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Justin Bieber Shatters Beatles Notch, Sets New Official Singles Chart Record With ‘Love Yourself’

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 01:21 PST, Dec 19, 2015

Justin Bieber has smashed another Beatles record. He did it by punching in a third week at No. 1 on the U.K.’s official Top 40 chart with “Love Yourself, “while his previous No. 1 single “Sorry” remains at No. 2.

That achievement means Bieber becomes the “first act in chart history to hold a lock on the Top 2 places for four weeks in a row,” the U.K.’s Official Charts Company reported Friday, (Dec. 18).

The feat means Bieber sets a new Official Singles Chart record as the first artist ever to log four weeks at No. 1 and 2 in a row. The previous record holder was The Beatles, who notched three consecutive weeks at No. 1 and 2 in 1967-68 with “Hello Goodbye” and “Magical Mystery Tour” (EP).

Adele’s “Hello,” Grace and G-Eazy’s “You Don’t Own Me,” and Bieber’s “What Do You Mean,” round out the rest of the U.K’s current top 5 singles.

Bieber co-penned “Love Yourself” with Brit artist and pal Ed Sheeran. The track, which is now certified gold in the U.K, racked up 102,084 combined sales (54,538 from streaming) this past week, compared to sales of 46,451 for “Sorry.”

The song appears on Bieber’s Purpose album, which was officially released on November 13, and has since gone on to smash commercial records and garner critical acclaim. A conservative selection of these follows.

This isn’t the first time Bieber has stepped to and, either matched, or surpassed legendary records on both sides of the pond.

During the week ending November 27, when “Love Yourself” vaulted to No. 2 on the U.K.’s Top 40 chart, as “Sorry” began its second week at No. 1, Bieber became the first artist to simultaneously hit the top two spots on the U.K.’s singles chart in 30 years.

The first artist to achieve this feat was Madonna, who previously occupied the No. 1 and 2 position back in August 1985 with “Into The Groove” in the top spot and “Holiday” just behind. The last male solo artist to do the same was John Lennon, posthumously, in 1981 with “Imagine” No. 1 and “Woman” at No. 2.

Additionally, with three singles in the top five of the U.K’s official singles charts — namely, “Sorry,” “Love Yourself” and “What Do You Mean?” — Bieber became the first living artist to do this since John Lennon posthumously did it in January 1981, 34 years ago.

During the same week (ending November 27), “Sorry” was No. 2, “Love Yourself” was No.4, and “What Do You Mean?” was No. 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. This feat meant Bieber became the first artist to have three singles in the top five of the U.S. and U.K.’s official singles charts at the same time.

Fast forward to the week ending December 4, when “Love Yourself” dethroned “Sorry” on the U.K.’s Top 40 chart and pushed it into second place after a two week reign, Bieber became the first artist to replace himself since The Beatles back in December 1963, with “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”

The other last act to do this was Elvis Presley in 2005, when reissues of Jailhouse Rock and “One Night” and “I Got Stung” reached No. 1 in succession.

Earlier this year, Bieber became only the third artist in history to hit three top five positions on Billboard’s Hot 100 with “Sorry,” “Love Yourself,” and “What Do You Mean?” Only The Beatles and the rapper 50 Cent have done this before the Biebs. 50 achieved the feat ten years ago, while The Beatles did it back in 1964 on two separate occasions.

Bieber also smashed another Beatles record, and Drake’s, when 17 of the 18 tracks on the deluxe edition of Purpose entered the Hot 100 (dated December 5), a week after its release. Drake tied with The Beatles’ 1964 record of 14 songs on the Hot 100 chart, on March 7 and again on October 17. However, the Biebs’ 17 song count on the Hot 100 broke both those records.

Following on from the record-breaking stats of and reign atop charts around the world of the lead single “What Do You Mean?” Purpose debuted at No.1 on Billboard’s 200 Albums chart a week after it dropped.

Post-November 13, the album broke streaming records on Spotify, with over 36 million streams on day one, 77 million in the U.S. and 205 million global streams in its debut week, and was the fastest album to hit a billion streams on Spotify.

Purpose has already crossed the one million U.S. sales mark, and was certified platinum in the U.S. three weeks after its release. “What Do You Mean?” is certified double-platinum in the States, while “Sorry” is platinum in the U.S.

Bieber’s double-platinum Jack Ü collaboration “Where Are Ü Now?” was promoted as a single from the Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü album, but also appears on Purpose.

Similar certifications for Purpose and its singles have followed in multiple countries. As of today, “Love Yourself” is still No. 1 on Australia’s ARIA singles chart for a second week, making it the chart topper in time for Christmas.

For Justin Bieber, 2015 is indisputably the year that marked his deserved personal and music comeback. Next stop, the 2016 Purpose World Tour.

[Images via Jason Merritt / Getty Images]

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