U.K. CHARTS: ED'S "PERFECT" SCORE

Ed Sheeran is #1 on the U.K.'s penultimate Official Singles and Albums Chart of 2017, with “Perfect” tallying 58k combined sales this week and ÷ 73k. Today, the Atlantic artist is #1, #3 and #4 on the iTunes charts with Eminem collaboration “River” (Interscope), the Beyoncé duet “Perfect” and Friday’s version with Andrea Bocelli.

The race for the Official Christmas #1 single is now on, with Sheeran battling with himself and Eminem and Wham classic “Last Christmas” (RCA) for the top spot. Will Ben Cook’s WMG label claim the crown for the second year in a row?

On the Official Albums Top 10, it’s worth noting that Jason Iley’s Sony U.K. has six albums on the list: P!nk (RCA) is at #3 on 50k combined sales, Rag’n’Bone Man (Columbia) at #5 on 42k, Paloma Faith (RCA) at #6 on 41k, Roy Orbison (Sony Music CG) at #7 on 35k, Little Mix (Syco) at #8 on 34k and Elvis Presley (Sony Music CG) at #9 on 28k.

UMG has solid sellers from Sam Smith (Capitol) at #2 on 63k sales and Michael Ball & Alfie Boe (Decca) at #4 with 47k. Warner Bros. artist Michael Bublé completes the Top 10 with 27k combined sales this last week.

On the Official Singles chart, alongside a 50% share of the Sheeran-Beyoncé collaboration, Sony has a further five entries in Mariah Carey at #2 with “All I Want for Christmas is You” (Columbia) on 35k sales, Wham at #3 on 33k and Camila Cabello f/Young Thug with “Havana” (Syco) at #4 on 32k. X Factor band Rak Su are #6 with “Dimelo” (Syco) f/Wyclef Jean and Naughty Boy and Marshmello’s “Silence” (Ministry of Sound) f/Khalid is #9.

Alongside “Perfect,” WMG has a further three Top 10 tracks with Rita Ora’s "Anywhere" (Atlantic) at #5, The Pogues f/Kirsty MacColl's festive tune “Fairytale of New York” (Warner Bros.) at #7 and Clean Bandit f/Julia Michaels' “I Miss You” (Atlantic) at #10. From the UMG camp, Island artist Big Shaq is at #8 with “Mans Not Hot.”