa Music Week cover feature online now.
Photo Credit: Tyrone Lebon
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