There were plenty of memorable debut albums released in 2016.
Jack Garratt and Zayn Malik both dropped their maiden releases, but the only performer to sell more than 100,000 copies of their debut album was Bradley Walsh.
Yes, that Bradley Walsh.
The actor and presenter might be best known these days for presenting daytime quiz show ‘The Chase’, but he had time last year to release an album of mostly covers entitled ‘Chasing Dreams’.
And, remarkably, it was the only debut from a British artist to sell more than 100,000 copies last year – despite only hitting the shelves in the autumn.
Wow! @BradleyWalsh's Chasing Dreams was the biggest selling Brit debut album in 2016 & the only new Brit artist to have a gold-selling LP. 💥 pic.twitter.com/y6PmkcPRBx
— Peter Guy (@Getintothis) January 3, 2017
As noted by Music Business Worldwide, the 56-year-old’s album even outsold ‘Konnichiwa’, the Mercury Prize winning release from Skepta, though this may be more down to the tendency for fans of Walsh to buy physical music rather than listen through streaming services.
He has come a long way from playing iconic character Dave Dodds in cult classic film Mike Bassett: England Manager way back in 2001.
The album features tracks such as ‘That’s Life’, ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ and ‘Mr Bojangles’.
However, much to the chagrin of a recent contestant on The Chase, there is no Life on Mars.
Do you want to hear Walsh’s version of That’s Life? Of course you do.
