Harry Styles’ Album Debuts At No. 1 On Billboard, Singer Breaks Sam Smith’s Record And Outsells Zayn Malik


Harry Styles sure is having an amazing week.

First, he received rave reviews for his residency on The Late Late Show, hosted by James Corden. Then, his segment of carpool karaoke went viral and is still trending on Youtube as of this writing. That same week, the 23-year-old got to share the same stage with the rock legend, Stevie Nicks for a performance of Landslide, during his secret concert in L.A.

Now that the official numbers are in, Harry can now also celebrate the fact that his debut, self-titled album, Harry Styles just debuted at number one on the Billboard charts.

Billboard reports that Harry sold the equivalent of 230,000 albums during his first week. Of that sum, 193,000 were traditional album sales. This is the biggest debut of a solo male from the U.K since Nielson started tracking sales in 1991. That’s quite a feat on its own, but Harry also broke the record previously held by Sam Smith.

Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour, held that honor back in 2014 when he sold 166,00 copies in one week. Harry Styles has now surpassed that.

That’s not the only thing that Harry Styles has to be happy about, however. Harry Styles is also probably celebrating the fact that he outsold his former band member, Zayn Malik.

After abruptly leaving One Direction in 2015, Zayn released his debut album, Mind of Mine in 2016 to moderate success. Industry critics were uncertain of Harry Styles’ debut would outrank Zayn’s. However, Harry Styles’ debut album has not only outsold Zayn Malik’s but it completely obliterated his first week’s sales.

When Zayn Malik debuted in April 2016, he sold 156,000 albums during his first week. Harry Styles sold nearly 40,000 more than Zayn, securing his place as One Direction’s most successful member to date.

Zayn Malik performs live at the iHeart Music Festival. [Image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images]

Harry Styles is no doubt happy to hold that title. However, the rumored feud between himself and Zayn Malik might make this victory feel a little sweeter.

After Zayn Malik left One Direction, he regularly took shots at One Direction and his former band members

Harry Styles had mostly stayed quiet and opted not to respond to Zayn’s jabs. However, he recently broke his silence, during an interview with Rolling Stone. When asked about how he felt about Zayn’s admission that he wasn’t happy while in One Direction, Harry Styles said the following.

“I think it’s a shame he felt that way,” he replied.”But I never wish anything but luck to anyone doing what they love. If you’re not enjoying something and need to do something else, you absolutely should do that. I’m glad he’s doing what he likes, and good luck to him.”

Harry Styles and Zayn Malik with One Direction. [Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]

His response was pretty tame, compared what he could have said. A source close to Zayn Spoke to Hollywood Life and shared that Zayn appreciates Harry’s comment to a degree.

“Zayn expects to be talked about every time any of the One Direction guys are promoting anything and he expects it to be vice versa as well. As long as they don’t go over the line or bash him he is okay with it and knows that it comes with the territory. With the recent comments Harry made, he is totally cool with it and is not going to make a big deal out of it in any way,” a source told Hollywood Life.

What do you think of Harry Styles’ accomplishments? Did you enjoy his album? Do you think that he deserves his successes? Are you surprised that he managed to beat out Zayn Malik? You can add your thoughts to the comment section below.

[Featured Image By Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images]

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