White Ladder

White Ladder
Studio album by
David Gray
Released27 November 1998[1]
RecordedApril–August 1998
StudioHome studio (London)
GenreFolktronica[2]
Length52:37
Label
Producer
David Gray chronology
Sell, Sell, Sell
(1996) 		White Ladder
(1998) 		Lost Songs 95–98
(2000)
Singles from White Ladder
  1. "This Year's Love"
    Released: 29 March 1999[3]
  2. "Babylon"
    Released: 12 July 1999[4]
  3. "Please Forgive Me"
    Released: 22 November 1999[5]
  4. "Babylon (re-mix)"
    Released: 19 June 2000[6]
  5. "Please Forgive Me (re-mix)"
    Released: 16 October 2000[7]
  6. "This Year's Love (re-issue)"
    Released: 5 March 2001[8]
  7. "Sail Away"
    Released: 16 July 2001[9]
  8. "Say Hello Wave Goodbye"
    Released: 17 December 2001[10]

White Ladder is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter David Gray. It was first released in November 1998 through Gray's own record label, IHT Records, but failed to chart. On 24 April 2000, the album was re-released by Dave Matthews' label ATO Records and debuted at number 69 on the UK Albums Chart, before climbing to number one on 5 August 2001, more than a year later. White Ladder produced five singles, including the hit "Babylon", which ignited interest in the album and shot Gray to worldwide fame. Other singles released from the album were "This Year's Love", "Please Forgive Me", "Sail Away", and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye".

White Ladder spent almost three full years on the UK top 100, consistently charting between May 2000 and March 2003. Its total charting time as of 2020 was 176 weeks,[11] making it one of the longest-charting albums in UK chart history. It was massively successful in Ireland, where it spent six consecutive weeks at number one on the Irish Albums Chart and had sold 350,000 copies by 2002. In 2015, it was still the biggest-selling album of all time in that country.[12] White Ladder was the fifth-best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK, with 2.9 million copies sold.[13] The album has sold over 3 million copies in the UK,[14] making it the country's eleventh-best-selling album of the 21st century[15] as well as the 28th-best-selling album of all time.[16] The record has sold over seven million copies worldwide.[12]

  1. ^ "David Gray – White Ladder". genius.com. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  2. ^ Vincent, Peter (2 July 2014). "Reinvention again rewards David Gray". The Age. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  3. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1999/Music-Week-1999-03-27.pdf (Page 23)
  4. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1999/Music-Week-1999-07-10.pdf (Page 23)
  5. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1999/Music-Week-1999-11-20.pdf (Page 29)
  6. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2000/Music-Week-2000-06-17.pdf (Page 23)
  7. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2000/Music-Week-2000-10-14.pdf (Page 31)
  8. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2001/Music-Week-2001-03-03.pdf (Page 35)
  9. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2001/Music-Week-2001-07-14.pdf (Page 23)
  10. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2001/Music-Week-2001-12-15.pdf (Page 27)
  11. ^ "OFFICIAL ALBUMS CHART RESULTS MATCHING: WHITE LADDER". Official Charts. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  12. ^ a b Casey, Ruairi (26 April 2015). "Cultural Toolbox: David Gray's White Ladder to success". Newstalk. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  13. ^ "The Noughties' Official UK Albums Chart Top 100". Music Week. London, England: Intent Media: 19. 30 January 2010.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference UK sales was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "Radio 2 reveals the best-selling albums of the 21st Century". BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  16. ^ Copsey, Rob (4 July 2016). "The UK's 60 official biggest selling albums of all time revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 July 2016.