Zayn Malik tops charts in post-One Direction debut
The singer becomes the first British male solo artist to debut at number one on the US Billboard chart with his first album
One Direction star Zayn Malik is finding renewed success in his own right, with his solo debut album opening at number one in both the United States and Britain.
The 23-year-old, who now simply calls himself Zayn, has gone racier as a solo artist with a sexual image that would have been out of the question for his former boy band.
His album Mind of Mine, sold 157,000 copies or the equivalent in downloads or streaming in its first week in the United States, Nielsen Music said late on Sunday.
Malik becomes the first British male solo artist to debut at number one on the US Billboard chart with his first album.
George Michael went to number one in 1988 with Faith, his blockbuster solo debut after disbanding the pop duo Wham!, but he did not do so in his first week.
Mind of Mine also debuted at number one in Britain, where Malik edged out fellow homegrown star Adele on the Official Albums Chart released on Friday.
Malik released Mind of Mine on March 25, the anniversary of his abrupt departure from One Direction amid a global tour.
The boy band later released an album without Malik before declaring an indefinite hiatus.
Malik went for a more R&B sound on Mind of Mine and the album offers up plenty of sexuality, with an alternative cover of the album depicting him topless and showing off his muscular, tattooed body.
The first track on Mind of Mine, Pillowtalk, is an ode to passionate lovemaking, with Malik in the song promising to take his partner to “a place that is so pure, so dirty and raw.”
Malik has said he was unhappy with the artistic constraints of One Direction, a group that emerged from Britain’s The X Factor television contest in 2010.
The band quickly became one of the world’s top-selling acts, packing arenas full of young girls with its squeaky clean pop songs.
