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Justin Bieber has three tracks in the top five
Justin Bieber has scored his third UK number one single with the song Love Yourself.
The track, which was streamed 5.97 million times, knocked his previous chart topper, Sorry, to number two.
The last living artists to achieve the feat were The Beatles in 1963 with She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand.
Former number one Hello by Adele held firm at three, while Bieber’s third track in the top five – What Do You Mean – was at four.
In the album chart, Adele’s 25 retained her number one position thanks to another week of high sales.
The record sold 439,000 copies, outselling the rest of the top 10 combined.
Earlier this week, the Official Charts Company confirmed it was the fastest million-selling album in UK chart history, managing it in 10 days.
Elvis Presley’s If I Can Dream and Bieber’s Purpose remained at two and three, with Little Mix’s Get Weird climbing two places to four.
Jess Glynne’s I Cry When I Laugh also rose three places to five.
The highest new entries came from The Vamps with Wake Up at 10 and The Corrs’ first album in 10 years, White Light, at 11.
Christmas came early elsewhere in the singles chart, with Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit All I Want For Christmas Is You re-entering the top 40 at 35.
| UK singles and album chart top five | |
|---|---|
| Singles | Albums |
| 1. Love Yourself – Justin Bieber | 1. 25 – Adele |
| 2. Sorry – Justin Bieber | 2. If I Can Dream – Elvis Presley |
| 3. Hello – Adele | 3. Purpose – Justin Bieber |
| 4. What Do You Mean – Justin Bieber | 4. Get Weird – Little Mix |
| 5. You Don’t Own Me – Grace ft G-Eazy | 5. I Cry When I Laugh – Jess Glynne |
Analysis – Mark Savage, music reporter
By replacing his own song at the top of the chart, Justin Bieber matches a feat previously achieved by The Beatles and Elvis. But unlike them, he didn’t do it by selling records – his position at the chart summit is mainly down to streaming.
When his album, Purpose, was released a fortnight ago, it broke records on Spotify, being played 205 million times in seven days. To put that in context – it’s the equivalent of everyone in the world listening to Justin Bieber for a minute-and-a-half over the course of a week.
By contrast, the record only sold 90,596 copies in the UK – a figure that actually incorporates streaming data.
The contrast to Adele (800,307 first week sales, all on CD or download) is striking. Her audience skews older, towards people who grew up with CDs – hence her decision to withhold 25 from Spotify. (“It probably is the future,” she told Rolling Stone earlier this week). Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube, is firmly part of the streaming generation.
None of that makes his achievement less impressive. Indeed, when you consider that, 12 months ago, his career was considered to be over, it’s nothing short of a miracle.
BBC