NZPA
Hayley Westenra
Westenra album breaks UK chart records
22 September 2003
Teenage Christchurch singing sensation Hayley Westenra has broken all records in Britain with the fastest-selling debut album in the history of the classical charts.
Pure, the 16-year-old's debut British release, has achieved higher first week sales than such household names as Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Charlotte Church and Russell Watson.
The album has gone straight into the UK Pop Chart at No 8 and is at No 1 in the Classical Charts.
Westenra was discovered busking in Christchurch New Zealand aged 11, and was snapped up by Universal Music NZ, which subsequently signed her directly to Universal's London based classics label Decca Records for a five-album, £3 million ($NZ8.39 million) deal.
Having just performed with Jose Carreras and Bryn Terfel in Wales, she makes her British solo debut at the Royal Albert Hall in December, and has also been invited to appear on Michael Parkinson's talk show.
The singer herself is enjoying her remarkable journey.
"This is amazing, unbelievable made all the sweeter by the fact I'm living in London and loving every minute," Westenra said in a statement.
Pure is at No 1 on the New Zealand album chart, and reached the top ten in Australia.
