British boy band One Direction has become the first UK band to debut at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 album charts.
Their album “Up All Night” sold more than 176,000 copies after it was released on March 13, a statement from the band’s record label Syco said on Wednesday.
The album pushed Bruce Springsteen’s “Wrecking Ball” off the top spot, and beat Adele’s 15-times platinum “21”, which sold 148,000 copies last week.
One Direction was put together by Simon Cowell when he spotted the five singers auditioning separately for “The X-Factor” in 2010.
Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Maliks, and Louis Tomlinson eventually finished in third place, but sealed a deal with Cowell’s Syco label shortly after. In North America they are signed to Columbia Records.
Cowell took to Twitter to voice his support for the band on Tuesday, saying: “I couldn’t be happier for One Direction, it is an incredible achievement. They deserve it. They have the best fans in the world.”
Payne also posted a message to fans of the band on Twitter, saying it was the “peak of his life”: “It’s amazing to think back to when we were first put together to the point we are at now. Things have moved so quickly it’s got all of us in a massive state of shock, it’s so surreal.”
One Direction’s 2013 tour of the UK and Ireland sold out immediately, with the band having to add more dates, according to Reuters.
