What would be the best present for Mother’s Day? How about a number one album?That’s exactly what the Military Wives choir received this year as their debut album topped the UK albums chart yesterday, March 18.
In My Dreams, which features the number one single composed by Paul Mealor Wherever You Are, is the latest chart victory for the group made up of the wives and girlfriends of men deployed in Afghanistan, many of whom are mothers themselves.
Mother’s Day was perhaps the perfect time for the group to win their latest number one.
Their debut entered the charts last week at number two, behind Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball, but as people rushed out for Mother’s Day gifts, the Military Wives and their choirmaster Gareth Malone began to climb above “The Boss” and his critically acclaimed release.
In My Dreams is also the name of another track by Paul Mealor featured on the Military Wives’ album. The song features X Factor finalist Jonjo Kerr, who is currently serving in Afghanistan.
Commenting on the achievement, Mealor said it is “unbelievably magical”.
“The legacy of this is the creation of Military Wives Choirs all over the country,” he said. “It was brilliant to work again with the Military Wives Choir on In My Dreams, and how poignant to bring a serving soldier into the music with Jonjo Kerr. I feel proud and humble to be a part of this.”
Other tracks on the album include covers of Coldplay’s Fix You and U2’s With or Without You.
When Wherever You Are was released last year – a song made up of letters between the wives and their soldier husbands – it led to a huge campaign for the Christmas Number One and became the fastest-selling charity single since Elton John’s Candle in the Wind.
The unlikely story of the choir has also led to a number of military wives groups to crop up across the UK and the USA as a support network for the wives and girlfriends seperated from their partners serving on the frontline.