A 50-year-old Beatles record has been broken by Emeli Sandé after the Scottish singer’s debut album spent its 63rd week in the top 10 UK album chart.
Sandé’s album, Our Version of Events , takes the record from the The Beatles ‘ Please Please Me , released in March 1963. Please Please Me , which signalled the arrival of the Beatles phenomenon, spent 62 weeks in the UK top ten and would go on to sell 2 million copies worldwide .
Our Version of Events was released in February 2012 and was well-received by critics, who compared it to the work of artists such as Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, and Beyoncé. The album has already topped 100,000 sales in a week on three occasions.
Sandé’s long stay in the top ten was no doubt aided by the singer-songwriter keeping up appearances. As well as performing at the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies , the 26-year-old also scooped two Brit awards, for best album and best British female artists, in 2012.
Her album has sold 1.82 million copies worldwide, though she is yet to replicate the transatlantic success of The Beatles, who broke America early on in their careers.
With the Beatles record broken, Sandé expressed surprise to The Daily Telegraph , saying: “It feels quite surreal to even have your name mentioned in the same sentence as The Beatles.”
The musician also took to Twitter to celebrate, telling her followers:
This record is so significant to me for many different reasons. I’m so happy and I’m thankful to you all. We made history!! #OVOE
— Emeli Sandé (@emelisande) April 28, 2013
If you’re unfamiliar with Emeli Sandé, you can watch her performance at the Olympic closing ceremony below:
