Artists for Grenfell have gone straight to number one on the official UK singles chart with their charity cover of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’.
The song, recorded in aid of the families affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy, was released at 8am on Wednesday. Within 48 hours of being released, the song has sold 170,360 copies, with just under 169,000 of those coming from downloads alone.
In the process, the song has become the second fastest-selling single of the year so far, behind Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’. It also achieved the biggest opening day combined sales of any single this decade after shifting 120,000 copies on Wednesday. Additionally, the song has ended Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber’s reign at the top. Their song ‘Despacito’ has been number one for the past six weeks.
The cover of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ was organised by Simon Cowell. He brought together over 50 global artists, including the likes of Craig David, Emeli Sandé, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Leona Lewis and Robbie Williams, to record the single. The official music video for the song was given its premiere ahead of Coronation Street on Wednesday evening.