Antony and the Johnsons' album flies out of stores!

• 17th Sep 2005

Sales of Antony & The Johnsons' 'I Am a Bird Now' album have rocketed a phenomenal TWENTY times since winning the 2005 Nationwide Mercury Prize last week – the biggest sales increase for any winning album in the Prize's history.

HMV report a staggering customer response to Antony's album, which has soared from number 135 to 16 in this week's chart – the first time 'I Am a Bird Now', released in March 2005, has ever been in the UK Top 20. HMV accounted for just under half of all UK sales on the album last week.

Says Phil Penman, HMV Head of Music: “The Nationwide Mercury Prize just keeps getting better and more influential every year and their effect on sales of shortlisted albums becomes more pronounced.

“This year has been no exception and we have seen a huge interest in
Antony & The Johnsons since they pretty much stole the show with their
spellbinding performance at last week's Mercury Prize show.”

Antony said of winning the Prize: “Being part of the Nationwide Mercury
Prize has proven to be an inspiring experience and an honour – I met so
many wonderful artists. It's such a great forum for celebrating the
fantastic diversity of the music scene at the moment.”

Antony and the Johnsons will be playing dates in the UK later in the
year:

21 November Wolverhampton – Civic Hall
23 November York – Grand Opera House
30 November Glasgow – Academy
4, 5, 6 December London – Shepherds Bush Empire