(Adds recordbreaking albums by Bieber and One Direction
released on online platform Spotify in paragraphs 7-8)
LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Justin Bieber stormed the British
singles charts on Friday with three singles from his new album
in the top five, a feat no other artist has managed since John
Lennon, posthumously, in 1981.
The Canadian singer's singles "Sorry", "Love yourself" and
"What do you mean" took first, third and fifth place. "Sorry"
pushed Adele's "Hello" slipped to second place from the top spot
it had occupied for three weeks.
Lennon's "Imagine" was top, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was
third and "(Just Like) Starting Over" fifth in January 1981, the
month after he was shot dead in New York.
Bieber's songs all come from his album "Purpose" which sold
90,000 copies this week. Every track from it charted inside the
top 100 singles.
But it was narrowly beaten to top position in the album
chart by four-piece boy band One Direction's "Made in the A.M."
which is now the fastest-selling album of 2015.
Notching up over 93,000 sales, this is the group's fourth UK
No. 1 having previously scored the top place in 2012 with "Take
Me Home," in 2013 with "Midnight Memories" and in 2014
with "Four".
Both Bieber's "Purpose" and One Direction's "Made in the
A.M." broke the record for most-streamed album in the first week
of release on online streaming platform Spotify.
"Purpose" set a new record with 205 million global streams
while "Made in the A.M." was streamed 106 million times, both
outpacing the previous record holder, The Weeknd's "Beauty
Behind The Madness," which garnered 90 million global streams in
September.
The third most popular album was Elvis Presley's "If I Can
Dream," produced nearly 40 years after his death. This
collection of Elvis classics featuring orchestral reworkings by
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra had been number one for two
weeks running.
Jeff Lynne's ELO was fourth with new entry "Alone In The
Universe". The group's other album "All Over The World - The
Very Best Of" re-entered at number 28.
Fifth place was taken by Little Mix's "Get Weird", slipping
down from last week's second place.