Lady Gaga & Pitbull dominate Official Singles Chart

22/05/2011

*Lady Gaga scores more Top 20 hits than any female artist since the 50s & Pitbull tops with Everything*

She’s not number one but Lady Gaga nevertheless rules the Official Singles Chart this week with a phenomenal four singles simultaneously in the Top 20 -  the most Top 20 hits by a solo female artist since Ruby Murray in 1955.  

Lady Gaga achieves the feat with The Edge Of Glory (staying at number six), Judas (last week’s number 11, this week’s number eight),  Hair (straight in at number thirteen) and Born This Way (which peaked at number 2 earlier this year and this week climbs from 24 to 16). 

Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot said, “It’s an amazing achievement by Lady Gaga to match a record set more than 50 years ago. We have become used to Gaga breaking records, but she is a true phenomenon.

The irrepressible New Yorker can now count herself as one of only a handful of artists ever to have claimed four or more Top 20 singles at any one time including Frankie Laine (four Top 20 hits in November 1953) and John Lennon (four Top 20 hits in January 1981).  While Ruby Murray claimed five simultaneous Top 20 singles in March 1955, one of them was a duet with Anne Warren. Michael Jackson is the only artist to have had five solo singles simultaneously in the Top 20, after his untimely death in 2009. 

Lady Gaga’s new album Born This Way is released tomorrow (May 23rd).

Meanwhile, Cuban-American rapper Pitbull, famous for his successful collaborations with high-profile artists, claims his first Official Singles Chart number one as lead artist with single Give Me Everything featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer climbing from last week’s number two to this week’s number one. 

Pitbull scored an Official Singles Chart number one in February this year as a featured artist on the Jennifer Lopez hit On The Floor (this week’s number 10).  He has previously lent his talents to the likes of Enrique Iglesias for single I Like It (number four in 2010), Alexandra Burke for All Night Long (number four in 2009) and Usher for DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again (number seven, 2010), as well as landing two Top 10 singles as a solo artist with Hotel Room Service and I Know You Want Me in 2010.

In the Official Albums Chart, Adele stays put with albums 21 and 19 at numbers one and three while Kate Bush’s new album, Director’s Cut, which held the number one spot earlier in the week in the Official Albums Chart Update, is this week’s highest new entry, straight in at number two.  Director’s Cut gives Bush her tenth Top 10 album in a career which has spanned over 30 years.  She first came to prominence in 1978 with the number one single Wuthering Heights and number three album The Kick Inside.

There are two other new entries in this week’s Official Albums Chart Top 10; UK trio Friendly Fire nail their highest Official Albums Chart placing to date with Pala straight in at number six following their self-titled debut which peaked at number 21 three years ago and Dutch jazz singer Caro Emerald sees her 2010 album Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor which previously peaked at 74, soaring  to number top 10 from last week’s 140 after her single On A Night Like This was picked up by UK radio.

 

Notes to Editors
 
1.   Chart information quoted from this release must be credited to The Official Charts Company
 
2.  The Official Charts Company (OCC) is a joint venture between record labels’ body the BPI and ERA, the Entertainment Retailers Association.   The OCC is responsible for the commissioning, marketing, distribution and management of the UK’s industry standard music and video charts and is endorsed by the BVA (British Video Association).
 
3. The Official Charts Company compiles its charts from sales information gathered across all key distribution (or entertainment) channels including all major high street retail chains, independent stores, supermarkets, mail order internet retailers and digital music service providers. This market research sample equates to 99% of the total UK Singles market; 98% of the total UK Albums market and 90% of the total UK DVD market.
 
For further information contact:
Amy Howard, Official Charts Company.
T: 01480 860 530  M. 07768 891 264
E: amy@theofficialcharts.com
W:  www.theofficialcharts.com
The Chart Show with Reggie Yates, Sundays  4pm-7pm, BBC Radio 1.
The Official Chart Update with Greg James, Wednesdays 3.30pm-4pm, BBC Radio 1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/
Jo Whiley features Official Albums Chart highlights, Mondays between 8 and 9pm, BBC Radio 2

Ends.                                                                  
 

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