Juice WRLD scores posthumous number one album

Juice WRLD had just celebrated his 21st birthday before his death in December 2019.

US rapper Juice WRLD has topped the UK album charts, seven months after his death at the age of 21.

The star, whose real name was Jarad A Higgins, racked up 22,500 chart sales of Legends Never Die this week, 97% of which came from streams.

Three of the album's tracks also entered the singles chart, led by the Marshmello collaboration Come & Go.

The Chicago-born musician, who rapped about drug abuse, died of an accidental overdose last December. He was 21.

• US rapper Juice WRLD dies aged 21

• Juice WRLD's death ruled as an accidental overdose

According to an autopsy, Higgins went into convulsions while police searched a private jet that had been carrying the hip-hop star for drugs and guns.

The painkillers he had taken contained opioids and had been been linked to an opioid crisis in the US.

Legends Never Die was drawn from the more than 2,000 songs he had reportedly recorded before his death, and features guest appearances from stars like Halsey, Polo G and Trippie Read.

Rolling Stone magazine said it showcased the star's "gift for melody and lucid freestyles", although the NME decided "it does little to serve his legacy justice".

Nevertheless, it beat the likes of Lewis Capaldi and Lady Gaga to top the UK charts - becoming the first posthumous number one since a re-release of George Michael's Listen Without Prejudice in October 2017.

Elsewhere in this week's chart, The Streets' comeback album, None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive entered at number two.

The first new music from Mike Skinner in nine years, it was also the week's biggest-selling record on vinyl.

And Laura Marling's Song For Our Daughter - which is expected to receive a Mercury Prize nomination next week - jumped into the top 10, three months after it was first released.

• Laura Marling: 'I was in danger of being bored of myself'

• Mike Skinner: 'Music is genuine chaos'

The record was initially rushed out as a gift to fans during the early stages of the Covid-19 lockdown, but was finally released on CD and vinyl last week, propelling it up the charts again.

In the singles chart, meanwhile, the viral hit Savage Love gives Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo a third week at number one.

Who was Juice WRLD?

Juice Wrld was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1998, where he was raised by his single mother, a religious and conservative woman who didn't allow him to listen to hip-hop.

He started rapping in school and started to make a name for himself on the music-sharing site SoundCloud. He achieved mainstream success when the single Lucid Dreams - which sampled Sting's Shape of My Heart - peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 10 in the UK.

One of his songs, Legends, was dedicated to 20-year-old XXXTentacion and 21-year-old Lil Peep - who died in 2018 and 2017 - and contained the lyrics "all the legends seem to die out".

In 2018, Juice WRLD talked about using cannabis and Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication, in an interview with the New York Times.

In other interviews, he spoke about his use of lean, a liquid mix containing prescription-strength cough syrup and soft drinks.