Entertainment

Take That’s This Life claims biggest first-week sales for a British act in 2023

Mark Owen, Gary Barlow and Howard Donald from Take That (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Mark Owen, Gary Barlow and Howard Donald from Take That (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Take That have claimed the biggest first-week of sales for a British act in 2023 with their album This Life, according to the Official Charts Company.

The group, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen, have accumulated a total of 103,000 chart units at the midweek mark with their new offering and are on track to secure their ninth number one album in the UK.

They had previous success with chart topping albums Everything Changes (1993), Nobody Else (1995), Greatest Hits (1996), Beautiful World (2006), The Circus (2008), Progress (2010), III (2014) and Odyssey (2018).

The band formed in 1990 and originally comprised five members until Robbie Williams left in 1995, and Jason Orange in 2014.

In the run up to the release of their album the group set up a podcast and released weekly episodes in which they discussed their career highlights and talked to guests including singer Olly Murs.

In September, they announced they would be touring the UK and Ireland in 2024 with dates in cities that include Leeds, Dublin and London’s The 02.

Earlier in the year the group performed at Windsor Castle for the King’s Coronation Concert, joined by Britain’s Got Talent star Calum Scott.

BST Hyde Park
Gary Barlow on stage at BST Hyde Park in London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

They gave a headline performance at the British Summer Time festival in London in July, when they introduced special guests Scott and Eurovision winner Lulu to the stage.

Elsewhere in the albums charts this week, Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of 1989 looks set to take the number two spot, while Kylie Minogue’s 1988 album Kylie could re-enter the charts at number three.

As we approach the festive season, the album Christmas by Michael Buble looks set to make a return at number four while The 1975’s live recorded album At Their Very Best: Madison Square Garden is set for the number five spot.