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| Coldplay singer Chris Martin performs at the 54th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, February 12, 2012. |
(Reuters) - British band Coldplay's new album "Ghost Stories" went straight to number one in the charts on Sunday, the Official Charts Company said, becoming the fastest-selling album of the year.
The group's sixth studio album and sixth successive British number one album, it sold 168,000 copies since going on sale on May 19, a figure the Charts Company called "staggering".
"A new Coldplay album always makes a huge impact, and Ghost Stories is no exception," Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said in a statement. "The boys have made it a perfect six Number 1s out of six albums today. That is some achievement!"
Coldplay knocked last week's number one album, "Xscape", a collection of previously unreleased songs by the late U.S. singer Michael Jackson, off the top perch into second place.
In the singles chart, "Stay With Me", a new track by English singer-songwriter Sam Smith, debuted at number one, unseating last week's chart topper "Waves" by Dutch artist Mr Probz.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Potter)
