Will Young and James Blunt take decade's Official Charts top spots

Published on Thursday 31 December 2009 21:42

WILL Young had the biggest-selling single of the decade, while fellow reality show stars including Gareth Gates, Alexandra Burke, Shayne Ward and Hear'Say also dominated the Top Ten, Official Charts Company data showed yesterday.

Young's 2002 debut release Anything Is Possible / Evergreen sold 1.8 million copies, while Gareth Gates, whom Young beat to the Pop Idol crown, came in second again with his version of Unchained Melody, which achieved sales of 1.3 million.

The figures showed those who shot to fame on reality shows in the Noughties translated their popularity into massive sales figures, with X Factor winners Burke and Ward taking fifth and eighth places in the singles chart respectively.

Popstars group Hear'Say, whose members included Kym Marsh, Myleene Klass and Suzanne Shaw, came ninth with their hit Pure and Simple.

Leona Lewis, another X Factor champion, also fared well in the round-up, with her album Spirit coming fourth in the albums of the decade.

James Blunt's Back to Bedlam was the top-selling album overall, selling 3.2 million copies.

The singer said he was delighted, adding: "I'm glad so many people enjoyed it."

Dido appeared twice in the Top Ten album of the decade chart, including second place for No Angel, which shifted more than three million copies, as did Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, which came third.

Charity singles also did well, with Tony Christie classic (Is This The Way To) Amarillo, featuring funnyman Peter Kay, coming third, and Band Aid 20's Do They Know It's Christmas? in sixth place.

Bob the Builder also proved one of the most formidable pop acts of the decade.

Voiced by Neil Morrissey, the character's 2000 Christmas number one, Can We Fix It? landed a respectable tenth place in the singles chart.

The Beatles' 1 was the biggest selling greatest hits album, with 2.9 million sales.

Compilation album sales were dominated by the Now That's What I Call Music! series. Film soundtracks from movies such as Mamma Mia!, High School Musical and Bridget Jones's Diary also stormed the charts.