Ariana Grande Beats Off All-comers With Sweetener At No.1

Ariana Grande has reasserted her chart dominance, keeping a firm grip on the No.1 spot in this week’s line-up with her fourth album, Sweetener. It will be interesting to see if she can resist the inevitable onslaught next week from Eminem, whose latest controversial opus Kamikaze was released overnight, but for now she reigns supreme.

Sweetener has already been a worldwide smash, hitting the No.1 spot in 19 countries, including Ireland – and just falling marginally short in a number of others. Crucially, she has reached No.1 in the US, the UK, Canada, Spain and Italy – some of the biggest markets in the world. Sweetener was trailered by the hit singles 'No Tears Left To Cry’, about the Manchester Arena bombing, ‘The Light Is Coming’ (featuring Nicki Minaj) and ‘God Is A Woman’. A child star in the TV series Victorious, in which she played the central character Cat Valentine, and in its spin-off Sam & Cat, she has also hosted Saturday Night Live, and was the driving force behind the One Love Manchester televised event. Ariana Grande is now one of the biggest global stars in the world of pop.

The power of movies to drive interest and album sales is confirmed by the presence in the top 3 of two soundtracks, with the Abba-celebrating romp Mama Mia – Here We Go Again at No.2 and The Greatest Showman at No.3. Meanwhile, Drake is also well dug-in at No.4 with Scorpion.

There are three new entries into the Top 20, with Interpol’s Marauder debuting at No.14. This is immediately followed by BTS with Love Yourself - Answer at No. 15.
The only other newbie to register in the Top 50 is Alice In Chains’ Rainier Fog, which enters at No.20. Picture This are the leading Irish artists in the chart, with their debut holding onto the No.13 slot, just in advance of the band’s appearance at Electric Picnic on Sunday.

Listen to 'No Tears Left To Cry' below.