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U.K. MIDWEEKS: FANS PAY TRIBUTE TO VIOLA BEACH
2/15/16

By Rhian Jones

The U.K. music industry has been rocked by a horrific tragedy this weekend after news surfaced that new Communion signing Viola Beach (pictured) and manager Craig Tarry were killed in a car accident on Sunday while on tour. Public support and fan-led campaigns are propelling the four-piece up the Official Singles Charts as “Swings & Waterslides” makes its Top 40 debut at #39, a number that’s expected to continue on an upward trajectory this week.

Proceeds of the sale of the track, which has had 564,688 listens on Spotify to date, will go to the families of the band and Tarry. Latest release “Boys That Sing” is currently #22 on the U.K. iTunes chart. The band were hotly tipped to break this year and amongst the six acts lined up to play at the BBC Introducing and PRS for Music showcase at SXSW.

Elsewhere on the Official Singles midweek update, Danish band Lukas Graham are set to continue their reign at #1 for a second week with “7 Years” (WMG) and Zayn’s "PILLOWTALK" (RCA) holds at #2.

On the Official Albums front, Adele’s 25 (XL) could reclaim the top spot five weeks after the end of its initial seven-week run. Nearest competitor Ronan Keating is 4k sales behind at #2 with tenth solo album Time of My Life (Decca).