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Justin Bieber Leading Race For Christmas No. 1 In U.K. With ‘Love Yourself’

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 23:35 PST, Dec 21, 2015

Justin Bieber, comeback kid and EDM-R&B-Pop prince, has has a huge 2015. Now, the superstar is on course to land a first Christmas No. 1 in the U.K.

The 21-year-old’s new, but already familiar song “Love Yourself,” from his latest critically-acclaimed album, Purpose, has steamed ahead of its closet rival on the U.K.’s midweek Top 40 singles chart.

Bieber’s song, which was co-penned with Ed Sheeran, has pulled ahead of the U.K’s National Health Service (NHS) choir’s “A Bridge Over You,” in the hotly contested race for Britain’s Christmas No. 1, the Official Charts Company reports.

The NHS song is a mash-up of Coldplay’s “Fix You” hit and Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Proceeds from the track will benefit the charities Mind and Carers U.K.

But, if British Beliebers want to see Bieber named the winner of the Christmas single race, they’ll need to step up the pace with buying and downloading, as the Canadian star reportedly has a lead of less than 7,000 combined sales at the mid-week point of the chart week.

As of Monday (and everything could change), “Love Yourself” is currently No. 1 on the chart, “A Bridge Over You” is No. 2. Bieber’s island-flavored “Sorry” is No. 3 on the U.K. Top 40.

Other chart contenders in the running are X Factor winner Louisa Johnson’s “Forever Young” at No. 6 (so it’s an outside chance), and Stormzy’s “Shut Up” at No. 8.

The Official Charts Company Official Christmas Singles Chart Top 40 will be counted down on BBC Radio 1’s Official Chart Show with Greg James between 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. on the big day (December 25) during a one-off special of Top Of The Pops.

Meanwhile, Adele rules the U.K. album chart with her record-breaking 25, which is now the fastest two million-selling album in Britain. The mother-of-one remains at No. 1 on the Official Albums Chart, and won’t be moving from that spot any time soon. Released November 20, 25 surpassed Taylor Swift’s 1989 after shifting 5.98 million copies and counting. 1989 has so far sold 5.57 million since being released in October 2014.

Elvis Presley’s If I Can Dream is at No. 2, Bieber’s Purpose is at No. 3, Coldplay’s A Head Full Of Dreams at No.4, and Jess Glynne’s I Cry When I Laugh rounds out the Top five U.K. albums.

Meanwhile, Bieber’s Purpose album has officially topped one million sales in the U.S., Billboard reports. In so doing, the record is only the third album to cross one million units in the States this year. Adele’s 25 and Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late complete the elite trio.

How does this milestone measure up against the rest of Bieber’s track record? Back in 2010, his so-far biggest-selling album, My World 2.0 sold 3.33 million. 2009’s My World sold 2.08 million. 2012’s Believe pulled in 1.61 million sales, while his 2011 Christmas Under the Mistletoe album punched in 1.51 million.

Purpose officially debuted at No. 1 on November 13, after being forced to face-off against One Direction’s Made in the A.M., after the Brit-Irish boyband shamelessly jumped on Bieber’s release date. Despite this, the cream rose to the top, and Bieber saw off the band with 649,000 in equivalent album units, 522,000 of which was pure album sales.

Bieber has broken record after record during his comeback year, and has three top five singles in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Adele is No. 1 with “Hello” on the chart. “Sorry” is at No. 2, long player “What Do You Mean?” is at No. 4, and “Love Yourself” is No. 5.

With three singles in the top five on the Hot 100 and the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart, the Biebs has set a new record as the only artist in history to achieve this double feat.

Check out the now VEVO certified video for “Love Yourself” from Bieber’s Purpose: The Movement dance movie. For the fact-obsessed among us, the singer has now became the become the most viewed artist on both VEVO and YouTube.

Will his first Christmas No. 1 in the U.K. be Justin Bieber’s final win this year?

[Image via Jason Merritt / Getty Images]

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