Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith Lead 2014 UK Album Sales Chart Featuring Nothing But British Artists for First Time Ever

If you peruse Billboard's websites for the album charts from other countries you'll notice that very often foreign talent infiltrates the top spots. The Uk can proudly declare that during 2014, every single performer in its Top 10 for album sales was homegrown for the first time according to NME. Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith were among the bestselling musicians of the year in the UK.

Sheeran had a colossal year on the whole, dominating both album sales and streams in his homeland. His second album x sold more than 1.7 million copies in that region alone, a number that hasn't been reached since Adele's 21, and he also generated more than one billion streams on Spotify alone. Sheeran managed to crack the Top 10 for songs as well as his single "Thinking Out Loud" placed at no. 5 for song sales during the year.

Smith also had a heck of a year with his debut album In The Lonely Hour, which sold more than a million albums as well throughout the UK.

One area where homeland performers didn't necessarily have a leg up: Singles sales. Pharrell Williams, as he did in the United States, topped the charts with "Happy," and five other spots on that Top 10 went to foreign performers (five of which were from the United States). The top placing single by a UK performer was "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit.

Check out the full Top 10 for album sales in the UK below:

01) x by Ed Sheeran

02) In The Lonely Hour by Sam Smith

03) Wanted On Voyage by George Ezra

04) Caustic Love by Paolo Nutini

05) Ghost Stories by Coldplay

06) A Perfect Contradiction by Paloma Faith

07) Four by One Direction

08) Never Been Better by Olly Murs

09) The Endless River by Pink Floyd

10) III by Take That

Tags

Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Paolo Nutini, George Ezra, One Direction, Coldplay, Paloma Faith, Take That, Pink Floyd