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Justin Bieber Is Slaying: Equals Madonna’s 30-Year Record, 3 Top Five’s In U.S. & U.K Charts

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 06:15 PST, Nov 28, 2015

Justin Bieber can’t stop breaking records. Hot on the heels of Purpose landing the biggest album sales debut by a male artist this year and becoming the youngest artist with six No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, the 21-year-old has broken more records in the U.K. and U.S this week.

In the U.K. “Sorry,” the second Purpose single, remains atop the Official Singles Chart for a second week after bumping Adele’s “Hello” last week. Bieber’s new jam “Love Yourself” — which isn’t an official single yet — slides up to No. 2.

This makes the Biebs the first artist to simultaneously hit the top two spots on the U.K. singles chart in 30 years. The first artist to achieve this feat was Madonna, who previously occupied the No. 1 and 2 position in August 1985 with “Into The Groove” in the top spot and “Holiday” just behind.

In 1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood became the first band to land the two top slots. 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 Top 4 singles, Justin becomes the first artist to achieve that since Frankie Laine did it twice back in 1953 — that’s 62 years ago — with singles “I Believe,” “Hey Joe,” and “When The Wind Blows” in two separate week time-frames.

According to the Official Charts Company, Bieber’s “Sorry” shifted 111,655 copies this week (59,326) from streams, while “Love Yourself” moved 98,361 units.

Meanwhile, Bieber’s former five time No. 1 “What Do You Mean?” is No. 4 on the U.K.’s singles chart; Adele’s “Hello” is at No. 3 and Fleur East’s “Sax” rounds out the Top 5.

Staying with the U.K., the Canadian superstar’s three entries — “Love Yourself,” “Sorry,” and “What Do You Mean?” — in the top five singles chart saw Bieber become the first male artist to achieve this since John Lennon posthumously did it in January 1981, 34 years ago.

In addition, every track on Purpose charted in the U.K. Official Top 100 last week.

Eight of Bieber’s songs made the cut on the U.K.’s Official singles Top 40 chart on November 20, marking the first time “a living act” has achieved that many simultaneous chart entries. The last artist to nearly accomplish this was Elvis, 58 years ago in 1957, with seven entries.

Now, the Biebs has extended his hold on his new record with nine songs on the Top 40 chart, after “No Pressure feat. Big Sean” moved up from No. 42 to No. 38 on the singles chart.

And, the record breaking isn’t slowing down any time soon. The comeback kid is the first artist to have three singles in the top five of the U.S. and U.K’s official charts at the same time.

As mentioned, Bieber is No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 with “Sorry,” “Love Yourself,” and What Do You Mean?” in the U.K. singles chart. In the U.S., the configuration is a little different. Over at Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, “Sorry” is No. 2 behind Adele’s “Hello.” The acoustic kiss-off “Love Yourself” is No. 4, and “What Do You Mean?” is No. 5.

Purpose moves to No.3 on the U.K.’s official album chart from No.2 (Adele’s 25 remains at No. 1) due to the If I Can Dream — Elvis Presley With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra album rising from No. 3 to No. 2.

Moving to the U.S., Purpose arrived atop the Billboard 200 albums chart last week, which was officially updated on November 24. The record debuted with 649,000 total consumption units for the week of November 13-19. It will give way to Adele’s 3.38 million-selling album when the charts update next week.

Billboard also reported Bieber had 17 cuts from the 18-track deluxe edition of Purpose on the Hot 100 singles chart, dated December 5, which is the most simultaneous songs any artist has ever had on the chart in a single week.

In doing so, Bieber broke a Billboard Hot 100 record previously held by The Beatles and Drake. The Brit band clocked up 14 titles on the chart on April 11, 1964 at the height of Beatlemania, led by “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Twist and Shout” at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.

Meanwhile, Drake had 14 songs simultaneously on the Hot 100 this year. First, on the March 7-dated chart with songs from his surprise mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and again on October 17-dated chart this year with What a Time to Be Alive (with Future).

Purpose is already gold in the U.K. after just two weeks. Released November 13, it quickly took over at No.1 on iTunes the same day, eventually topping charts in over 90 countries, while breaking U.S. and global highest-streaming in a week figures on Spotify.

Two weeks after the widely-acclaimed record’s release, the picture at iTunes is still rosy. Currently, Justin has three albums in the top 10 U.S. iTunes albums chart and four in the top 30. The standard edition of Purpose is at No. 2 behind Adele’s leviathan 25. Purpose deluxe is at No. 4. In the wake of all this success, the Biebs’ 2011 Christmas album Under The Mistletoe standard edition is at No. 9 and the deluxe is at No. 30.

Update: By Saturday evening:

With Purpose debuting at the top of official album charts in Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and New Zealand amid high placements elsewhere, Bieber Fever has returned in possibly greater force than the halcyon 2010-2012 days. The singer recently took a break in Orange County after cancelling two thanksgiving appearances in New York City, reportedly because of emotional and mental struggles.

It’s no secret that Bieber’s album promo was grueling. It took in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand before the album dropped, and numerous performances in the U.S after it did. The most recent being the American Music Awards. On Friday, the singer unwound by swinging by the Chainsmokers’ Shrine Auditorium show in Los Angeles with pals, where he delighted the audience by singing his hits “Where Are U Now?” and “Sorry.”

Going forward, regular time-outs for the over-scrutinized and ridiculously criticized young star during his 2016 Purpose World Tour seems like the smart move. Even record-breakers need downtime.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]

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