The Arctic Monkeys released the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in 2006. The album sold 363,735 copies in its first week, immediately reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart.
The Sheffield band had already built a large following by sharing homemade demo recordings online and handing out CDs at gigs. That grassroots momentum helped singles such as “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” and “When the Sun Goes Down” reach number one before the album arrived.
The record was released on January 23, 2006, after its launch was moved forward because of intense demand. It sold almost 120,000 copies on its first day alone—more than the other albums in the UK Top 20 combined.
A common mix-up is confusing this record with the band’s later Mercury Prize win. The album won the 2006 Mercury Prize, but its chart record concerned debut-album sales, not the prize.